While design and development are often thought of as separate disciplines, there are people out there who have mastered both. Even if someone is only interested in being a designer or a developer—not both—it’s valuable to learn at least the basics of the other discipline. There are a couple of reasons developers might want to learn design, or at...
New CoStar Feature Spotlights New Projects and Construction Entering the Commercial Real Estate Development Pipeline With all the unsettling economic headlines, it's important to also hear about what's going right in today's commercial real estate market. CoStar Group has launched a new column on significant land sales, transactions and...
"Put a tree in your tank." Fuel companies aren't touting that slogan. At least not yet. But thanks to research done in part by Bruce Dale, Michigan State University professor of chemical engineering and materials science, making fuels from poplar trees and corn stalks is becoming more efficient and cost-effective. Dale is...
A new variety of corn developed and patented by Michigan State University scientists could turn corn leaves and stalks into products that are just as valuable as the golden kernels. Right now, most U.S. ethanol is made from corn kernels. This is because breaking down the cellulose in corn leaves and stalks into sugars that can be fermented...
With oil prices skyrocketing, the search is on for efficient and sustainable biofuels. Research published this month in Agronomy Journal examines one biofuel crop contender: corn stover. Corn stover is made up of the leaves and stalks of corn plants that are left in the field after harvesting the edible corn grain. Corn stover could supply...
Make Your Own Biodiesel Fuel with Vegetable OilThe main ingredient when you make biodiesel is vegetable oil, which can be either unused vegetable oil or used oil from restaurants and other sources. By processing the vegetable oil with alcohol, the same item that you use in your kitchen can be used to power vehicles or machinery! In addition...
“Green Machine” heads for Great Taste of the Midwest Beer Festival in Madison, WI powered by biodiesel made at Michigan Brewing Co. On Friday, August 8th, 2008, a team from Michigan Brewing Company (MBC) rolled out to the Great Taste of the Midwest Beer Festival in Madison, WI. Their vehicle: The “Green Machine” – a 1-ton Ford F-350...
U.S. Firm Transfers Environmental And Energy Conservation Technology To China Cleaner air, more power, better fuel economy for China. Thanks to a U.S. brand of fuel catalyst technology named ClearAir Plus™ it has been made possible. The technology has a broad based application making it effective with virtually every internal combustion engine...
Zack Burkum and Stephen Knight are a pair of 20-year-olds driving what they believe is the state's first eco-friendly taxi service. Green Chauffeur sprang as much from exasperation as innovation. "We were both working at Denny's," Burkum recalled. "Stephen tried to earn some extra cash driving a cab. "One day, he put in 12...
Rentech refines gas-to-liquid synfuel, Coal-to-liquid fuel company Rentech Inc. has produced liquid synthetic fuel at its demonstration plant in Commerce City using natural gas as the feedstock. The company said in January it had about 250 employees, including 100 in Denver. The company built a $45 million demonstration plant in Commerce City to...