The U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory has created
a faster, cleaner biofuel refining technology that not only combines processes,
it uses widely available materials to reduce costs.
Ames Laboratory scientists have developed a nanoparticle
that is able to perform two processing functions at once for the production of
green diesel, an alternative fuel created from the hydrogenation of oils from
renewable feedstocks like algae.
The method is a departure from the established process of
producing biodiesel, which is accomplished by reacting fats and oils with
alcohols.