Deriving vehicle fuel from wood

A Georgia company, Renmatix, says it has found a method to convert cellulosic biomass-wood chips, switchgrass, and the nonedible parts of crops-into vehicle fuel by just adding water. If it works, the technology could reduce the US’s reliance on oil imports for gasoline in favour of a cleaner-burning and less expensive source of energy, writes Matthew Wald for the New York Times.

Renmatix’s process involves putting hardwoods into a small chamber where they are mixed with compressed water at very high temperatures. When the water reaches its supercritical phase, its pH level can be adjusted to turn it into an acid, which is used to harvest the sugars locked up in the material. A small-scale prototype has been built, but the next challenge will be to step up the process to a large-scale commercial refinery. Source: Physics