University of Wisconsin engineers have made a breakthrough in technology that would allow food waste to be converted into clean jet fuel.

UW Research Associate Jesse Bond said the process begins by taking biomass — essentially any discarded plant material containing cellulose — and converting it into gamma-valerolactone, which is a liquid often used in herbal food and perfumes, according to a UW press release.

UW Research Associate David Martin Alonso said by pressurizing the GVL and adding a few catalysts, it is converted into a fuel that could become suitable for a jet or car engine.

Martin Alonso added no tests have yet been done on the new fuel and it would probably need many additives before it would be ready to be used widely.

Bond said he thought this process had two main benefits over other methods of turning biomass to fuel. First, this process allows people to capture the carbon dioxide release during the process. This means not only is it not emitted into the air, but it can also be used for other purposes, such as making methane.

Second, unlike other methods of converting biomass, this method can use anything with cellulose, not only the edible parts.

Both Bond and Martin Alonso said this research could lead to a safe and renewable source of fuel for mass production.

Bond added he thought the fuel created could eventually become competitive with mainstream fuel sources, though both researchers said they had no idea how long it would be before this happened.

“At this point it’s sort of a demonstration of a cool technology,” Bond said.

He said before the researchers can take the next steps in the project, they must find a way to attain large quantities of GVL quickly and cheaply.

Bond said while GVL can be burned as fuel without processing it, it releases a lot of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, so there has never been a high demand for it before. Now that it can be processed in a much cleaner way, Bond hopes it will become more readily available.

“We need a mass produced GVL before we can take this a whole lot further,” Bond said.