The development of a renewable, nontoxic lighter fluid could make summer grilling better for the planet.Image courtesy of the American Chemical SocietySummertime is waning, and that means the end of backyard barbecues is almost upon us. That also means an end to dousing charcoal briquettes with lighter fluid. Reducing the use of lighter fluid might not be a bad thing, as many of those products are made from crude oil and emit potentially harmful compounds when lit. Now, researchers report in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering that they developed a waste-paper-based, environmentally friendly and sustainable alternative.

Igniting fires has been a keystone to human civilization. Ancient communities used plant and animal fats for both illuminating the night and cooking their meals. For centuries, people have started fires with vegetable oils and lard. Other examples of long-used igniting fluids are kerosene and paraffin oil. Nowadays, people primarily use electricity for lighting and often pour on petroleum-based lighter fluids to start charcoal grills and wood fires. In an effort to move toward a more sustainable type of fluid, as well as to mitigate the potential harmful effects of currently available products, István T. Horváth and colleagues sought an alternative.

The researchers started with waste paper and newsprint and, through a multistep process, converted the materials into a compound called gamma-valerolactone (GVL). The team demonstrated that GVL can safely start charcoal grills and can light glass lamps without forming smoke or odors. They say that because GVL is renewable and nontoxic, it could someday be a sustainable, safer alternative fluid for lighting coals at neighborhood cookouts.

The authors acknowledge funding from the City University of Hong Kong, the Innovation and Technology Fund of the Government of Hong Kong, the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund, and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.