Fossil fuels have a rather bad reputation. Researchers from the Faculty of Bioscience Engineering at Ghent University have been looking for more eco-friendly alternatives for quite some time. That's how... grass came into the picture. PhD candidate Way Cern Khor explored ways of turning grass into a biodegradable fuel.
This fuel is produced via a complex and highly expensive chemical process, however, involving bacteria, sugars, lactic acid, electrolysis and other substances. The breakthrough could be of particular significance to the aviation industry, as electric cars already exist but electric planes don't. According to the researchers, the process will take at least a few more decades. At the moment the amount of biofuel that can be made from grass amounts to only a few drops, as the process is so expensive, and engines will also need to be adapted to be made compatible with the new fuel. So although Flemish comic strip character Jommeke drove around in his grass-powered "grassmobile" back in 1974, we still have a while to go before this becomes a reality.
