W. N. Lacey Lectureship in Chemical Engineering

Environmental and political issues created by our dependence on fossil fuels, such as global warming and national security, combined with diminishing petroleum resources are causing our society to search for new renewable sources of energy and chemicals. We will introduce strategies for catalytic conversion of biomass-derived carbohydrates to produce H2 and CO2 for fuel cell applications, to generate H2 and CO for synthesis gas applications, or to produce liquid alkanes for transportation fuels. We will also present a cascade catalytic process for conversion of cellulose to gasoline or jet fuel, passing through the intermediate formation of levulinic acid and g-valerolactone.