article thumbnail

NREL, MIT, WSU team develops process to convert lignin to aromatic blendstock for 100% sustainable aviation fuel

Green Car Congress

Although electrification has shown promise toward reducing the carbon footprint of passenger vehicles, aviation remains dependent on hydrocarbon fuels due to their high energy density relative to even the most advanced battery technologies available today. Stone et al. Lignin makes up the rigid parts of the cell walls of plants.

MIT 195
article thumbnail

MIT researchers boost efficiency of carbon capture and conversion systems

Green Car Congress

Researchers at MIT have developed a method that could significantly boost the performance of carbon capture and conversion systems that use catalytic surfaces to enhance the rates of carbon-sequestering electrochemical reactions. The research was supported by the Italian energy firm Eni S.p.A 2020.100318.

MIT 413
article thumbnail

MIT researchers propose mechanism for overcoming bottleneck in electroreduction of CO2

Green Car Congress

Researchers at MIT have identified , quantified, and modeled a major reason for the poor performance of electroreduction processes to convert CO 2 to fuel or other useful chemicals. This unwanted reaction uses up energy and greatly reduces the overall efficiency of the conversion process, the researchers found. 1c02540.

MIT 284
article thumbnail

MIT researchers significantly increase lifetimes of solid oxide fuel cells by changing pH

Green Car Congress

MIT researchers have found that changing the pH of the system can increase the lifetimes of a range of technologies including fuel cells. An open-access paper on their work is published in the RSC journal Energy & Environmental Science. Fuel and electrolysis cells made of solid metal oxides are of interest for several reasons.

MIT 218
article thumbnail

MIT researchers develop oxygen permeable membrane that converts CO2 to CO

Green Car Congress

MIT researchers have developed a new system that could potentially be used for converting power plant emissions of carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide, and thence into useful fuels for cars, trucks, and planes, as well as into chemical feedstocks for a wide variety of products.

MIT 186
article thumbnail

MIT team engineers yeast to be more tolerant to toxic byproducts, boosting biofuels production; “tolerance module”

Green Car Congress

To try to expand biofuels’ potential impact, a team of MIT engineers has now found a way to expand the use of a wider range of nonfood feedstocks to produce such fuels. The MIT researchers developed a way to circumvent that toxicity, making it feasible to use those sources, which are much more plentiful, to produce biofuels.

MIT 246
article thumbnail

MIT proof-of-concept demo of ionic wind propulsion for aircraft

Green Car Congress

MIT researchers have demonstrated that an aircraft with a 5-meter wingspan can sustain steady-level flight using ionic-wind propulsion. The MIT team’s final design resembles a large, lightweight glider. In this way, the batteries supply electricity at 40,000 volts to positively charge the wires via a lightweight power converter.

MIT 303