UK researchers discover ways to produce biofuel additives from nuclear waste

In the UK, engineers at Lancaster University have led research that discovers a way to generate renewable biofuel additives, using radiation that could be derived from nuclear waste.

The renewable proportion of petrol is set to increase to 20 per cent over the coming years, meaning the discovery of a new production pathway for these additives could help in the fight to cut carbon dioxide emissions and tackle climate change.

In the research paper entitled ‘Nuclear-driven production of renewable fuel additives from waste organics’, published in the science journal Communications Chemistry, engineers propose a process to generate one such additive, solketal, using waste from both biochemical and nuclear industries – termed a nuclear biorefinery.