Award Data

Biomass is a renewable resource with high potential to achieve cost effective, reliable, and environmentally friendly energy to the American consumer, but yet is still deemed inefficient. First, current methodologies only allow conversion of cellulosic materials into biofuel, leaving energy-rich hemicellulosic material unutilized. Second, even though carbohydrate conversion is the focus of biomass ...

Globalization of our seafood supply, the lack of international standards, and the numerous reported instances of fraudulent labeling of seafood products has reduced consumer confidence in seafood across the country. In addition, concerns of this rampant mislabeling of seafood products, which could lead to seafood safety issues, have prompted many to look at traceability as a means to track seafood ...

The SPORL process consists of reacting wood chips with a solution of calcium, magnesium, or sulfite at elevated temperatures for a short time, and then size reducing the resulting material using a disk refiner to generate fibrous substrate for subsequent saccharification and fermentation. The work is a collaborative effort between industry, university, and federal agencies. Forest biomass is a ver ...

Fresh fruit, vegetables, and flowers are transported and stored in refrigerated containers. As the produce ripens, ethylene gas is produced, which further ripens the product and can lead to premature spoilage. Most fruits and vegetables emit ethylene gas which promotes ripening. Certain species, such as apples and bananas, produce more ethylene than others. Elevated ethylene levels can significant ...

Agricultural equipment powered using hydrocarbon fuels emit VOCs, CO, soot, particulates, and NOx. However, controlling and reducing these emissions can impose a heavy economic burden on farmers and the agricultural industry. For example, equipment powered by two cycle engines cannot economically employ catalytic converter technology for highway gasoline and diesel engines. Thus, economic control ...

Johne's disease (JD) is a significant problem in animal health, and this is underscored by its identification by the USDA as the most important infectious disease in ruminants and one of the priority diseases for 2009/2010. Infection with MAP usually occurs after birth and infected calves go through a short period with mild or no symptoms during which they shed the bacteria in feces. This short pe ...

Insecticidal efficacy is a major insecticide market driver. In 2004, InsectiGen, Inc. announced a scientific breakthrough, BtBooster, a new technology that enhances the performance of the leading biopesticide, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). Although extended efforts to improve Bt biopesticides have led to the discovery of over 250 cry genes, only a few are deployed in Bt plants. BtBooster is a pepti ...

Anaerobic digesters are capable of producing methane-rich biogas from animal manure and also offer the advantages of controlling odors, reducing pathogens, and minimizing the environmental impact of the waste. The biogas produced from anaerobic digesters is a renewable, distributed source of energy that can be used to generate electricity to offset power consumption on farms. Unfortunately, biogas ...

Plant-eating insect pests cause significant economic loss in commercial greenhouse growing operations, sometimes amounting to tens of thousands of dollars per hectare. Insects as a vector of plant pathogens also rank very high on the problem list for greenhouse/hothouse growers. Integrated Pest Management is a pest control strategy that "uses an array of complementary methods: mechanical devices, ...

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that foodborne diseases cause 76 million illnesses and 5,000 deaths in the United States each year. Among outbreaks for which the cause was determined, bacterial pathogens caused the largest percentage of outbreaks (55%) and the largest percentage of cases (55%). Currently treatment of produce is done with chlorinated water to reduce populations of pa ...