As the world races to cut greenhouse emissions, Ghanaian researcher Dr. Alhassan Ibrahim is helping turn forest and farm residues into cleaner fuels, work he believes could one day power aviation and strengthen energy security across Africa.
A postdoctoral scholar at Oregon State University (OSU), Ibrahim designs and tests nanocatalyst strategies that upgrade crude bio-oils produced from residues like rice straw and forest slash into energy-dense, stable fuel fractions suitable for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) pathways.
“We’re learning how to get more usable fuel out of waste biomass while lowering carbon intensity,” he says. “My long-term goal is to help transfer these methods to contexts like Ghana, where agricultural by-products are abundant.”
From residues to renewable fuels
Thermochemical processes such as fast/catalytic pyrolysis and hydrothermal liquefaction break down biomass into a heavy, oxygen-rich oil. Ibrahim’s work focuses on bimetallic magnetic nanocatalysts specialized materials that strip oxygen, stabilize the oil, and boost yields during upgrading. In plain terms: less waste, better product, and a cleaner drop-in feed for SAF refining.
Why aviation and why now
Aviation is a hard-to-abate sector; SAF is one of the few near-term tools to reduce its footprint. By improving conversion efficiency and fuel quality from low-value residues, Ibrahim’s research tackles a known bottleneck on the path to lower-carbon jet fuel.
The work has been recognized through peer-reviewed publications and invitations to evaluate others’ research as a journal reviewer and conference poster judge.
Policy relevance and real-world deployment
At OSU, Ibrahim plays a leading role in a state-funded Clean Fuel Initiative modeling Oregon-specific carbon-intensity (CI) outcomes for fuels derived from woody biomass.
