Bioenergy
Overview
As energy and fuel demand increases, alternatives to non-renewable fossil fuels will attract huge demand. Biomass, which encompasses a range of detritus including plant matter (trees, agricultural crops, algae, wood and wood residues, grasses), animal manure, industrial by-products and municipal waste residues, has regained attention in recent years because of its potential to produce renewable, carbon neutral energy.
Certain kinds of biomass can be converted into valuable biofuels containing the high energy density required for transport use. Fats and oils from oil seed crops, food waste, and even algae, can be chemically converted to biodiesel. Bioethanol is produced by the microbial fermentation of the sugars and complex carbohydrates that make up the bulk of biomass materials (much like the conversion of sugars to alcohol in beer and wine).
Biofuels have the potential to supplement fossil fuels as a transport fuel, and to do so with little or no net CO2 emission. However, the use of bioethanol and biodiesel in Australia is limited by a number of factors including the lack of appropriate feedstocks (biofuels production), inefficient conversion technologies (biofuels processing) and vehicle design (biofuels utilisation).
The University of Melbourne Energy Research Institute has assembled a multidisciplinary team with the ability to tackle these challenges. Our primary goals are to foster the production of woody and agricultural biomass in a sustainable, socially-responsible manner; to develop technologies for efficient fermentation of ligno-cellulosic biomass and the downstream processing of fuels from ligno-cellulosic and algal biomass; and to develop engines capable of working at high efficiency regardless of fuel composition.
For more information please contact Dr Filomena Pettolino
Research Themes
Biofuels
Biofuels Production, Processing, Utilisation
