This could be THE fuel of the future!!!

[newman]

By RICK BARRETT
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

MILWAUKEE, WIS. - A simple sugar found in fruit and a variety of other
sources could be converted to fuel for cars and trucks.


University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers said last week they have found a
better way of converting fructose, a common sugar, into a fuel called
2,5-dimethylfuran, or DMF.


The biofuel has a higher energy content than ethanol, the only renewable
liquid fuel currently produced on a large scale. It also doesn't absorb water from
the atmosphere, a shortcoming of ethanol, said James Dumesic, one of the
researchers and a professor of chemical and biological engineering at the
university.


Concern over diminishing oil reserves and the threat of global warming caused
by burning fossil fuels have scientists searching for alternative energy
sources. By chemically engineering sugar through a series of steps involving acid
and copper catalysts, with salt and butanol as a solvent, the researchers have
created a path toward what could be a better fuel.


Their results were reported last week in Nature, a prestigious scientific
journal.


Gasoline-like alternative
"Optimistically we might be just a couple of years away. It's a two-step
process to convert the fructose into DMH, but the two steps are very similar to
the processes already used in the petroleum industry," Dumesic said in an
interview.


The process of making the biofuel is a balancing act of chemistry, pressure,
temperature and reactor design. Fructose is initially converted to a substance
called hydroxymethylfurfural, or HMF, which is then converted to DMF.


The biofuel has 40 percent greater energy density than ethanol, the renewable
fuel made from corn, Dumesic said.


"Ethanol suffers from several limitations," he said. "It has relatively low
energy density, evaporates readily and can become contaminated by absorption of
water from the atmosphere. It also requires an energy-intensive distillation
process to separate the fuel from water," he said.


DMF is not soluble in water and therefore cannot be contaminated by absorbing
water from the atmosphere. It also takes less energy than ethanol to produce.


Practical application
Researchers are gearing up to produce DMF in larger quantities for testing in
gasoline engines.

   

[Me]

  This sounds like a great idea. Corn-based ethanol will not work-even if it did not have its other drawbacks, we simply could not produce enough of it to meet our liquid fuel consumption demands.  This fuel sounds way better than ethanol, but I think its only major problem would be getting production on a large enough scale.  Perhaps if we could produce this and supplement it with cellulose ethanol(which can be produced in much larger quantities than ethanol without delving into our food supply) we might could have something.

 By the way, newman, I love your picture of the truck from Duel.

[newman]

  This sounds like a great idea. Corn-based ethanol will not work-even if it did not have its other drawbacks, we simply could not produce enough of it to meet our liquid fuel consumption demands.  This fuel sounds way better than ethanol, but I think its only major problem would be getting production on a large enough scale.  Perhaps if we could produce this and supplement it with cellulose ethanol(which can be produced in much larger quantities than ethanol without delving into our food supply) we might could have something.

 By the way, newman, I love your picture of the truck from Duel.

Thanks!

I allways thought that movie should have had a post-script with Dennis Weaver at the MoPar dealership with his insurance settlement cheque buying a Hemi Cuda.

[MassuhDGoodName]

MEMBERS PLEASE CONSIDER:

The BIG OIL corporations just recently posted THE LARGEST PROFITS EVER KNOWN IN ALL OF RECORDED HISTORY.

Does anyone here actually believe that Exxon, BP & the other OIL GIANTS are going to assist in researching and developing alternatives to the one product on which they have based their entire business and earnings?

Furthermore, it has been an accepted business practice for corporate giants to legally purchase all rights and patents for new products which might compete against their own interests, and then lock them up and throw away the key...guaranteeing no competition.

These corporate giants have virtually infinite funding and unlimited access to teams of the finest corporate lawyers; they will stop at nothing when it comes to preserving their immense earnings from their one "cash cow" (oil).

The widely held misconceptions that "Liberals hate oil & are eco-freaks" vs "Republicans believe in more drilling & big business" are merely so much BS.

Al Gore, Jr. former V.P. now Mr. Global Warming...how was it that he was born a multi-multi-millionaire?  Answer:  His Father owned Occidental Petroleum.

George W. Bush --how is it he was born a multi-multi-millionaire?  You guessed it again!

In other words, the establishment in America talks a great game to get elected, promising new research, etc...getting America off of oil w/in 10 years, etc. ....

Truth:  President Jimmy Carter created U.S. Government funded programs researching alternative energy sources to help America become free of oil...this was done shortly after the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973.  When Ronald Reagan became President, he terminated and defunded each and every one of these programs, ending what was probably our only chance to evade the approaching disaster of financial and social meltdown.  Why did he do such a thing?  Because he stated that they were un-American and "liberal schemes"; claiming that all restrictions on the giant corporations be removed to allow them to become ever larger and ever more wealthy with even more control...that was the "Conservative" "trickle-down economics" program of Ronald Reagan..believing that increasing the control and profits of the ultra rich would miraculously allow profits to "trickle down" to regular Americans.  President George H.W. Bush correctly stated in public that "Trickle-down economics" were, in fact VOODOO ECONOMICS.
So...Reagan was the Great White Father of American Wealth & Conservative Values?
Enjoy your time at the pumps, is all I've got to say.

[Sarah]

It was said that biofuels, produce even more greenhouse emissions then fossil fuels.....and so not many measures are being taken to contiue researching them.

Stupid Global Warming.

[newman]

It was said that biofuels, produce even more greenhouse emissions then fossil fuels.....and so not many measures are being taken to contiue researching them.

Stupid Global Warming.

Yes, but they're carbon-neutral.

Plant based carbon would be released whether you burn them or let them rot. Oil-based carbon is NEVER released UNLESS it's burned. The next crop of bio-fuel plants also sucks up the carbon released by the last lot.