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Researchers with the DOE's Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) have identified a potential new advanced biofuel that could replace today's standard fuel for diesel engines but would be clean, green, renewable and produced in the United States. Using the tools of synthetic biology, a JBEI research team engineered strains of two microbes, a bacteria and a yeast, to produce a precursor to bisabolane, a member of the terpene class of chemical compounds that are found in plants and used in fragrances and flavorings. Preliminary tests by the team showed that bisabolane's properties make it a promising biosynthetic alternative to Number 2...

Millions of dollars worth of federal contracts transformed Anita Talwar from a government accounting clerk into a wealthy woman — one who can afford a $2.8 million home in the Washington suburbs with its own elevator, wine cellar and Swarovski crystal chandeliers. Talwar, a 59-year-old immigrant from India, had no idea that she and her husband would amass a small fortune when she launched a company providing tech support to the federal government in 1987. But she shrewdly took advantage of programs for minority-owned small businesses and rode a boom in federal contracting. Talwar’s success — and that of hundreds...

On 16 August President Obama announced that the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Energy and Navy will invest up to $510 million by 2014 in partnership with the private sector to produce advanced “drop-in” aviation and maritime biofuels for military and commercial use. This builds on a directive Obama issued five months ago as part of his “Blueprint for A Secure Energy Future,” his administration’s policy for reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil imports, which now cost more than $300 billion. The plan envisages the three federal departments to invest a total of up to $510 million, which will require substantial...

Norway's Statoil has received a huge boost to its reserves with the announcement that two previous North Sea oil discoveries are connected which may represent the biggest find in the Norwegian continental shelf in 30 years. Statoil said in a statement Tuesday that the Aldous and Avaldsnes oil discoveries together contain between 500 million and 1.2 billion barrels of oil — significantly more than previously thought. Statoil owns a 40 percent stake in both discoveries and is the operator of Aldous. Tim Dodson, the company's vice president for exploration, called the combined discovery "giant," adding that "Norway has not seen...

The all-new Honda Civic debuts at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show next month – here are the first details of the diesel version. With an evolution of the award-winning 2.2-litre i-DTEC turbodiesel engine and a 12.6 per cent improvement in aerodynamics, the 2012 Honda Civic is promising to be both more powerful and more efficient. That’s a familiar tune these days, but in this particular case the new Civic appears to be offering quite the combo. A 10hp boost might not sound like much to shout about, but the resulting 150hp total output is combined with CO2 emissions of just...

When President Barack Obama announced an agreement to double fuel-economy requirements Friday, standing with him were industry executives and environmental, public health and labor leaders, all of whom, remarkably, had signed off on the deal. But the real credit for this historic achievement, which is expected to cut oil consumption by 1.5 million barrels per day and eliminate half of all carbon pollution nationwide, doesn't go to the White House. Instead, thank California. For decades the state has set the nation's clean-energy agenda; it's been the tip of the spear in the fight for higher fuel standards. Its huge automobile...

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) launched an investigation Friday into a series of closed-door meetings between Obama administration officials and major automakers that resulted in beefed-up vehicle fuel economy standards. Issa sent out letters to executives of the country’s major automakers Friday alerting them to the investigation and requesting that they keep all documents related to meetings with administration officials on the standards. In the letters, which were obtained by The Hill, Issa says the administration’s efforts to negotiate the fuel economy standards “raise serious concerns.” The new rules, which were announced Friday by President...

WASHINGTON—Ushering in the largest decrease in auto fuel consumption since the 1970s, President Barack Obama and automobile manufacturers Friday announced a deal that will save drivers money at the pump and dramatically cut heat-trapping gases coming from tailpipes. The agreement pledges to double overall fuel economy to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, bringing major under-the-hood changes for the nation's automobiles starting in model year 2017. Cars and trucks on the road today average 27 miles per gallon. "This agreement on fuel standards represents the single most important step we have taken as a nation to reduce our dependence on...

Genetically modified blue and green algae could be the answer to the world's fuel problems. Bioengineers have already developed algae that produce ethanol, oil and even diesel -- and the only things the organisms need are sunlight, CO2 and seawater. Biochemist Dan Robertson's living gas stations have the dark-green shimmer of oak leaves and are as tiny as E. coli bacteria. Their genetic material has been fine-tuned by human hands. When light passes through their outer layer, they excrete droplets of fuel. "We had to fool the organism into doing what I wanted it to do," says Robertson, the head...

FORT PIERCE— A Miami man was arrested this week after a police investigation into damage to several St. Lucie County gas stations' fuel pumps that allowed thousands of dollars worth of fuel to be dispensed for free, according to recently released records. Elton Paul Carter, 27, was arrested Tuesday on charges including robbery, organized dealing in stolen property, communication fraud of $300 or more, and third-degree grand theft following incidents that began in late April.

This is really interesting........ he freight rail across Eurasia officially launched on Thursday night, with a cargo train leaving on its journey from Chongqing to Duisburg, Germany, filled with laptops and LCD screens scheduled to arrive in Europe two weeks after leaving China. The 11,179 kilometers long track will be running through the far western Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, and Poland, before finally reaching Germany. China Daily reports that the rail link to Europe will cut transportation time dramatically, compared to the sea trade route: The route offers a major shortcut to the more traditional sea trade...

Pixar Animation mastermind John Lasseter says the company has no environmental agenda, but with "Cars 2," the blockbuster outfit does tap into today's eco-mindedness with a plot driven by oil vs. a cleaner alternative. Debuting in U.S. theaters Friday, "Cars 2" sends race car Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) on a World Grand Prix circuit whose organizer fuels the vehicles with a green alternative called Allinol, prompting the bad guys to try to discredit the new power supply that threatens traditional gasoline.

An extraordinary convergence of recent events seems poised shortly to make aviation biofuels the belle of the investor’s ball. The first is that on 8 June the follows the international standards certifying body ASTM International announcing its approval of its BIO SPK Fuel Standard, to be made official later in the year, of the use of hydrotreated renewable jet (HRJ) Jet A-1 fuel in commercial aviation. The potential financial implications are massive, as together the airline industry and the U.S. military use more than 42.25 million gallons (1.5 million barrels) of jet fuel a day. One of the leading contenders...

German automakers lead in diesel car sales, but Mazda is joining the pack Team Audi's victory at 24 Hours of LeMans Sunday with a car powered by a TDI diesel engine again shines a light on diesel engines as an alternative to regular gas or hybrid gas/electric vehicles. Though cars and trucks running on diesel fuel remain a relatively small percentage of new cars and trucks sold in the U.S., increasing sales of such vehicles by German car companies in the U.S. points to a potentially rosier future. And the continued success of diesels at LeMans keeps bringing attention back...

Diesel engines, long confined to trucks and ships, are garnering more interest for their fuel efficiency and reduced carbon dioxide emissions, relative to gasoline engines. Argonne mechanical engineer Steve Ciatti takes a crack at some of the more persistent myths surrounding the technology. Myth #1: Diesel is dirty. "We all have this image of trucks belching out dirty black smoke," Ciatti said. This smoke is particulate matter from diesel exhaust: soot and small amounts of other chemicals produced by the engine. But EPA emissions requirements have significantly tightened, and diesel engines now have to meet the same criteria as gasoline...

China will "top out" a new skyscraper every five days for the next three years as it continues to embark on the biggest building boom in history, according to newly published research. The 2011 China Skyscraper City List shows the speed with which China is redrawing the skylines of its major cities as it builds houses and offices for the millions of people migrating from a rural to urban lifestyle over the coming decades. Compiled by "Motian City", a Chinese website for skyscraper enthusiasts, the list finds that China and Taiwan currently boast five of the world top 10 tallest...

After a series of spills, the United States Department of Transportation has ordered the TransCanada Corporation to suspend operation of its one-year-old Keystone 1 pipeline, which carries oil extracted from oil sands in the Canadian province of Alberta to the United States. The order was issued by the department’s Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.“Effective immediately, this order prevents TransCanada from restarting operations on their Keystone crude oil pipeline until P.H.M.S.A. is satisfied with the ongoing repairs and is confident that all immediate safety concerns have been addressed,” the agency said. It issued the order in response to two incidents...

Starship Fuel from the Outer System by Paul Gilster on June 1, 2011 Adrian Mann has done it again, as witness his illustration of a gas mining operation on Uranus, reproduced below. The idea, as explored by Adam Crowl on Discovery News this morning, is to acquire vast amounts of helium-3 to supply not only EarthÂ’s energy needs but the fusion engines of the Project Icarus star probe. I love AdrianÂ’s work and particularly his Project Daedalus images, on display along with much of his other work in his online gallery. What he manages to do is to take...

Investors looking for the next big thing after a hydrocarbon economy have a panoply of options, from solar to wind, as well as biofuels. In terms of quickly ramping up production biofuels clearly win the race, but navigating the PR fluff and reality is not a simple thing. The three main contenders for investor dollars are algae, jatropha and camelina. All have strengths and weaknesses, leaving investors to choose amongst them. Stripped of PR flummery, the only issue is where and when production can begin on a viable commercial scale. Investors who unravel the complexities of biofuel production and have...

New thermoelectric materials will be tested in BMW, Ford, and Chevrolet vehicles by the end of summer. At least two-thirds of the energy in gasoline used in cars and trucks is wasted as heat. Thermoelectrics, semiconductor materials that convert heat into electricity, could capture this waste heat, reducing the fuel needs of the vehicle and improving fuel economy by at least 5 percent. But the low efficiency and high cost of existing thermoelectric materials has kept such devices from becoming practical in vehicles. Now researchers are assembling the first prototype thermoelectric generators for tests in commercial cars and SUVs. The...