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"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"Gasoline Plant"
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FILLING YOUR "GRASS" TANK... THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. GAS FROM GRASS? FUEL FROM FOLIAGE? RESEARCHERS AT U-MASS HAVE NOW DEVELOPED A WAY TO CHANGE PLANT BIOMASS DIRECTLY INTO GASOLINE--OR, AT LEAST, ALL OF ITS COMPONENTS. YOU START WITH A GARDEN-VARIETY POPLAR TREE--OR COMMON SWITCH-GRASS. BY RAPIDLY HEATING THE CELLULOSE, IN THE PRESENCE OF CATALYSTS--THEN QUICKLY COOLING THE MIXTURE--YOU END UP WITH PRETTY MUCH A HIGH-OCTANE GASOLINE. THE WHOLE PROCESS TAKES JUST TWO MINUTES. BESIDES TREES AND GRASS, IT CAN BE MADE FROM OTHER CELLULOSE SOURCES--LIKE AGRICULTURAL LEFTOVERS SUCH AS WOOD CHIPS, LEAVES, AND STALKS. THE RESEARCHERS SAY THAT IT MAY BE FIVE OR 10 YEARS BEFORE A VIABLE VERSION OF THIS "GREEN" GAS HITS THE MARKET. CURRENT PLANT-BASED ETHANOL COMES WITH A DOWNSIDE--A 30-PERCENT REDUCTION IN GAS MILEAGE. THIS NEW "GREEN" GAS IS REAL GASOLINE--SO YOU GET REAL GASOLINE MILEAGE. BECAUSE OF THE WAY THAT THE NEW FUEL CAN BE PRODUCED, IT LEAVES VIRTUALLY NO CARBON FOOTPRINT DURING THE MANUFACTURING PROCESS. WHAT DO YOU CALL THIS STUFF? "GRASS-OLINE?" "PE-TREE-LEUM?" WHATEVER ITS NAME, IT'S ANOTHER STEP TOWARD ENERGY SELF-RELIANCE--AND AN ALTERNATIVE WAY OF MAKING A FUEL THAT WORKS WITH EXISTING TECHNOLOGIES. I CAN SEE IT NOW: LAWNMOWERS FUELED BY GRASS CLIPPINGS; LEAF BLOWERS THAT RUN ON LEAVES; BARK-CHIP CHAINSAWS. THE "DISCOVERY FILES" COVERS PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOU! LEARN MORE AT "N-S-F"-DOT-GOV--OR ON THEIR PODCAST.
For additional "Discovery Files" features from the National Science Foundation, click here.
