Bio-tar and biochar may sound similar, but the first is a toxic byproduct and the second is a next-generation fertilizer.<\/p>\n
In a groundbreaking study, a team of researchers developed a way to turn that tar into char, according to Interesting Engineering<\/a>.<\/p>\n While bio-tar is harmful, it comes from a good place. Burning biomass fuels, such as wood or crop waste, makes cleaner energy than oil, gas, or coal.<\/p>\n Yet as Interesting Engineering explained, that process is not perfect. After these materials are heated up, bio-tar is left over. It makes a sticky mess that can damage equipment and even pollute the air if it isn’t handled properly.<\/p>\n In a fresh attempt at solving this issue, researchers at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences examined the chemical reactions that take place within bio-tar. They found that the core compounds needed to make a more stable carbon product like biochar were already present.<\/p>\n After experimenting with temperature, timing, and additives, the team was able to turn bio-tar into a refined form of biochar that they call bio-carbon. Bio-carbon could play a valuable role in a number of industries, including pollution cleanups, battery storage devices, and chemical manufacturing. It could act as another fuel source that’s cleaner than coal as well, per Interesting Engineering.<\/p>\n Most of all, the new method would help take care of bio-tar waste, which is one of biomass energy’s biggest drawbacks. Plus, biomass plants would get to turn a profit on the bio-carbon product. That all adds up to a win for the transition away from fuels that overheat the planet.<\/p>\n In order to get those benefits, more work on the new tar-to-char process is needed.<\/p>\n As Interesting Engineering reported, the chemistry is tricky to control, which makes large-scale commercialization difficult for now. Early studies, however, point to the real financial and environmental benefits that are possible from producing and applying bio-carbon.<\/p>\n The team recommended further studies use simulations and machine learning to continue refining the process.<\/p>\n “Our review \u2026 opens the door to producing advanced carbon materials with high economic value,” said senior author Dr. Zonglu Yao, per the outlet.<\/p>\n “Bio-tar polymerization is not just about waste treatment,” added<\/a> author Yuxuan Sun. “It represents a new frontier for creating sustainable carbon materials.”<\/p>\n Join our free newsletter<\/a> for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives<\/strong> and shaping our future<\/strong>, and don’t miss this cool list<\/a> of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bio-tar and biochar may sound similar, but the first is a toxic byproduct and the second is a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":364947,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[143415,176719,176718,45134,33937,159,176720,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-364946","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-biomass-energy","9":"tag-carbon-product","10":"tag-chemical-reactions","11":"tag-groundbreaking-study","12":"tag-interesting-engineering","13":"tag-science","14":"tag-toxic-byproduct","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115515111950600632","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=364946"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364946\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/364947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=364946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=364946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=364946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}