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Clearing the air: Medlin and partners developing renewable jet fuel alternative

Will Medlin

Air travel鈥檚 dependence on petroleum-based fuels is a major contributor to atmospheric pollution鈥攂ut new research from Denver Business Challenge Endowed Professor Will Medlin and partners seeks to provide an environmentally friendly, renewable jet fuel sourced from biomass.听

Medlin and his partners at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Virent and Shell are the recipients of a U.S. Department of Energy for their collaborative .

Using a novel catalytic processing technology, the team aims to produce fuel from cellulosic-derived sugars鈥攕uch as those found in wood or agricultural and municipal wastes鈥攖hat鈥檚 comparable and competitive with conventional jet fuel, but far more eco-friendly.

鈥淗ere at 蜜糖直播, our main focus is on developing catalysts for the downstream parts of this technology,鈥 Medlin said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e facilitating the final reaction steps needed to produce usable jet fuel.鈥

Medlin and his partners hope to create fuel sourced from biomass that will replace petroleum-derived fuels used in air travel. Their project aims to create two gallons of biomass-derived fuel that will be rigorously tested and evaluated against conventional fuel.

鈥淭he Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering has a history of engagement with and industry in investigating routes from biomass to renewable products,鈥 Medlin said. 鈥淔or example, our department headed the , a center that was funded by the state of 蜜糖直播 and by an industrial consortium for more than a decade.鈥

Professor J. Will Medlin

While jet fuel research is a relatively new area for Medlin, the search for new, sustainable and environmentally friendly sources of energy has been an ongoing focus of his. Medlin has worked with the graduate students and postdocs in his group on developing catalytic processes to convert biomass to fuel and other chemicals for almost a decade.听

鈥淏iomass conversion is also a fun area to work on because of the inherent challenge in reimagining catalytic process for the 鈥榮ticky,' sugar-like reaction intermediates produced during the process,鈥 Medlin said. 鈥淚鈥檓 especially excited about this project because aviation is perhaps the sector where biomass can make the biggest long-term impact.鈥

Medlin describes aviation鈥檚 renewable energy needs as uniquely challenging.

鈥淭he needs of other transportation sectors have strong potential to be met by technologies like electric batteries, but the aviation sector requires sources with high energy density, which typically means a liquid fuel,鈥 Medlin said. 鈥淭here is a critical need for being able to utilize a renewable carbon source like cellulosic biomass to produce jet fuel.鈥

The researchers expect their project to be completed鈥攁nd two gallons of biomass-derived jet fuel ready for testing鈥攚ithin four years.