ExxonMobil and University of Wisconsin-Madison to Advance Research into Conversion of Biomass into Transportation Fuel
July 17 2017 - 9:00AM
Business Wire
The University of Wisconsin-Madison and ExxonMobil have
announced a two-year renewal of an agreement to research the
fundamental chemistry of converting biomass into transportation
fuels. The research is part of a broad effort to identify scalable
and commercially viable solutions to help meet increasing global
energy demand with a renewable resource.
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UW-Madison has long been known for its expertise in biomass
conversion. The project leverages the university’s expertise with
ExxonMobil’s resources and strong technological capabilities.
George Huber, the Harvey D. Spangler professor of chemical and
biological engineering at UW-Madison, is working closely with
ExxonMobil’s scientists to build a stronger understanding of the
basic chemical transformations that occur during biomass conversion
into diesel and jet fuels.
“The renewal of our agreement with the University of
Wisconsin-Madison will continue ExxonMobil’s work with top
universities and scientists to discover and advance next-generation
energy solutions,” said Vijay Swarup, vice president of research
and development for ExxonMobil Research & Engineering
Company. “We look forward to continuing our collaboration with
the university as we enhance our scientific understanding of
advanced biofuels and explore potential new technologies.”
Over the past two years, research has focused on a multistep
approach for converting cellulosic biomass to transportation fuels.
A new approach with the potential to reduce the number of
processing steps will be explored in this collaboration. This
approach using solvents could potentially dissolve the entire
biomass, which might make it possible to convert the whole biomass
into fuel-sized molecules in a single reactor.
Another potential process that will be studied in this
collaboration involves the catalytic transformation of bio-derived
ethanol into bio-derived diesel and jet fuel. Ethanol is currently
produced from a range of sources and is widely used as an additive
to gasoline. This technology could potentially allow larger diesel
and jet fuel molecules to be produced from renewable sources. Our
research continues to focus on non-food sources like corn stover
and other cellulosic feedstocks.
“Biofuels have the potential to become a significant option for
meeting growing global demand for diesel and jet fuel if low cost
and scalable technologies can be developed,” says Professor Huber.
“The focus of this fundamental research is to demonstrate
technologies that could make such a scenario possible. We expect to
use the same type of catalytic technologies that are already used
in the petrochemical industry to convert oil into fuels and
chemicals.”
ExxonMobil’s work with UW-Madison is a recent addition in a
series of partnerships the company has established with leading
universities around the world as part of its ongoing research into
early-stage innovative projects. This area of biofuels research
adds to ExxonMobil’s broader advanced biofuels research portfolio,
which includes joint research collaborations focused on algae-based
biofuels with Synthetic Genomics, Inc., Colorado School of Mines
and Michigan State. ExxonMobil is also exploring a variety of
biomass-to-fuels conversion processes, which could be used with
non-food based feedstocks such as cellulose-derived sugars, in
collaboration with REG Life Sciences, a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Renewable Energy Group (REG).
ExxonMobil also partners with MIT, Princeton, Michigan State,
Stanford, University of Texas and Georgia Institute of Technology
in a range of areas from the development of lower-carbon energy
sources to energy-efficient plastics manufacturing.
About University of Wisconsin
The UW-Madison College of Engineering is among the most
innovative and consistently highly ranked U.S. colleges of
engineering. Home to more than 40 research centers and more than 15
research consortia, the College is internationally renowned for
leading-edge research and widely recognized for its ability to
transfer technological advances into real-world applications
through patents, licenses, spin-off and start-up companies, and
industry partnerships. Through world-class undergraduate, graduate-
and professional-level educational programs, the College enables
students to develop as thoughtful, ethical leaders and to acquire
the technical expertise they need to tackle complex global
engineering challenges.
About ExxonMobil
ExxonMobil, the largest publicly traded international energy
company, uses technology and innovation to help meet the world’s
growing energy needs. ExxonMobil holds an industry-leading
inventory of resources, is one of the largest refiners and
marketers of petroleum products and its chemical company is one of
the largest in the world. For more information, visit
www.exxonmobil.com or follow us on Twitter
www.twitter.com/exxonmobil.
Cautionary Statement: Statements of
future events or conditions in this release are forward-looking
statements. Actual future results, including project plans and
timing and the impact of new technologies, could vary depending on
the outcome of further research and testing; the development and
competitiveness of alternative technologies; the ability to scale
pilot projects on a cost-effective basis; political and regulatory
developments; and other factors discussed in this release and under
the heading “Factors Affecting Future Results” on the Investors
page of ExxonMobil’s website at exxonmobil.com.
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ExxonMobilMedia Relations, 972-444-1107orUniversity of
Wisconsin-Madison608-262-3571
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