Alternative Fuel Using Chemistry

By: Simon Gnagy and Madeline Roberts

Fuel Human interaction/Use of automobile

* As population increases so does the amount of cars on the road.

• Problems • CO2 Emissions• Fossil Fuel • Green House Gases • Global Warming• Ozone Depletion• Pollutant Increase

CO2 Emissions

• CO2 is a natural part of the circle of life.

• Too much however, is detrimental to sustaining life. • Humans continue to increase the amount of

CO2 released into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels.

• In turn this causes the green house gas effect.

Green House Gas • Green house gasses like CO2 cause the

planet to warm.

Global Warming

• There are negative consequences for our planet such as• glacier melt• raise in temperature• loss of natural life

Realization

• Recent concern has caused a spark in “green” movements.• Recycling programs• Waste Management• Reconfiguration of product manufacturing• Compostable options

“Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the burning of fossil fuels has contributed to the increase of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere from 280ppm to 390ppm. And sadly, the main contributor is the automobile. Fortunately, following contemporary fashions as far as “green” movements, is the research for alternative fuel and energy sources.”

Alternative Fuels

• Biofuels • Electric Options• Hydro Power

Bio Fuels

• Turn sugars from plants into ethanol

Solar Power

• We use the suns energy by directly absorbing photons through photovoltaic solar cells which create electrical currents that can be used to spark energy

Wind and Hydro Energies

• We use wind, water vapor, or water directly to spin turbines that turn a generator to produce energy.

“For years, scientists have known that the building blocks in organic matter have a resource that could, in theory, fill the U.S. gasoline tanks. Mostly, they have focused on biology as a way to extract sugar that could be fermented into ethanol. But now there is a new group of entrepreneurs, who favor chemistry.”

Companies with Chemical Focus

• Virent• UOP (Honeywell subsidiary) • BlueFire• Range Fuels* - No longer exists as of

11/3/11 however had the most chemically advanced processes.

Virent

• Currently is turning sugar into• Gasoline• Diesel• Kerosene• Jet Fuel*Their processing uses a chemical focus to

cleanly refine the biomass.

UOP

• Biofuels• Chemicals Refining Techniques• Petrochemicals• Aromatics• Aromatic Derivitives• Olefins• Detergents

UOPThere are several complex steps to UOP’s petrochemical processing.

*A larger version of this diagram can be viewed here.

Range Fuels

• Unlike the standard method for obtaining physical fuel or ethanol for plant matter by going through a long process of growing the plants, separating the sugars, and fermenting them, bio-inspired chemistry for energy allows us to minimize, one, the time it takes to “produce” the energy, two, the space needed, and three, reduce the amount of byproducts or unnecessary contaminants released in the production.

Range Fuels Process

• Range Fuels has invented a two-step thermo-chemical process to produce low carbon biofuels, such as cellulosic ethanol, methanol, and clean renewable energy. This process has a zero carbon footprint, has very low emissions, and is thermally self-sustaining.

Step 1

• Solids to Gas• Biomass that cannot be used for food, such as

wood, grasses, and corn stover, is fed into a converter.

• Using heat, pressure, and steam, the feedstock is converted into synthesis gas (syngas), which is cleaned before entering the second step.

Step 2

• Gas to Liquids• The cleaned syngas is passed over a

proprietary catalyst and transformed into cellulosic biofuels.

• These cellulosic biofuels can then be separated and processed to yield a variety of low carbon biofuels. • cellulosic ethanol and methanol, which can be

used to displace gasoline or diesel transportation fuels, generate clean renewable energy or be used as low carbon chemical building blocks.

Conclusion

• Though steps toward “green” fuel sources such as biofuels, electric options, and hydro-power are effective in reducing the overall “human footprint”, there are flaws in these alternatives like other toxin release. But, with up and coming technologies, chemistry is minimizing these problems.