Biofuels

Tiny microbes could brew big benefits for green biomanufacturing

May 10, 2023

Green industrial illustration

A team of scientists from the College of Chemistry and Berkeley Lab find a new route in bacteria to decarbonize industry. The discovery could reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the manufacturing of fuels, drugs, and chemicals. Specifically, the team is looking at a metabolic process in bacteria that could be a sustainable source of carbon-based...

Michelle Chang awarded the Dr. Margaret Faul Award for Women in Chemistry

April 28, 2023

Michelle Chang

The College of Chemistry is delighted to announce that Professor of Chemistry and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Michelle Chang has been chosen as the 2023 recipient of the Dr. Margaret Faul Award for Women in Chemistry.

The award was...

How a record-breaking copper catalyst converts CO2 into liquid fuels

February 21, 2023

Artist’s rendering of a copper nanoparticle as it evolves during CO2 electrolysisArtist’s rendering of a copper nanoparticle as it evolves during CO2 electrolysis: Copper nanoparticles (left) combine into larger metallic copper “nanograins” (right) within seconds of the electrochemical...

Discovery could lead to new fungicides to protect rice crops

February 13, 2023

healthy rice field

Blast disease destroys between 10% and 35% of the world’s rice harvest each year. A new discovery could lead to fungicides that block the pathogen, Magnaporthe oryzae, from entering the leaves. This photo of a healthy rice field was taken in Chengdu, China, in 2019. (Photo credit: Nicholas Talbot)

A fungus that plagues rice crops worldwide gains entry...

Bacteria for blastoff: Using microbes to make supercharged new rocket fuel

July 1, 2022

Illustration of rocket fuel from bacteria

Scientists turned to an oddball bacterial molecule that looks like a jaw full of sharp teeth to create a new type of fuel that could be used for all types of vehicles, including rockets. (Credit: Jenny Nuss/Berkeley Lab)

Converting petroleum into fuels involves crude chemistry...

Microbes provide sustainable hydrocarbons for petrochemical industry

January 7, 2022

Illustration of a bio-petroleum process

Researchers from UC Berkeley and the NSF Center for Sustainable Polymers have developed a chemical technology that combines fermentation and chemical refining (center panels) to produce petroleum-like liquids (right) from renewable plants (left). (Image by John Beumer, courtesy of NSF Center for Sustainable Polymers)...

Liquid Sunlight: The Evolution of Photosynthetic Biohybrids

August 23, 2021

Energy innovation utilizing carbon dioxide, air, and water

This is an excerpt of an article in Nano Letters by Peidong Yang, S.K. and Angela Chan Distinguished Professor of...

Nano-sized sensors learn new biological tricks

September 23, 2020

fluorophore labeled DNA

Rebecca Pinals mixes SWNTs with fluorophore-labeled DNA to create a nanosensor, then measures their optical response as they interact with biomolecules. (Photo credit: Rebecca Pinals).

In spite of the tremendous advances in modern medicine, there are still mysteries about routine processes in the human body that continue to...

Potential new way to boost biofuels and bioproducts production

November 27, 2018

Itay Budin and Jay KeaslingJBEI researchers gain understanding of central metabolism of bacteria and yeast species commonly used in biotechnology.