A new report suggests that up to one fifth of global energy could be provided by biomass (plants) without damaging food production. The report reviews more than 90 global studies. It has been produced by the Technology and Policy Assessment function of the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC), which addresses key controversies in the energy field, and aims to provide authoritative and accessible reports that set very high standards for rigour and transparency.A debate has been raging about the role biomass could play in the future energy system: some say it could play a major role in fuelling the planet,…

 This is the face of climate change in Turkey, as captured by professional and amateur photographers for a competition organized by the British Council as part of its global climate change program. In 2009, the group recruited 14 Climate Advocates from Challenge Europe Project in Turkey. Ranging in age from 21 to 34, and including artists, students, engineers, and businesspeople, the youthful team created the "Capture Climate Change " photo contest as one of its key educational projects in Turkey. The competition was open to participants of ages 18 and over who were willing to show effects of Climate Change in Turkey through…

Algal biofuels have been much hyped, but the reality is getting closer every day. Chemical engineer and algal biofuels researcher David Lewis brings algae down to earth. The promise of biofuels from algae is undoubtedly compelling: replacing carbon dioxide-belching fossil fuels with a clean and (literally) green alternative that will even eat some extra carbon as it grows. The picture is enticing, the hype is almost unbelievable, but so far that is all we have: hype. At the BioProcessing Network Conference in Adelaide in October, David Lewis, a no-nonsense chemical engineer and relative newcomer on the algal biofuels scene, cut…

The "algae research facility" by the Fraunhofer Institute and the Energy Fair operated jointly. The main objective is the production of algae and the production of an oil that can be used as biofuel.The resulting residual biomass to be used for biogas production.The algae factory is in a 20-meter greenhouse, and is directly coupled to a gas-powered micro-CHP. "That in the emissions CO2 contained the power plant and the sunlight acting on the algae" growth-promoting, says Dr. Peter Ripplinger, manager of the company Subitec, belonging to the Fraunhofer Institute. The algae are grown in four modules, each with six photobioreactors.  Come to use…

Here's taking a look at some of the top Green Cars at the LA Auto Show currently underway from the 18th till the 27th of November. First let's take a look at the prototypes and concept cars that made the news, and then move on to the cars that will be available to the public by the end of this year:   BMW  The BMW i3 Concept at its launch at the LA Auto Show introduced by Actress Paula Patton star of the film "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol," with Ludwig Willisch, the president and chief executive of BMW North America  The…

Research and Innovation in Low Cost , Green & Clean Technologies to provide food and feed to our communities and hungry people, upgrade to efficient and integrated production systems, entrepreneuships and community development, environmental protection and conservation, mitigation & adaptation to climate change. Algal Technology as a key-stone for integrated systems (water treatment, food production, CO2 capture and others) in urban and rural environments. Eolian & solar energy (chemical or photosynthetic, thermic and photovoltaic) to move production systems more efficiently.

Solar and wind receive a particularly high amount of incentive money and public funding initiatives. Do you think part of the solution to scaling biofuel is to create more populist funding opportunities, or do you think making biofuel technologies more prevalent will in turn result in more funding opportunities?  Is it the chicken or the egg?

What's the greenest way to get from point A to point B? Is it by airplane or train? How about by bus? Or is a grid-charged electric vehicle the greenest mode of transport?Well, the answer depends on the length of the trip. Is it 350 miles? If so, then a bus seems to be the greenest means to get there. If it's a long-distance trip (2,500 miles), then, once again, the bus comes out on top, according to One Block Off The Grid's "The Greener way to get there" infographic. But what if the trip is only 20 miles? Is…

Microbes will be the (human) food- and fuel-makers of the future, if J. Craig Venter has his way. The man responsible for one of the original sequences of the human genome as well as the team that brought you the first living cell running on human-made DNA now hopes to harness algae to make everything humanity needs. All it takes is a little genomic engineering. "Nothing new has to be invented. We just have to combine [genes] in a way that nature has not done before. We're speeding up evolution by billions of years," Venter told an energy conference on October 18 at the New America…

Advanced biofuels, chemicals capacity to reach 5.11B gallons by 2015; 207 projects now tracked; 79 project updates, 27 countries. In Florida, Biofuels Digest released version 2.0 of its free Advanced Biofuels & Chemicals Project Database, which tracks advanced biofuels and renewable chemicals capacity for the 2011-2016 period. The database is available for free download. Project data includes the project developer, proposed capacity, date of completion, fuel type, processing technology, RFS2 category and feedstock. Project notes from the Biofuels Digest article database are also included. Projects include: Abengoa, ADM, Aemetis, Algae.Tec, Algenol, AltAir, American Jianye Greentech, American Process, Amyris, Aquatic Energy,…