New Catalyst Lowers Cost of Making Cellulosic Ethanol by 30%
A professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology claims to have developed a catalyst that can cut the cost of making non-food based cellulosic ethanol — “celluline,” as I like to call it — by 30%.
Just for grits and shiggles, let’s say that when celluline’s finally produced in commercial amounts it will cost consumers $3.00 per gallon. If the cost savings associated with this catalyst were passed on to consumers, that would mean the same celluline would cost $2.10 per gallon.
Professor Michikazu Hara says the carbon-based catalyst can be made cheaply, and works by breaking down cellulose and creating sugar when mixed with water and heated to 100° C. Using the current celluline production methods, this step in the process uses a large amount of energy, time and chemicals.
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Although more information on this new catalyst is scarce due to my inability to read Japanese and lack of peer-reviewed papers to this point, it seems that his work has focused on turning woody material into sugars using sulfonated carbon.
If professor Hara has accomplished what he claims, this would mark a major development in second generation ethanol production.
Posts Related to Cellulosic Ethanol and Scientific Research:
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- Cellulosic Ethanol Primer: Let’s Call it “Celluline”
- BP Invests $90 Million in Verenium’s Cellulosic Ethanol Technology
- Dedicated Energy Crops Could Replace 30% of Gasoline
- Prototype Ford Escape Plug-in Hybrid: 88 MPG on 85% Ethanol
- CleanTech Biofuels to Turn Dirty Diapers Into Ethanol
- Genetic Engineering for Cheaper Cellulosic Ethanol?
Source: Crunchgear (via Biofuels Digest)
Image Credit: from i am jae’s Flickr photostream. Used under a Creative Commons license.
Sounds good to me. Reduce oil dependency and win.
How about cellunol instead?
Andy,
Cellunol is good too. In the celluline post:
http://gas2.org/2008/08/07/cellulosic-ethanol-primer-i-like-the-name-celluline/
another commenter, jpm100, proposed that name too. Check it out for my comments there
Nick,
Can all the leaves I rake up in the fall be used to make cellulosic ethanol?
Breakthroughs like this will help to ween us of liquid blackmail (a.k.a. petroleum) and put us in the postion to OPEC to choke on their crude. I can’t wait.
In fact, I’m not waiting. On one hand, I am developing a business to produce ethanol (or celluline, if you will) powered, high performance crate engines (engines delivered to the buyer in crates) so car gays and gals can swap the gasoline gusslers under their hoods for “boozer” engines.
I am also looking to buy 40 or 50 acres to raise switchgrass. (Not much, but it’s a start.) It grows like hay, therefore the same machinery used to harvest (in bigass rolls) and transport (on 18-wheeler flatbeds) hay can be used.
Another crop I am enthusiastic about is Jerusalem artichokes. They grow like weeds here. In fact some farmers and ranchers have problems getting rid of them. They can be planted and harvested like potatoes, to get the high starch content root, or when celluline comes on line, the entire plant can be used.
A group of investors is in the process of getting approval to build an ethanol plant here in North Texas, that can quickly convert to the cellulosic process when the right breakthroughs are achieved. This Jappanes professor’s discovery may help that happen and avoid a switch over by constructing the distillery for celluline from the outset.
Oh boy! I should reeally proofread and spell check!
I meant “GUYS and gals”, not “gays and gals”, my bad. Sorry.
And I really can spell “Japanese”, too.
I guess I get all giddy when discussiong my business plans.