Biofuels are not only a good source of renewable energy, they are also a promising way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Their production, however, does not come without barriers.
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Cheaper and more efficient
For years, researchers have been looking into a cheaper and more efficient way to produce biofuels and biofuels with little success. This may soon change. Scientists from Ohio State University have speculated a cheaper, more efficient way to carry out a chemical reaction that leads to biofuels.
“The process of converting sugar to alcohol must be very efficient if the final product is to be competitive with fossil fuels,” said Venkat Gopalan, senior author of the paper and professor of chemistry and bio- chemistry at Ohio State University.
“The process of how to do that is well established, but the cost makes it uncompetitive, even with large government subsidies. It is likely that this new development will help cover the cost. ”
Biofuels rely on so-called “helper molecules” that allow carbon in cells to be converted into energy. These molecules, called NADH and NADPH (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) + hydrogen (H) and phosphate (PH) respectively), are expensive making the process of biofuels expensive.
Cutting production costs in half
“If you can cut the cost of production in half, that would make biofuels very attractive for flexible fueling with gasoline,” said Vish Subramaniam, senior author of the paper.
“Butanol is often not used as an additive because it is not cheap. But if you could make it cheap, suddenly the calculus would change. You could cut the cost of butanol in half, as the cost is tied up in using this cofactor. ”
The researchers used nickel and copper elements, cheap, to build electricity that produces NADH and NADPH. The end result is an electrode that converts biofuels to biofuels cheaply and efficiently.
The discovery can also have an impact in other areas of science such as slowing the spread of cancer by controlling electron flow in some cancer cells. The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports.