Next-generation biofuels: nearly identical to gasoline and diesel
Existing infrastructure—including refineries and pipelines—will be able to handle biocrude and biodiesel, allowing for easy adoption, say biotech companies
By Melinda Wenner
LS9 aims to ship its biocrude to refineries in 2011. Photo by Mike Moya
The biofuel industry has had a bumpy few years: Ethanol is still a Department of Energy golden child, but recent studies raise serious questions about its viability. Production could eat up half of America’s corn crop this year, potentially causing food shortages, and some say that ethanol manufacturing uses more energy than it produces. What’s more, the fuel’s corrosiveness makes it unsuitable for distribution via existing petroleum pipelines. But two new biotech companies believe biofuels can leapfrog past these problems, and they’re each engineering fuels that are virtually identical to the gasoline and diesel we use today.
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.plentymag.com/blog-mt1/mt-tb.cgi/4758
