PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, NEW JERSEY, USA; CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, BEIJING, CHINA & NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION, ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA. The use of duckweed as a raw material for biofuel production is a good solution for new sources of biofuel materials. This is great solution for the need of a less-expensive and sustainable source of biomass that will significantly reduce the production of diesel, jet fuel and gasoline.

Xin Xiao, Christodoulos A. Floudas and colleagues looked for a low-cost raw material for biofuel production. Their research led them to the floating plant that makes lakes and ponds green – the duckweed. This aquatic plant thrives and grows fast in wastewater that has no meaningful use anymore. It does not affect the food supply of the ecosystem where it grows and can be easily harvested as compared to algae.

The team examined 4 different thermo chemical pathways for duckweed refineries for the production of diesel, kerosene and gasoline. The following technologies are: conversion of methanol to gasoline and other fuels, conversion of biomass to gas and the conversion of gas to wood alcohol or methanol.

Their research showed that a small-scale duckweed refinery could produce cost-competitive fuel especially when the price of oil reaches $100 per barrel. For larger duckweed refineries to be cost-competitive, oil must have to cost only $72 per barrel. This is one ingenious discovery that can save a lot of money.