New use for DME in biofuel production found in Japan

BLUEFUELENERGY.COM: In a potentially revolutionary use of dimethyl ether, the Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI) in Japan has developed a method using synthetic dimethyl ether to extract biofuel from algae. The Denki Shimbun is reporting that by using liquified DME in the oil extraction process, energy consumption can be reduced by more than 50% while extracting greater amounts of oil than conventional methods. CRIEPI will continue to verify the process and hopes for commercialization by 2013.