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Old 09-11-2008, 03:33 PM
Sa'ar Chasm's Avatar
Sa'ar Chasm Sa'ar Chasm is offline
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Join Date: Mar 2003
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I've seen an article on furan catalysis. It's in my pile of papers somewhere. It looks nice, but my way is better (well, maybe. I haven't actually done anything yet since most of my glassware is still on a truck somewhere).

Instead of using just the cellulose in the tree, this method will work on hemicellulose and lignin as well, so a greater percentage of the tree will end up in the gas tank.

Chemists tend to think on the benchtop scale, so I don't know anything about how much land will be required, but there are many, many waste streams that are just begging to be turned into something useful: agricultural waste, sawmill waste, household lawn clippings, garbage, unrecyclable paper, etc, etc, etc. I think the next major technological revolution will be resource extraction from waste products.

And no, Tom Baker wears no scarf, although I did put up a picture of him and the other Tom Baker on the lab door, with the caption "This lab belongs to WHO", deliberately leaving off the question mark.

Quote:
Soon you will be Dr. Chasm, then? Damn, can't make a joke out of that.
Maybe, kinda, hopefully mid-to-long-term soonish. I need to pass comprehensive exams, and I'm apprehensive about that. Comprehensively apprehensive.
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