A team of chemical and biological engineers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison has found a way to produce from biomass a valuable compound used in the production of plastics, which, according to their estimates, can reduce the cost of ethanol obtained from plant material.

"This breakthrough shows how chemical products obtained from biomass can be used economically to replace the oil products," says George Huber, a professor of chemical and biological engineering at UW-Madison and a researcher at the Wisconsin Energy Institute. "It also shows how we can improve the rural economy in which the share of biomass grows".