Dutch researchers developed a new method to convert biomass from forestry and agricultural waste into oil as efficiently and cheaply as possible, the University of Twente said September 5, 2010.

Some biofuels are already in production, but the method used now produces pyrolysis oil, which is not yet suitable for processing in existing refineries, said Dr. Sascha Kersten, who is from the university's IMPACT institute.

Pyrolysis oil will only react with hydrogen at high pressure, high temperature, and in the presence of a catalyst.

The oil produced using the new method, however, can be fed directly into existing refineries, said the scientist.

"This upgrading process produces a mixture of an aqueous fraction and an oil fraction. The oil fraction can go directly to the refinery," he said. "We are therefore studying ways of improving efficiency, to cut the amount of hydrogen used to the bare minimum."

The scientists are already on the right track. They recently applied for two patents on techniques that have yielded promising results.

Comparing with the first generation biomass, the production of this new method has obvious advantage. "Those biofuels mainly use ethanol and sugar cane, which are known as edible or first-generation biomass," said Kersten. "We work with next-generation biomass, which consists of forestry and agricultural waste. This is available in much greater quantities, and it imposes less of a burden on the environment."

Kersten anticipates that by 2020 many more vehicles will run on biofuel than is presently the case.