ABSTRACT Biomethane production from renewable biomass faces significant challenges through conventional anaerobic digestion or thermochemical processes. While recent advances in mild hydrogenolysis of lignocellulose show promise, the conversion of lipid‐rich feedstocks (e.g., waste cooking oil) into methane remains unexplored due to their stable C‒C bonds. Herein, we demonstrate a ruthenium (Ru) catalyst supported on rutile‐phase TiO 2 that enables direct hydrogenolysis of triglycerides into methane. Under optimized conditions (300 °C, 1 MPa H 2 ), the Ru/TiO 2 ‐R system achieves 91%–99% methane yield from various fatty acids/esters, including unrefined waste cooking oil. The catalyst exhibits exceptional stability over multiple reaction cycles. This work establishes the first viable route for converting waste lipids into biomethane, potentially expanding renewable methane production capacity by ∼40% through utilization of global waste oil resources (500 million tons annually). The technology offers dual environmental benefits by simultaneously addressing organic waste management and clean energy production.
Guo et al. (2026) studied this question.