Sustainable Mobility through Biomass

We are running short of oil. Future engines need tailor-made fuels, which are ideally renewable. Researchers of the Cluster of Excellence in Aachen investigate the production of synthetic fuels from biomass. Remarkable: In contrast to today’s biofuels, the researchers from Aachen want to obtain the energy from plant material that is not part of the food chain and also not in competition with it.

A promising raw material for example is wood. In their laboratories the scientists from Aachen investigate, how it can be separated into its constituents. With the help of newly developed catalysis technologies the complex molecules derived from the natural product are transformed into simpler molecules. In doing so, the production of tailor-made fuels with clearly defined properties will be enabled. In order to better understand their behaviour in the engine, the fuels are injected, ignited and investigated inside specially designed research engines. Thus efficient and low-pollutant fuels can be designed: Energy for a sustainable mobility in the future.