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NREL, MIT, WSU team develops process to convert lignin to aromatic blendstock for 100% sustainable aviation fuel

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Other parts of plants are used for biofuels, but lignin has been largely overlooked because of the difficulties in breaking it down chemically and converting it into useful products. Lignin makes up the rigid parts of the cell walls of plants.

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MIT researchers propose mechanism for overcoming bottleneck in electroreduction of CO2

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Researchers at MIT have identified , quantified, and modeled a major reason for the poor performance of electroreduction processes to convert CO 2 to fuel or other useful chemicals. The research was supported by Shell, through the MIT Energy Initiative. A paper on their work is published in the ACS journal Langmuir.

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MIT researchers develop oxygen permeable membrane that converts CO2 to CO

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MIT researchers have developed a new system that could potentially be used for converting power plant emissions of carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide, and thence into useful fuels for cars, trucks, and planes, as well as into chemical feedstocks for a wide variety of products.

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MIT researchers significantly increase lifetimes of solid oxide fuel cells by changing pH

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MIT researchers have found that changing the pH of the system can increase the lifetimes of a range of technologies including fuel cells. The MIT work essentially shows how to recover—and speed up—that ability by changing the surface acidity. They can also be made without using costly metals like platinum.

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MIT proof-of-concept demo of ionic wind propulsion for aircraft

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MIT researchers have demonstrated that an aircraft with a 5-meter wingspan can sustain steady-level flight using ionic-wind propulsion. The MIT team’s final design resembles a large, lightweight glider. In this way, the batteries supply electricity at 40,000 volts to positively charge the wires via a lightweight power converter.

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MIT team engineers yeast to be more tolerant to toxic byproducts, boosting biofuels production; “tolerance module”

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To try to expand biofuels’ potential impact, a team of MIT engineers has now found a way to expand the use of a wider range of nonfood feedstocks to produce such fuels. The MIT researchers developed a way to circumvent that toxicity, making it feasible to use those sources, which are much more plentiful, to produce biofuels.

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Angela Belcher wins $500,000 2013 Lemelson-MIT Prize

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MIT professor Angela Belcher has been named the recipient of this year’s $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize, which honors an outstanding inventor dedicated to improving the world through technological invention. In 2007, Belcher co-founded Siluria Technologies, which converts lower-value methane gas into high-value liquid transportation fuel.

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