Greek yogurt could be a sustainable jet plane fuel

Greek yoghurt could be an unlikely source of sustainable jet plane fuel, researchers have shown.

Scientists have found a way to turn waste products from yoghurt production into a raw material for biofuel and livestock feed additives.

Whey, left over from the manufacturing process, mostly consists of the milk sugar lactose, the sugar fructose and lactic acid.

 

Greek yoghurt could be an unlikely source of sustainable jet plane fuel, researchers have shown. Scientists have found a way to turn waste products from yoghurt production into a raw material for biofuel and livestock feed additives

HOW WOULD IT WORK?

Whey, left over from the manufacturing process, mostly consists of the milk sugar lactose, the sugar fructose and lactic acid.

For the study, bacteria were used to turn the cocktail into an extract containing the useful compounds caproic acid and caprylic acid.  

Further processing to add more carbon elements to the compounds could yield a ‘drop-in’ biofuel that can be mixed into jet fuel, said the scientists.

For the study, bacteria were used to turn the cocktail into an extract containing the useful compounds caproic acid and caprylic acid.

Both compounds qualified as ‘green antimicrobials’ that could be added to livestock feed to replace standard antibiotics. 

Further processing to add more carbon elements to the compounds could yield a ‘drop-in’ biofuel that can be mixed into jet fuel, said the scientists. 

Lead researcher Dr Lars Angenent, from Cornell University, New York, said: ‘To be sustainable, you want to convert waste streams where they are made, and upstate New York is where the cows are, where the dairy farmers are, and where the Greek yoghurt craze began in the United States.

‘That’s a lot of acid whey that right now has to be driven to faraway locations for land application, but we want to produce valuable chemicals from it instead.’

He pointed out that while the agricultural market was smaller than the fuel market, it had a ‘very large carbon footprint’.

‘Turning acid whey into a feedstock that animals can eat is an important example of the closed cycles that we need in a sustainable society,’ he said.

Traditionally, suppressing oxygen while feeding biodegradable waste to microbes results in the production of methane-rich gas through anaerobic digestion. 

Further processing to add more carbon elements to the compounds could yield a 'drop-in' biofuel (pictured) that can be mixed into jet fuel, said the scientists

Further processing to add more carbon elements to the compounds could yield a ‘drop-in’ biofuel (pictured) that can be mixed into jet fuel, said the scientists

Scientists have found a way to turn waste products from yoghurt production into a raw material for biofuel and livestock feed additives (stock image)

Scientists have found a way to turn waste products from yoghurt production into a raw material for biofuel and livestock feed additives (stock image)

Instead, the researchers strung together two ‘open-culture’ reactors. 

The team, whose work is published in the journal Joule, used two bio-reactors in which yoghurt whey was seeded with bacteria. 

The first tuned for heat-loving microbes fond of temperatures of 50°C, the second set at a more welcoming 30°C mark. 

The next challenge will be to see what happens when the twin bioreactor system is boosted to pilot plant capacity.

‘There is much more that can be done to optimise the extraction process and to scale up in an economical way,’ Dr Angenent said.

‘We can also learn more about the nature of the microbiomes and the biology involved and start investigating whether this technology can be translated to other waste streams.’ 

BIO-FUEL FOR PLANES

Planes could be powered by household rubbish under a new UK government scheme, according to proposals announced in August.

Ministers are offering £22million of funding for research to develop low-carbon, waste-based fuels for planes and lorries.

They hope that rather than so much rubbish ending up in landfill, new technologies could be developed to harness its power to fly planes.

The move follows grants to encourage the take-up of ultra-low emission electric vehicles, and plans to ban all new petrol and diesel cars by 2040.

Department for Transport figures show that aircraft and lorries powered by waste fuels could use up to 90 per cent less carbon than traditional fossil fuels.

Trials of sustainable jet fuel made from waste materials have already taken place in Europe and North America. 

Under these schemes, waste from landfill is heated in a low-oxygen environment producing a gas that can be condensed into a liquid fuel.

Around 70 groups have expressed an interest in bidding for the DfT funding. 

 

 



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