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Moving Beyond Fossil Fuels Before It’s Too Late
Jul. 23, 2013 Worldwatch Institute’s State of the World 2013 discusses the challenges and opportunities presented by changing the way we produce and use energy Washington, D.C. — Global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel energy combustion grew by 34 percent from 2000 to 2010. Leading research institutions estimate that as a consequence, global average surface temperatures will increase by between 1 and 6 degrees Celsius during this century, with the most recent estimates projecting that the high end of this warming range is the most probable if no swift action is taken. In the Worldwatch Institute’s State of the World 2013: Is Sustainability Still Possible?, contributing authors discuss strategies to overcome our dependence on fossil fuels and become strictly sustainable energy consumers. Coal, oil, and gas predominated the 20th century as sources of fuel, and allowed human productivity to increase exponentially. Yet these same resources are now polluting the atmosphere and damaging the environment, on which we depend on for human survival. The transition away from fossil fuels is not one of convenience, but of moral and ecological necessity. As University of Michigan professor Thomas Princen and his co-authors describe in their chapter, “Keep ‘Em In the Ground: Ending the Fossil Fuel Era,” in order to prevent disastrous environmental impacts, it is essential to stop the extraction of the vast majority of fossil fuels, and not just manage emissions, an ultimately futile effort. We should reserve the small portion that we do extract for essential uses and for building a renewable energy infrastructure. Researchers have shown that renewable energy sources are able to fully meet the global energy demand—as is discussed in Chapter 7—but these future power supplies do take significant energy investment upfront to build. As physicist Tom Murphy notes in his chapter, “Beyond Fossil Fuels: Assessing Energy Alternatives,” “If there is to be a transition to a sustainable energy regime, it’s best to begin it now. If society waits until energy scarcity demands an energy transition, it risks falling into an ‘Energy Trap’ in which aggressive use of scarce remaining easily-harnessed energy resources to develop a new energy infrastructure leaves less available to society overall.” “Unlike monetary investments, which can be made on credit and then amortized out of the income stream they produce, the energy investment in energy infrastructure must be made up front out of a portion of the energy used today,” says Eric Zencey, fellow of the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics at the University of Vermont and author of Chapter 7, “Energy as Master Resource.” “Politically, the most acceptable path is to finance the energetic investment not by decreasing energy use for consumption today but by maintaining energy use for consumption while increasing the total energy appropriation of the economy. But ecologically, that most acceptable path will lead to climate catastrophe.” Phillip Saieg, accredited professional of the U.S. Green Building Council, suggests that the quickest and most financially feasible way to lessen the amount of carbon being added to the atmosphere is by “greening” existing buildings to curb their energy demands. By doing this, building owners will save money, jobs will be created, and we will significantly lower the amount of carbon we are contributing to the atmosphere. Whether the movement is one to keep fossil fuels in the ground, to use them much more efficiently, or, realistically, a combination of both, it is now widely accepted that the fossil fuel age must come to an end. The good news is that development of renewable energy systems is under way. “Renewable technologies broke all growth records in recent years,” said Alexander Ochs, Director of Worldwatch’s Climate and Energy program, and contributing author of State of the World 2013. “In 2011, new investments in renewables for the first time in modern history topped those in conventional energy technologies with clean energy investments in developing countries now outpacing those in many industrialized countries. These promising trends need to be accelerated, with action on all political levels. Science tells us that global greenhouse gas emissions have to peak well before 2020 if we want to avoid the danger of major climate disruptions.” Worldwatch’s State of the World 2013, released in April 2013, addresses how “sustainability” should be measured, how we can attain it, and how we can prepare if we fall short. For more information, visit www.sustainabilitypossible.org . Authors of mentioned chapters include: Shakuntala Makhijani, research associate at the Worldwatch Institute and co-author of Chapter 8, “Renewable Energy’s Natural Resource Impact.” Jack P. Manno, professor of environmental studies at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and co-author of Chapter 14, “Keep Them in the Ground: Ending the Fossil Fuel Era.” Pamela Martin, professor of politics at Coastal Carolina University and co-author of Chapter 14, “Keep Them in the Ground: Ending the Fossil Fuel Era.” T.W. Murphy, Jr., associate professor of physics at the University of California, San Diego and author of Chapter 15, “Beyond Fossil Fuels: Assessing the Energy Alternatives.” Alexander Ochs, director of Worldwatch’s Climate and Energy Program and co-author of Chapter 8, “Renewable Energy’s Natural Resource Impact.” Thomas Princen, professor of natural resources and environment at the University of Michigan and co-author of Chapter 14, “Keep Them in the Ground: Ending the Fossil Fuel Era.” Phillip Saieg, accredited professional under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program of the U.S. Green Building Council and author of Chapter 16, “Energy Efficiency in the Built Environment.” Eric Zencey, fellow of the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics at the University of Vermont and author of Chapter 7, “Energy as Master Resource.” About the Worldwatch Institute: Worldwatch is an independent research organization based in Washington, D.C. that works on energy, resource, and environmental issues. The Institute’s State of the World report is published annually in more than a dozen languages. For more information, visit www.worldwatch.org . Continue reading
Bamboo Charcoal Technology Introduced In Ghana
Page last updated at Thursday, July 25, 2013 bambooThe International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR), is promoting bamboo charcoal technologies in Ghana, which have the potential to jump-start the country’s bio-energy sector and generate and sustain the charcoal business. It will also slow down deforestation and fight climate change. Mr Michael Kwaku, Country Director of INBAR Ghana, said in a statement issued in Accra on Wednesday and copied to Ghana News Agency that China-Africa collaboration focuses on bamboo to provide cleaner, safer, green energy source. It will also create and sustain jobs in the wood-fuel sector. The statement said the Forestry Research Institute is partnering Bamboo and Rattan Development Programme at the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources Africa and communities in the Western Region and INBAR to implement the project. The European Union and China are working to substitute bamboo charcoal and firewood for forest wood on, which 65 per cent of the rural population depends for its fuel needs. Initial successes with bamboo charcoal briquette in Ghana and Ethiopia, which have put bamboo biomass at the centre of renewable energy policies, are spurring interest in countries across the continent. This is prompting calls for greater investment in bamboo-based charcoal production as a green biofuel that can fight deforestation and mitigate climate change. “Bamboo, the perfect biomass grass, grows naturally across Africa and presents a viable, cleaner and sustainable alternative to wood fuel. “Without such an alternative, wood charcoal will remain the primary household energy source for decades to come—with disastrous consequences,” the statement said. It said In Ghana, the reason behind the cutting down of trees is usually for charcoal, pasture for livestock, farms, urban or industrial purposes. The number of trees illegally cut down yearly is way beyond the number of culprits arrested, which indicates that most of them culprits go scot free. This in the long run, causes depletion of land and harms green plants and animals. The statement said burning wood has a significant impact on the climate. Scientists predict that the burning of wood fuel by African households, will release the equivalent of 6.7 billion tonnes of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere by 2050. Ten tonnes of raw wood produces one tonne of wood charcoal, making wood fuel collection an important driver of deforestation in Ghana. About 15 billion people have few alternative fuel sources. The INBAR project is the first to transfer bamboo charcoal and briquette technologies from China to Ghana to produce sustainable ‘green biofuels’ using locally available bamboo resources. “Ensuring food security in a changing climate is one of the major challenges of our era. It is well known that the destruction of Ghana’s forests has negative repercussions on livelihoods and sustainable agriculture as it feeds into a cycle of climate change, drought and poverty,” Ms Gloria Asare Adu, Executive Director Global Bamboo Product Limited. “Feeding people in decades to come will require ingenuity and innovation to produce more food on less land in more sustainable ways,” the statement said. Scientists believe that deforestation across the northern regions within the forest transitional zones, has contributed to changes in the weather forecast. Years of tree-clearing for charcoal in some part of the north, particularly in the Upper East and Upper East Regions, have eliminated fragile forests that stood as the last line of defence against the conversion of sparsely forested dry lands and pastures into useless desert, according to researchers from the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research. The International Energy Agency predicts that if business continues as usual, by 2030 biomass energy in sub-Saharan Africa including Ghana will still account for about three-quarters of total residential energy, underscoring the urgency of coming up with a sustainable alternative biomass to replace wood. Sub-Saharan Africa has more than 2.75 million hectares of bamboo forest, equivalent to roughly four per cent of the continent’s total forest cover. “Rural communities need access to sustainable approaches that will keep trees in the ground and the environment safe,” Professor Karanja M. Njoroge, Executive Director, Green Belt Movement has said. He said: “Bamboo grows naturally across Africa’s diverse landscapes, but unlike trees, it regrows after harvest and lends itself very well for energy plantations on degraded lands. We should put it to good use to provide clean energy for Ghana.” China is a global leader in the production and use of bamboo charcoal. The sector is worth an estimated $1 billion a year and employs more than 60,000 people in more than 1,000 businesses. Chinese partners, including the Nanjing Forestry University and WENZHAO Bamboo Charcoal Co., are helping to adapt equipment like brick kilns, grinders and briquette machines, and hand tools, for bamboo charcoal and briquette production using local materials. Building on this momentum, the INBAR initiative is now transferring China’s advanced bamboo charcoal technologies to sub-Saharan Africa. In addition to charcoal, bamboo offers many new opportunities for income generation. It can be processed into a vast range of wood products, from floorboards to furniture and from charcoal to edible shoots. The world bamboo export was estimated at $1.6 billion in 2009, a decline of about $ 659 million from $ 2.2 billion in 2008. INBAR is an inter-governmental organisation dedicated to reducing poverty, conserving the environment and creating fairer trade using bamboo and rattan. INBAR was established in 1997 and represents a growing number of member countries all over the world. The headquarters is in China with regional offices in Ghana, Ethiopia, India and Ecuador. The organisation connects a global network of governmental, non-governmental, corporate and community partners in more than 50 countries. Source: GNA – See more at: http://www.ghanabusi…h.U1aa23vC.dpuf Continue reading
The Cornerstones of Advanced Biofuels
Novel pretreatment technologies are paving the way for the advanced biofuel industry. By Chris Hanson | July 22, 2013 Currently, one of the most common pretreatment methods is accomplished using steam explosion, but further advances and innovations in other pretreatment methods could diversify pretreatment options. In recent months, several breakthroughs and new approaches have been announced, one of which is ionic liquid pretreatments with butadiene sulfone. Some of the newest pretreatment innovations involve the use of ionic liquids to break apart biomass into cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. Ionic liquids, or liquid salts, are being researched at both the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the U.S. DOE’s Joint BioEnergy Institute. “Initially, we wanted to find a solvent to actively separate lignin, hemicellulose and cellulose,” adds Hao Feng, associate professor at the University of Illinois. “However, we also found it is probably better to use this as a pretreatment because we can recover it, we can recycle it, and that way we can have that green, sustainable production.” Once pretreatment is complete, the temperature is increased, and the heat breaks down the solvent, forming butadiene and sulfur dioxide. The two gases are then recombined to form the original butadiene sulfone. Halfway across America, the JBEI in California is also developing an ionic liquid pretreatment. Unlike the University of Illinois’ butadiene sulfone method, the institute is utilizing imidazolium chloride with mixed feedstocks. With its pretreatment technology, the institute is able to liberate 95 percent sugar yields from biomass in less than 24 hours, recovering roughly 95 percent of the ionic liquid. Working with Idaho National Laboratory’s feedstock development unit, JBEI tested what Simmons refers to as a “witch’s brew” of feedstocks, comprised of corn stover, switchgrass, eucalyptus and pine biomass. What the researchers unexpectedly discovered was the mixtures performed better in pretreatment than single feedstocks. “Imagine if you had a biorefinery operating with ionic liquid technology that could handle any mixture that’s available regionally, be it yard trimmings, ag residues, tree residues, municipal solid waste,” says Simmons. “That’s pretty remarkable.” Currently, JBEI is working with the industry to commercialize the technology. Simmons hopes sugars produced from ionic liquids will be marketable within three to five years. The biggest steps that need to be taken, he says, are more process engineering and scaling to minimize risks. “We are working with user facilities within the national lab complex, post start-ups and big industry to do that,” he adds. “We are very excited about the future of the process.” Emerging Glycerol Pretreatment Explaining how the pretreatment process works, Simmons says crushed bagasse from a sugar processor is churned with the glycerol in a chamber. Dissolved lignin and glycerol are then pressed out, leaving the cellulose and hemicellulose. “It’s a really simple, easy process using a very cheap substance in glycerol,” he says. Other recent developments, Richards notes, include processes to purify the used glycerol for reuse and to maintain lower costs. Leaf Energy, JBEI and University of Illinois are all using different approaches to create digestible sugars, but all take aim at the same goal. “I think pretreatment is still the most expensive unit operation in biomass-to-biofuel production,” says Feng. “If you could lower the cost, including capital investment and operational costs, I think you could lower the overall cost of production. That’s why it is very important.” Simmons believes the real challenge in biofuel production lies with inexpensive, sugar production from renewable, lignocellulosic feedstocks. He says if people are able to produce those sugars with a production cost lower or equal to corn and sugarcane-derived sugars, that “all things become possible with those sugars in terms of fuels, chemicals and others.” Advanced biofuel, such as cellulosic ethanol, could play a big role in the pressing carbon debates, says Richards. He adds that with lower production costs, decreased enzyme costs and better technologies, cellulosic ethanol “has a very, very big task going forward to help reduce carbon.” Author: Chris Hanson Staff Writer, Biomass Magazine chanson@bbinternational.com 701-738-4970 Continue reading
