PNNL researchers produce dense biofuel from food waste

In Washington state, researchers from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory successfully converted food waste from Joint Base Lewis-McChord and Coyote Ridge Corrections Center into an energy-dense biofuel that could help replace today’s fossil fuels. Early results suggest food waste might deliver a trifecta of efficiency, economic and environmental benefits.

First, from an efficiency standpoint, food waste’s higher fat content and lower mineral content allows more gallons of biofuel to be produced per ton of food waste than with other feedstocks. Easily made into a pumpable slurry, food waste simplifies production and minimizes the cost of pre-processing that other feedstocks need.

Second, it may be possible to obtain food waste less expensively than other feedstocks with higher cultivation and harvesting expenses. It is already being generated in abundance, and people are willing to pay for its disposal. Using food waste rather than growing crops such as corn or soybeans to produce biofuel also prevents arable land from being devoted to fuel rather than food.

Third, turning this waste into fuel would keep it from going to landfills, which is important given recent bans specific to food wastes. As waste decomposes, it generates methane—a potent greenhouse gas released into the environment if not captured.