Enerkem claims breakthrough on high octane advanced biofuels

Municipal solid waste can be used to make a new high performance biofuel that burns much more efficiently than those currently available, Canadian biofuels producer Enerkem said this week.      

Enerkem said the company has developed a process that uses its own waste-to-biofuel technology to produce a new biofuel with a Research Octane Number (RON) of up to 112, which is 20 points higher than the average octane rating found in regular motor gasoline.

"It's a major breakthrough that could enable the development of a new non-oxygenated biofuel made from waste on a commercial scale," said Stéphane Marie-Rose, director of Enerkem's Innovation Centre.

"Through the very selective catalytic reaction achieved using our waste-to-biofuels process, we have formed paraffinic molecules, such as triptane, whose properties already contain a high-octane rating, thereby increasing the volume of paraffins when used as an additive in a conventional fuel," he added.

The high octane biofuel combines bio dimethyl ether (DME), a product derived from Enerkem's biomethanol, with a DME-to-high-octane-gasoline catalyst developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the US.

Enerkem and NREL say it is the first time that the production of an alternative fuel rich in paraffins has been demonstrated at pilot scale.

The Canadian company said the non-oxygenated additive could serve the specialised fuels market, such as the aviation gasoline and professional motorsport sector.

The International Air Transport Association, an airline industry group, has a target to raise biofuels use to 10% of all consumption in 2017, adding that alternative fuels have the potential to reduce aviation’s carbon footprint by up to 80%.

Incentives

Policymakers, such as the EU institutions, are keen that advanced biofuels, such as those derived from waste materials and plant residues, should account for a much larger share of the biofuels used by aviation amid concerns about the impact of first generation biofuels based on crops.

But the high costs of production for advanced biofuels have constrained the sector’s expansion, prompting calls for the most efficient and environmentally friendly additives to benefit from stronger government incentives such as credit weightings.