Biofuel producers are always looking for low carbon intensity feedstocks. Corn stover (the waste from harvested corn) is typical, but harvesting is seasonal. Jeffrey Wolf at NREL explains how research has led to the development of XanoGrass. It is a perennial, so can be harvested all year round. It can be grown on marginal or even “unfarmable” lands, so existing food crops won’t be displaced. No special farming equipment is needed, so existing … [Read more...]
Biomass: new “CELF” process can turn waste lignin into useable fuels, chemicals
A new process can turn the lignin portion of biomass into affordable fuels. Lignin provides rigidity to a plant cell wall, but that rigidity makes it suitable only for burning for generating heat. Wayne Hicks at NREL describes how the new “CELF” pre-treatment process deconstructs and fractionates the lignin and other parts of biomass to yield a diverse range of products: alcohols, esters, carboxylic acids, and hydrocarbons. It could enable the … [Read more...]