A research initiative led by a research team at Lancaster University has led to the finding for a method to generate renewable biofuel additives that uses radiation obtained from nuclear waste. According to estimations, renewable slice of petrol will increase by 20 percent in the coming years thus implying the discovery of new production approaches for biofuel additives could help to minimize carbon dioxide emissions and address climate change.
The findings of the research published in Communications Chemistry propose a process to generate one such additive Solketal that uses residue from nuclear and biochemical industries.
As a result of the research, this could pave way for the utilization of radiation derived from nuclear waste to generate renewable biofuel additives in the future. These biofuel additives could then be used in modern petroleum fuel mixes. As per estimations, the renewable proportion of fuels derived from petroleum is set to increase to 20 percent by 5 percent by 2030. Therefore, fuel additives that are sourced using nuclear waste could help attain zero carbon emission targets.
Meanwhile, co-generation of nuclear energy is currently an important area of research, for example, the use of heat that is used along the production of electricity. This set to investigate if radiation could present a similar possibility and led to the finding it is: A low carbon emitting fuel additive in this case.
The finding reveals a new method for processing waste from biodiesel sector using residue of nuclear energy. This green approach will direct the use of waste as a resource to generate useful biofuels and chemicals.
