Re: [DIYbio] Re: lignin breakdown products as fuel? was (I want to GCMS Ponderosa Pine bark smell)

Do you think vanillin itself would burn, or be directly useful in
existing engines?

On Sat, May 25, 2013 at 11:40 PM, Patrik D'haeseleer <patrikd@gmail.com> wrote:
> Plant biomass is about 1/3 lignin, so if we hope to make millions of gallons
> of biofuels out of plants, being able to use the lignin would be a *huge*
> advantage. Actually, instead of just burning it, you'd probably want to use
> it as precursor for phenolic plastics or other bioproducts - much more
> valuable that way.
>
> Unfortunately, lignin utilization has proven to be a very challenging
> problem. Nobody so far has managed to do anything truly valuable with
> lignin, and not for a lack of trying!
>
> As the saying goes in the industry, "you can make anything with lignin,
> except for money"...
>
> Patrik
>
>
> On Saturday, May 25, 2013 9:30:06 PM UTC-7, Nathan McCorkle wrote:
>>
>> Would vanillin make a good fuel? It would smell awesome if it spilled
>> out a bit at the fuel pump.
>>
>> On Thu, May 23, 2013 at 4:15 PM, Patrik D'haeseleer <pat...@gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> > Yeah, it's mainly vanillin. Vanillin is actually a common degradation
>> > product of the phenolic compounds in lignin. If anything, I'm surprised
>> > there aren't more woody plants that smell like it.
>> >
>> > Next time you happen to visit a winery that has freshly toasted oak
>> > barrels,
>> > have a sniff: vanilla! That's where those vanilla overtones in some aged
>> > wines (or brandy, or tequila) come from.
>> >
>> > Actually, there are a number of other aroma compounds that are offshoots
>> > of
>> > the lignin biosynthesis or modification pathways. Wikipedia has a
>> > surprisingly good page on aroma compounds that could be pursued for
>> > DIYbiosynthesis:
>> >
>> > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aroma_compounds#Aromatic
>> >
>> > Patrik
>> >
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> -Nathan
>
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--
-Nathan

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