AMHERST, Mass. – Researchers at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst have made a potential breakthrough in the development of “green gasoline,” a biofuel that could cost as little as $1 a gallon.

Using a revolutionary process that rapidly heats, then cools wood, grass or other plants to extract hydrocarbons, George W. Huber, an assistant professor of chemical engineering, and a team of graduate students were able to produce a liquid identical to gasoline in a brief, single-step process.

“We’ve proven this method on a small scale in the lab,” Huber said. “But we need to make further improvements and prove it on a large scale before it’s going to be economically viable.”

The research was reported in the April 7 issue of Chemistry & Sustainability, Energy & Materials. Huber worked with UMass graduate students Torren Carlson and Tushar Vispute on the project.

The National Science Foundation has awarded Huber a $400,000 grant to pursue the research. He has also received a $30,000 grant from the UMass Office of Commercial Ventures and Intellectual Property to develop the process.

Biofuels are derived from plant matter, such as corn, grass, trees or other biomass. Current methods to produce ethanol, a biofuel, involve a multi-step process to extract the sugars in the plant matter and convert them to alcohol over five to 10 days.

In their approach, the UMass researchers placed wood in what is essentially a high-tech still to convert the feedstock to gasoline, which is a hydrocarbon like alcohol. The feedstock was rapidly heated to between 750 and 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit, then quickly cooled. During the process, a catalyst – a material that speeds up the reaction without being involved in it – was added to the mixture, resulting within 60 seconds in a liquid that contained many of the compounds found in gasoline.

Huber estimated the biofuel could be produced for as little as $1 to $1.70 a gallon, depending on how much he can improve the catalytic conversion in his process through standard engineering techniques.

Typically, it takes five to 10 years for new research to reach the marketplace, Huber said. “But I think if we’re able to receive enough money to ramp up, we could scale up faster.”

John Regalbuto directs the Catalysis and Biocatalysis Program at the National Science Foundation.

“In theory, (the UMass biofuel) requires much less energy to make than ethanol, giving it a smaller carbon footprint and making it cheaper to produce,” Regalbuto said.

“In fact, from the extra heat that will be released, you can generate electricity in addition to the biofuel. There will not be just a small carbon footprint for the process. By recovering heat and generating electricity, there won’t be any footprint.”

LF END FREEMAN

(Stan Freeman is a staff writer for The Republican of Springfield, Mass. He can be contacted at sfreeman(at)repub.com.)

2008-04-09-GREEN-GASOLINE