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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May 30, 2008
In This Issue:
News and Trends
- Plant Genetic Engineering For Low Cost Cellulose-Ethanol Production
- Harvard Team's Microbial Fuel Cell Wins WB's Africa Competition
Energy Crops and Feedstocks for Biofuels Production
- First Demo Scale Cellulose-Ethanol Production Facility Starts Operation
- D1 Oils to Conduct Jatropha Cultivation Trials in Poor Soils in Indonesia
Biofuels Processing
- Fungus Reduces Energy Costs in Dry-Grinding Process for Corn-Ethanol Production
Biofuels Policy and Economics
- Minnesota Increases Biodiesel Mandate and Makes First State Ban on Palm Oil Use
- Hydroelectric Energy in Brazil Surpassed by Sugarcane Bioenergy
* NEWS AND TRENDS *
Plant Genetic Engineering For Low Cost Cellulose-Ethanol Production
http://www.nature.com/nrg/journal/v9/n6/abs/nrg2336.html (full access to the paper may require paid subscription)
A recent review by Professor Mariam Sticklen of the Michigan State University’s Department of Crop and Soil Sciences ( in the United States) describes the potentials of plant genetic engineering for decreasing the production cost of cellulose-ethanol. Cellulosic biomass is said to be the bioethanol feedstock of the future, due to the following characteristics: (1) relatively abundant renewable resource (i.e. feedstock supply can keep up with “staggering” global ethanol demand), (2) non-food resource (no adverse effect on food security), and (3) ability to grow in non-agricultural/marginal lands with lower agricultural inputs. However, the barrier to realizing large-scale, commercial processing of cellulosic biomass to ethanol, is the cost of production. Cellulose-ethanol is estimated to be about two to three times the cost of grain-ethanol. The cellulose-ethanol production process usually involves: (1) pretreatment of the biomass to remove lignin and render the cellulose accessible to cellulose-degrading enzymes (“cellulases”), (2) enzymatic degradation/conversion of the cellulose into simple sugars by cellulases, and (3) fermentation of the simple sugars to ethanol. The high cost of cellulose-ethanol production has been attributed to the high cost of enzymes, and the high cost of pretreatment (energy-intensive processes, usually requiring extreme temperature/pressure conditions). The review paper describes some strategies by which plant genetic engineering can be harnessed to produce “tailored, third-generation cellulosic feedstocks” that can help reduce the costs of pretreatment and cellulase enzymes. Among the plant modification strategies are: (1) production/accumulation of cellulases in sub-cellular components in the plant, and (2) reduction of lignin content/structure in the plant. Details of these strategies, status of research, as well as challenges for the future are also described. The paper appears in a recent issue of the journal, Nature (URL above)..
Harvard Team's Microbial Fuel Cell Wins WB's Africa Competition
http://biopact.com/2008/05/biofuel-powered-microbial-fuel-cell.html
http://www.off-grid.net/2008/05/12/energy-from-dirt/
http://www.lebone.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/lebone-world-bank-press-release.pdf
The World Bank’s” Lighting Africa” competition prize was awarded to Lebônę Solutions (a collaborative group of students and scientists from Harvard University) for developing an innovative, low cost microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology with potential applications for developing countries. The microbial fuel cell can be viewed as a “biological battery”. It can generate electricity from organic rich materials (the “fuel”), such as soil, manure, or even food scraps, through the harnessing of energy metabolism of microorganisms. The combination of microbial metabolism of the organic matter and reactions that occur at the electrodes cause a flow of electricity through the circuit. In an interview posted by the off-grid website (URL above), Lebônę founder and managing partner, Hugo Van Vuuren, said that the MFC can “power an LED (light emitting diode) light, run a radio, or charge a mobile phone”. He also mentioned that Lebônę has embarked on an 18-month pilot project with 20 systems in Namibia so that the technology can be field tested, and refined. According to the Biopact website, “Lebônę's victory earns them $200,000 to roll out their biofuel consuming microbial fuel cell which will power lighting systems in sub-Saharan Africa”..
* ENERGY CROPS AND FEEDSTOCKS FOR BIOFUELS PRODUCTION *
First Demo Scale Cellulose-Ethanol Production Facility Starts Operation
http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/20828/
http://www.verenium.com/Pages/Biofuels/BiofuelsProjects.html
http://www.verenium.com/PDFs/Verenium%20Corp%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf
Verenium Corporation, a cellulose ethanol production technology company, has started operations of a cellulose ethanol production facility (annual production capacity of 1.4 million gallons) in Jennings, Louisiana. The facility is said to be the first demonstration scale cellulosic ethanol plant in the United States, and will test “variations on the company’s technology” in a continuous mode of operation. One of the goals of the facility is to cost-effectively produce cellulosic ethanol at $2 per gallon. The Technology Review website reports that the feedstock to be used for cellulose ethanol production will be “bagasse” (spent sugarcane stalks after juice extraction); the production process will include acid pretreatment (for lignin removal and for liberating the cellulose from the biomass), enzymatic treatment (to convert cellulose into simple sugars), and fermentation (to convert the simple sugars to ethanol). Construction of a fully commercial-scale production plant (20 million to 30 million gallons per year) is being planned next year. To date, there are still no full scale cellulose ethanol production plants in the United States, although some (with a few funded by the U.S. Department of Energy) are presently under construction..
D1 Oils to Conduct Jatropha Cultivation Trials in Poor Soils in Indonesia
http://www.d1plc.com/news.php?article=176
http://www.biofuelshub.com/news/news.php?id=1279
D1 Oils (D1), a UK-based biofuel technology company, will assess the cultivation performance of jatropha (a non-food based oilseed feedstock for biodiesel production) in “ultisol” soil types, through a series of field trials in Sumatra Island, Indonesia. The University of Bengkulu in South West Sumatra is the cooperating agency on the Indonesian side. “Ultisols” are generally acidic soils that are deficient in plant nutrients. Jatropha is usually a robust crop that can adapt to poor quality soils, but better oil yields for biodiesel production can be obtained with balanced addition of nutrients/fertilizers. Among the objectives of the field trials are to compare the growth and oil yields of Jatropha under different fertilizer treatments, and to obtain the optimum level of fertilizers that gives the best growth and oil yields. The Indonesian field trials form part of D1’s strategic global partnerships to gather information “to improve the cultivation of jatropha and alternative biofuel crops under different regions, climates and soil conditions”.
More information of ultisols and jatropha
http://soils.ag.uidaho.edu/soilorders/ultisols.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultisols
http://www.jatrophaworld.org/