Back to the gr...ad school

[Sa'ar Chasm]

I've seen an article on furan catalysis. It's in my pile of papers somewhere. It looks nice, but my way is better (well, maybe. I haven't actually done anything yet since most of my glassware is still on a truck somewhere).

Instead of using just the cellulose in the tree, this method will work on hemicellulose and lignin as well, so a greater percentage of the tree will end up in the gas tank.

Chemists tend to think on the benchtop scale, so I don't know anything about how much land will be required, but there are many, many waste streams that are just begging to be turned into something useful: agricultural waste, sawmill waste, household lawn clippings, garbage, unrecyclable paper, etc, etc, etc. I think the next major technological revolution will be resource extraction from waste products.

And no, Tom Baker wears no scarf, although I did put up a picture of him and the other Tom Baker on the lab door, with the caption "This lab belongs to WHO", deliberately leaving off the question mark.

Soon you will be Dr. Chasm, then? Damn, can't make a joke out of that.

Maybe, kinda, hopefully mid-to-long-term soonish. I need to pass comprehensive exams, and I'm apprehensive about that. Comprehensively apprehensive.