Amidst far-off ideas for alternative fuel sources, the green stuff still proves promising
Earlier this week, we reported on research efforts to produce hydrogen gas for fuel cells through artificial photosynthesis and discovered the technology was still a long way off. Well, how about good old natural photosynthesis? That, too, is a process in its infancy because there are quite a few things we need to manipulate in order to produce enough hydrogen to make it worth our while.
The best candidates for the job are a handful of varieties of algae which contain the enzyme hydrogenase. The enzyme basically produces hydrogen as a waste product, but in miniscule amounts. The goal of the researchers studying the potential of algae is to take the part of the enzyme which produces the gas and insert it into the plant’s photosynthesis framework, thereby coaxing the algae to produce significant amounts of hydrogen by-product.
If the technique can be perfected, algae will present immediate advantages over other biofuels. It can be grown nearly anywhere and without the need for large tracts of land. It would also not be competing with food staples for space, the way corn is currently disrupting the market value of other grains. So now the race is on to see which process will find commercial success first.
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Could a diesel-producing tree be the key to fuel independence?
Money doesn’t grow on trees, so it should stand to reason that diesel fuel wouldn’t grow on trees either. And yet the Brazilian Copaifera langsdorfii tree has been quietly producing a natural diesel variant in the tropical rainforest, something we’ve known about since the seventeenth century. It’s only now that farmers in Australia have decided to farm the tree on a large scale in the hopes of having 20,000 living, above-ground fuel wells.
The tree produces terpene hydrocarbons, which are the family of molecules that give us turpentine from pine resin. The particular hydrocarbons the Copaifera tree produces are so well suited to powering diesel engines that they can almost be put directly in the tank from the tree. It’s harvested in much the same way as a maple tree is tapped for producing syrup.
There is question as to whether or not the tree is financially viable as a fuel source; it is estimated that 100 trees could produce 25 barrels annually, which is an awfully low figure for the investment necessary in the land and upkeep of the trees. Additionally, the fuel does not keep for very long and loses its potency after a few months.
So while the natural diesel seems not to be an option for export, it could prove well suited to sustaining the fuel needs of individual farms. That’s the experiment the North Queensland farmers are undertaking in hopes of achieving fuel independence when the trees mature.
