Renewable Energy & Sustainability Heroes by GineersNow Engineering GineersNow Engineering Magazine Issue No. 017, Ren | Page 29

This 13-Year-Old Boy Turns Leaves
Into Biofuel Energy
Thirteen Year Old Teen, Bryant Liu sees Fallen Leaves as the Source of Energy
Leaves as the Source of Biofuel Energy?
Bryant Liu will go a long way. Why you ask?
Before we answer that question, think about
this first. What do you do w hen you see fallen
leaves on your front lawn or on the road?
You’d probably ignore them, or if you’re in the
mood, just clean them up and throw them
in the trash. Am I right? Bryant however,
saw this trash differently. He saw it as an
opportunity to use these leaves as a potential
source of energy.
We all know the world’s problem regarding the
shortage of fossil fuels. It is for this problem,
that scientists are trying to develop Biofuel
energy to fill the shortage. Biofuel is a kind
of fuel that is based on carbon which is
stored inside the several living organisms like
plants. Scientists are capable of producing
bioethanol from the sugar that is found in
plants. It is very unfortunate that dead leaves
have a substance inside of them that is known
as the lignin. This makes it very difficult for the
researchers to extract the sugar that is found
in dead leaves.
to access the sugar. This was not all. After
he pretreats the leaves, he adds cellulose
in order to break down the plant cell walls
to turn them into simple sugars. After this,
he measures the level of sugar that he has
accumulated. And ta-da, not only was he able
to remove the lignin and extract the sugars,
he was also able to increase the level of sugar
in the leaves after being pretreated.
This is absolutely a significant job that he has
done. He has found out a technique to extract
energy from the fallen leaves of plants.
This freshman from the Rocky Point High
Scholl in Rocky Point of New York showcased
his eighth grade science project in a
competition called the Braoscom masters
This is where Liu comes in. He pretreats the
leaves with acids and bases in order to break
down the lignin found inside the plants. When
the lignin is broken down it becomes easier
Renewable Green Leaders • May 2017
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