Name: 2, 5-dimethylfuran or DMF (Scientific America, Sept 2007)
Pros:
>Contains 40% more energy than ethanol
>Is not susceptible to moisture contamination
>The catalytic reactions that create DMF are more efficient than the fermentation process used to make ethanol.
Cons:
>The catalytic reaction that creates DMF can be held up by the creation of an intermediary compound 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) that requires the addition of liquid hydrocarbon to the reaction.
>Other environmental impacts of DMF and DMF production are not known at this time.
Where is it getting researched: University of Wisconsin-Madison and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
