Innovation Pipeline

A team of Michigan State researchers have identified a new protein that could give a big boost to photosynthesis and help produce large volumes of biofuels.
It involves chloropasts, the workhorses in plants. That’s where sunlight, carbon dioxide and water all get converted into sugars.

The newly discovered protein, trigalactosyldiacylglycerol 4, or TGD4, is considered a significant [...]

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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign researchers think miscanthus could pack a special punch for the biofuel world.
The giant perennial grass is a lignocellulosic feedstock. It offers an alternative energy source outside of the controversial food category of plants like corn.
A dozen or more companies are currently building or operating plants in the U.S. to [...]

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One big problem of converting to solar generated electricity is what to do when the sun goes down. To ensure electrical current on the grid doesn’t sharply fall off, requires an industrial-scale electrical storage system to smooth out short term fluctuations. It’s a problem at the heart of realizing a renewable energy economy.
There’s an [...]

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