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News Release 07-011
From Farm Waste to Fuel Tanks
Record-breaking methane storage system derived from corncobs may encourage mass-market natural gas automobiles
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Researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia and the Midwest Research Institute in Kansas City have developed a method to convert corncob waste into a carbon "sponge" with nanoscale pores. The new material can store large quantities of natural gas and can be formed into a variety of shapes, ideal characteristics for next-generation gas storage tanks on methane-powered automobiles.
Credit: Nicolle Rager Fuller, National Science Foundation
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