Coal from biomass

Description: Research Field: ChemistryOne of the main causes of global warming is the burning of fossil fuels. It would be far more environmentally friendly to burn biomass instead as it does not alter the carbon dioxide balance. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces have now developed a process enabling the direct production of coal from biomass.Professor Antonietti and his group successfully managed to develop a method originally intended to produce carbon nano-particles so that it could be used for commercial coal production. Such coal could be used for heating purposes and might be used for electric-ity or even gasoline production. The 70 million tonnes of biomass that Germany produces every year would be sufficient to cover much of the country's energy needs.But there is even more potential to this process: If the reaction is stopped earlier, the result is topsoil. This nutrient-rich earth can be used to help barren landscapes bloom, without debiting the carbon dioxide balance.Copyright: © Deutsche WellePublished at ScienceStage.com in cooperation with the Max Planck Society.Involved Institutes: Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces