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Scientists in the United States have developed a "green gasoline" identical to standard gasoline but made from plant matter, researchers reported Monday.
Writing in Monday's issue of the journal Chemistry & Sustainability, Energy & Materials, the researchers led by University of Massachusetts-Amherst chemical engineer George Huber report the first direct conversion of plant cellulose, from sources such as switchgrass and poplar trees, into gasoline components — what the researchers call "green gasoline."
"The general conclusion from this study is that high-quality aromatic fuel additives can be produced directly from solid biomass feedstocks by catalytic fast pyrolysis in a single catalytic reactor at short residence times," the researchers wrote.
Huber, assisted by graduate students Torren Carlson and Tushar Vispute, rapidly heated cellulose in the presence of materials that speed up reactions, then quickly cooled the products to create a liquid that contains many of the compounds found in gasoline.
The researchers reported that the entire process was completed in less than two minutes using "intermediate" heat, limiting the carbon footprint of fuel creation.
The researchers said the resulting liquid could be further treated to receive the remaining components of fuel or could be used "as is" for a high octane blend.
They added that "it is likely that advances in understanding the chemistry of catalytic fast pyrolysis combined with the development of improved catalytic materials, which are specifically designed for biomass conversion, will lead to further process improvements."
In the same journal, researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison announced a process for creating the chemical components of jet fuel as a "green gasoline." The researchers had previously shown that the fuel could be created in separate steps, but the new research demonstrated that the gas could be made in sequence.
Both sets of researchers said in a release that while it may be five to 10 years before green gasoline becomes mainstream, "these breakthroughs have bypassed significant hurdles to bringing green gasoline biofuels to market."
"It is likely that the future consumer will not even know that they are putting biofuels into their car," Huber said in the release.
"Biofuels in the future will most likely be similar in chemical composition to gasoline and diesel fuel used today. The challenge for chemical engineers is to efficiently produce liquid fuels from biomass while fitting into the existing infrastructure today."
Writing in Monday's issue of the journal Chemistry & Sustainability, Energy & Materials, the researchers led by University of Massachusetts-Amherst chemical engineer George Huber report the first direct conversion of plant cellulose, from sources such as switchgrass and poplar trees, into gasoline components — what the researchers call "green gasoline."
"The general conclusion from this study is that high-quality aromatic fuel additives can be produced directly from solid biomass feedstocks by catalytic fast pyrolysis in a single catalytic reactor at short residence times," the researchers wrote.
Huber, assisted by graduate students Torren Carlson and Tushar Vispute, rapidly heated cellulose in the presence of materials that speed up reactions, then quickly cooled the products to create a liquid that contains many of the compounds found in gasoline.
The researchers reported that the entire process was completed in less than two minutes using "intermediate" heat, limiting the carbon footprint of fuel creation.
The researchers said the resulting liquid could be further treated to receive the remaining components of fuel or could be used "as is" for a high octane blend.
They added that "it is likely that advances in understanding the chemistry of catalytic fast pyrolysis combined with the development of improved catalytic materials, which are specifically designed for biomass conversion, will lead to further process improvements."
In the same journal, researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison announced a process for creating the chemical components of jet fuel as a "green gasoline." The researchers had previously shown that the fuel could be created in separate steps, but the new research demonstrated that the gas could be made in sequence.
Both sets of researchers said in a release that while it may be five to 10 years before green gasoline becomes mainstream, "these breakthroughs have bypassed significant hurdles to bringing green gasoline biofuels to market."
"It is likely that the future consumer will not even know that they are putting biofuels into their car," Huber said in the release.
"Biofuels in the future will most likely be similar in chemical composition to gasoline and diesel fuel used today. The challenge for chemical engineers is to efficiently produce liquid fuels from biomass while fitting into the existing infrastructure today."
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