Statoil, Bio Architecture Lab Team Up on Seaweed-to-Ethanol Project
In the race to develop better biofuels, no self-respecting oil company wants to be left behind. In recent years, we’ve seen Shell, Exxon, BP, and Chevron invest hundreds of millions in biofuel technology. Statoil, one of the world’s largest offshore oil and gas producers, has decided to get on board with a seaweed-to-ethanol project.
As part of a strategic partnership with startup Bio Architecture Lab, Statoil will fund research and development for BAL’s technology, which converts Norwegian seaweed (aka macro algae) into ethanol. Statoil will be responsible for managing seaweed aquafarming operations, and the two companies will work together to develop a demonstration facility in Norway. If all goes well, Statoil will begin large-scale commercialization in the country and elsewhere in Europe.
The first big steps towards commercialization of the seaweed to biofuels is big news. Though it is the science behind the new approach to producing biofuel that makes that step possible. Bio Architecture Lab’s technology is based on a breakthrough in a genetically modified strain of Escherichia coli bacterium which digests the sugar in algae called alginate. I’m not sure that such a process can ever reach a scale that it replaces fossil fuels. Norway already retails a biofuel-fossil fuel blend. This might be the kind of niche market that extends or supplements fossil fuels. In one study comparing petroleum based diesel against a diesel-biofuel blend CO2 emissions were cut by 78% using the blend.
Related - Science Magazine Showcases Groundbreaking Bio Architecture Lab Technology that Efficiently Converts Seaweed to Renewable Fuels and Chemicals( pdf) and The Bullseye Fuel: BAL and its macroalgae-based biofuels
Largest Solar Storm Since 2005 to Hit Earth Tuesday
Last night the sun unleashed a flash of radiation called a solar flare, along with a generous belch of ionized matter that is now racing toward Earth at thousands of kilometers a second.
Not the end of the world but that ionized matter could knock some communication satellites out of commission for a little while. Kind of like a brief blackout. If that does occur let’s hope it is brief anyway.
Some recent new federal standards limiting pollution that contains mercury from power plants was great for humans. The new standards should help wildlife as well – Mercury’s Harmful Reach Has Grown, Study Suggests
Methylmercury, the most toxic form of the heavy metal, was found to be widespread throughout the Northeast — not just in lakes and rivers, as had already been known, but also in forests, on mountaintops and in bogs and marshes that are home to birds long thought to be at minimal risk.
The new study found dangerously high levels of mercury in several Northeastern bird species, including rusty blackbirds, saltmarsh sparrows and wood thrushes. Previous studies have shown mercury’s effects on loons and other fish-eating waterfowl, as well as bald eagles, panthers and otters. In one study, zebra finches lost the ability to hit high notes in mating songs when mercury levels rose, affecting reproduction.
Children and birds are susceptible to detrimental health effects at about the same methylmercury concentrations as birds. So if the birds are suffering the effects of mercury pollution that should serve as a red light for human health as well.
Science Bulletins: Whales Give Dolphins a Lift
Many species interact in the wild, most often as predator and prey. But recent encounters between humpback whales and bottlenose dolphins reveal a playful side to interspecies interaction. In two different locations in Hawaii, scientists watched as dolphins “rode” the heads of whales: the whales lifted the dolphins up and out of the water, and then the dolphins slid back down. The two species seemed to cooperate in the activity, and neither displayed signs of aggression or distress. Whales and dolphins in Hawaiian waters often interact, but playful social activity such as this is extremely rare between species. The latest Bio Bulletin from the Museum’s Science Bulletins program presents the first recorded examples of this type of behavior. Visitors to AMNH may view the video in the Hall of Biodiversity until February 9, 2012.
Science Bulletins is a production of the National Center for Science Literacy, Education, and Technology (NCSLET), part of the Department of Education at the American Museum of Natural History. Find out more about Science Bulletins at http://www.amnh.org/sciencebulletins/.
A few blogs have discovered this video and many of them have noted the first comment, – the dolphin is like “we? both used to be land animals, isn’t that crazy? clearly we need to hang out.” It has long been known that whales and dolphins interact on occasion, this is one of those rare moments when two of those occasions were caught on film. Dolphins and Humpback whales are related, they both belong to the Order Cetacea.
This news just came in, Oldest dinosaur nests discovered in South Africa
Massospondylus nesting site – with fossilised eggs and tiny footprints – is 100m years older than any previously discovered
The embryonic skeleton of a Massospondylus dinosaur found in South Africa. Photograph AFPGetty Images
The nests belonged to Massospondylus, a six-meter tall (20′) ancestor of long-necked “sauropod” dinosaurs that lived 190m years ago.
