Green Gasoline: A Renewable Petroleum Alternative From Plants

First-generation biofuels have been hampered by a range of factors, from incompatibility and lower energy yields to concerns about their potential impacts on food prices. A new, second-generation biofuel known as cellulosic gasoline, or "green gasoline," is positioned to bridge those gaps and eventually provide gasoline, diesel and jet fuel identical to petroleum counterparts. Derived from non-food plants and agricultural waste, green gasoline has the same performance and functionality as petroleum-derived fuels yet it fits into existing infrastructure.

On Sept. 23, 2008, three leading experts from academia and industry hosted a panel discussion at the National Science Foundation (NSF) to highlight how far researchers have come, and how far they still need to go, to bring plant-derived gasoline to market. Samples of energy-dense plants, such as switchgrass and poplar, from the U.S. National Arboretum's Power Plants--Farming Energy garden exhibit was also on display.

		What Is Green Gasoline?
		Media Advisory
		Related Videos
		Speaker Biographies
		Related News Releases
		Additional Information

		Green Gasoline August 10, 2009
		Webcast of Green Gasoline Press Briefing September 23, 2008
		John Regalbuto: Green Gasoline in Context (Speaker Biography)
		Clint Chapple: Why Plants Are Leading Contenders to Help Address the Energy Crisis (Speaker Biography)
		Randy Cortright: A Process That Turns Sugar Into Gasoline, Diesel and Jet Fuel (Speaker Biography)
		George Huber: A New Method of Rapidly Turning Plant, Possibly Paper, Waste Into Gasoline (Speaker Biography)

		New Video: George Huber, Biofuels Researcher, Shows Off His Green Gasoline in UMass Amherst Lab http://www.umass.edu/newsoffice/newsreleases/articles/81082.php November 17, 2008
		Obscure Fungus Produces Diesel Fuel Components http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=112581 November 6, 2008
		From Sugar to Gasoline http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=112256 September 17, 2008
		When Plants "Think" Alike http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=111597 May 22, 2008
		Money Doesn't Grow on Trees, But Gasoline Might http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=111392 April 7, 2008

		This graphic shows the various stages of three of the green gasoline processes currently under study. A more detailed explanation of the processes is available in the Fact Sheet "What Is Green Gasoline?". Credit: Zina Deretsky, NSF Download the high-resolution JPG version of the image. (365 KB)
		The latest pathways to produce green gasoline, green diesel and green jet fuel are found in a report sponsored by NSF, the Department of Energy and the American Chemical Society entitled "Breaking the Chemical and Engineering Barriers to Lignocellulosic Biofuels: Next Generation Hydrocarbon Biorefineries" released April 1, 2008. In the report, a host of leaders from academia, industry and government present a plan for making green gasoline a practical solution for the impending fuel crisis.
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