Scottish university researchers embark on million-pound biofuel project

Researchers at two leading Scottish universities have embarked on a £1.1m (€1.3 million) project to find a clean and effective way of producing biofuel using solar energy.

Robert Gordon University (RGU) experts Professor Linda Lawton and Professor Peter Robertson, alongside University of St Andrews Professor John Irvine, have been awarded funding by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to investigate photocatalytic bioethanol production.

The microbiology, engineering and chemistry specialists will aim to design a cost effective, environmentally friendly approach to producing bioethanol from agricultural, forestry or industrial waste products – such as straw or recovered paper - by utilising solar energy. The project will take place over four years.

Lawton, who is a member of RGU's Innovation, Design and Sustainability (IDEAS) research institute alongside Robertson, explains that the team will use photocatalysis combined with the fermentation process in a single reactor. Previous attempts to produce similar results have been costly both financially and environmentally, says Lawton.

'Photocatalysis – the use of a catalyst to accelerate a photoreaction by generating free radicals - will be used to release sugars from the cellulose which will then pass through a semi-permeable membrane before being fermented to yield bioethanol,' she adds.

It is an approach which has multiple advantages, according to the research team, using a catalyst which is low cost, non-toxic, self-cleaning, recoverable and activated by harvested natural light.

Robertson says: 'One of the greatest challenges in the 21st century is to meet the global energy demand, with an increasing focus on renewable energy sources. Biofuel production involving food crops such as sugar cane and corn has been criticised due to a rapidly increasing population, food prices and the necessity of deforestation for their cultivation, so there is an urgent need to develop more sustainable alternatives that do not impact on global food production.'

The project is part of the EPSRC's Supergen Bioenergy programme, which aims to bring together industry, academia and other stakeholders to focus on the research and knowledge challenges associated with increasing the contribution of UK bioenergy towards environmental targets.