Very interesting and encouraging. I think cellulosic feedstocks make a lot of sense, but according to process folks I’ve talked with, they’re incompatible with today’s biorefineries, especially on the front-end. Granted the plants could be modified and new ones built, but it’s an issue. But on the other hand, todays ethanol plants are located in corn producing areas, and cellulosic plants should be located near where the switchgrass or whatever is grown.
I think that oil from ALGAE is going to be the best way to capture solar energy for transportation. Algae were the primary source of the fossil petroleum that we use today.
One pathway extracts raw algal oil from the dried algae, and processes it into biodiesel that is very similar to other plant oils.
The other pathway uses algae that produce a “green crude” - it is literally green in color - that can be fed directly into the petroleum refineries in use today.
In either case, the productivity of algae per acre is far higher than any land-based crop, and the requirement for fresh water is almost eliminated - most strains of algae grow in sea water, brackish water, or even sewage.