Tag Archives: biomass
One-Pot Process To Simplify Production Of Biofuel From Biomass
Details Category: Technology 16 Aug 2013 Published on Friday, 16 August 2013 The right combination of enzyme cocktail and ionic liquid pretreatment can be used to extract fermentable sugars from switchgrass in a single, wash-free step. (Photo by Roy Kaltschmidt) A “one-pot” method of processing biomass into biofuels has been developed by researchers with the United States Department of Energy’s Joint Bioenergy Institute. “By combining ionic liquid pretreatment and saccharification into a single vessel we eliminate the excessive use of water and waste disposal currently associated with washing biomass that that is pretreated with ionic liquids,” said chemical engineer Blake Simmons. Advanced biofuels made from cellulosic sugars stored in the biomass of grasses and other non-food crops and agricultural waste could substantially reduce the use of fossil fuels. In the United States alone, more than a billion tons of biomass are produced annually that could be potentially used to create cleaner and greener substitutes for fossil fuels. In order for advanced biofuels to be commercially viable however, they must be cost-competitive with fossil fuels. Currently, the processes to extract the sugars needed to formulate these fuels are costly and complicated. To process biomass, it must first be pretreated with an ionic liquid – environmentally benign organic salts – before adding an enzyme cocktail that breaks down the biomass into fermentable sugars. However, as most ionic liquids inhibit the enzyme cocktail, the biomass needs to be washed beforehand. “The recycling and waste disposal costs associated with this required washing pose a significant challenge for the commercial scale-up of ionic liquid pretreatment technology,” said Seema Singh, director of JBEI’s biomass pretreatment program. The JBEI team focused on the use of imidazolium-based molten salts in their one-pot processing method. Imidazolium is one of the most effective known ionic liquids for breaking down cellulosic biomass. “However, imidazolium, like other ionic liquids, can inhibit the commercial enzyme cocktails now used for the saccharification of cellulosic biomass,” said Ms. Singh. To meet this challenge, JBEI researchers developed a compost-derived consortium of bacterium that could grow on switchgrass, a popular biomass crop. The consortium was dubbed “Jtherm” and consists of several species of thermophiles, microbes that can thrive at extremely high temperatures and alkaline conditions. “Jtherm is both an ionic liquid and heat tolerant cellulase cocktail that can liberate sugars from biomass in the presence of up to 20-percent ionic liquids, “ said John Gladden, deputy director for fungal biotechnology at JBEI. The one-pot system uses imidazolium-based ionic liquid pretreatment on the switchgrass then adds Jtherm to extract the sugars. With this one-pot system, they liberated 81.2 percent glucose and 87.4 percent xylose over the course of a 72 hour processing at 70 degrees Celsius. They were able to separate the sugars at better than 90-percent efficiency. The team is now planning to scale-up tests of this one-pot system and is in the process of further optimizing the Jtherm enzyme cocktail and seeking to identify other ionic liquids that could be used in this process. – EcoSeed Staff Continue reading
Tilbury Power Plant Closes After Biomass Grant Refused
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/50907714-0374-11e3-b871-00144feab7de.html#ixzz2bqG9g4oW By Guy Chazan One of Britain’s oldest power stations will close on Tuesday after the government refused to award it a subsidy to switch from coal to biomass. RWE npower, the energy supplier, said it had taken the “difficult decision” to shut down Tilbury on the river Thames in Essex after the government said a project to convert it to biomass was ineligible for its new low-carbon support mechanism. The decision brings the curtain down on a plant that has been generating electricity for 46 years and casts a shadow over Britain’s plans to source a growing proportion of its power from wood pellets. Tilbury B was scheduled to close under an EU environmental measure known as the Large Combustion Plant Directive (LCPD). Under the legislation, Tilbury was allocated a quota of 20,000 hours of operation from January 1, 2008. In 2011, RWE decided to switch it to biomass for the remainder of its LCPD hours, due to end at midnight on Tuesday. RWE had hoped to convert the plant from coal to biomass, which would have given it an extra 10-12 years of life. But after the Department of Energy and Climate Change decided the project was ineligible for its low-carbon energy subsidy, the “contract for difference”, RWE said the plan was “no longer economically viable”. The decision will be a blow to the biomass industry but will be welcomed by environmentalists, who have argued that increasing demand for wood pellets as a feedstock for biomass plants could lead to the destruction of biodiverse forests, as more land is taken up for tree plantations. A fire at the Tilbury biomass plant in February damaged storage units holding thousands of tonnes of wood pellets, weeks after the facility began commercial production. Continue reading
Biomass Continues To Fuel Eastern Oregon’s Economy
By Andy Giegerich Sustainable Business Oregon editor Government leaders, and some environmental advocates, believe biomass can create jobs and promote clean energy generation. A Wallowa biomass specialist has collected $3.75 million to expand its facility and create as many as 14 new jobs. Integrated Biomass Resources, a wood products manufacturer, collected the money through the BizCapital group, which is the small business lending division of Advantage Capital Partners, and the Oregon New Markets Tax Credit programs. Integrated Biomass Resources believes the infusion will help it hire between 10 and 14 workers, with another eight construction jobs being needed to expand its facility. Some sustainability advocates have increasingly begun pushing biomass as a way to create jobs while repurposing available goods. The company’s leaders said the funding will be used to achieve the goal “of helping with forest restoration while providing jobs and economic opportunity to rural Oregon.” Integrated Biomass Resources makes several products from wood biomass, including bundled fire wood, wood chips and densified heat logs. The federal and Oregon New Markets Tax Credit programs aim to spark jobs growth and promote retention in communities that are historically underserved by traditional sources of investment capital. Companies: Advantage Capital Partners Continue reading
