USDA, Department of Energy award $944,000 for research into fast pyrolysis, gasification and nanotechnology process for biofuels
Growing popularity of biocrude
The popularity of biocrude, and fuels made using the fast pyrolysis process, has been increasing rapidly in recent months as policymakers and investors struggle to solve the increasing infrastructure and land-use issues of first-generation biofuels and feedstocks.
“By using waste, [it] overcomes the food versus fuel debate which surrounds biofuels generated from grains, corn and sugar,” says Dr. Stephen Loffler of CSIRO, Australia’s national science laboratory. CSIRO recently announced the development of a second-generation biocrude process, in conjunction with researchers at Monash University.
The announcement earlier this month by Sustainable Power and Borneo Oil to develop 20 bioreactors in Malaysia is the most significant international expansion announced to date in biocrude production. Startup companies such as LS9, UOP, Syntroleum and the LiveFuels consortium have firmly entrenched themselves as the second wave of biocrude development, behind Sustainable Power.