OU researchers are digging for new fuels created from organic material that can become an alternative gasoline that could help the environment and reduce U.S. dependency on foreign oil.

There is a push for biofuel throughout the nation and the world, chemical engineering professor Lance Lobban said.

Most petroleum is located in countries that can create political problems for the United States, he said.

“Renewable fuels can be obtained from domestic sources while fossil fuels primarily come from regions which are politically unstable,” Daniel Resasco, chemical engineering professor, said in an e-mail.

Resasco, who is conducting the research with Lobban, said the goal of the research is not to replace gasoline, but to change its source from fossil fuels to renewable sources.

“We are looking for alternative sources to produce the same gasoline and diesel that we are using today,” he said.

Lobban said the biofuels will be good for the economy, because petroleum oil eventually will run out.

“Demand will exceed the ready supply and the price will shoot up with very severe economic problems,” Lobban said. “The biofuels will give us the long-term results we need.”

The School of Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering collaborates closely with energy giant ConocoPhillips, which has led researchers to discuss the need for alternative fuels with oil companies and car manufacturers, he said.

“The companies are very concerned with any new fuel being able to fit into the existing infrastructure of our cars,” Lobban said.

The most common biofuel is ethanol, which is made from corn oil, Lobban said. Ethanol is soluble in water and has a lower energy than gasoline and diesel fuel.

If ethanol were used in cars, the mileage would be less, the cars would not go as far, and it could cause problems in the engine and fuel storage tanks, which is why oil companies and consumers are not anxious to put it in cars, Lobban said.

The current cars on the market aren’t designed to handle anything but petroleum gasoline, Lobban said.

“Both cars and trucks are going to need fueling structure changes, and unfortunately there are just too many significant delays in that,” he said. “It will cost a lot of money, and even if the cars could be manufactured fast enough, most people cannot afford to go out and buy a new car.”

These problems with ethanol are the main reasons why Lobban and his group of researchers are looking to use cellulosic materials, particularly switchgrass, to create biofuels.

Cellulosic materials include wood chips, grass clippings, wheat straw and corn stock left over after harvest. Lobban said cellulosic materials are also more environmentally friendly than ethanol.

Fossil fuels are continuously releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere without using any at the same time, Lobban said. The researchers’ hope is to switch to biofuels, which are more carbon-neutral, because the plants used would create a cycle by pulling some of the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, he said.

Lobban and his researchers are interested in using the materials as energy crops to create a more natural, renewable fuel.

“We are trying to find a fuel that has virtually the same properties in it as gasoline and diesel fuel,” Lobban said. “Our goal is to convert the cellulose to a fuel that is fungible for the gasoline we already use.”

Fossil fuels will continue to be a major source of energy for many years, but biofuels will grow in importance in the overall energy landscape, Resasco said.