The French company Global Bioenergies has partnered with the Aviation Initiative for Renewable Energy in Germany (AIREG). Both organizations plan to advance renewable, low-carbon fuels in the aviation sector.

Global Bioenergies plans on producing the first bio-jet fuel batches using bio-isobutene produced from their industrial pilot facility in Germany, which will use sugars, including those from waste wood and straw to produce alternative jet fuel.

AIREG is promoting the development and use of renewable liquid fuels in order to reduce carbon release from the aviation sector. AIREG aims to replace 10% of the German jet fuel demand with alternative aviation fuels by 2025.

Oakland Biofuels plans to turn bracken, ferns that infests Welsh farmers' land and reduce their grazing space, into biofuel.

"Bracken has been the scourge of most hill and upland farms for many years and is rapidly becoming out of control as its growing area increases year on year due, partly, to the change in climate," said company boss Jeremy Oakley. "Wales will be seen as the location for a pioneering solution to two European wide problems — bracken management and ethanol production."

Mr. Oakley managed to source some lightweight remote controlled machines which are specially built to harvest grass and biomass from steep hillsides, where bracken are usually found. He plans to make arrangements with Welsh farmers to cut bracken throughout the year.

There would be no direct financial benefit from this activity for farmers, but should allow them access to land which might otherwise be untenable.

Neste has begun the construction of the world's first Bio-liquid petroleum gas (LPG) production facility in Rotterdam. The facility will start production of Bio-LPG in the end of 2016.

Bio LPG will enable users of existing fossil fuels to reduce their carbon footprint without any modifications to existing gas applications technology. The bio-LPG can be used within a full range of LPG applications. SHV Energy will be the exclusive distributor, supplying the 160,000 tonnes over four years.

"Bio-LPG can be used within a full range of existing LPG applications. This provides our customers with an even cleaner rural energy alternative to the high-carbon fuels many are dependent on in off-grid areas," said Fulco van Lede, management board member of SHV Energy.

Contamination of corn mash by lactic acid bacteria (LAB) reduces the efficiency of ethanol fermentation. The industry relies on antibiotics to control it but an alternative method is also needed.

Researchers led by Mei Liu of Ecolyse Incorporated studied the bacteria contaminating ethanol fermentations, and tested the potential of bacteriophages in controlling LAB. Bacterial samples in corn mash from commercial plants were determined. Several genus of LAB were found but Lactobacillus was the most prevalent genus at all fermentation stages in all plants.

Two bacteriophages that target Lactobacillus species namely, vB_LfeS_EcoSau and vB_LfeM_EcoInf (EcoSau and EcoInf), were then isolated and tested against a L. fermentum. Addition of the phages to the contaminated corn mash restored ethanol fermentation and reduced the levels of residual glucose, lactic acid, and acetic acid to levels comparable to infection-free samples.

This study suggests that phages which target a range of LAB species can be applied directly to corn mash for antibiotic-free control of contamination.

Researchers at Cardiff University have found a way to increase the yield of biodiesel using the waste from its production process.

Using simple catalysis, researchers led by Cardiff University's Professor Graham Hutchings can recycle the by-product when biodiesel is produced from vegetable oil, and converted into an ingredient to generate more biodiesel. This new process will have significant environmental benefits and could potentially reduce the costs of the biodiesel production. Their results have been published in Nature Chemistry.

Researchers developed a way to turn crude glycerol back to methanol, which could be used to create more biodiesel. To achieve this, the researchers reacted glycerol with water and added a magnesium oxide (MgO) catalyst. The reaction involved a simple one-step process and could be performed using mild conditions.

Using the recycled methanol, the researchers estimate up to a 10 percent increase in biodiesel production. The work is currently in its early stages and researchers will look to optimize the design of the catalyst and significantly increase its activity and selectivity.

Scientists have long been interested in the potential for large-scale oil synthesis from microalgae. Hiroyuki Ohta at Tokyo Institute of Technology, together with scientists from institutions across Tokyo has found a way of enhancing the production of triacylglycerols in the Nannochloropsis algal strain NIES-2145, increasing its oil synthesis.

Triacylglycerols (TAGs) are lipids which are the backbone to biofuels. In the algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, TAGs accumulate rapidly following the overexpression of the enzyme CrDGTT4, which is triggered by the gene promoter SQD2. The researchers then placed both CrDGTT4 from C. reinhardtii and its SQD2 promoter into NIES-2145. The promoter was able to drive CrDGTT4 expression in NIES-2145 under phosphorus starvation and increased its production of TAGs.

The findings point to the possibility of genetically manipulating the production of TAGs, and therefore biofuel production, in multiple microalgal strains. However, further studies are needed to fully understand lipid production during phosphorus starvation.