Editor's Summary
21 June 2007
Towards better biofuels
With petrol prices on the rise, biofuels are big news these days. For applications in the transportation sector, perhaps the best known liquid biofuel is biomass-derived ethanol. But ethanol has its limitations: it is highly volatile, absorbs water and has a low energy density. A team from the University of Wisconsin-Madison has developed a two-step catalytic process that can convert fructose into a potentially better liquid biofuel, 2,5-dimethylfuran (DMF). This has 40%-higher energy density and a higher boiling point than ethanol, and is not water soluble. Fructose can be made directly from biomass or from glucose and although there's some work needed before DMF production can be made commercially viable, this new catalytic process looks promising.
News and Views: Chemical engineering: Hybrid routes to biofuels
Traditional methods for making fuels from biomass come in two forms — biological or chemical. The latest approach combines the best of both worlds, and heralds the advent of a second generation of biofuels.
Lanny D. Schmidt & Paul J. Dauenhauer
doi:10.1038/447914a
Letter: Production of dimethylfuran for liquid fuels from biomass-derived carbohydrates
Yuriy Román-Leshkov, Christopher J. Barrett, Zhen Y. Liu & James A. Dumesic
doi:10.1038/nature05923
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