Production of biofuels using heterogeneous catalysts

Rafael Luque*, Juan M. Campelo, James H. Clark, Alina M. Balu, Antonio Pineda, Jose M. Marinas, Antonio A. Romero, Diego Luna

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalConference articlepeer-review

Abstract

Environmental issues, the growing demand for energy, political concerns and the medium-term depletion of petroleum created the need for the development of sustainable technologies based on renewable raw materials. The so-called biofuels can help meeting future energy supply demands as well as contributing to a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Heterogeneous catalysis can offer many advantages in terms of the design and control of a range of materials for especific applications, including biofuels production. Solid acids and bases have been widely investigated for biodiesel production as well as many other different catalysts for Fischer-Tropsch type processes, jet-fuel like alkanes from biomass derived platform molecules, etc. In this contribution, we aim to bridge the gap between these two interesting topics (heterogeneous catalysis and biofuels) highlighting a series of case studies reported in our group related to the design of heterogeneous catalysts (solid acids and bases, immobilised biocatalysts as well as supported nanoparticles on porous materials) for the production of various biofuels including biodiesel from waste oils and fats and other biofuels using advanced novel technologies such as those of the spin-out company SENECA Green Catalyst created in 2007 as part of the biofuels work of the group.

Original languageEnglish
JournalACS National Meeting Book of Abstracts
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2011
Event242nd ACS National Meeting and Exposition - Denver, CO, United States
Duration: 28 Aug 20111 Sept 2011

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