René O'Deay gBlog

René O'Deay, March 15, 2007
A report from Purdue University Scientists on a new process of creating biofuels could lead to the US becoming an exporter of oil, instead of an importer.

"Hybrid hydrogen-carbon process," or H2CAR, will enable us to use the current fuel delivery infrastructure and internal combustion engine tech, a huge economic advantage. The method can be used to produce liquid gas from coal without the production of Carbon Dioxide, eliminating the need for proposed dangerous carbon dioxide "sequestering."

The process uses biomass mass more efficiently, can use diverse biomass, reducing the stress on the land, less pesticides and fertilizers, less CO-2 released, for a more efficient fuel that could potentially produce more fuel than needed for transportation.

The process, gassification, uses hydrogen, now expensive to produce. Advances in more economical production and use of hydrogen are also under research by the Universities of Minnesota, Nevada and Wisconsin-Madison, among others around the world.

...making the concept economically competitive with gasoline and diesel fuel would require research in two areas: finding ways to produce cheap hydrogen from carbon-free sources and developing a new type of gasifier needed for the process.

"Having said that, this is the first concept for creating a sustainable system that derives all of our transportation fuels from biomass," said Rakesh Agrawal, Purdue's Winthrop E. Stone Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering.

And that biomass can include wastes of all kinds, even manure. Conversion techniques use the more energy efficient solar power. No CO-2 is produced while producing the fuel or using it, and H2CAR can be used by conventional engines: autos, trains and planes.

Take heart, Global Warming freaks. Help is on its way.

But. It would behoove us all to keep a sharp eye on developments, lest certain corporations or foreign entities try to derail these projects, or deep six them.


Purdue University News Online

For Breaking News in Science: Science Daily

Thanks to nukegingrich for the tip on NowPublic.

Nuke asked, "Is this big?"

I'd say this is really BIG.