Cutting greenhouse gases: wood chips in, alcohol out
A new research effort involving three University of California campuses and West Biofuels LLC, will develop a prototype research reactor that will use steam, sand and catalysts to efficiently convert forest, urban, and agricultural “cellulosic” wastes that would otherwise go to landfills into alcohol that can be used as a gasoline additive.
The new biofuels research project was inspired by California’s Global Warming Solutions Act, which was signed into law by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in September 2006. The act requires a 25 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in California by 2025. Substituting biomass fuel for petroleum would help California achieve its goal. The two-year UC project is funded with a $1.85 million grant from West Biofuels LLC, a San Rafael, CA, company that is developing the biomass-to-alcohol technology, and a $1.15 million state-funded UC Discovery Grant.
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