biomass

Rutgers researchers have found that life on Earth predominantly comes in the largest and smallest sizes, with the planet’s biomass concentrated in organisms at either end of the size spectrum. The surprising discovery was made after a five-year study analyzing data on the size and biomass of every type of living organism. The pattern favoring large and small organisms held across all species types and was more pronounced in land-based organisms than in marine environments. The study highlights the importance of microbes…

Photo: Press Association (AP)One of the world’s biggest renewable energy players may be misleading the public about its product. Earlier this month, Mongabay published a damning report on Enviva, the world’s biggest producer of wood chips used for biomass energy, based on allegations from an anonymous former employee, who claimed that the company is producing its chips in a much less environmentally friendly way than its PR materials claim.Biomass energy, the practice of burning wood to generate power, is one of those…

<!----> BASF‘s ColorBrite Airspace Blue ReSource basecoat, certified through a biomass balance approach. BASF says the the first batch of ‘ColorBrite Airspace Blue ReSource’ basecoat has been delivered to a customer in China. The company says the basecoat product enables around 20%…

Paving the way for an abundant renewable energy source, researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have developed an innovative technology that can produce hydrogen from biomass. The team was led by S. Dasappa, Professor at the Centre for Sustainable Technologies, and Chair of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Energy Research at IISc.India uses nearly 50 lakh tonnes of hydrogen for various processes in different sectors, and the hydrogen market is expected to grow substantially in the coming years, says Dasappa.…

Paving the way for an abundant renewable energy source, researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have developed an innovative technology that can produce hydrogen from biomass. The team was led by S. Dasappa, Professor at the Centre for Sustainable Technologies and Chair of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Energy Research at IISc.India uses nearly 50 lakh tonnes of hydrogen for various processes in different sectors, and the hydrogen market is expected to grow substantially in the coming years, says Dasappa.…

Beautifully designed, energy-generating bio-panels that suck up carbon dioxide and pump out biomass for use as fuel or fertilizer – that's the idea behind Mexican startup Greenfluidics and its nanotech-enhanced microalgae bioreactor building panels.The idea of using flat algae tanks on the outside of buildings as part of a sustainability exercise is not new. Indeed, back in 2013, Splitterwerk Architects and engineering company Arup teamed up to create a full-scale demonstration building, called the BIQ, featuring no less…

Eastern hemlock trees in the study area. Changes in the abundance of beech and hemlock are responsible for much of the woody biomass stored in Midwestern forests over the last 10,000 years. Credit: David Mladenoff When plants breathe in carbon from the atmosphere and store it in their leaves, branches, trunks and roots, they help the Earth maintain a carbon balance—a crucial component to a steady climate.…

BMW Group claims to be the first automotive manufacturer to use matt paints made from biomass instead of crude oil at its European plants. Plants in Leipzig and South Africa are also using sustainably produced corrosion protection. Renewable raw materials such as bio-waste or waste from sewage treatment plants serve as the starting material for the paints. The CO2 savings determined in a TUV-certified process amount to over 15,000 tonnes of…