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News and Trends
http://www.iadb.org/NEWS/articledetail.cfm?Language=En&parid=2&artType=PR&artid=4743 The Inter-America Development Bank (IDB) recently released a web-based interactive tool, called the ‘Biofuel Sustainability Scorecard” (URL above) as a policy/management tool to assess the sustainability scores of different biofuel feedstock options. This is a part of the IDB efforts to “ensure that biofuel investments produce social, economic and environmental benefits”. According to IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno, “before deciding to invest in biofuels, governments and companies need to fully understand how a particular feedstock and production process will impact food security and local ecosystems. His Scorecard will make it easier to get answers to those questions, and it will be a key instrument in the IDB’s efforts to promote only those biofuel projects that are truly sustainable”. The IDB website mentions that “The Scorecard was designed to be used at multiple stages of a project’s life-cycle. It can be used in project development, screening, initial analysis, and then again throughout due diligence and investment approvals. By using the Scorecard at multiple stages, decision makers can identify areas that need improvement and then measure the impact of changes”. The Scorecard can be tested at the above URL..
http://cleantechnica.com/2008/09/11/san-antonio-generating-gas-from-sewage/ The city of San Antonio (Texas, United States) recently announced plans to convert 140,000 tons per year of its ‘biosolids” (solid component of domestic sewage) into biogas (methane and carbon dioxide). Biogas is produced by the fermentation of organic waste (like domestic sewage) by microorganisms, in the absence of oxygen. Basically, the process involves placing the domestic sewage in an air-free reaction tank, added with acclimatized anaerobic microorganisms and then allowed to ferment. The methane produced will be converted to natural gas and used as fuel for its power plants. According to Reuters, “It would be the first U.S. city to harvest methane gas from human waste on a commercial scale and turning it into clean-burning fuel”. The city approved a deal with Massachusetts-based Ameresco Inc. to convert the city’s sewage into natural gas. The facility would generate about 1.5 million cubic feet of the gas per day. According to Steve Clouse, chief operating officer of the city’s water system, “90 percent of materials flushed down the toilets and sinks of San Antonio will be recycled”.. Biofuels Processing
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6TH9-4NT9GDY-2&_user=10&_coverDate=02%2F12% Scientists from the Carlos III University of Madrid (UC3M), Spain, have developed a more efficient fluidized system for biomass gasification. Biomass gasification is usually the first step (stage 1) toward the synthesis of “synthetic biofuels”. The biomass (usually reduced to particle size) is heated at high temperature, in the absence or with little air, and in the presence of a solid catalyst. The product is a gas mixture (called “synthesis gas”) which is passed through a second stage reaction system to produce liquid synthetic biofuels. In the fluidized bed system, the solid particles are “fluidized” or allowed to remain in suspension inside the reactor together with the biomass particles. The particles are fluidized by introducing a jet of air stream into the reactor. According to scientist Mercedes de Vega from the Energy System Engineering Group, the newly developed fluidized reactor system ”allows for a more efficient conversion by achieving high mixing degrees and high exchange rates of mass and heat”. The results of their study are published in the journal “Powder Technology” (URL above).. http://biopact.com/2008/09/solid-biofuels-570-more-efficient-than.html The Biopact website reports of a recently released (Dutch-Canadian) study which found that “solid biofuel technology using biomass from energy crops for heat energy (developed by a company, REAP-Canada) reduces GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions by 7,600-13,100 kg CO2e /ha (CO2e=equivalent carbon dioxide). On the other hand, soybean biodiesel and corn ethanol were found to have a GHG emissions reduction of only 1,500 kg CO2e/ha. GHG emissions reduction by solid biofuels is better than corn or soybean based biofuels by a factor of 7.7. The study also gives recommendations on how to produce energy from solid biofuels which are efficient. One of the production processes is known as “torrefaction” (also known as “mild pyrolysis”, “roasting”, or “wood browning”). The process involves ‘gently roasting” the biomass up to 280oC, then “cooking” in an oxygen-free environment between 200oC and 300oC. By this roasting process, “the energy density can be improved dramatically, and its fuel properties altered in a way that the fuel can be (co-)fired in existing power structures. More details of the study can be obtained from the book published by Springer Publishers, “Biofuels, Solar and Wind as Renewable Energy Systems: Benefits and Risks”..
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/sci;1159210v1?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=Dumesic Biomass conversion into biofuels is commonly accomplished via the biological route (i.e. the biomass is degraded enzymatically and then fermented to ethanol). The produced ethanol is then blended into regular gasoline at the desired proportion. Recently, a non-biological route for biomass conversion has been reported by scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (United States). An attractive feature of the process is that the final product is not ethanol for blending with gasoline, but the actual transport fuel itself (ready to use “biogasoline” without blending). Furthermore, the operating conditions of this two-stage catalytic process can be modified to produce not only gasoline, but also other types of fuel, i.e., diesel or jet fuel. In the first stage reactor, biomass is heated to about 227 degrees Celsius together with a platinum-rhenium catalyst to strip off oxygen molecules from the biomass and to produce mixture of alcohols and organic acids. The stage 1 product usually forms an oily upper layer in the reaction mixture. This oily layer is separated and fed into the stage 2 reactor where it is converted to the desired liquid fuel (gasoline, diesel or jet fuel), depending on the reaction conditions. The process is said to be “a thousand times faster than microbes” due to the high operating temperatures, and requires “smaller, cheaper reactors”. Details of their study are published in the journal Science (URL above).. Biofuels Policy and Economics
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=eu-votes-to-cut-biofuels The long term adverse impacts of crop-based (i.e. food-based) biofuel feedstocks on food prices (corn, soybean) and deforestation (palm oil), have prompted governments to rethink their original biofuel targets. Recently, a committee of the European Union (EU) voted to reduce its biofuel targets. In the original target, the EU mandated that by the year 2020, 10% of transport fuel should come from renewable sources, but there were no specifications as to how much of this 10% should come from biofuels. In the recently approved policy, a 6% limit of the original 10% renewable energy target should come from biofuels, while the remaining 4% should come from other renewable energy sources, like hydrogen. The panel also approved that of the 5% renewable energy target for transport fuels by 2015, only one-fifth should come from crop-based (i.e. food-based) biofuels. The Scientific American website reports that “the committee’s decision will likely serve as the parliament’s position in negotiations with the 27 EU member states later this year or in early 2009 on the final shape of the legislation”..
http://biopact.com/2008/09/indian-government-sets-indicative.html A new biofuels policy approved by the Indian Cabinet calls for ethanol blends of 20% in regular gasoline, and also 20% biodiesel blends (sourced from non-edible oils, such as Jatropha). This is in contrast with the EU’s recent policy to limit its biofuel targets to 6% (related news above). The new policy also has the following provisions: (1) scrapping of taxes and duties on biodiesel, and confers “declared goods status” on the products, (2) establishment of standardized protocols for blending for use by the industry and marketing companies, (3) ban on free fatty acid importation, to promote “development of plantations of non-edible seeds", (4) encouragement of bioenergy crop plantations in wastelands, while discouraging the use of fertile productive land, (5) establishment of a “National Biofuel Coordination Committee”, to be chaired by the Prime Minister, and also (6) the establishment of a “Biofuel Steering Committee”.. |
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