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Boosting Galactan Sugars Could Boost Biofuel Production

By Guest PostDecember 23, 2012Environmentai oikawa, april liwanag, arabidopsis thaliana, atmosphere, berit ebert, berkeley lab, bioenergy fuel crops, biofuels, carbon neutral, carsten rautengarten, cellulosic biomass, denmark, diesel, emilie rennie, enzyme, ethanol, ferment, fuels, galactan, galactan synthase, galactose, gals1, gals2, gals3, gasoline, gt92 enzyme, gt92 proteins, henrik scheller, jet fuels, mads clausen, mathias andersen, mechanical stress, miscanthus, overexpressors, pentoses, plant cell walls, polymer, six carbon sugar, snowfall, switchgrass, technical university, wind, yeast, yves verhertbruggen, β galactan synthase

Collaboration at JBEI Identifies the First Enzyme Linked to Galactan Synthesis

Galactan is a polymer of galactose, a six-carbon sugar that can be readily fermented by yeast into ethanol and is a target of interest for researchers in advanced biofuels produced from cellulosic biomass. Now an international collaboration led by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) has identified the first enzyme capable of substantially boosting the amount of galactan in plant cell walls.

Unlike ethanol, advanced biofuels synthesized from the sugars in plant cells walls could replace gasoline, diesel and jet fuels on a gallon-for-gallon basis and be dropped into today’s engines and infrastructures with no modifications required. Also, adanced biofuels have the potential to be carbon-neutral, meaning they could be burned without adding excess carbon to the atmosphere. Among the key challenges to making advanced biofuels cost competitive is finding ways to maximize the amount of plant cell wall sugars that can be fermented into fuels. (more…)

NASA Observations Point to ‘Dry Ice’ Snowfall on Mars

By Guest PostSeptember 13, 2012Sciencecarbon dioxide, data, david kass, dry ice, frozen, ice, jpl, mars, mars climate sounder, martian air, martian atmosphere, NASA, particle, paul hayne, phoenix lander, polar caps, reconnaissance orbiter, red planet, residual cap, snow, snow cloud, snowfall, solar system, water

PASADENA, Calif. — NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter data have given scientists the clearest evidence yet of carbon-dioxide snowfalls on Mars. This reveals the only known example of carbon-dioxide snow falling anywhere in our solar system.

Frozen carbon dioxide, better known as “dry ice,” requires temperatures of about minus 193 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 125 Celsius), which is much colder than needed for freezing water. Carbon-dioxide snow reminds scientists that although some parts of Mars may look quite Earth-like, the Red Planet is very different. The report is being published in the Journal of Geophysical Research. (more…)

Rising Air Pollution Worsens Drought, Flooding UMD-Led Study Shows

By Guest PostNovember 14, 2011Environmentaerosols, air pollution, air pollution and climate change, beijing normal university, climate change, climate scientist, cloud development, cloud drops, daniel rosenfeld, dust, economic gains, global satellite products, greenhouse gases and aerosol particles, hazardous to both human health and the environment, ice crystals, impact of aerosols on cloud height and thickness, intensity of severe storms, management and use of water resources, NASA, oklahoma, particulate matter in the atmosphere, polluted deep clouds, precipitation in dry regions or seasons, probability of heavy rain, rain, russell dickerson, small particles, snowfall, soot, stephen e schwartz, steve ghan, sulfate particles, tiny solid particles or liquid particles suspended in air, tony busalacchi, university of maryland, urbanization, us southern great plains, weather and climate, zhanqing li

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Increases in air pollution and other particulate matter in the atmosphere can strongly affect cloud development in ways that reduce precipitation in dry regions or seasons, while increasing rain, snowfall and the intensity of severe storms in wet regions or seasons, says a new study by a University of Maryland-led team of researchers.

The research provides the first clear evidence of how aerosols — soot, dust and other small particles in the atmosphere — can affect weather and climate; and the findings have important implications for the availability, management and use of water resources in regions across the United States and around the world, say the researchers and other scientists. (more…)

Shrinking Snow and Ice Cover Intensify Global Warming

By Guest PostJanuary 19, 2011Environmentalbedo feedback, atmospheric carbon dioxide, atmospheric cooling effect, atmospheric water vapor, climate, climate perturbations, cryosphere, cryospheric albedo feedback, cryospheric feedback, earth, eastern sierras, global warming, ice cover, ice melts, karen shell, mark flanner, models, northern hemisphere, satellite data, snow, snowfall, sun light

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— The decreases in Earth’s snow and ice cover over the past 30 years have exacerbated global warming more than models predict they should have, on average, new research from the University of Michigan shows.

To conduct this study, Mark Flanner, assistant professor in the Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences, analyzed satellite data showing snow and ice during the past three decades in the Northern Hemisphere, which holds the majority of the planet’s frozen surface area. The research is newly published online in Nature Geoscience. (more…)

Tag Archives: snowfall

Boosting Galactan Sugars Could Boost Biofuel Production

NASA Observations Point to ‘Dry Ice’ Snowfall on Mars

Rising Air Pollution Worsens Drought, Flooding UMD-Led Study Shows

Shrinking Snow and Ice Cover Intensify Global Warming