Biodiesel

To drive down the cost of biodiesel, researchers have developed an eco-friendly way of extracting triacetin, a combustion-enhancing additive, from an abundant waste source, cigarette butts, both reducing waste and providing a sustainable use for it.

Although they have a number of potential uses, spent coffee grounds typically just end up in landfills – or at best, in compost heaps. According to a new study, however, they could soon be utilized to both support and feed biodiesel-producing algae.

In a process they say produces more energy than it used, researchers from the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) at the University of Illinois have converted plastic bags into various petroleum products, including diesel, natural gas, naphtha, gasoline, waxes, and lubricating oils.

With dwindling non-renewable fuel sources creating an enormous energy challenge, the search is on to develop sustainable, renewable types of energy. Promisingly, new findings suggest that small organisms found in wastewater treatment lagoons could be used as biofuel feedstock.

The BioBot 20 tabletop diesel processor is a (relatively) simple chemical reactor for converting used kitchen oils into biodiesel fuel at home.

Researchers have developed a method of converting sugar directly into diesel using a bacterial fermentation process first discovered during World War I.

The Eco Fire Pot Stove is designed to allow women in developing nations to cook using relatively clean-burning fuel, instead of toxic smoke-producing wood or kerosene.

While the food versus fuel debate continues to put viable biodiesel production on the back burners it might just be Cannabis sativa that blazes the competition.