A new UT Arlington lab space will speed up refinement of an alternative fuel that researchers say will lead to development of a micro-refinery later this year, Elizabeth Souder of the Dallas Morning News reports.
Researchers at The University of Texas at Arlington’s Center for Renewable Energy and Science Technology are perfecting a coal-to-crude process that has produced an energy source costing much less than traditional crude oil.
U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, whose Sixth Congressional District includes UT Arlington, will help open the new synthetic fuel chemistry labs at 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 19, in Room 310 of Science Hall.
Barton has helped secure funding for CREST through the years. Several years ago, he challenged Rick Billo, UT Arlington’s associate dean for research in the College of Engineering, to come up with a fuel derived from lignite coal.
The CREST research team has been awarded an additional $700,000 in federal and industry funding in the past three months for research into synthetic fuels. That sum brings total funding for the program to more than $2.4 million during the last two years. Barton recently introduced an additional $1 million in Congress for CREST.
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