Biodiesel Breakthrough
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin have published a promising new process for creating biodiesel from plant material. It’s another exicting develpment in what I think will lead to the replacement of petroleum based diesel fuel in my lifetime.
Traditional biodiesel refining uses only the fatty acids of a plant, which typically make up less than 10 percent of the mass of dried plants. Rather than converting only the fat, this new method promises to turn all of the dried plant material, including roots, stems, leaves, and fruit, into biodiesel or heat energy.
The other exciting element of this process is that it’s exothermic–it creates heat. Ethanol production, currently a large part of the biofuels industry, requires 1 unit of heat to create just over 1 unit of energy. That need for heat makes it expensive to produce. If the UW process can be scaled up, it could produce biodiesel at very low wholesale price–likely less than diesel fuel.
