The decline of available fossil fuel reserves has triggered world-wide efforts to develop alternative energy sources based on plant biomass. Detailed knowledge of the relations of metabolism and biomass accumulation can be expected to yield powerful novel tools to accelerate and enhance energy plant breeding programs. We used metabolic profiling in the model Arabidopsis to study the relation be...

BACKGROUND The energy requirement of species at each trophic level in an ecological pyramid is a function of the number of organisms and their average mass. Regarding human populations, although considerable attention is given to estimating the number of people, much less is given to estimating average mass, despite evidence that average body mass is increasing. We estimate global human biomass...

The milk processing and preservation is a fast growing business in developing countries and it is facing problems due to high energy cost and environmental concerns in using conventional energy sources. The energy tapped from renewable energy sources through the technological innovations would be one of the best options to implement the milk preservation strategies at village level. In rural ar...

Biomass is the oldest form of energy used by human beings, mainly in the form of wood. It is a renewable source of energy and has many advantages from an ecological point of view. The direct combustion of biomass generates concern among environmentalists, as it is incomplete and inconsistent and may produce organic particulate matter, carbon monoxide and other organic gases. Biomass gasificatio...

Perennial herbaceous plants such as switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) are being evaluated as cellulosic bioenergy crops. Two major concerns have been the net energy efficiency and economic feasibility of switchgrass and similar crops. All previous energy analyses have been based on data from research plots (<5 m2) and estimated inputs. We managed switchgrass as a biomass energy crop in field tr...

Utilizing cyanobacteria as a bioenergy resource is difficult due to the cost and energy consuming harvests of microalgal biomass. In this study, an auto-floating system was developed by increasing the photobiological H2 production in the heterocysts of filamentous cyanobacteria. An amount of 1.0 μM of diuron, which inhibited O2 production in cyanobacteria, resulted in a high rate of H2 producti...

The biomass for energy purposes, coming from forestry and timber industry for energy, can provide various environmental and socio-economic benefits. Among all renewable energy sources, forest biomass represents both an important alternative source to fossil fuels and an opportunity for the socio-economic development of various marginal mountain areas in Calabria. This survey aims at estimating ...

Energy in algal oil 37.90 Energy in biogas from residual biomass 50.00 Estimated as 22.85 MJ kg 1 of urea and 2.94 MJ kg 1 of diammonium phosphate. Using sedimentation followed by continuous vacuum belt filters. Approximate only in view of the developmental nature of algal oil recovery processes. Estimated as 80.4 MJ m 2 of facility area divided by a 20 year working life and the mass of oil pro...

High dependence on imported oil has increased U.S. strategic vulnerability and prompted more research in the area of renewable energy production. Ethanol production from renewable woody biomass, which could be a substitute for gasoline, has seen increased interest. This study analysed energy use and greenhouse gas emission impacts on the forest biomass supply chain activities within the State o...

The biomass extrusion process for making biomass briquettes or logs normally requires large amounts of energy to overcome the springback of the material and friction with the die surface. Also, the products readily expand and disintegrate because of the retention of internal stresses. In this study, tests on vibration-assisted compaction of biomass were performed as a method to reduce the energ...