Research from Japan has found that platinum or ruthenium can be used to convert cellulose into biofuels.

A study carried out earlier this year by professor Jun Fukuoka at Hokkaido University has discovered that finely divided platinum or ruthenium supported on silica or alumina can be used to convert cellulose into biofuels.

Enzymes are able to chew up cellulose and break it down, but the pgm catalysts developed by the researchers in Japan are claimed to outperform enzymes found in nature, thereby offering greater efficiency in the transforming of cellulose into biofuels.

It is hoped that, if the technology can be scaled up, the technology could allow for biofuels to become increasingly available by using cellulose as a clean energy alternative.

The new technology would also provide a novel use for pgms in biofuels and in the continued fight for cleaner energy alternatives.

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Ÿ Adfero Ltd