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News and Trends
http://www.media.rice.edu/media/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=9707&SnID=628955309 Glycerine (or glycerol) is a by-product from the production of biodiesel from oils. Although, it can be a valuable raw material for the production of other useful products, there is a problem of managing excess amounts of glycerol that is generated from biodiesel production plants. About one pound of glycerine is estimated to be generated for every ten pounds of biodiesel produced. Recently, scientists from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Rice University (United States) have “identified the metabolic processes and conditions that allow a known strain of E. coli to convert glycerine into ethanol”. Assistant Professor Ramon Gonzalez, who heads the research team, says that the operational costs process is estimated to be 40% less than corn ethanol. The research team’s review article on the anaerobic fermentation of ethanol as a viable pathway for the biofuels industry, is published in the journal, Current Opinion in Biotechnology (URL is listed above)..
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/1144439 Green chemistry is a philosophy encouraging the design of less hazardous chemical products, including their sustainable use/production. Africa has the following resources which can provide opportunities for sustainable development of appropriate chemical technologies through green chemistry: intense sunlight, unique plant diversity, and enthusiastic young people. In Ethiopia, scientists from the University of Nottingham are helping the country to develop green chemistry. Among the research areas of the collaboration are the search for renewable biomass feedstocks and development of environmentally friendly solvent alternatives to petroleum based products. The experiences and benefits of the collaboration are described in a recent issue of the journal, Science (URL above). Related Links on Green Chemistry Energy Crops and Feedstocks for Biofuels Production
http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publications.htm?seq_no_115=205373 Scientists from the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have reported the production of biobutanol (butyl alcohol) from wheat straw. Biobutanol is considered to be an important biofuel because of its higher energy content, and a higher octane number relative to ethanol; (a high octane number is considered desirable in gasoline engines). It could also be blended with gasoline in any proportion. The process involves the pre-treatment of the wheat straw by dilute sulphuric acid to improve accessibility of cellulose to hydrolytic enzymes. The pretreated wheat straw then undergoes the following processes which have been combined in a single step: (1) enzymatic hydrolysis using hydrolytic enzymes, known as “carbohydrases” to break down the cellulose into simple 5-carbon or 6-carbon sugars, and (2) a combined fed-batch fermentation/gas stripping process to convert the sugars into butanol without product inhibition. Fermentation was accomplished by using the microorganism, Clostridium beijerinckii and product recovery was accomplished by gas stripping. The simultaneous saccharification, fermentation and product recovery is an interesting feature of the research, and is reported in the Proceedings of the 29th Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals. Related Link:
In its continuing effort to invest in genomics and biotechnology to develop a national “robust bioenergy future”, the United States Department of Energy has announced the awarding of a 1.2 million dollar grant to Virginia Tech, to study protein-protein interactions associated with biomass formation in the poplar tree. According to the Biopact website, poplar is the first tree to have its entire genome sequenced. With this knowledge, it could be seen as a model biomass crop which can be tailored to produce “green chemicals” or “fuels with desired characteristics. The poplar tree is also considered to be a potential “third generation biofuel crop”, which means that certain properties of the crop can be manipulated to “allow a more efficient bioconversion” into the desired biofuel. Among the Virginia Tech scientists involved in the research are Associate Professor Amy Brunner of the College of Natural Resources, as well as Assistant Professor Allan Dickerman. Amy Brunner’s expertise in poplar genomics will be harnessed to “study a subset of protein interactions directly related in poplar trees”. The results will be incorporated with the present knowledge of gene expression/function in polar. Allan Dickerman will use the techniques of computational biology to map the protein interactions. Biofuels Processing
http://biopact.com/2007/06/syntroleum-and-tyson-foods-to-produce.html Tyson Foods and Syntroleum (a synthetic fuels production company) in the United States, have announced a joint venture to produce “ ultra-clean synthetic biofuels” for diesel, jet and military fuel markets. The joint venture company, called “Dynamic Fuels LLC” will harness Syntroleum’s expertise in synthetic fuels technology using feedstocks (animal fat, grease and vegetable oil) provided by Tyson Foods. The “synthetic biofuel” production will involve a two stage process. In the first stage, the feedstock (i.e., vegetable oils/animal fat) is gasified by thermal treatment into “synthesis gas”, which is a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. In the second stage, the synthesis gas is transformed into the liquid hydrocarbon fuel through a conversion process called “Fischer Tropsch” synthesis. The joint venture is reported to be the first Biomass-to-Liquid facility to be constructed, with a target annual production of 284 million liters. Initial facility construction is expected in 2008, somewhere in the south central area of the United States. Related Link:
Bioethanol is largely produced by fermentation of sugars obtained through appropriate treatment of biomass feedstocks. The most common way of separating and purifying ethanol from fermentation broths is by distillation. In this process, the broth is heated to boiling, and the ethanol separates from the liquid phase by evaporation; the ethanol vapor is then condensed to get the final product. Distillation is usually a very energy intensive process. A cheaper and more energy efficient alternative to distillation (based on membrane technology) is being developed by researchers from the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The equipment is called “spiral wound liquid membrane module”. In their process, the fermentation broth (which is about 5% to 10% ethanol) enters the membrane module, where a first set of membrane containing a solvent extracts the ethanol from the broth. In a second set of membranes, the ethanol is separated by evaporation in a vacuum. Finally, the ethanol vapor is condensed to obtain the final product. More details of their innovative process can be obtained from the USDA-ARS website (URL above).. Biofuels Policy and Economicshttp://www.bioenergywiki.net/index.php/G8_2007_Declaration_and_Bioenergy The strategic importance of biofuels in the global transport sector has been put forward in the Declaration of the recently concluded G8 Conference. The relevant portion of the Declaration (as summarized in the Bioenergy Wiki website) highlights the need for: (1) increased energy efficiency to reduce carbon emissions, (2) diversification of biofuels, including the development of cellulosic biofuels, (3) development of biofuel quality standards, and (4) the important role of the Global Energy Partnership in “biofuel best practices”. Related Links:
The report“Life Cycle Assessment of Energy Products: Environmental Assessment of Biofuels” contains the results of the Environmental Impact Studies and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of biofuels made in Switzerland. Some of the biofuels under study were bioethanol, biomethanol, biodiesel and biogas. Some of the highlights of the report are: |
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