Showing posts with label cellulosic ethanol. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cellulosic ethanol. Show all posts

Monday, October 23, 2006

High Octane Algae - Biodiesel Research in Hawaii

You are at: Oilgae Blog (Oilgae - Oil & Biodiesel from Algae Home Page)

See also: Oilgae Blog Article Directory for a complete listing of all Oilgae blog posts - covering news, research and updates on biodiesel from algae & other plant feedstock, ethanol, and other renewable energy such as wind energy, hydrogen, hydro-energy, tidal/wave energy, geothermal, solar energy & nuclear energy

The search for a new fuel source for cars continues
by Keala Francis / 04-19-2006

Excerpts:

1. Almost any organic material can be converted into energy. Hawai‘i’s potential comeback crop, sugarcane, whose fibers, affectionately called bagasse, are a form of organic waste which can be fermented into ethanol, an alcohol fuel. Other potential “cellulosic” materials for ethanol production include sawdust and wood waste, rice hulls, rice straw, corn, wheat, soy beans, potato skins, sugar beets and yard clippings.

2. Unfortunately, alternative fuels, or clean technology, still cost more per gallon to produce than good old fossil fuel.

3. With new algae technology, a barrel of biodiesel would cost $32 to $75 per barrel, still too high to compete, and a couple of Hawaii scientists are experimenting with algae as the feedstock.

4. Waste oil, free from restaurants, is another low (no?) cost feedstock. But scalability is an issue with waste vegetable oil (WVO)

5. Scientists should look into genetically modified crops for alternative fuel options.

6. Hybrid cars have continued to develop better technology and made in-roads into the car market. Some companies even offer additional plug-in kits to popular hybrids, such as the Toyota Prius and Ford Escape, for more alternative power.

Personalities & organizations mentioned: Dr. Barry Raleigh, a researcher at the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute and managing partner of HR Biopetroleum, a start-up company working to manufacture algae-produced biodiesel.

Full article here from the Honolulu Weekly

Oilgae - Oil & Biodiesel from Algae
Oilgae Blog
algOS - Biodiesel from Algae Open Source


Oilgae - Oil & Biodiesel from Algae provides links, directory, web links resources for algae-based biofuels & biodiesel. Intended to be useful for research, information, inputs, news for buyers, sellers, manufacturers, traders, suppliers, producers, exporters / importers of algal oil and algal fuels. Will provide info on biofuel feedstock, algal feedstocks, algae oil and link details on fuel from algae, bio-fuel, bio-diesel, algal oils & bio-fuels production and uses, biofuels trade & market resources, price data, statistics, prices, demand-supply for buyer, seller, manufacturer, trader, supplier, exporter and producer

Friday, October 20, 2006

A Blueprint for Energy Efficiency - Brazil Example

You are at: Oilgae Blog (Oilgae - Oil & Biodiesel from Algae Home Page)

See also: Oilgae Blog Article Directory for a complete listing of all Oilgae blog posts - covering news, research and updates on biodiesel from algae & other plant feedstock, ethanol, and other renewable energy such as wind energy, hydrogen, hydro-energy, tidal/wave energy, geothermal, solar energy & nuclear energy

A blueprint for energy efficiency
Birmingham News
Sunday, October 08, 2006, MARK HALL

Excerpts:

1. Brazil embarked on a long, arduous path toward energy independence more three decades ago. Its determined quest for energy self-sufficiency finally has paid off.

2. Brazil is now one of the world's leaders in renewable energy resources, with roughly 60 percent of its sugar production invested in ethanol. Ethanol alone accounts for 13.5 percent of Brazil's energy use. Ethanol fuels nearly half of Brazil's automobiles.

3. Brazil producers are confident that if they can keep the cost of ethanol at less than 70 percent of the cost of gasoline, as many as 9 out of every 10 cars sold in Brazil will be flex-fuel.

4. There is a lesson here for Americans - All levels of government must continue to help us stay focused on the prize.

5. Policymakers and Americans in general also should bear in mind that renewable fuels make up a very big and complicated picture. Indeed, current biofuels may only represent the first step toward energy independence and should be viewed as bridge technologies...

6. Feedstocks, such as corn, may turn out to be only short-term solutions until other more efficient technologies prevail.

7. Lucrative technologies? (1) use of algae, which can be bred and developed specifically for energy needs. (2) biomass derived from the cellulosic material of trees, switchgrass and other crop residue.

8. These second generation biofuels may be closer than we realize. For example, scientists recently announced that they had completed genome mapping of a poplar tree, black cottonwood or Populus trichocarpa, which offers huge potential as a biofuels source. The poplars mature in as little as four years and can reach as high as 100 feet.

9. Gene mapping could enable scientists to undertake dramatic improvements in plantation productivity associated with the tree.

10. Recently, Honda Motor Co. announced that it has co-developed the world's first practical process for producing ethanol out of cellulosic biomass. The new process would allow large volumes of ethanol to be produced from widely available biomass such as waste wood, leaves...

11. Meanwhile, Auburn University's David Bransby has emerged as a world leader in the adoption of switchgrass and other cellulosic materials as bioenergy alternatives.

12. Bransby believes by 2025, as much as 35 percent of energy in the United States could be produced by farmers.

13. The critical ingredient for the bioenergy success will be government incentives.


Full report can be found here

Oilgae - Oil & Biodiesel from Algae
Oilgae Blog
algOS - Biodiesel from Algae Open Source


Oilgae - Oil & Biodiesel from Algae provides links, directory, web links resources for algae-based biofuels & biodiesel. Intended to be useful for research, information, inputs, news for buyers, sellers, manufacturers, traders, suppliers, producers, exporters / importers of algal oil and algal fuels. Will provide info on biofuel feedstock, algal feedstocks, algae oil and link details on fuel from algae, bio-fuel, bio-diesel, algal oils & bio-fuels production and uses, biofuels trade & market resources, price data, statistics, prices, demand-supply for buyer, seller, manufacturer, trader, supplier, exporter and producer

Saturday, October 7, 2006

Cellulosic Ethanol Technology's Readiness for Commercial Deployment

You are at: Oilgae Blog. See also: Oilgae - Oil & Biodiesel from Algae

While on this side, for biodiesel, algae appear to be one of the feedstocks of the future, on the other side, for gasoline, the equivalent appears to be cellulosic ethanol, whose yields, it appears are higher than ethanol from corn and sugarcane.

So thought maybe this note could be of interest to you.

This is from a (US) Congressional Briefing Notice. I'm too late in posting this, the event appears to be over already!, but the details of the briefing could be of use.

Congressional Briefing Notice: Cellulosic Ethanol Technology: Is it Ready To Be Commercially Deployed Today?

9/20/2006 3:19:00 PM


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To: Assignment Desk, Daybook Editor, Energy, Environment reporters

Contact: Jetta Wong, 202-662-1885

News Advisory:

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) invites media to a Congressional briefing to hear directly from industry leaders who are eager and prepared to begin deploying cellulosic ethanol technologies. As our country faces a future of growing oil imports and national security concerns, volatile oil and gas markets, climatic shifts and potentially more challenges to our agricultural policies, cellulosic ethanol technologies are emerging as a part of the solution to all of these problems. But there are significant issues surrounding deployment of these technologies that need to be addressed. This briefing will cover some of the leading companies' projects, their plans for deployment, their technological approaches, as well as risks and challenges that the industry still faces.

Speakers:

-- Arnold R. Klann - chairman, president, CEO, BlueFire Ethanol, Inc

-- Maurice Hladk - director, marketing, Iogen, Corp.

-- John Doyle - vice president, operations, Celunol, Corp.

Date: Friday, Sept. 22

Time: 12-1 p.m.

Location: 1302 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C.

Background:

Cellulosic ethanol is ethanol derived from essentially inexhaustible resources by utilizing the cellulose that is found in all plant matter, in contrast to starch-based ethanol produced mainly from corn. Cellulose is a carbohydrate polymer that makes up the walls of all plant cells and is also found in green algae and some bacteria. Many people know that corn stover and switchgrass can be converted to ethanol, but technologies have been developed to process a number of other cellulosic feedstocks, including dedicated energy crops like hybrid poplars, willow, miscanthus, sorghum as well as "waste" biomass like sugarcane bagasse, rice hulls, orchard prunings, wheat straw, and forest thinnings.

In addition, municipal wastes, waste paper, yard and construction wastes, and industrial wastes such as pulp/paper and sludge also are target feedstocks. Cellulose is the most abundant naturally-occurring organic compound on earth and its efficient conversion to renewable energy would represent an important breakthrough.

Research on cellulosic ethanol technologies has been underway for quite sometime. The Department of Energy has invested in research on enzymatic, thermochemical, acid hydrolysis, hybrid hydrolysis/enzymatic and a variety of other approaches. The Biomass Research and Development Act of 2000 helped develop a number of these technologies from conception to pre-commercial status. While this research is important, federal support through programs authorized in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-58), e.g, the DOE Loan Guarantee program, the Production Incentives for Cellulosic Biofuels program, and the Integrated Biorefinery Demonstration Projects, need to be expeditiously funded and implemented to overcome initial barriers to commercialization and to gain the considerable public benefits that will flow from deployment.

DOE has set a goal of displacing 30 percent of gasoline demand (2004 levels) with biofuels, primarily ethanol, by 2030. The opportunities to address national security, climate change and rural economic pressures by increasing the deployment of cellulosic technologies are viewed as a "win-win-win" by many. Cutting oil imports, reducing the greenhouse gas emissions and creating jobs in our rural communities are all positive attributes of the commercialization of these technologies.

This briefing is open to the public.

Attn Reporters: If you are unable to attend the briefing, but would like to schedule an interview, please contact Stella H. Melley at 202-431-6461. For general information, please contact Jetta Wong at 202-662-1885.

http://www.usnewswire.com/ - oringial press release here




Oilgae - Oil & Biodiesel from Algae provides links, provides directory and web links resources for the algae-based biofuels & biodiesel. It is intended to be useful for research, information, inputs, news for buyers, sellers, manufacturers, traders, suppliers, producers, exporters and importers of algal oil and algal fuels. It will make an effort to provide info on biofuel feedstock, algal feedstocks, algae oil info and link, details on fuel from algae, bio-fuel, bio-diesel, bio-fuels, algal oils production and uses, and biofuels trade & market resources, data, statistics such as price, prices, demand-supply for buyer, seller, manufacturer, trader, supplier, exporter and producer

Oilgae - Oil & Biodiesel from Algae
Oilgae Blog
algOS - Biodiesel from Algae Open Source


Oilgae - Oil & Biodiesel from Algae provides links, provides directory and web links resources for the algae-based biofuels & biodiesel. It is intended to be useful for research, information, inputs, news for buyers, sellers, manufacturers, traders, suppliers, producers, exporters and importers of algal oil and algal fuels. It will make an effort to provide info on biofuel feedstock, algal feedstocks, algae oil info and link, details on fuel from algae, bio-fuel, bio-diesel, bio-fuels, algal oils production and uses, and biofuels trade & market resources, data, statistics such as price, prices, demand-supply for buyer, seller, manufacturer, trader, supplier, exporter and producer