Soon, plants to power your car

US researchers from the University of Wisconsin claim to have developed a technology that allows them to create hydrocarbons from plants.

US researchers from the  University of Wisconsin claim to have developed a technology that allows them to create hydrocarbons from plants.

James Dumesic who along with his colleagues carried out the study, claims to have found a way to create fuel from  the carbohydrates that make up about 75% of a plant's dried weight, compared  to earlier processes where it was possible to only convert the fatty acids in vegetable oils. Fatty acids  make  up only a small part of the plant material.

The study, which appears in the journal  Science,  states  that although  the  easiest and simplest way to  extract energy  from plants is to burn them and convert the heat to electricity, this process is however, unsuitable for cars, and  more  suited  for stationery power plants.

For their study, Dumesic and his team used a platinum catalyst to make carbohydrates containing five or six carbon atoms react with hydrogen  gas. This was followed by a  magnesium-based  catalyst, knitting  the molecules together to create longer  carbon  chains for  diesel  fuel. More pressurized hydrogen, was  added  to  the product  with a platinum catalyst removing any  remaining  oxygen atoms to get the finished product, reports Nature.

Dumesic  now wants to streamline the process into a simpler  one, to   enable  the  product  compete  commercially  with   ethanol production,  and carry on further research to  separate  unwanted chemicals from plants.

He says that bio fuel created out of plant extracts not only generate less carbon  dioxide when burnt, but also has the potential to revolutionise fuel technology and the automobile industry.