Engine Research

Engine Research Inside UW-Madison's Engine Research Center, professor of mechanical engineering David Rothamer tests organic, "drop-in" biofuels in a model engine (above). Rothamer and other researchers analyze these fuels to determine which properties are required for an organic fuel to behave exactly like gasoline.

The U.S. transportation sector currently produces about 26 percent of the country’s emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. UW–Madison researchers are working to decrease those emissions by focusing their efforts on the automotive engine. Their research on internal combustion, soot formation, high-efficiency fuels, and high-efficiency energy conversion is resulting in new approaches and technologies that can decrease the environmental impact of our roadways and clean up our transportation system.