BIOFUELS SUPPLEMENT
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A bi-weekly summary of world developments on biofuels, produced by the Global Knowledge Center on Crop Biotechnology, International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications SEAsiaCenter (ISAAA)
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October 17, 2008
In This Issue:
News and Trends
- Boeing Heads Airline-Supported Initiative For Sustainable Aviation Biofuels
- Scientists Highlight Need for Science-based Policy Toward Sustainable Biofuel Industry
Energy Crops and Feedstocks for Biofuels Production
- Research Collaboration for Development of Jet Fuel from Camelina Inked
- Iogen Makes First Cellulose Ethanol Shipment to Shell
Biofuels Policy and Economics
- US National Biofuels Action Plan Released
- UN FAO Analyzes Biofuel Opportunities, Risks and Policy Challenges
* NEWS AND TRENDS *
Boeing Heads Airline-Supported Initiative For Sustainable Aviation Biofuels
http://www.biomassmagazine.com/article.jsp?article_id=2077
http://www.boeing.com/commercial/environment/pdf/sustainable_aviation_fuel_users_group.pdf
http://www.biofuels-news.com/news/boeing_initiative.html
Aircraft manufacturer, Boeing, together with some major airlines, has formed a “Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users Group “ to accelerate the development and availability of sustainable biofuels”. According to Biomass Magazine, the airlines supporting the initiative include Air France, Air New Zealand, All Nippon Airways, Cargolux, Gulf Air, Japan Airlines, KLM, SAS and Virgin Atlantic Airways. The group has declared its commitment to advance the development, certification, and commercial use of drop-in sustainable aviation fuels”. The commitment considers four considerations as “minimum criteria” for sustainable aviation biofuels, which “must be addressed by verifiable means”: (1) the production of the aviation biofuel feedstock should not compete with food, and must minimize adverse biodiversity/ecological impacts, (2) throughout its life cycle (i.e., from feedstock cultivation, to harvesting, processing, and end-use), the aviation biofuel should show a net reduction of greenhouse gas emissions compared with conventional (i.e., petroleum-derived) jet fuel, (3) development projects associated with the biofuel should improve socio-economic conditions for small-scale farmers and do not require the involuntary displacement of local populations, and (4) Native ecosystems and “high conservation value areas” should not be cleared and used as plantations for the aviation biofuel feedstock. The Biofuels International website reports that “the group has commissioned two initial studies investigating algae and jatropha-sourced biofuels life cycle carbon dioxide emissions and socio-economic impact”..
Scientists Highlight Need for Science-based Policy Toward Sustainable Biofuel Industry
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/322/5898/49
(may require paid subscription for complete access to paper)
http://www.mbl.edu/news/press_releases/2008_pr_10_02.html
The global biofuels industry will “reshape the Earth’s landscape in a significant way”, as more nations follow the path toward shaping their own programs for national biofuel industry development. To be better prepared for these changes, it is essential that science-based policies be in place, to guide nations toward a more sustainable biofuels industry. This was the call of a group of scientists, whose views were published in the October 3, 2008 issue of the journal, Science. According to the paper, the emerging global biofuels industry could “require as much land as it is currently for food”. “The identification of unintended consequences early in the development of alternative fuel strategies will help to avoid costly mistakes and regrets about the effects on the environment”. The case of the impacts of harnessing first generation bioenergy crops as biofuel feedstocks were cited. The possible effects of using second generation biofuel feedstocks was also mentioned, including those that still need to be investigated. Details of the paper can be found in the Science journal website (URL above)..
* ENERGY CROPS AND FEEDSTOCKS FOR BIOFUELS PRODUCTION *
Research Collaboration for Development of Jet Fuel from Camelina Inked
http://www.biofuels-news.com/news/camelina_jets.html
http://www.camelinacompany.com/Marketing/20081002PressRelease.aspx
http://www.undeerc.org/news/newsitem.aspx?id=327
An American renewable energy company (Great Plains-the Camelina Company) has entered into a research agreement with the University of North Dakota’s Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) to produce advanced biofuels from Camelina (a non-food oilseed-producing feedstock, see related information below). The company has a ten year experience in the science and agronomy of Camelina. Although the company has been producing biodiesel from Camelina, it is interested in the proprietary “feedstock flexible” conversion technology of the EERC to realize the potential of Camelina as an advance biofuel (for example, jet fuel). “The EERC and Great Plains will utilize camelina oil for upcoming testing and are planning to develop an initial full-scale refinery focused on renewable jet fuel production”.
Related information on Camelina (agronomy and biofuel potential) :
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1993/v2-314.html
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=CAMEL