Fossil fuels are constantly being depleted and the idea of them running out is nothing new. While this question is daunting for many, there are others who do not view energy depletion as a problem, because prices for most raw materials are at a twenty-eight year low. Not all minds have. Professor Wilk, of the Mechanical Engineering Department at Union College, is tackling this very question of energy utilization. Wilk's research focuses on combustion.
Combustion is a rapid chemical reaction, naturally occurring in nature and created by man.
Normally occurring with heat and light, combustion is primarily the combining of flammable material with oxygen. It is a multi-step process, and the small intermediate steps are vitally important to understanding the whole energy picture. The intermediate steps are the keys to comprehending the amounts of trace materials in different kinds of fuel, or how clean burning the fuel will be. Wilk uses the Chemical Kinetic Modeling of Combustion to understand the intermediate steps of many fuels, including methanol. Combustion will hopefully lead to alternative forms of fossil fuels and other substitutes to aid in the war against depleting resources.