The massive consumption of fossil fuels and associated environmental issues are leading to an increased interest in alternative resources such as biofuels. The renewable biofuels can be upgraded from bio-oils that are derived from biomass pyrolysis. Catalytic cracking and hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) are two of the most promising bio-oil upgrading processes for biofuel production. Heterogeneous cat...

Sustainable transportation biofuels may require considerable changes in land use to meet mandated targets. Understanding the possible impact of di erent policies on land use and greenhouse gas emissions has typically proceeded by exploring either ecosystem or economic modelling. Here we integrate such models to assess the potential for the US Renewable Fuel Standard to reduce greenhouse gas emi...

This is the first paper to analyze the impact of biofuels on the price transmission along the food chain. Specifically, we analyze the U.S. corn sector and its vertical links to food and ethanol markets. The key result of this paper is that the presence of biofuels affects the price transmission elasticity only when the blender's tax credit is binding and the shock originates in the food market...

Development of a domestic biofuels industry that increases production of liquid biofuels from renewable resources is a priority policy objective of the United States and a number of individual states. Biofuels are expected to reduce dependence on imported petroleum with associated political and economic vulnerability, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants, and revitalize the econ...

A noticeable push toward using agricultural crops for ethanol production and for undertaking research to expand the range of possible biofuels began to dominate discussions of agricultural science and policy in the United States around 2005. This paper proposes two complementary philosophical approaches to examining the philosophical questions that should be posed in connection with this turn o...

A major challenge when using microorganisms to produce bulk chemicals such as biofuels is that the production targets are often toxic to cells. Many biofuels are known to reduce cell viability through damage to the cell membrane and interference with essential physiological processes. Therefore, cells must trade off biofuel production and survival, reducing potential yields. Recently, there hav...

Sources •Biofuels are becoming more widespread throughout the United States as more advanced conversion methods become available. The most advanced process at this point is the conversion of biomass into ethanol (5). However, research into biofuels other than ethanol is an important aspect of the DOE’s mission to promote the spread of renewable energies. Before progress can be made in these are...

BACKGROUND Hydrocarbon alkanes have been recently considered as important next-generation biofuels because microbial production of alkane biofuels was demonstrated. However, the toxicity of alkanes to microbial hosts can possibly be a bottleneck for high productivity of alkane biofuels. To tackle this toxicity issue, it is essential to understand molecular mechanisms of interactions between alk...

Microalgae offer great promise to contribute a signifi cant portion of the renewable fuels that will be required by the Renewable Fuels Standard described in the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act of the United States. Algal biofuels would be based mainly on the high lipid content of the algal cell and thus would be an ideal feedstock for high energy density transportation fuels, such as...

The societal debate on biofuels is characterised by increased complexity. This can hinder the effective governance of the field. This paper attempts a quantitative bird's eye meta-analysis of this complexity by mapping different stakeholder perspectives and expected outcomes as seen in the secondary literature on biofuels, along the lines of the People-Planet-Profit framework. Our analysis illu...