Researchers Find A Smart Way To Convert Grass Into Aviation Fuel

Scientists and researchers at Ghent University in Belgium found a smart way to convert grass into aviation fuel. The biofuel obtained by this process is named as ‘Grassoline’ and there are hopes that this will be able to power an aircraft one day.

As you all know that it takes millions of years by natural processes to convert plants into crude oil (which is known as gasoline). But now researchers had developed a unique technique which definitely does not take millions of years to produce gasoline (or probably gasoline.)

How does it all happen?

• The bacterial treatment of grass makes it more biodegradable. Enriched clostridium bacteria is added to it which helps it in fermentation. This leads to the lactic acid formation.
• This lactic acid is used to obtain an acid named caproic acid.
• This caproic acid was further treated to create decade which is a primary ingredient of jet fuel and gasoline. This grassoline is little denser than the commercial aviation fuels.

Work in progress!

As jet planes need a relatively light fuel, a process of converting this denser fuels into lighter ones is still going on. Currently, the amount of fuel obtained from grass is relatively less, may be limited to a few drops.

“We have been working on this to optimize the process, in cooperation with the business world, we can get the price down. In few years, we can fly on grass,” says Way Cern Khor, a researcher at the Centre For Microbial Ecology and Technology (CMET.)