Gasoline-Like Fuel Synthesized from Plant Waste Could Spark New Green Fuel Markets

A gasoline-like fuel can be synthesized from plant waste materials produced by farms and forestry operations or municipal green waste, according to scientists from the University of California, Davis, who invented the new process used to synthesize the fuel.

The process, which is reported by the researchers in the journal Angewandte Chemie, utilizes cellulosic materials from plant matter.

A long chain of straight carbon atoms is the essence of diesel fuel, but gasoline molecules are shorter and branched. This difference in molecular structure means that gasoline and diesel evaporate at different temperatures and pressures. Biodiesel fuels based from plant compounds are widely available, but a bio-gasoline compound has been more difficult to create.

"What's exciting is that there are lots of processes to make linear hydrocarbons, but until now nobody has been able to make branched hydrocarbons with volatility in the gasoline range," said Mark Mascal, professor of chemistry at UC Davis and lead author of the research paper.

The novel process used to create the fuel does not involve any fermentation, meaning that the plant cellulose does not need to be converted into sugars first.

Mascal said the fuel-synthesization process can be done to any cellulosic biomass, but has the greatest potential to reuse waste such as corn stalks, straw and municipal green waste.

Provisional patents have been filed for the fuel-making process, and the research team reports that the process could open up new markets for plant-based fuels.