High density renewable fuels from zizaenes

A method for manufacturing turbine and diesel fuels, comprising:

• providing a sesquiterpene mixture having zizaene(s), and generated by metabolically engineered organisms from substrates including glucose, sucrose, fructose, other reducing sugars, cellobiose, cellulose, hemicellulose, lignocellulose, lignin, methane and CO2, or isolated from plant material by solvent extraction or steam distillation;
• purifying said sesquiterpene mixture to produce pure zizaene or pure sesquiterpene mixtures;
• isomerizing said pure zizaene or pure sesquiterpene mixtures with at least one heterogeneous or homogenous acid catalyst to produce isomers;
• and
• hydrogenating said isomers with at least one hydrogenation catalyst under hydrogen pressure to generate hydrogenated isomers;
• and distilling said hydrogenated isomers to produce a first high density fuel and a higher molecular weight residue;
• or
• further isomerizing said hydrogenated isomers with at least one Lewis acid catalyst to generate a hydrocarbon mixture having adamantanes and distilling the adamantane mixture to produce a second high density fuel mixture and a higher molecular weight residue.