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University of Georgia Creates New Biofuel from Trees
University of Georgia Creates New Biofuel from Trees
Source: Environmental News Service
ATHENS, Georgia, May 18, 2007 (ENS) – A team of University of Georgia researchers has developed a new
biofuel derived from wood chips. Unlike previous fuels derived from wood, the new and still unnamed fuel can
be blended with biodiesel and petroleum diesel to power conventional engines.
"The exciting thing about our method is that it is very easy to do," said Tom Adams, director of the UGA
Faculty of Engineering outreach service. "We expect to reduce the price of producing fuels from biomass
dramatically with this technique."
Adams, whose findings are detailed in the early online edition of the American Chemical Society journal
"Energy and Fuels," explained that scientists have long been able to derive oils from wood, but they have
been unable to process it effectively or inexpensively so that it can be used in conventional engines.
The University of Georgia researchers have developed a new chemical process that inexpensively treats the
oil so that it can be used in unmodified diesel engines or blended with biodiesel and petroleum diesel.
Here's how the process works: Wood chips and pellets are heated in the absence of oxygen at a high
temperature, a process known as pyrolysis. Up to a third of the dry weight of the wood becomes charcoal,
while the rest becomes a gas.
Most of this gas is condensed into a liquid bio-oil and chemically treated. When the process is complete,
about 34 percent of the bio-oil, 15 to 17 percent of the dry weight of the wood, can be used to power engines.
"Georgia has 24 million acres of forested land, and we could see increased employment and tax revenues
based on this research," said Adams.
The new fuel could reduce the amount of fuel Georgia imports from other states and from other countries.
The fuel is nearly carbon neutral, meaning that it does not significantly increase heat-trapping carbon dioxide
in the atmosphere as long as new trees are planted to replace the ones used to create the fuel.
The researchers have also set up test plots in Tifton, Georgia, to explore whether the charcoal that is
produced when the fuel is made can be used as a fertilizer. Adams said that if the economics work for the
charcoal fertilizer, the biofuel would be carbon negative.
Although the new biofuel has performed well, Adams said further tests are needed to assess its long-term
impact on engines, its emissions characteristics and the best way to transport and store it.
"It's going to take a while before this fuel is widely available," Adams said. "We've just started on developing a
new technology that has a lot of promise."
The research was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, the Georgia Traditional Industries Pulp and
Paper Research Program and the State of Georgia upon the recommendation of the Governor's Agriculture
Advisory Committee.
Source: Environmental News Service
ATHENS, Georgia, May 18, 2007 (ENS) – A team of University of Georgia researchers has developed a new
biofuel derived from wood chips. Unlike previous fuels derived from wood, the new and still unnamed fuel can
be blended with biodiesel and petroleum diesel to power conventional engines.
"The exciting thing about our method is that it is very easy to do," said Tom Adams, director of the UGA
Faculty of Engineering outreach service. "We expect to reduce the price of producing fuels from biomass
dramatically with this technique."
Adams, whose findings are detailed in the early online edition of the American Chemical Society journal
"Energy and Fuels," explained that scientists have long been able to derive oils from wood, but they have
been unable to process it effectively or inexpensively so that it can be used in conventional engines.
The University of Georgia researchers have developed a new chemical process that inexpensively treats the
oil so that it can be used in unmodified diesel engines or blended with biodiesel and petroleum diesel.
Here's how the process works: Wood chips and pellets are heated in the absence of oxygen at a high
temperature, a process known as pyrolysis. Up to a third of the dry weight of the wood becomes charcoal,
while the rest becomes a gas.
Most of this gas is condensed into a liquid bio-oil and chemically treated. When the process is complete,
about 34 percent of the bio-oil, 15 to 17 percent of the dry weight of the wood, can be used to power engines.
"Georgia has 24 million acres of forested land, and we could see increased employment and tax revenues
based on this research," said Adams.
The new fuel could reduce the amount of fuel Georgia imports from other states and from other countries.
The fuel is nearly carbon neutral, meaning that it does not significantly increase heat-trapping carbon dioxide
in the atmosphere as long as new trees are planted to replace the ones used to create the fuel.
The researchers have also set up test plots in Tifton, Georgia, to explore whether the charcoal that is
produced when the fuel is made can be used as a fertilizer. Adams said that if the economics work for the
charcoal fertilizer, the biofuel would be carbon negative.
Although the new biofuel has performed well, Adams said further tests are needed to assess its long-term
impact on engines, its emissions characteristics and the best way to transport and store it.
"It's going to take a while before this fuel is widely available," Adams said. "We've just started on developing a
new technology that has a lot of promise."
The research was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, the Georgia Traditional Industries Pulp and
Paper Research Program and the State of Georgia upon the recommendation of the Governor's Agriculture
Advisory Committee.