Green Gasoline Created From Biomass
By Nick April 15, 2008
‘Green Gasoline’ is a liquid identical to regular gasoline in energy, but made from biomass sources such as poplar trees and switchgrass. Researchers seem to have finally discovered a way to create this sort of fuel, that could be of tremendous help to the U.S. economy, eliminating the need to import expensive oil supplies and the need to grow corn for producing ethanol.
Chemical engineer George Huber from the National Science Foundation and two of his graduate students presented the first direct conversion of plant cellulose into gasoline components. The study shows the steps can run sequentially without purification or complex separation processes between reactors.
Huber says that future biofuels will be similar to gasoline in the chemical composition and that the challenge is to produce efficient fuels from biomass that would integrate in the existing infrastructure. The understanding of the chemical reactions used in this process is likely to design more efficient ways to commercialize green gasoline.
Topics: Energy |
11 Responses to “Green Gasoline Created From Biomass”
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make more!
Oh good, Another way to kill trees.
If this new gasoline is similar in chemical composition to gasoline, that entails similar in carbon emissions as well, yes? The name “green gasoline” strikes me as a bit of green washing. I’m all for energy independence and stopping drilling for oil and all that, but I thought that Al Gore had decreed that we’re not to use fuels which violently disrupt the balance of gasses in the air.
Yeah, it is great until you realize how long it takes to grow a poplar tree and the amount of land needed to grow enough switch grass to replace the oil we currently use.
[...] Website: Green Gasoline via Ecofuss [...]
This sounds really great. But I must ask the question: how will this effect our trees in the long run? It sounds like we would be using a lot of trees for this. I am not some tree hugger, however, it is a concern.
It’s not green, it’s clear.
If there were cheaper fuels to produce than petroleum-based products, the industry would be promoting them by now, as a matter of economic necessity. Bio-Fuels contradict the environmentalists’ stance of protecting trees and plants. These latter fuels are more expensive to produce, and the processes required to produce them make these fuels much less efficient than “demon oil.”
Sugar-gas like they use (60%) in Brazil NOW!
I agree, how can this be deemed a good idea? Ok you’re not using fossil fuels or relying on other nations to supply you will a source of fuel, but at the cost of what? Destroying the nation’s ecology because you’ve convinced yourself that trees are a renewable resource. You know how long it takes for those trees to grow, not to mention the damage you’d inflict on the ecosystem. It might start out as a controlled plan, but you know there are going to be competing companies that only see the green of money and not the environment and will subsequently mow down everything in their path in the name of boosting revenue. ‘Green Gas’? hardly. And I like that they’re calling in ‘Biomass’ instead of trees, I imagine it will help them sleep at night.
I believe many people are right on how this is killing trees and yes we may be despairate but i don’t believe this is the road we should take since we alreadly destroyed way to many animal habitats plus look at how the human population growth is growing…WE should just learn how to walk like how we used to in the old days…even though it doesn’t sound fun i think we’ve been spoiled for too long.