New process makes biofuel directly from sawdust.

[formercia]

http://www.platinum.matthey.com/media_room/platinum_used_in_new_biofuel_reaction_18694869.html

Platinum used in new biofuel reaction 22nd July 2008


Scientists claim to have developed a new reaction that uses platinum in turning sawdust into biofuels.

They found a combination of a platinum-carbon catalyst and organic additives produced high yields of monomers and dimers.

It could be possible to produce monomers and dimers in yields of 44 to 56 wt % and 28 to 29 wt%.

--snip--

So much for the corn market...

[OwnedByFerrets]

1. Seems to me that the LAST thing we need to do it to use

trees for fuel. Arent we cutting down enough of them as it is?

[formercia]

2. Sawdust, a byproduct of the lumber industry.

but, then, if you have a pellet stove, it's another competitor.

[OwnedByFerrets]

7. You are correct, but that byproduct is

miniscule in scale to what would be needed for any significant usage.

[Xithras]

10. Sawdust is already utilized heavily.

It gets mixed into fertilizer, made into cardboard, turned into heat pellets, and pressed into fiberboard for inexpensive furniture. They used to burn sawdust as waste a long time ago, but that hasn't been the case for 20+ years. Today, it's all utilized.

Redirecting it for fuel will raise the prices of everything from heating pellets to cardboard boxes (and conversely, everything IN those boxes) to furniture.

[AngryAmish]

5. Since we are getting rid of plastic bags in the grocery we cut down a lot more trees

Back when I was a kid we switched to plastic bags to save trees...

[OwnedByFerrets]

6. We take in canvas bags and bag our own now...nt

[Lance_Boyle]

3. they'll do better with GM e. coli that can break down cellulose

it's a good bit cheaper than platinum. People are sawing the catalytic converters off of cars these days for the stuff. It's pricey.

[formercia]

17. E. Coli is slow.

You would need vast farms of fermentation tanks to get any usable volume.

Bio-degradation is temperature sensitive. In the Winter, it would have to be done in a temperature controlled environment.

Methane from trash heaps is already being used. It's another option for materials that might not fit a continuous flow process.

[DCKit]

4. Is the cellulose in sawdust all that different than that in, say...

HEMP??? Or cardboard, newsprint, corn stalks, straw, etc....

[formercia]

12. Cellulose is cellulose

as long as the feedstock was of the same particle size, it would probably work with a little tuning of the process.

Remember Junior talking about using Switchgrass? Basically, another Cellulose source.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

16. Great, but what about the lignin?

I think that's the issue.

[formercia]

19. Lignin has always been a problem

The paper industry has the process of breaking it down pretty well figured out.

That nice white sheet of copy paper you probably have in front of you came from wood containing lignin.

Waste paper is another good source. It already has the lignin removed.

[Snotcicles]

8. We need to get away from carbon base fuels. Hydrogen is the answer IMO. nt

[formercia]

13. How would you store it?

Hydrogen will go right through most materials. Storage cylinders for Hydrogen are typically very thick walled.

Palladium will absorb over 900 times its own weight in Hydrogen but it is over $400. per Troy oz.

[Javaman]

9. I wonder how cost effective this would be, considering the current price of platinum. nt

[formercia]

11. Very little of the Platinum is lost

it only acts as a catalyst and remains unchanged.

[Javaman]

23. Interesting. thanks for the info. nt

[LeftHander]

14. They put the platinum in...a cost accelerant...

Good for profit.

[formercia]

15. It's used in the process because it's a catalyst.

very little of it is lost and it is recycled back into the process.

The Platinum group of metals have some very unique properties that, so far, have found no replacement.

Do you think they would use them in auto emission controls if there was something cheaper?

[DireStrike]

18. A) USES platinum?!

Does it Use it, or is it a catalyst?

b) But then what will we cover vomit with? Oil?


Seriously platinum is expensive and there WILL be some losses with the process, even if it's a catalyst.

[formercia]

21. Platinum Group metal catalysts are already used in refineries

for cracking crude oil into usable molecules. This process uses wood fiber as an alternate feedstock.

The cost of the lost Platinum per gallon of fuel produced is very small.

[Ichingcarpenter]

20. This means that Bush's own Brain, not Karl's, could fuel this nation

for two centuries.

[formercia]

22. Pinnochio was made of wood