Tag Archives: biofuels
The Key To Making More Efficient Biofuels Is Taking the Wood Out of Wood
By Michael Byrne Here’s the problem with using wood as a biofuel: it’s wood . That’s it, basically. The thing we associate with wood being wood, rigidity, is what makes trees poor materials for use in ethanol production. Rigidity comes from lignin, an organic polymer that fills in the empty spaces within the cell walls of plants; its function is generally mechanical—providing structural strength for the cell and aiding in the flow of water through the plant. Lignin also burns great, but that’s a different kind of fuel. In biofuel applications, we want to get past the lignin to cellulose, which is converted to alcohol-based fuel that can be used to power our cars and trucks. Split wood isn’t the best choice for internal combustion, so the lignin just gets in the way of the part that is the best choice—sugar in the form of cellulose. Let’s stop for a moment. What exactly is biofuel? It’s diesel basically, albeit not derived from the fossil fuels we’re about to run out of and that we extract from the planet at considerable cost socially, environmentally, and economically. Biofuel isn’t “clean” fuel; it’s still a thing resulting in greenhouse gas emissions, though less per unit of energy derived than dinosaur stuff. So as far as being “better” it’s probably not much more than halfway there. But it’s here now in a world with a heavy dependency on diesel-powered trucks for moving its goods around. In many places, particularly Europe, there’s already an infrastructure for it. In several U.S. states, its use is already mandated and the highly ungreen U.S. Energy Policy Act of 2005 mandates a significant increase in biofuel use in the coming years. The point of this aside is less to argue that biofuel is good or bad than to say that “it’s here.” And biofuel being here, even against the will of those of us that might know better, means that it’s in our interest to have better and more efficient biofuel. This means making cellulose more efficient to access by eliminating the wood in wood, more or less—eliminating the lignin barrier. The solution, unsurprisingly, is GM biofuels. Let’s make trees with only the good stuff, as far as biofuels are concerned. Floppy plants. It’s a difficult task, however—the process that plants use to make lignin isn’t as obvious as in most other organic molecules. Different plants do it differently, even if it’s the same stuff fulfilling the same functions. According to a new report in Science , Wout Boerjan, a molecular geneticist at Ghent University, tracked down the correct common gene central to synthesizing lignin by way of an enzyme called caffeoyl shikimate esterase. Once identified, Boerjan experimented with silencing this central gene, with the result being plants containing a third less lignin and able to produce up to four times the amount of cellulose. They weren’t even really floppy either. The main catch is that with less of this crucial building material, the plants lost some of their ability to transport food or water. As a result, they were a bit stumpy. It’s thought this could be worked around with more engineering; maybe we could just reduce lignin in cells where it isn’t needed as much. If this is registering as kind of “whatever,” consider the United States’ ethanol problem . The U.S. grows a ton of corn, but much of it is earmarked for biofuel production. This keeps corn prices high across the globe, which keeps civilization primed for violence and unrest. If we’re able to grow biofuel crops with four times the efficiency, that’s a whole lot less farmland needed to keep fuel tanks full. This is also good news for paper production efficiency, though I’m not aware of any connection between the price of Charmin and rioting in the streets. Continue reading
Sky’s The Limit – Aviation Biofuels About To Take Off?
By John Daly | Sun, 11 August 2013 Benefit From the Latest Energy Trends and Investment Opportunities before the mainstream media and investing public are aware they even exist. The Free Oilprice.com Energy Intelligence Report gives you this and much more. Click here to find out more. For the past decade, commercial production of jet biofuel has become of major interest to international airlines. Renewable Jet A-1 biofuel has two alluring aspects. First, it is a “drop in” fuel – blended 50-50 with conventional Jet A-1 kerosene derived from hydrocarbons, it requires no special engine modifications. Secondly, as the world prepares to institute carbon emissions penalties, biofuel Jet A-1 can reduce commercial airliners’ carbon emissions by 80-85 percent. The eye of the needle for this sunny renewable biofuel future has been twofold. First, the cost – no one has yet been able to produce renewable Jet A-1 at a cost comparable to hydrocarbon Jet A-1. The second problem derives from the first, in that no one has yet been able to produce renewable Jet A-1 in commercial quantities at a competitive rate. But this might all be about to change. AltAir, a major player in the burgeoning biofuels market, has unveiled ambitious plans to provide United Airlines with at 15 million gallons over the next three years of renewable jet fuel from a retooled Los Angeles-based refinery . Needless to say, the development is being closely watched, as the AltAir project will be the first U.S. refinery capable of producing both diesel and drop-in replacements for petroleum-based jet fuels. United has collaborated with AltAir Fuels for the past five years and has agreed not only to the initial purchase, but an option to purchase more. And United scores a march on its competition, as on 5 August Air Transport World magazine named United Airlines the Eco-Aviation “Airline of the Year” Gold Winner by, the top award granted by ATW in its annual Eco-Aviation Awards. United Airlines chairman, president and chief executive officer Jeff Smisek gushed, “This is a great honor for United and I’m proud of the work that my co-workers do every day to be responsible stewards for the environment. Our initiatives are paying off as we reduce United’s environmental footprint and work together toward a sustainable future for our company and our industry. United managing director for global environmental affairs and sustainability Jimmy Samartzis added, “This is a great day for United and the aviation biofuels industry. This agreement underscores United’s efforts to be a leader in alternative fuels as well as our efforts to lead commercial aviation as an environmentally responsible company. We’re excited about what this strategic partnership with AltAir means for United, the industry, the environment, and for our customers.” PR fluff aside, United has solidly put its capital behind its efforts to retool its aircrafts’ fuel consumption. United currently has more than 290 fuel-efficient aircraft on order and was the first U.S. carrier to purchase Boeing’s fuel efficient 787 Dreamliner, which cuts fuel consumption by and estimated 20 percent improvement. Deepening its commitment, United recently increased its order for Boeing 787 Dreamliners to 65 aircraft. Not limiting itself to U.S. domestic aircraft, United has also ordered 35 Airbus A350-1000s, which have reduced fuel consumption rates similar to Boeing 787 Dreamliners. Accordingly, United believes that it will meet its 2013 goal to reduce fuel usage by 85 million gallons and associated carbon emissions by 828,750 metric tons. The attention will now switch to AltAir – can it deliver? Rather than build a new refinery, the company intends to retrofit part of an existing petroleum refinery into an advanced biofuel refinery near Los Angeles. With AltAir’s retrofits, the Los Angeles refinery is set to become the first commercial-scale producer of renewable jet fuel in the world. AltAir CEO Tom Todaro has no doubts about the viability of the project, telling journalists, “United Airlines has been a strategic partner for several years as we work to establish our biofuel facility . We cannot overestimate how important this milestone is for the commercialization of sustainable aviation biofuels, and we at AltAir are proud that United is our first customer.” And AltAir is dreaming big, expecting to expand the refinery’s capacity eventually to produce 30 million gallons of advanced biofuels and chemicals after retrofits are complete. Feedstock for the facility? Non-edible natural oils and agricultural wastes. Can AltAir find sufficient natural oils and agricultural wastes in LA? Can they deliver the promised volumes of fuel? Watch this space. By. John C.K. Daly of Oilprice.com Continue reading
Industry Backs New £25m Sustainable Biofuels Fund
Government launches competition to identify the most viable proposals for a new plant capable of turning waste into fuel By Will Nichols 02 Aug 2013 Industry has welcomed government plans to provide £25m towards a UK plant capable of turning waste into biofuel, but cautioned that the role of first-generation fuels should not be dismissed. Companies are being asked to compete for the money by proposing new ideas for viable demonstration-scale plants that can advance the UK biofuels industry. The Department for Transport said the £25m will be provided over three years, subject to EU State Aid approval, and used “to underpin significant private sector investment in one or more demonstration-scale advanced biofuel plants It added that further details, including eligibility criteria and funding options can be expected in the autumn alongside a range of other potential measures to support sustainable fuels. Advanced biofuels are made from materials such as municipal waste, agricultural residues, or algae that do not require the use of agricultural land, in theory negating the argument that the industrial-scale production of biofuels can hinder food production and drive deforestation. Green groups have said fuels made from crops such as wheat displace agriculture, causing food price volatility and potentially increasing emissions through deforestation, draining of peatlands, and other clearance , effects that could be multiplied by increasing demand for biofuels from the road transport and aviation sectors. As such projects such as BP, AB Sugar, and DuPont’s new biorefinery in Hull, which is set to become the UK’s largest buyer of wheat, have faced criticism from some green campaigners. In contrast, advanced biofuels production is still at a low level, but the EU has introduced sustainability criteria and limited the role crop-based biofuels can play in meeting its green transport targets in a bid to encourage the nascent sector. Transport Minister Norman Baker said the UK has an opportunity to leap to the front of what could be a huge global market. “There are real opportunities for the UK to take a technological lead, driving growth, creating highly skilled jobs and seeing energy, security and environmental benefits,” he said in a statement. “It is clear that in the long term advanced biofuels will be important in areas that we cannot otherwise decarbonise, such as aviation. This announcement will help put the UK in a good position to meet this demand.” The Renewable Energy Association (REA) said the prize could help spur growth and jobs in the new industry. However, Clare Wenner, REA’s head of renewable transport, also urged the government not to write off the existing biofuels industry and ensure a sufficient regulatory framework is in place to support it beyond 2020. In a statement, she said: “Current biofuels, which meet strict sustainability criteria, can make a major contribution to renewable energy and emissions reduction targets in the short term, and enable the investments for R&D into advanced biofuels, with even better environmental performance, over the medium term. The key missing ingredient for both is a clear and supportive policy framework.” Continue reading
