BTL Time for another science lesson. There's an emerging technology called Biomass To Liquid, or BTL. It basically involves taking a whole bunch of biomass, like corn husks, wood chips, grass clippings, etc., heating it to around 600 degrees celcius in an anaerobic environment, taking the gas that is released, and pushing it through a catalyst to turn it into long chain hydrocarbons. The final product is a synthetic hydrocarbon that can be directly burned in a diesel engine, or it can be further refined to inprove cold flow characteristics. About 70% of the weight of the biomass is turned into product. A german company called Choren GmBH is currently the leader in this field. The process does not discriminate between virgin and waste material, so more could come from less, in a sense.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomass_to_liquid

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fischer_Tropsch

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synfuel  ¶ Posted By Anonymous 7:31 PM