A blog from University of Borås

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Gasoline from biomass via butene

A new method for gasoline production from butene (or butylene) has been developed. Cellulose and hemicellulose in wood and lignocellulsoses can be converted to butene via levulinic acid. Then, two molecules of butene can then be converted in a dimerization process to iso-octanol that is gasoline with high octane number.

There are many groups working on this topic. Recently, Audi together with Global Bioenergies have recently announced development of this method is larger scale and will start with a pilot of 100 tons/year next year. It is an interesting development and I wish them good luck with their process!



Monday, May 11, 2015

Book: Industrial Biorefinery & White Biotechnology

I have contributed to a book entitled "Industrial Biorefinery & White Biotechnology" (ISBN: 978-0-444-63453-5) that will be published soon by Elsevier. The book covers a variety of industrial applications of biotechnology, something that we should see more in the future in order to respond human global demand on energy and materials while caring about our environment and sustainability. Here is the list of content of the book:


Part A: Industrial Biorefineries
1. Biorefinery concepts in comparison to industrial crude oil and gas refineries
2. Algal biorefineries
3A. Paper mills and wood-based biorefineries
3B. The pine biorefinery platform chemicals value chain
4A. Sugar- & starch-based biorefineries
4B. Ethanol from sugarcane in Brazil: economic perspectives
5. Vegetable oil biorefineries
6. Biogas biorefineries
7. Civilisation biorefineries: Efficient utilization of urban waste based bioresources
8. Biomass-pyrolysis for hybrid biorefineries
9. Single-cell biorefinery
Part B: White Biotechnology
10. Biocatalysis
11. White biotechnology for organic acids
12. White biotechnology for amino acids
13. White biotechnology for Industrial enzymes
14. White biotechnology for biosurfactants
15. White biotechnology for biopolymers - Exopolysaccharides
16. White biotechnology for biopolymers - Polyhydroxyalkanoates
17. White biotechnology for biopolymers -Polyhydroxybutyrate
18. White biotechnology for specialty chemicals - Cosmetics
19. White biotechnology for specialty chemicals - Food additives