Tag Archives: conversion
Cool Planet Announces Launch of Cool Terra™ Biochar Soil Amendment
Reduces Atmospheric CO2 and Increases Crop Yields Field trial opportunities available through the Cool Planet biochar team October 15, 2013 08:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Co. & AMHERST, Mass.–(EON: Enhanced Online News)–Cool Planet Energy Systems, a developer of small-scale bio refineries for the conversion of non-food biomass into biofuels and soil enhancing biochar, announced today the launch of their biochar soil amendment product “Cool Terra™” for commercial agricultural trials. Rick Wilson, Vice President of the Cool Planet Biochar Group, made the announcement at the 2013 US Biochar conference. Cool Planet has assembled one of the top biochar research teams in the world to develop and produce high-performance biochar soil amendments designed for specific applications. The company plans to continue expanding application opportunities with selected partners in the agricultural community leading to commercial product release in 2014. “We are excited about the opportunity to combine science with the real life practical experience of our agriculture industry partners to progress the use of biochar. This work will allow our Carbon Negative fuel technology to improve crop production while delivering environmental benefits” . “We are excited about the opportunity to combine science with the real life practical experience of our agriculture industry partners to progress the use of biochar. This work will allow our Carbon Negative fuel technology to improve crop production while delivering environmental benefits,” said Cool Planet CEO Howard Janzen. Cool Planet, a sponsor of the 2013 North American Biochar Symposium, will discuss the potential impact of the market-driven application of biochar in decarbonizing the atmosphere at the conference being held in Amherst, MA Oct 13 – 16. Cool Planet has shown yield improvements consistently averaging 60% and input reductions of 40%, combined with accelerated growth rates, in commercial field trials in California, enabling cost-effective farming in regions with structured drought such as California and Arizona. “We are already in commercial trials with our proprietary Cool Terra™ biochar soil amendment, and with this launch we plan to add new partners that will lead to large-scale commercialization,” said Rick Wilson of Cool Planet. “We are also making experimental quantities of our activated biochar available through our website.” About Cool Planet Cool Planet is deploying disruptive technology through capital efficient, small scale biorefineries, to economically convert non-food biomass into high-octane, drop-in biofuels. The process also generates value through biochar production, which can be returned to the soil, with the “Cool Terra™ product enabling fertilizer and water retention for increased crop productivity, and more robust plant health. The process can be carbon negative, removing over 100 percent of the carbon footprint for every gallon used, reversing the consequences of fossil fuels. Cool Planet’s technology has a broad portfolio of pending and granted patents. Global investors include BP, Google Ventures, Energy Technology Ventures (GE, ConocoPhillips, NRG Energy), and the Constellation division of Exelon. Connect with Cool Planet on Facebook at facebook.com/CoolPlanetEnergySystems, on Twitter at twitter.com/CoolPlanetFuels and at www.coolplanet.com. Contacts Cool Planet Energy Systems Mike Rocke, +1-940-584-0490 mr@coolplanet.com or Commercial Biochar Sales +1-888-564-9332 biochar@coolplanet.com Continue reading
Making Use Of Biofuel Waste
10/10/2013 Making use of biofuel waste Yeast engineered to eat acetic acid Richard Jansen US RESEARCHERS have engineered a strain of yeast that will consume unwanted by-products made when plant stems and leaves are converted into biofuels. The team, based at the University of Illinois, says that discovery could improve the ethanol yield from lignocellulosic sources by as much as 10%. The yeast used to produce ethanol from lignocellulosic sources, Saccharomyces cerevisiae , is good at fermenting simple sugars – such as those found in corn kernels and sugarcane – to produce ethanol. However, coaxing the yeast into eating the stems and leaves is not so easy. Doing it on an industrial scale requires a number of costly steps, one of which involves breaking down hemicellulose, a key component of lignocellulose “If we decompose hemicellulose, we obtain xylose and acetic acid,” says Illinois food science and human nutrition professor Yong-Su Jin, who helped lead the research. “Xylose is a sugar; we can engineer yeast to ferment xylose,” he continues. “However, acetic acid is a toxic compound that kills yeast. That is one of the biggest problems in cellulosic ethanol production.” The researchers came up with a plan to deal with the waste after finding another organism – a bacterium – that consumed acetic acid. They isolated the genes responsible for the process, and began inserting them into the yeast. “One challenge with yeast is it has evolved to do one thing really well,” says Jamie Cate, from the University of California at Berkeley, who also helped direct the research. “When you start adding these new modules into what it’s already doing, it’s not obvious that it’s going to work up front.” “We sort of rebuilt how yeast uses carbon,” he adds. As well as those carrying out the conversion process, Jin claims that the breakthrough will also help those who focus on other steps in biofuels production. Plant geneticists and those involved in pretreatment can stop worrying about finding ways to eliminate acetic acid from lignocelluloses, for example. “Many people are curious about why we don’t have cellulosic biofuel right now,” he continues. “But it’s not because of one limiting step. We have many limiting steps in growing the biomass, storing, moving, harvesting, decomposing the biomass to the sugar, fermentation and then separation. “The advance that we are reporting involves one of those steps – fermentation. But it also will make other steps in the process a little easier.” Continue reading
Concord Energy, Cool Planet To Establish Joint Venture
Taylor Scott International News Taylor Scott International Taylor Scott International, Taylor Scott Continue reading
