FROM: Your Energy Department
Improving Sensors to Monitor Diesel Quality
Sensors that monitor the quality of diesel fuel and biodiesel blends during engine operation are currently unable to adequately detect certain important fuel quality concerns, but a University of Illinois ag engineer is helping find a better way.
Ethanol Energy Balance Continues to Improve
Remember when there was substantial debate on whether corn ethanol produced more net energy relative to the amount of fossil energy required to manufacture it? Two recent studies confirm that ethanol’s energy balance now far exceeds the 1-to-1 ratio and is closer to 1.4-to-1, according to a North Dakota biofuels economist.
Bio-Based Process Produces Fuel Additive
Iowa State University (ISU) researchers have developed a new, bio-based method for producing a much-used fuel additive and industrial chemical currently made from petroleum products, and this could be a boon to the biofuels industry.
Former CRP Land May Offer Option for
While the search is on for the best energy source to heat our homes and power our vehicles of the future, biomass may offer solutions. Researchers are still trying to determine what crops will work best and on what land they should be grown, but former Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres might provide a solution.
