Novel Strategies for the Production of Fuels, Lubricants, and Chemicals from Biomass

compounds that possess energy densities and properties required for diesel and jet fuels, and lubricants that are equivalent or superior to current synthetic lubricants. Replacing a fraction of the crude-oil-derived products with such renewable sources can mitigate the negative impact of the transportation sector on overall anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate change potential. While ethanol is a well-known fuel additive, there is significant interest in using ethanol as a platform molecule to manufacture a variety of valuable chemicals. We show that bioethanol can be converted with high selectivity to butanol or 1,3-butadiene, providing interesting alternatives to the current production from petroleum. Finally, we report that several of the strategies developed have the potential to reduce GHG emissions by 55-80% relative to those for petroleum-based processes.