UBC's New Biofuel Pretreatment Can Significantly Reduce Biofuel Production Time

A new biomass pretreatment method developed at University of British Columbia's Okanagan Campus could make biofuels cheaper, safer and much faster to produce.

The new method pretreats the initial organic material with carbon dioxide at high temperature and pressure in water before being fermented, producing methane. The new pretreatment process also uses equipment and materials that are already widely available at an industrial scale.

Cigdem Eskicioglu, an associate professor with UBC Okanagan's School of Engineering also stated that while the traditional process can take weeks to months to complete, the new technique can cut production time in half. Using agricultural or forestry waste, Eskicioglu compared the traditional fermentation process with the new technique and found that it could produce methane 172% faster.

Furthermore, this technique may also make methane production safer since it will not require the use of toxic chemicals. However, work still needs to be done to convert it into an industrial scale.