http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/scientists-convert-glucose-into-fuel-and-polyesters/ Engadget Comments for Scientists convert glucose into fuel and polyesters http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/scientists-convert-glucose-into-fuel-and-polyesters/http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/scientists-convert-glucose-into-fuel-and-polyesters/
capitalism is the new communism.]]>Jun 16th 2007 2:10AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/scientists-convert-glucose-into-fuel-and-polyesters/http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/scientists-convert-glucose-into-fuel-and-polyesters/Jun 16th 2007 2:19AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/scientists-convert-glucose-into-fuel-and-polyesters/http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/scientists-convert-glucose-into-fuel-and-polyesters/Jun 16th 2007 3:41AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/scientists-convert-glucose-into-fuel-and-polyesters/http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/scientists-convert-glucose-into-fuel-and-polyesters/
I highly doubt that the enthalpy of this molecule is much greater than current biofuels, and the production of it from sugar makes its scarcity just as big a problem as current biofuels (i.e. there is not enough land on the earth to grow enough crops for high enough yields to power all of the cars that are currently on the road). The added cost of producing this sugar derivative instead of using current, less complicated biofuels, also seems to be a negative.

Sugars are obviously not where our new fuel will come from. Heck, your body only gets 5% of its energy from the breakdown of sugars!

I don't understand why this made the media, except people think it's the new aspirin. Made from the bark of everyday plants, can be used to make clothes, burn as fuel, heal anemia, and strip paint! ]]>Jun 16th 2007 9:04AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/scientists-convert-glucose-into-fuel-and-polyesters/http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/scientists-convert-glucose-into-fuel-and-polyesters/you get cellulose from plants and break it down to glucose. from here you can produce many polymers and also produce ethanol which can be used as a fuel source in cars. In fact this was put into practice in the 1970s in Brazil but discontinued in the early 1990s due to low oil prices and ethanol as a fuel was seen as too expensive to produce.]]>Jun 16th 2007 3:46AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/scientists-convert-glucose-into-fuel-and-polyesters/http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/scientists-convert-glucose-into-fuel-and-polyesters/Jun 16th 2007 4:08AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/scientists-convert-glucose-into-fuel-and-polyesters/http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/scientists-convert-glucose-into-fuel-and-polyesters/Jun 16th 2007 9:05AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/scientists-convert-glucose-into-fuel-and-polyesters/http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/scientists-convert-glucose-into-fuel-and-polyesters/
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.10/ethanol.html

and the author is optimistically expecting that to increase to over 2,000 gallons per acre.

Wikipedia has a different table showing yields of only 18 gallons of biodiesel per acre of corn, but 113 gallons for peanuts, 635 gallons for palm oil, and 10,000 gallons per acre of algae:

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

Of course this is not taking into account energy density differences. I just wanted to suggest that "1 gallon per acre" might be off by a few orders of magnitude ;-)

If (as was suggested in another comment) the feedstock is cellulose, we're not talking about acres of corn, so much using all the stalks and leaves Kellogg's doesn't put in your cereal bowl. :-)

Corn stover (corn stalks and leaves) is a third of the solid waste produced in the US! And 90% of it is currently going to waste, just left in the field. If we ever figure out how to cost-effectively turn it into fuel, future generations may be surprised that we ever actually ATE the stuff. :-)
]]>Jun 17th 2007 12:47PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/scientists-convert-glucose-into-fuel-and-polyesters/http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/scientists-convert-glucose-into-fuel-and-polyesters/
The adicional advantage of PHB is that it is Biodegradable, in other words, it does not affect nature before (produced with renewable resources) nor after (no plastic trash around).

By the way... Who invented the airplane?]]>Jun 16th 2007 9:24AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/scientists-convert-glucose-into-fuel-and-polyesters/http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/scientists-convert-glucose-into-fuel-and-polyesters/
Seems to indicate that polyesters may be capable of blowing up more than your social life. ]]>Jun 16th 2007 8:08AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/scientists-convert-glucose-into-fuel-and-polyesters/http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/scientists-convert-glucose-into-fuel-and-polyesters/Jun 16th 2007 8:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/scientists-convert-glucose-into-fuel-and-polyesters/http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/scientists-convert-glucose-into-fuel-and-polyesters/Jun 16th 2007 8:43AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/scientists-convert-glucose-into-fuel-and-polyesters/http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/scientists-convert-glucose-into-fuel-and-polyesters/
If the process can be used on a commercial scale we would have biofuel nirvana, but these lab-scale pilots rarely seem to make it to the real world.

I live in Brazil, so my car already runs on ethanol from sugar cane :)]]>Jun 16th 2007 9:11AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/scientists-convert-glucose-into-fuel-and-polyesters/http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/scientists-convert-glucose-into-fuel-and-polyesters/
Actually, all your body's fuel is ultimately derived from glucose. Your organic is great, but go back to biochem...you've got to have glucose to make ATP. And glucose comes from three sources: carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins.

And the ideal diet, if you're coming from that angle, consists of 55-60% of total caloric intake from carbohydrates.]]>Jun 16th 2007 10:10AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/scientists-convert-glucose-into-fuel-and-polyesters/http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/scientists-convert-glucose-into-fuel-and-polyesters/
And actually, lipids and proteins can be oxidized directly without the need for gluconeogenesis. Also, your body can switch to the breakdown of ketones instead of glucose (ever smelled a diabetic's breath? Or maybe someone's that's on the Atkins diet --- which is the same as being diabetic, but just dietarily and not metabolically --- hint of the smell of nail polish, anyone?).]]>Jun 16th 2007 12:31PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/scientists-convert-glucose-into-fuel-and-polyesters/http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/scientists-convert-glucose-into-fuel-and-polyesters/
the sugar is "generated" from cellulose !!!! which is a fantastic breakthrough, that mean for example that instead of using only the sugar cane, you can use the whole plant and thus getting hundreds time more fuel.]]>Jun 16th 2007 10:28AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/scientists-convert-glucose-into-fuel-and-polyesters/http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/scientists-convert-glucose-into-fuel-and-polyesters/Jun 16th 2007 4:02PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/scientists-convert-glucose-into-fuel-and-polyesters/http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/scientists-convert-glucose-into-fuel-and-polyesters/
Thank you for the technical chemical information.
However, I think you may have missed the inevitable connections of this story and a few others posted today. Take a step back and look at the larger implications: "Scientists convert glucose into fuel and polyesters" With a bit of collaboration, tomorrows most intrigging post will read like this:

"Horribly dressed wooden robots convert glucose into fuel and play with themselves"


we should, of course, welcome their arrival immediatley.]]>Jun 16th 2007 2:31PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/scientists-convert-glucose-into-fuel-and-polyesters/http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/scientists-convert-glucose-into-fuel-and-polyesters/]]>Jun 17th 2007 12:50PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/scientists-convert-glucose-into-fuel-and-polyesters/http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/16/scientists-convert-glucose-into-fuel-and-polyesters/Jun 17th 2007 3:20PM