New biofuel could be diesel replacement

Scientists have potentially identified a viable, clean and renewable biofuel alternative to diesel that would not corrode pipelines or tanks.

A research team from the US Department of Energy (DOE)'s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) engineered two strains of microbes, a bacteria and a yeast to create the new biofuel.

Preliminary tests by the team revealed that properties of the biofuel, named bisabolane, made it a promising replacement for regular diesel.

"We desperately need drop-in, renewable biofuels that can directly replace petroleum-derived fuels, particularly for vehicles that cannot be electrified," says co-author of the study Jay Keasling, chief executive officer of JBEI and a leading authority on advanced biofuels.

"The technology we describe in our Nature Communications paper is a significant advance in that direction," he added.

Recently, professor James Clark at the University of York, identified that the hundreds of tonnes of waste orange peel created each year could be processed to produce biofuel.