Researchers studying more effective ways to convert woody
plant matter into biofuels at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National
Laboratory have identified fundamental forces that change plant structures
during pretreatment processes used in the production of bioenergy.
The research team, which published its results in Green
Chemistry, set out to decipher the inner workings of plant cell walls during
pretreatment, the most expensive stage of biofuel production. Pretreatment
subjects plant material to extremely high temperature and pressure to break
apart the protective gel of lignin and hemicellulose that surrounds sugary
cellulose fibers.