A Japanese research team has created an environmentally friendly catalyst for producing biodiesel, an alternative fuel, from renewable sources. The new catalyst is mainly charred sugars.
Biodiesel production typically begins with vegetable oil and an alcohol. A catalyst converts these ingredients into fatty acid alkyl esters, the compounds that constitute biodiesel. The most widely used catalysts are bases, such as sodium hydroxide, that convert 98 percent of the starting materials into the esters.
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