Jets fuelled by sugar rush

摘要

Engineers in the US claim to have developed an efficient process that selectively converts the biomass derivative gamma-valerolac-tone (GVL) into the chemical equivalent of jet fuel.rnThe process, developed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is said to preserve about 95 per cent of the energy from the original biomass, requires little hydrogen input and captures carbon dioxide under high pressure for future use.rnPrevious studies on cellulosic biomass for biofuels by Prof James Dumesic focussed on converting plant-based sugars into fuels.rnHowever, sugar molecules degrade to form levulinic acid and formic acid, two products the previous methods couldn't readily transform into high-energy liquid fuels.