An Apple a Day Keeps the Gas Pump Away

June 30, 2007

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by Jeremy Elton (Treehugger) A team of scientists led by James Dumesic at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has discovered a way (subscription needed) to turn the sugar commonly found in fruits like apples and oranges into a biofuel with 40% greater energy density than ethanol. This two-stage process, which essentially converts the sugars (fructose and sucrose) into 2,5-dimethylfuran (DMF), consists of a series of steps involving acid and copper catalysts, salt and butanol as a solvent.

We have already discussed the merits and downsides to using ethanol, particularly corn-based ethanol, as a viable source of renewable energy at length several times in the past . ... The low cost efficiency and very real possibility of precipitating unwanted secondary effects make the reliable, long-term use of ethanol more suspect at this point. But can using biomass-derived sugars solve our current and future energy needs more effectively?

Dumesic seems to think so. In addition to having a higher energy content, DMF circumvents several of ethanol's most glaring shortcomings, including its solubility in water (which makes ethanol more likely to become contaminated) and instability in storage. As Dumesic describes it: "But ethanol suffers from several limitations. It has relatively low energy density, evaporates readily, and can become contaminated by absorption of water from the atmosphere. It also requires an energy-intensive distillation process to separate the fuel from water." READ MORE