Problem: Vehicular Pollution

Petrol is used to power millions of cars throughout the world each year, with 25% of cars
causing 90% percent all air pollution. We rely so much on this fuel but it will not last forever.
Estimates point to only 50 years before we have depleted the world's oil supply. Ideally, we
would replace current cars with better options but since people dont have the money to all get
brand new cars, there has to be a stepping stone towards a clean and sustainable future.
Biofuel is the perfect solution. Biofuel is any fuel made from recently alive living organism.
These fuels can work in current cars, are renewable, and produce less greenhouse gasses,
mainly through the increased absorption of pollution from crops used to make these fuels. Some
estimates say they reduce greenhouse gasses by fifty percent. These crops can be grown
locally, supporting local economies and reducing conflict and reliance on foreign countries. The
main problems with current biofuels are that they produce less energy than petrol. Studies show
varied results, some saying that biofuel is the most efficient source of energy currently on the
market while others say that petrol produces twice as much energy. This is mainly due to the
increased energy cost involved in maintaining the crops ex. Tractors and other farm equipment,
equipment to process the crop and trucks to transport the crop. Also, currently, we must have
crops that are made specifically for biofuel but hopefully, we can find a way to make cellulose
into ethanol, meaning that you could use existing plant waste like corn stalks which is currently
not being used for anything.
There are four major air pollutants that come from cars- carbon monoxide due to fuel not
burning completely, hydrocarbons being released from the exhaust pipe, nitrogen oxide due to
fuel burning and lastly, particular matter which is small particles of harmful foreign substances
that are released into the air.
Previous attempted solutions
The use of oil products release more pollution than nature can handle. This increases risk of
developing cancer and lung diseases. Electric cars have a smaller environmental impact than
conventional cars. These cars get their power from batteries installed inside the car. The
batteries can be charged using traditional wall outlets which are powered by sustainable energy
sources such as nuclear fission. Electric cars do not emit toxic gases or smoke into the
environment.
Solar panels are a type of panel designed to absorb the suns rays and convert it into usable
energy- usually used for generating electricity or for heating and cooling systems. But even
though solar panels are great for a natural energy source, they come with many limitations. The
three largest and most common issues are inability to generate power at night or when the sun

levels are low, inability to increase power production to meet demand, and lastly solar panels
tend to be very expensive to buy and install.
Current limitations
Electric car batteries are difficult to dispose of and require mining to make. These batteries also
do not last forever and the cost to replace them is very high. These cars are only as good as the
energy produced by their country. In countries like the us that power homes through a variety of
renewable, clean energy, these cars are better for the environment but in countries like india,
that rely on unclean sources such as coal, these cars can actually be worse for the
environment.
Solar panels are very expensive to install. The cost to cover an entire home usually costs tens
of thousands of dollars. Also, it may take up to 10 years to 15 years before you can break even
Not all types of houses are suitable for solar panels. Houses that are covered with trees and
landscapes and surrounded by tall building are not the best fit.
Our Plan:
Our solution is to find a way to use cellulose in biofuel. This would mean all the current benefits
of biofuel with less overall crops. Instead of planting crops specifically for biofuel, current crops
like corn could be used. The stalks, husks and other seemingly useless waste would be
harvested and converted to biofuel. This process would be made commercially viable by
increasing production speed and volume. This would allow for cheaper and more biofuel. We
are going to use enzymes to break down the ethanol and turn it into biofuel. These enzymes
turn the cellulose into sugars. Then, conventional fermentation can be used to turn the sugars
into ethanol. This type of biofuel is estimated produce 74% less greenhouse gases than current
ethanol. Compared to 100% petrol, current ethanol blends which only reduces greenhouse
gasses by about 4%!
Cellulose is a biological compound with the chemical formula (C6H10O5)n meaning a
combination of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Depending on the plant, cellulose can make up a
huge majority of the plant; 33% of all plants, 50% of wood and 90% of cotton. Cellulose is very
rigid, making it a perfect material for plant structure but most animals, including humans, dont
have any naturally occurring enzymes to digest it so, when eaten, it just acts as fiber. Most of
the plant that we dont eat, such as on corn the stalk, leaves, husk, tassel, and roots, is primarily
cellulose and goes unused. By using this part of the plant, we can create more fuel with the
same plant, not waste extra space and resources for new, biofuel specific crops, save money,
and save energy required to tend crops.

The type of biofuel we are trying to create is called ethanol. This is already a very common
additive in petrol; many brands of petrol contain around 10% ethanol. The chemical formula for
ethanol is C2H5OH1. When combusted, the reaction produces the products CO2 and H2O, more
commonly known as carbon dioxide water. These compounds are used by plant to grow and
create more food; plants need water and suck in CO2 expelling O2. The specific part of ethanol
that makes it so combustible is the hydrocarbons.
How an Internal Combustion Engine Works:
The process starts with a small amount of petrol is injected into a small area and mixed with lots
of oxygen. This mixture is electrically ignited using what is known as a spark plug. This causes
the liquid to turn into a gas rapidly expanding around 500x of the volume of the liquid. This
pushes down a piston completely vertically, which is connected to the crankshaft by a rod. This
crankshaft is essentially what moves and powers the car. The carefully timed cycle goes like
this. The piston moves down to accommodate oxygen and petrol. Then, it moves up to
compress the mixture. When this piston is fully raised, the spark plug ignites it and forces it
down. This vertical force is then translated into a circular force.
Why Ethanol Cannot be used in high concentrations in current cars:
Ethanol can theoretically work in all cars in concentrations of about 85% but opens up a huge
area for problems. Ethanol can easily retain moisture from the atmosphere and from rain. This
water mixes with the fuel and when the water concentration gets high enough, it will come out of
suspension in the fuel and turn the fuel into a globby mess. The fuel can also corrode engine
parts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellulosic_ethanol
http://www.treehugger.com/cars/25-cars-are-causing-90-air-pollution-we-breathe-new-studyfinds.html
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/world-energy-day-2014-how-much-oil-left-how-long-will-it-last-1471200
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/air-pollution-from-cars.htm
ABPDU@lbl.gov
mailto:pjcoffman@lbl.gov

http://cleantechnica.com/2013/10/08/advantages-disadvantages-solar-power/
http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/Disadvantages_SolarEnergy.php

Dr. Todd Pray, Ph.D., MBA .

http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/command/detail?sid=061c2da0-ae05-4e61-8a9039311ad36ba3%40sessionmgr103&vid=10&hid=110&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d
%3d#AN=112947220&db=a9h
http://abpdu.lbl.gov/about-us/our-team/
Virtual Mentors:
ABPDU@lbl.gov
tdonohue@bact.wisc.edu
jgreenler@glbrc.wisc.edu
info@biodieselexpertsintl.com