Over the years,concerns about the steady decline of the available supply of petroleum in the face of ever-increasing demand for this valuable commodity have fueled researchers to look for possible alternatives sources of energy as well as chemical feedstock.Additionally,moves toward reducing the United States' dependence on fuel import provides additional impetus to focus on resources that this country can harness internally.Biomass is a renewable,CO_2-neutral and readily available source of energy.It is also a viable source of hydrogen.Several processes have been used to produce hydrogen from biomass.The most commonly applied technologies are pyrolysis and the subsequent reforming of the bio-oil produced and gasification - catalytic,steam or with supercritical water.In 2002,Dumesic et al.first reported aqueous-phase reforming(APR)of oxygenated model compounds.
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