Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions

New Fuels Part 1

Did You Know? Biofuels are not new. Henry Ford designed the “Tin Lizzie” to run on alcohol, while Rudolf Diesel’s engine could run on peanut oil. New fuels must be liquid fuels to power the 230 million motor vehicles on today’s roads. There are many different types of biofuels, including ethanol, biodiesel, green gasoline, and designer hydrocarbons. In 2007, the United States consumed 6.5 billion gallons of ethanol were mixed into the domestic supply of 142 billion gallons of gasoline.

Amid growing concern about high gasoline prices, global warming, and limited resources of petroleum, scientists and engineers around the world are on a quest for new fuels —alternatives to conventional petroleum, natural gas, and coal. On their radar screens are new sources of familiar old ethanol that do not strain the food supply and futuristic fuels like “green gasoline” and “designer” hydrocarbons. Experience this podcast: Listen to podcast Listen in Spanish (New!) Download transcript Subscribe in iTunes (requires iTunes software) Subscribe via RSS feed

ChemMatters

A magazine for high school students

• Do You Want Biodiesel with That? (April 2005)
  It’s the environmentally friendly alternative fuel made from almost any vegetable oil—even from old oil used to cook French fries.
• Bacteria Power (April 2004)
  Stinky mud + water + graphite rod + wire = power?!!! That’s right. What’s missing is the amazing, naturally occurring bacteria that make it all possible.

Careers in Chemistry

• Chemical Engineering
• Biotechnology
• Environmental Chemistry

Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS^®)

SciFinder®, a research tool produced by CAS (a division of the American Chemical Society), found 384 references published this year on the topic of using biomass for producing biofuels. Further analysis of the references demonstrates the current research interest in developing pathways to sustainable biofuels from non food sources such as forest and crop residues, municipal waste, algae, etc. and the increasing focus on biotechnology solutions for optimizing processes such as conversion of biomass to sugars.

The CAS databases cover references from more than 10,000 major scientific journals and 57 patent authorities worldwide.

http://www.cas.org/

ACS Policy Statements and Briefings

• Energy Science & Technology
• Global Climate Change
• Sustainability of the Chemical Enterprise
• Studying Children’s Health for a Better Tomorrow
• -How Do Biofuels Impact Greenhouse Gas Emissions?
• -Climate Change: Bringing Together Science, Policy and Business
• -Biomass: Growing American Energy Independence

In the News

• Biofuels, Batteries, And Solar Cells: The Future Of Driving
  August 18, 2008
• Weeds grown for biofuel: the next invasive species?
  ES&T, April 01, 2008
• ES&T’s Best Papers of 2007: Second runner-up: Future world leaders in biodiesel production
  ES&T, April 01, 2008
• Point-Counterpoint: The Costs Of Biofuels
  C&EN, December 17, 2007
• Biofueling Water Problems
  ES&T, November 15, 2007
• Biofuels Bonanza
  C&EN, June 25, 2007
• Dispatches from Brazil: Daily Blog about Biofuel Research
  May 23, 2007 - June 4, 2007
• Ethanol—Is It Worth It?
  C&EN, January 01, 2007

Books

• Hundreds of books have been written in the past few years about biofuels. These books offer an amazing variety of opinions and viewpoints. Information on many of these books is available from the Library of Congress, http://catalog.loc.gov/

Sources for this podcast

• "Breaking the Chemical and Engineering Barriers to Lignocellulosic Biofuels: Next Generation Hydrocarbon Biorefineries”
  Report based on workshop co-sponsored by ACS, June 2007
• “Biofuels: Thinking Clearly about the Issues” by Bruce Dale
  Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, ASAP April-19-2008
• “Biofuels and the environment” by Jerald L. Schnoor
  Environmental Science & Technology, July 1, 2006
• “Defossiling Fuel: How Synthetic Biology Can Transform Biofuel Production by Pamela A. Silver”
  ACS Chemical Biology, ASAP Jan. 18, 2008
• “How Do Biofuels Impact Greenhouse Gas Emissions”
  Briefing sponsored by The ACS Science & the Congress Project
  & The ACS Committee on International Activities. Aug. 1, 2008

Other Resources

• U.S. Department of Energy’s Biomass Program
• National Renewable Energy Laboratory
• “Biofuels Research Roundup” by Ira Flatow, National Public Radio’s (NPR’s) Science Friday, Sept. 5, 2008
• “Money Doesn’t Grow on Trees, But Gasoline Might” Press Release from National Science Foundation, April 7, 2008
• “History of biofuels”

Meet the Scientists

• Scientist Bios