“You have improved our lives in ways that are practical and inspirational,” said President Barack Obama. He saluted the top U.S. researchers with the highest honors bestowed by the U.S. government, the National Science and Technology Medals. At the White House ceremony on February 1, he honored 12 winners for the National Medals of Science [...]

This past weekend, the Paris Air Show witnessed two historic firsts: the first transatlantic flight on biofuels, closely followed by the second, which involved a much larger jet (although a smaller percentage of bio–jet fuel).  Honeywell’s corporate Gulfstream G450 sped from North America to Europe burning a 50–50 blend of kerosene derived from fossil algae [...]

SAN DIEGO—Researchers are continuing to develop strains of algae that yield a greater volume of oily compounds that can be processed into biofuels. But as more new and established companies examine how to scale up lab processes to commercial levels, scientists and engineers seem to be finding that standalone operations may not be economically viable. [...]

The Swedes, those latter-day descendants of bloodthirsty Vikings, have found a new use for rabbits: heating fuel. According to Der Spiegel, stray rabbits in Stockholm are being shot, frozen and then shipped to a heating plant to be incinerated. In the Swedes’ defense, the bunnies are a menace; a plague of wild and stray pet [...]

For every 10 ears of corn that are grown in the United States today, only 2 are consumed directly by humans as food. The remaining 8 are used in almost equal shares for animal feed and for ethanol. And, for the 12 months from August 2011 to 2012, the U.S. biofuels industry used more corn [...]