Carbon-Neutral ("net zero") Sustainable Liquid Hydrocarbon Fuel from Biomass

[Ace-Garageguy]

If it's real, it makes sense to develop this tech concurrently with the next generations of EVs and building out the power grid and infrastructure to support them.

Rather than FORCING the end of the IC-powered vehicle and that scenario's nightmare reliance on and exploitation of third-world material suppliers and our economic adversaries for components, this technology would allow the existing fleet of IC-engined transport to remain in use until EV tech and "green" electric power generation matures to the point it can painlessly replace what we have now.

The difference between "net zero" and petrochemical-based fuels is very simple.

Petrochemicals (oil-based hydrocarbons), the basis for most of our liquid and gaseous fuels now, are taken from the ground where they've been sequestered for millions of years, and when burned, spew carbon into the atmosphere, resulting in higher and higher atmospheric concentrations...what is blamed for the looming "climate crisis". NOTE: Coal is also a hydrocarbon-containing energy source contributing to atmospheric concentrations of carbon when burned.

"Net zero" hydrocarbon fuels, on the other hand, are made from biomass, essentially any plant or animal...or human...waste, which is normally a problem to dispose of in landfills, or by dirty burning, and often contributing to water-polluting runoff from farming operations.

Carbon-containing waste can be recycled indefinitely to provide useful energy, without raising atmospheric concentration of carbon.

It also has the potential to replace petrochemicals as the feedstock for all the plastics and other synthetic materials that civilization has come to depend on.

Yes, it's still in the early development phase, and expensive. But like all technology changes, it has the potential to become cost-competitive (just like gasoline refining from crude oil did) over time...if it's real.

 

Edited February 10, 2023 by Ace-Garageguy