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News and Trends
http://www.adb.org/Documents/Policies/Energy-Policy/Energy-Policy-2009.pdf The Board of Directors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) recently updated and approved the organization's energy policy. The ADB's "2009 Energy Policy", as with previous energy policies, serves to "guide ADB operations in the energy sector". Climate change, and the need for a clean, sustainable energy for Asia were primary considerations for the energy policy update. The new energy policy aims to achieve the following objectives: (1) promote energy efficiency and renewable energy, (2) maximize energy access for all, and (3) promote energy sector reform, capacity building and governance. With respect to renewable energy, "ADB will facilitate wider deployment of clean energy technologies by raising awareness, promoting policy and regulatory incentives to encourage their use, and financing packages that share risks and lower costs. Considering the global interest in biofuels, ADB will support further studies to assess the costs and benefits of sustainable biofuels development, particularly on food security, the net energy balance of crops, and environmental impacts". The complete ADB 2009 Energy Policy report can be accessed at the ADB website (URL above)..
http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/June09/biofuelsLabOpens.html One of the top universities in the United States, Cornell University, recently opened its Biofuels Research Laboratory (BRL). The BRL is a US$ 6 million, 11,000-square-foot facility where multidisciplinary teams of Cornell University scientists will conduct research and development on economical and sustainable (non-food-crop-based) biofuels production. The principal investigator is Larry Walker, a professor of biological and environmental engineering. Research focus will be "on the creation of cellulosic ethanol -- a process that frees sugars from perennial grasses and woody biomass and biologically converts them into fuel". According to Professor Walker, although the technology for the conversion of lignocellulosic mass into ethanol already exists, "the challenge is to generate the fuel in a way that's efficient, cost-effective for producers and consumers, and sustainable. Solving the problem requires a systemic analysis of biofuel production, from using sophisticated microscopes (to study enzymatic processes at the nanoscale) to transforming plant sugars into ethanol in a 150-liter fermentation reactor".. Energy Crops and Feedstocks for Biofuels Production
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2009/04/camelina-lca-20090428.html Camelina, a crop historically grown in many parts of Europe for its seed oil, is resurging as a crop for cultivation as biofuel feedstock (biodiesel or jet fuel). A recent study by Dr. David Shonnard and Kenneth Koers of the Michigan Technological University (United States), measured the carbon dioxide emissions of camelina-based jet fuel over the course of its life cycle, from planting of the crop to tailpipe. The results showed that "Camelina jet fuel exhibits one of the largest greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions of any agricultural feedstock-derived biofuel". About 84% savings in GHG emissions were obtained with camelina jet fuel, compared with petroleum jet fuel. According to Shonnard, "This is the result of the unique attributes of the crop - its low fertilizer requirements, high oil yield, and the availability of its coproducts, such as meal and biomass, for other uses". Related information on Camelina: http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1993/v2-314.html, http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/pdf/em/em8953-e.pdf
http://www.parc.gov.pk/enews.html The news site of the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) announced the formal initiation of projects in Baluchistan province, for the planting of "three types of saplings that have the potential to produce bulk quantities of biofuel". According to PARC Chairman, Dr. Zafar Altaf, "We have identified three salt tolerant plants including Jatropha, Salicornia, and Castor oil plants which could grow in salt marshes, on sea beaches, and could survive even without water for five years ". The three feedstocks produce seed-oils which can be processed into biodiesel. Dr. Altaf estimates oil production from the feedstocks as follows: 1100 liters per hectare for Jatropha, 1600 liters per hectare for Salicornia and 1800 liters per hectare for Castor. Cultivation of these bioenergy crops in coastal areas are seen to contribute to savings in oil imports..
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ie900044j?prevSearch=Algae&searchHistoryKey In a recent article in the journal, Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research, scientists from the Indian Institute of Science (India) and the University of Manitoba (Canada), propose the harnessing of diatoms for oil to be utilized in biodiesel or bio-hydrocarbon fuel production. Diatoms are unicellular algae, with cell walls made of silica. Their cells are reported to have a high oil content, which can be extracted for biodiesel production. According to co-author Richard Gordon, live diatoms are estimated to produce 10 to 200 times more oil per acre of cultivated area compared to oil seeds. In their paper, the scientists propose three methods for harnessing diatoms for biofuels: (1) biochemical engineering, to extract oil from diatoms and process it into gasoline; (2) a multiscale nanostructured leaf-like panel, using live (genetically-engineered) diatoms to secrete oil (as accomplished by mammalian milk ducts), which is then processed into gasoline; and (3) the use of such a panel with diatoms that produce gasoline directly. The full paper can be accessed at the journal website (URL above).. Biofuels Processinghttp://www.biotechnologyforbiofuels.com/content/pdf/1754-6834-2-11.pdf In the production of cellulose ethanol, lignocellulosic biomass can be pretreated by enzymatic hydrolysis to breakdown the cellulose molecules into sugars for ethanol.fermentation. The conversion of cellulose to sugars involves the reduction of the solid biomass by grinding, followed by the addition of cellulose-degrading enzymes (cellulases) in a reaction system. When there are "no significant amounts of free liquid water present" in the reaction system (roughly 20% solids content or higher), the process becomes a system for "high solids enzymatic hydrolysis". The potential advantage of high solids enzymatic hydrolysis reduce operating cost resulting from: (1) larger reaction capacities, (2) lower energy requirements for the distillation of ethanol, and (3) lower volumes of wastewater to be treated. However, the process may also result in lower sugar yields resulting from higher concentrations of inhibitory end products and insufficient mixing. Scientists from the University of Copenhagen (Denmark) studied the factors which determine the over-all sugar yields in the high solids enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulosic biomass. Their studies showed that a dominant cause for decreased sugar yields is the inhibition of cellulase adsorption into cellulose by the hydrolysis products. "Product inhibition by glucose and in particular cellobiose (and ethanol in simultaneous saccharification and fermentation) at the increased concentrations at high solids loading plays a role but could not completely account for the decreasing conversion". The presence of inhibitors (lignin-derived or hemicellulose-derived inhibitors), as well as insufficient mixing, are not seen as primary factors for decreased sugar yields. The paper appears in the open access journal, Biotechnology for Biofuels (URL above).. http://www.biotechnologyforbiofuels.com/content/pdf/1754-6834-2-12.pdf Hydrogen is considered one of the renewable energy sources of the future. It is a major component of fuel cells, which are presently being used in environment-friendly "hybrid cars". The production of biomass-derived hydrogen (by thermochemical or fermentative processes) puts into focus the use of renewable resources such as perennial grasses, fast growing trees, and others. Researchers from the Agrotechnology and Food Sciences Group of the Wageningen University and Research Centre (Netherlands) investigated the use of alkali-pretreated perennial grass (Miscanthus), for hydrogen production by a thermophilic anaerobic fermentation process. Anaerobic bacteria (Caldicellulosiruptor saccharolyticus and Thermotoga neapolitana) were the microorganisms used in the fermentation. The microorganisms were shown to "simultaneously and completely utilize all pentoses, hexoses and oligomeric saccharides up to a total concentration of 17 grams per liter in pH-controlled batch cultures. T. neapolitana showed a preference for glucose over xylose, which are the main sugars in the hydrolysate. Hydrogen yields of 2.9 to 3.4 mol hydrogen per mol of hexose, corresponding to 74 to 85% of the theoretical yield". The full paper appears in the open access journal, Biotechnology for Biofuels (URL above).. Biofuels Policy and Economics
http://gain.fas.usda.gov/Recent%20GAIN%20Publications/General%20Report_Canberra_Australia_6-1-2009.pdf The 2009 Annual Biofuels Country Report for Australia has been recently released by the Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Among the highlights of the report are: (1) Australia is a net energy exporter; it has uranium resources (estimated at 38% of global uranium resources) and reserves of black/brown coal to last between one hundred to five hundred years, (2) As in many countries, the drivers for Australia's interest in biofuels are the volatility in conventional energy prices and climate change, (3) many proposed ventures for biofuel production using locally produced grain have been shelved due to grain supply shorages, lack of venture capital, and the global financial crisis, (4) The Australian biofuels industry is still considered to be in the "infancy stage", with a reported production of only 0.5% of gasoline consumption and 1% of diesel consumption, (5) each state has different policies of mandatory ethanol blends into gasoline: New South Wales is targeting a 10% ethanol blend in gasoline by 2011, Queensland at 5% by 2011, Western Australia and Victoria at 5% by 2010, while Tasmania, Northern Territories, and South Australia remain uncommitted. The full report is available at the USDA-GAIN website.. http://snrecmitigation.wordpress.com/2009/04/27/the-biofuel-emissions-debate-comparing-ghg-emissions-of-various-biofuel-technologies-and-feedstocks/ http://www.thebioenergysite.com/articles/340/comparing-ghg-emissions-of-biofuel-technologies-and-feedstocks An article by James MacDonald (from the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan) describes an attempt to gather established emissions literature of various biofuels, and to identify discrepancies in the results. From a full fuel life cycle perspective, an analysis of the sources of the discrepancies, as well as potential areas for future research to reduce uncertainty, was also made. Emissions factors for biodiesel, ethanol, and cellulosic ethanol from five studies were taken, and emissions ranged from 0.52 kilograms of carbon dioxide per liter of ethanol, to 6.8 kilograms of carbon dioxide per liter of biodiesel. Feedstocks include three datasets for corn (ethanol), two for switchgrass (ethanol), one for corn stover (ethanol) and three for soybean oil (biodiesel). MacDonald observed "an incredible amount of variation that is difficult to explain, but some of the factors that provide a significant portion of the changes" were discussed. Some of the factors that might help explain the discrepancies were: (1) differences in process inclusion in the life cycle inventories, and (2) uncertainty in the inventory data/assumptions used, assessment boundaries, and allocation methodology for dealing co-products. According to the article, "life cycle assessments of biofuels are in need of some standard methodologies and a standard set of assumptions in order to create some consistency in the literature".. |
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