When it comes to making fuel from plants, the first step has always been the hardest — breaking down the plant matter.
When it comes to making fuel from plants, the first step has always been the hardest — breaking down the plant matter. A new study finds that introducing a simple, renewable chemical to the pretreatment step can finally make next-generation biofuel production both cost-effective and carbon neutral.
For biofuels to compete with petroleum, biorefinery operations must be designed to better utilize lignin.
Lignin is one of the main components of plant cell walls. It provides plants with greater structural integrity and resiliency from microbial attacks. However, these natural properties of lignin also make it difficult to extract and utilize from the plant matter, also known as biomass.
Read more at: University of California - Riverside
UCR associate research professor Charles Cai, who developed the CELF biomass pretreatment technology. (Photo Credit: Stan Lim/UCR)
