Green Gasoline May Soon Power Your Car

Green-Fuel-Production-process-George-Huber

George Huber poses with a vial of green gasoline compounds. Credit: Robert Coolman, UMass Amherst

Pilot-scale tests have proven successful for a new “green” source of gasoline, and will be scaled up into a demonstration chemical plant soon. This is according to a recent report from the National Science Foundation.

“This is a great time to be in this field. As the price of oil increases, it gives opportunities to future engineers,” said George Huber heading up the research at the University of Massachusetts. “It’s up to the new generation to find solutions for the future.”

The research headed by Huber focuses on converting sawdust and switchgrass into “green gasoline”. According to Huber and the research, the fuel may be available or mixed with traditional gasoline in the near future.

“Unless there’s a sign that tells you so, you won’t even know your gas is ‘green,'” said Huber. “It has zero carbon footprint. The CO2 from your car is recycled to the plant when it re-grows.”

The new process is amazingly eco friendly and uses very little external power sources to product the fuels. The diagram explains the flow of the process as the sawdust and grasses are converted to Carbon Dioxide, Water, Air and Gasoline.

Green-Gasoline-A diagram of catalytic pyrolysis. Credit: Robert Coolman, UMass Amherst

A diagram of catalytic pyrolysis. Credit: Robert Coolman, UMass Amherst

To get a better understanding of the process as well as an understanding of how plants store energy, read the full NSF article at:http://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?org=NSF&cntn_id=121256&preview=false

About D Robert Curry

D Robert Curry - with over 2 decades of experience in the IT sector and an avid aviator, Mr. Curry covers all Science & Technology and Aviation realted news stories. drcurry@newstaar.com