A low-cost, domestically produced gasoline blendstock developed using technology from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory offers a scalable solution to strengthen U.S. fuel independence using an innovative ethanol conversion process.
Why it matters
Ethanol is a familiar biofuel made from plants such as corn and sugar cane. It has been blended with gasoline since the 1970s to reduce reliance on imported oil, but is currently limited to blending at 10% to 15% without vehicle modifications.
Upgrading ethanol using the ORNL technology resulted in a more energy-dense hydrocarbon product similar to gasoline that can be blended at higher quantities without modifications to existing infrastructure and vehicles.
The low-cost, biomass-derived product, known as VertiGas20, offers a new pathway to reduce U.S. reliance on imported oil by enhancing the performance and utility of American-made liquid fuels.
Real-world impact
The advancement gives fuel suppliers and manufacturers a scalable way to enhance U.S. liquid fuel supply using a blendstock developed and produced in the United States. Made from domestically sourced ethanol, VertiGas20 is compatible with existing infrastructure and can be blended into gasoline at up to 20%. The fuel could help revitalize rural economies, reduce waste, and strengthen U.S. energy supply chains by creating new markets for an estimated 2 billion gallons underused domestic ethanol. The technology, licensed exclusively to Vertimass LLC, is being advanced for widespread deployment with energy and fuel industry partners.
The benefits
- Derived from ethanol, but engineered to perform like conventional gasoline
- Composed of only hydrogen and carbon, giving it properties similar to, and compatible with, petroleum-based fuels
- Approved to be blended up to 20% without changes to car and truck engines
- Allows for broader use in today’s fuel systems
- Provides flexibility to increase blend levels without mechanical changes
- Reduces reliance on imported oils
- Replaces a traditional multi-step process with a highly efficient single-step method
- Requires less energy during production
The innovation
VertiGas20 was developed using an ORNL-developed catalyst that combines lower-cost transition metals with a naturally abundant mineral called zeolite. The new catalyst converts ethanol into longer-chain hydrocarbon molecules in a single, efficient step. Unlike traditional multi-stage processes, this approach avoids the need for costly materials or added hydrogen and simplifies production, offering significant cost and operational advantages.
Technoeconomic and process modeling have confirmed the blendstock’s suitability for scaled deployment, while industry collaborations have helped validate the manufacturing approach under commercial conditions. Vertimass is preparing for full-scale production and has partnered with UGI Corporation to build up to 20 plants over the next 15 years. These facilities will produce gasoline blendstocks, propane, and other fuel components using the ORNL-invented technology.
Backed by science
Both the catalyst and the conversion process were developed and tested at ORNL using state-of-the-art resources in materials science and chemical analysis. The work was supported by the BioEnergy Science Center — the predecessor to DOE’s Center for Bioenergy Innovation — and by the DOE Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), DOE’s Technology Commercialization Fund, and ORNL’s Laboratory Directed Research and Development program. Vertimass and collaborators received further investments from DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office and private investors to optimize, scale up, and expand the technology for use in sustainable aviation fuels.
The big picture
With growing demand for scalable domestic fuel solutions, this effort demonstrates how national lab science can deliver real-world energy technologies that support American industry and infrastructure.
Publications
• Narula, Chaitanya K., et al., “Heterobimetallic Zeolite, InV-ASM-5, Enables Efficient Conversion of Biomass Derived Ethanol to Renewable Hydrocarbons,” Scientific Reports 5, 16039 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/srep16039
• Hannon, John R., et al., “Technoeconomic and life-cycle analysis of single-step catalytic conversion of wet ethanol into fungible fuel blendstocks,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 117.23 (2020): 12576–12583. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1821684116
