Biofuels

• Better Bug to Make Cellulosic Ethanol
  A new strain of bacteria could make cellulosic ethanol cheaper.
• The Price of Biofuels
  Making ethanol from corn is expensive. Better biofuels are years away from the gas tank. Farmers are reluctant to change their practices. But do we really have any alternative to biofuels?
• Making Gasoline from Bacteria
  A biotech startup wants to coax fuels from engineered microbes.
• Creating Ethanol from Trash
  Researchers find a way to make liquid fuels from waste cheaply and without the pollution produced by earlier methods.
• Hydrogen from Algae
  Genetically modified algae could be efficient producers of hydrogen and biofuels.
• Termite Guts Could Boost Ethanol Efficiency
  A metagenomic study could suggest ways to make cellulosic ethanol.
• Breaking Ground on Cellulosic Ethanol
  Commercial-scale plants are being built, but the fuel could still be too expensive to compete with corn ethanol.
• BP's Bet on Butanol
  Forget ethanol: it's hard to transport and gives bad mileage per gallon. Another alcohol, butanol, is a much better renewable fuel, says the president of BP Biofuels.
• Oil from Wood
  Startup Kior has developed a process for creating "biocrude" directly from biomass.
• A Better Biofuel
  A California biotech company is engineering microbes to produce cheap biofuels that could outcompete ethanol.
• Creating Ethanol from Wood More Efficiently
  Bacteria in termite guts could make ethanol from noncorn sources cheaper.
• Smaller, Cheaper Biofuel Reactors
  A new catalytic process efficiently converts biomass to syngas.
• Boosting Cellulosic Biofuels
  A catalytic process could improve thermochemical routes to ethanol.
• Cellulosic Ethanol Plant Opens
  A 1.4 million gallon demonstration-scale plant will use waste biomass to make biofuel.
• Biofuels: Beyond Corn
  Gene sequencing could help make more energy-efficient biofuels practical.
• Alternative-Energy Spending Fizzles Out
  Congress ends without funding research programs, as the United States falls behind in alternative technologies.
• A New Biofuel: Propane
  Propane chemically derived from corn could be used in heating and transportation.
• Cellulosic Biofuels
  Gregory Stephanopoulos explains challenges in converting biomass to biofuels.
• Hydrogen Fuel from Formic Acid
  A simple new process generates hydrogen for fuel cells.
• Ethanol's Forecast
  Rain and floods in the corn-growing Midwest could drive up the costs of producing the biofuel.
• Cheaper, Cleaner Ethanol from Biotech Corn
  The genetically-modified plants break down their own cellulose, making it possible to use waste biomass to produce ethanol.
• Searching for Biofuels' Sweet Spot
  California-based Amyris has used breakthroughs in synthetic biology to reinvent biofuels. To turn its technology into an industrial process, it has headed to the land of sugar: Brazil.
• From Waste Biomass to Jet Fuel
  Fuel made from waste by-products could lower greenhouse gas emissions.
• Slow Going on Cellulosic Biofuels
  ZeaChem starts construction in Oregon, but plans elsewhere have stalled or been scaled back.
• Genes to Make Hydrocarbon Fuels
  The startup LS9 reveals a discovery that could lead to biofuels that would work in conventional engines.
• Jet Fuel from Plants
  A way to get a high-energy fuel out of an abundant and renewable resource.