Bioenergy visionaries with Algae and bacteria aren't the only players in town trying to corner the market on the 'future of biofuels'.  We cannot forget the Chemists.

Biofuels are expanding along two paths- one is based on Chemical engineering, the other on biological processes.

Chemistry vs Biology
We can create biofuels by applying Chemical Engineering processes (e.g. ethanol via fermentation, or biodiesel via transesterfication) with high reliability and scale, but usually at a high cost.  

Or we can let Mother Nature do the work. Biology taps the power of algae and bacteria that contain special enzymes that reorganize molecules into a format that can be used to make biofuels, or converted into electricity via a fuel cell.

Biology could offer lower cost and turn carbon emissions into a feedstock, but first we must overcome challenges of scaling up volume production, and the unpredictable nature of biomolecular systems.

Wisconsin Focuses on Path of Chemistry
For now, chemical conversion is the more immediate opportunity and fits within the current paradigm of processing energy and materials feedstocks.  And engineers are working to overcome the challenges to reduce the number of steps, and facilitate reactions at a lower temperature with non-toxic, abundant resources.

Now scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed a two-step method to convert cellulose into a biofuel called DMF.  Professor Ronald Raines and graduate student Joseph Binder highlight the two step process:  First, they convert the cellulose of untreated Biomass into the "platform" chemical 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) which is used in 'a variety of valuable commodity chemicals'. Generally HMF is made using processed glucose or fructose rather than Raw Biomass.

Step Two: Creating a New Biofuel with Gasoline Qualities

Category: Energy
Year: 2013
Tags: energy, biofuels, bioenergy, cellulosic, algae, chemistry