Tag Archives: biofuel
Sun, Water, CO2 And Algae: A Recipe For Biofuel?
Plant-based biofuels were initially hailed as the answer to all problems posed by traditional fossil fuels. Supply is unlimited and they are also neutral to emissions harmful to the environment also. But using plants has led to other problems, which a team of European scientists hopes to get around by using aquatic organisms to create fuels from the sun, carbon dioxide (CO2) and water. The nine-partner team behind the EU-funded project DIRECTFUEL (‘Direct biological conversion of solar energy to volatile hydrocarbon fuels by engineered cyanobacteria’) believes the answer could lie in aquatic organisms . The team is developing photosynthetic microorganisms able to catalyse the conversion of solar energy and CO2 into engine-ready fuels. Plant biomass is definitely cleaner than fossil fuels. However, the plants used to create fuel are frequently in competition with food crops , particularly in poorer countries, while cultivation of plants for biomass can also have a detrimental impact on neighbouring agricultural land. Plants also convert solar energy relatively slowly. The research by DIRECTFUEL’s team involves three key steps: enzyme discovery and engineering, metabolic engineering of cyanobacteria (a type of micro-algae) and design of the production process. The target fuels are non-toxic and have been shown to be compatible with combustion engines that have been slightly modified and even with normal ones. Central to the project is the construction of biochemical pathways not existing in nature for the synthesis of ethylene, ethane and propane. The team’s research has already increased understanding of the factors important for catalytic conversion by studying the mechanism of a candidate enzyme. The next step is to use enzyme engineering to program the enzymes to act on desired substrates. Work on targeted enzyme engineering at the biosynthesis of volatile alkanes is underway, and the team is now working to engineer the metabolism of the host organisms in order to enhance CO2 assimilation and thus increase yield. To be able to engineer the metabolism of cyanobacteria, the researchers needed to first understand and be able to predict which modifications in the biochemical pathways will have which impact on metabolism. To make this possible, the team is using a computational model developed by one of the DirectFuel partners. The model will also be improved and expanded during the project to boost its effectiveness in predictive engineering. In addition, a preliminary process layout has been prepared and a laboratory-scale photo-bioreactor constructed. Cultivation of the essential cyanobacteria can be carried out on land unsuitable for agriculture, and in enclosed containers that require no soil, thus eliminating any competition between land for food and fuel production. It will take time before the technology developed within DIRECTFUEL is on the market, but the eventual impact is likely to be considerable in the production of carbon-based fuels and chemicals. The research has already attracted interest from petroleum gas associations. The DIRECTFUEL project has received almost EUR 5 million in EU funding and runs from 2010 until 2014. It is coordinated by the University of Turku in Finland. Read more at: http://phys.org/news…iofuel.html#jCp Continue reading
V4 Agriculture Group Urge EU Support For Biofuel
BY MTI The agricultural chambers of the Visegrad Four countries called on European decision-makers to support sustainable, crop-based biofuels, at a meeting of their leaders in Szekszard in southern Hungary on Monday. The V4 group of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia has its own capacity to produce and supply to the EU an additional 8 billion litres of biofuel per year. This amount accounts for 1 percent of the continent’s total transport-aimed fuel needs, Hungary’s national agricultural chamber told MTI in a statement. The 5 million tonnes of GMO and anti-biotics free animal feed additives produced as a by-product of biofuel could also replace one-fifth of Europe’s soya-based fodder imports. As biofuel proves to be the best alternative choice considered from an environmental, food-safety and energy security, as well as from the European economy’s aspect, the V4 countries urge EU decision-makers to ensure a stable environment for this sector’s development and give additional consideration to its potential in the economy and rural development sector.[/font][/color] Continue reading
Food Price, ILUC Studies Released In Run-Up To EU Biofuel Vote
According to information published by the European Parliament on Sept. 5, draft legal measures to cap traditional biofuel production and accelerate the switch to advanced biofuels will be debated on Sept. 9 and put to vote on Sept. 11. The notice specifies that the legal measures aim to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that result from the increased use of farmland to produce biofuel feedstocks. One proposal from the Environment Committee, drafted by Corinne Lepage, a MEP representing France, calls for a 5.5 percent cap on first-generation biofuels. The Environment Committee also wants new biofuels policy in the EU to include ILUC impacts. Alternatively, the Energy Committee is advocating for a 6.5 percent cap on first-generation biofuels, and is against including ILUC in the legislation. Within the report, the authors assert that their analysis has determined that ILUC emission calculated using the latest version of GTAP—a model that is undergoing near constant revision—are much less than those calculated by International Food Policy Institute (IFPRI). The lower results are attributed to higher yields of new cropland than assumed by IRPRI and the fact that less forest land is converted. EBB Secretary General Raffaello Garofalo said the results of the study questions the validly of including ILUC science in policy making. “Policy makers can no longer deny the immaturity of science to serve for policy making,” he said. According to ePURE, the study examines the casualty between biofuel production, global crop commodity prices and implications for food security, with particular focus on poor regions of the world. The study determines biofuel demand in Europe through 2010 only increased world grain prices by 1-2 percent, and would only increase world grain prices by another 1 percent through 2020 if no cap is placed on first-generation biofuels. The study also stresses that because commodity prices are only a small component of actual food costs, and that local food markets are often disconnected from global markets, the actual impact of biofuel on food prices is far less than 1 percent. Continue reading
