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News and Trendshttp://biomassmagazine.com/articles/12246/argonne-national-lab-finds-butanol-is-good-for-boats In an effort to reduce boating's environmental impact, the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory investigated alternative fuels for recreational marine applications. The laboratory, in collaboration with industrial partner Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP), and with support from the National Marine Manufacturers Association and American Boat and Yacht Council (NMMA), has demonstrated the safety and effectiveness of a fuel blend with 16 percent butanol for use in watercraft. The demonstration culminated with the approval of the fuel by the NMMA. The newly approved fuel has the potential to replace the 15 percent ethanol blend for boats. Ethanol attracts water and can allow the surrounding water to enter the fuel tank, adversely affecting engine performance. Butanol lacks the water attraction properties of ethanol, mitigating the potential engine performance issue. Enel Green Power has announced the completion of a five-megawatt (MW) biomass plant in Italy that integrates biomass with geothermal steam generation. The new biomass plant will use locally sourced virgin forest organic matter and a "super-heater" boiler to increase steam temperatures at the nearby 13-MW Cornia 2 geothermal plant. Geothermal steam temperatures entering the Cornia 2 plant will be raised from 300 °F to over 700 °F, resulting in an increase in the geothermal plant's net electricity generation capacity. It is projected that integration of the biomass plant will boost the overall Cornia 2 geothermal plant output by some 30 gigawatt hours per year and will also mitigate the emission of CO2 annually. This innovative technological approach will result in minimal local environmental impact and secure "total renewability" within the resources used and the cycle of energy generation. Red Rock Biofuels recently announced that they would produce several million gallons of renewable jet fuel per year for FedEx Express. The agreement runs through 2024, with first delivery expected in 2017. FedEx, along with Southwest Airlines, will be purchasing Red Rock's total available volume of jet fuel. Red Rock's first refinery is scheduled to break ground this fall in Lakeview, Oregon and will convert approximately 140,000 tons of woody biomass into 15 million gallons per year of renewable fuels. In addition to reducing carbon emissions, Red Rock's process could also help reduce the risk of forest fires by decreasing the amount of waste woody biomass in forests. "With our total jet fuel capacity now sold to FedEx and Southwest Airlines, we are building a suite of powerful, global customers that continue to commit to the future of alternative fuels in a market where oil prices are low, providing true validation of our business model and mission," said Terry Kulesa, co-founder and CEO of Red Rock. https://www.newsday.co.zw/2015/07/30/cassava-ethanol-plant-on-cards/ ZIMBABWE is set to have a cassava ethanol plant to boost ethanol production as the country aims to accelerate mandatory fuel blending. The Ministry of Energy and Power Development director for policy planning Benson Munyaradzi said that the government wants to have more players that produce ethanol in the country. While Green Fuel is currently producing the ethanol used for mandatory blending, the company has in the past failed to supply the market forcing the government to cut mandatory blending. The country has been a major trend setter in bio fuels in the region when it started blending in the 1980s. Although the introduction of bio fuels has not been smooth, Zimbabwe is still ahead of its counterparts in the region. The government introduced a mandatory ethanol blending in 2013 at E5 and is now currently at E15. Research and Development
Yarrowia lipolytica is unable to grow on cellobiose. Hence, engineering cellobiose-degrading ability into this yeast is a vital step towards the development of cellulolytic catalysts suitable for bioprocessing. Researchers from the University of Toulouse, INRA, and AgroParisTech in France identified six genes encoding β-glucosidases in the Y. lipolytica genome. Each of the six genes was expressed in Y. lipolytica JMY1212 Zeta. However, only the strains overexpressing BGL1 and BGL2 were able to degrade cellobiose. The two β-glucosidases were then purified and characterized. Bgl1 displayed a higher catalytic efficiency on cellobiose than Bgl2. Significantly, a Y. lipolytica strain co-expressing both BGL1 and BGL2 grew better than strains expressing only a single BGL. The growth rate and biomass yield of the strain co-expressing BGL1 and BGL2 were also found similar to that of the control grown on glucose. The resulting Y. lipolytica developed in the study will be vital towards the creation of a cellulolytic yeast strain to be used for lipid production from lignocellulosic biomass. http://biomassmagazine.com/articles/12252/msu-research-could-improve-cyanobacteria-use-in-biofuel Overexposure to sunlight is damaging to natural and artificial photosynthetic systems. Nature has solved the problem through "non-photochemical-quenching", which allows solar energy to be dissipated as heat from one molecular system to another. A team led by Cheryl Kerfeld, the Hannah Distinguished Professor of Structural Bioengineering in the Michigan State University-DOE Plant Research Lab and an affiliate of Berkeley Lab's Physical Biosciences Division, has discovered a key event in the energy-quenching process. The team discovered that in cyanobacteria, the mechanism is triggered by a shift of a single carotenoid pigment in a protein which causes the protein to change from an orange light-sensing state to a red photoprotective state. Ryan Leverenz, the paper's lead author and a research scientist in Kerfeld's MSU lab said "Now that we've identified how this molecular switch works, we can potentially fine-tune the process in order to improve cyanobacteria's viability as a biofuel." Energy Crops and Feedstocks for Biofuels Productionhttp://www.scotsman.com/news/environment/seaweed-farm-to-begin-production-off-argyll-coast-1-3847291 The plans for Britain's first commercial-scale seaweed farm set up in Scottish waters has been unveiled. The new facility will run as a demonstration project and will help the country's seaweed cultivation sector. Scientists at the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) in Oban aim to set up a one-hectare farm off the Argyll coast that could grow 24 tonnes of the marine vegetables every year. They will plant at least seven native varieties of seaweed, which will have a multitude of potential uses, including biofuel production. Dr. Phil Kerrison, who is spearheading the new venture, insists there is a huge scope to have a "sizeable, sustainable seaweed industry" around the Scottish coast. Policy and Regulationhttp://www.bangkokpost.com/business/news/638628/ In Thailand, the Energy Ministry's Energy Business Department is raising the proportion of biodiesel blended with high-speed diesel up to 7% (B7) to help absorb excess domestic crude palm (CPO) supply. The new B7 will be available at petrol stations in early August. Director-general Witoon Kulchroenwirat said increasing the blend would absorb an excess domestic crude palm (CPO) supply. The domestic CPO production had surpassed demand at a time when the global CPO price had dropped due to excessive supply in Indonesia and Malaysia. The move to raise the proportion of CPO blended with diesel came following a request by the National Palm Oil Board to seek ways of absorbing the excess CPO supply. In the long term, policymakers plan to increase the proportion of CPO to 10-20%. The plan has been in trial testing nationwide since last year in a bid to help cut oil imports. |
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