Focus:

Algae are tiny biological factories that use photosynthesis to transform carbon dioxide and sunlight into energy so efficiently that they can double their weight several times a day, producing oil in the process "” 30 times more oil per acre than soybeans, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Like soybean oil, the algae oil can be burned directly in diesel engines or further refined into biodiesel.

Channels: DOE Science News, Energy & the Environment, Energy,

Keywords: Algae, Biofuel

Biology based renewable energy company Coskata Inc. and automotive giant General Motors announced their cooperative plans to reduce fossil fuel consumption this past weekend, thanks in part to Coskata's "next generation ethanol" process based on research and technology developed by the OSU Biofuels Team and licensed exclusively to Coskata.

Channels: DOE Science News, Energy & the Environment, Energy,

Keywords: Biofuels, Energy, Gasoline, FUEL, oil, car, Auto, Microorganisms, Biomass, OSU, Oklahoma

Researchers in the Georgia Tech Research Institute's (GTRI) Center for Innovative Fuel Cell and Battery Technologies believe that understanding how and why fuel cells fail is the key to both reducing cost and improving durability. The problems they are addressing include chemical attack of the membrane, carbon corrosion and platinum instability.

Channels: DOE Science News, Energy & the Environment, Energy,

Keywords: FUEL, cell, Durability, Platinum, Carbon, Corrosion

Virginia Tech released the inaugural Green500 List (www.green500.org) this morning (Nov. 15, 2007) at the Supercomputing 2007 (SC|07) conference in Reno.

Channels: Story Ideas: Science, Energy & the Environment,

Keywords: Energy Efficient, Supercomputers, Green500, Top500

Planet Bob," a joint video production from Arizona State University's International Institute for Species Exploration and Media Alchemy Inc., uses live action, state-of-the-art animation, and the vocal talents of venerable TV host Hugh Downs and others, to present the mysterious, exciting "“ and surprisingly funny "“ side of taxonomy.

Channels: Story Ideas: Life, Energy & the Environment,

Keywords: Biodiveristy, Taxonomy, Cybertaxonomy, Youtube, Species, Technology, Science, Entomology, Education

The "Energy Efficiency Partnership of Greater Washington" will tackle global warming by retrofitting existing buildings with energy efficiency products designed to decrease energy use and significantly cut carbon emissions.

Channels: DOE Science News, Energy & the Environment, Energy,

Keywords: Energy, Global, Warming, Retrofitting, Buildings, Carbon, Research, Education

Consumers, tired of sifting through overflowing mailboxes can now sign up for a new free service that gives users the power to choose the catalogs they no longer want to receive in the mail.

Channels: Story Ideas: Business, Energy & the Environment,

Keywords: Business Announcements, Catalogs

Beneath a sulfurous cauldron in European seas lies a class of microorganisms known as extremophiles. These organisms and their associated enzymes could somehow unlock the key to a new transportation economy based on a renewable biofuel, lignocellulosic ethanol. That's the concept behind a research program at Sandia National Laboratories.

Channels: Energy & the Environment,

Keywords: Biomass, Extreme, Environments, Computational, Tools

Chemists at the University of California, San Diego have demonstrated the feasibility of exploiting sunlight to transform a greenhouse gas into a useful product.

Channels: Energy & the Environment,

Keywords: Greenhouse Effect, Global Warming, Carbon Dioxide, Catalyst, Semiconductor, Technological Solution

Illustrating their commitment to sustaining the environment and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the Town of Blacksburg, City of Roanoke, and Virginia Tech are converting their diesel fuel-powered public works and facilities vehicles and power equipment to biodiesel fuel "” a cleaner-burning, renewable diesel fuel replacement made primarily from soybean oil.

Channels: Energy & the Environment,

Keywords: Alternative, Energy, Biodiesel, Environment, Greenhouse, International, Initiative, Iclei