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Date Published:
06 April 2010

Volume 4, Issue 3


The time is now

Feature
The newly titled Bioenergy International expo & conference will now have three streams exploring the advanced biodiesel, ethanol and bioenergy markets in Europe. The timing couldn’t be more perfect. Now is the time, more than ever, that producers, regulators, traders and suppliers need to get together to discuss the challenges the industry is facing. Although many countries may be slowly coming... [read more]

Biofuel policy update in Ireland

Feature
A biofuels obligation, very similar in nature to the UK Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation, is due to come into effect from July 2010. It will set an initial 4% fossil-fuel displacement obligation. According to the Irish bioenergy Association (IrBEA), the scheme is not ambitious enough and forces producers to sell certificates to the oil industry, even though it is not guaranteed that they will... [read more]

Move over jatropha

Feature
Croton megalocarpus grows well in semi-arid climates on marginal lands, producing 25-50 kg seeds annually with 32% oil content and reaches full maturity 11 years after planting. It is also inedible and drops its seed pods when they become ripe, making them very easy to collect. ABF is working to be the fi rst to develop pure plant oil (PPO) croton biofuel in east Africa and has invested $1.4... [read more]

Your questions answered

Feature
QWhat is the status of EU biogas regulations? A There is no common EU biogas regulation but biogas is included in some European legislation. The most important is the EU directive on renewable energy (2001), which is the key legislation setting up the 2020 targets. This directive sets out sustainability criteria for biofuels and bioliquids, which were introduced in February 2010 as nonbinding... [read more]

Africa gets the thumbs up

Feature
During the food price spikes in 2008, the negative press that surrounded the issue – combined with the significant reduction in investment due to the global financial crisis – made some wonder if Africa would ever have the opportunity to benefit from biofuels. ‘But everything has changed now. Everyone is positive, we know biofuels are going to happen. This is really encouraging to see,’ says... [read more]

Promise in the eastern islands

Feature
The vast majority of the world’s production of biodiesel has been sourced from edible oil seeds. This, of course, is not sustainable and increasingly not economically feasible; and the use of non-food oil seeds needs to be developed. Jatropha curcas Linn is one such possible and suitable alternative. It is a hardy plant, which can be grown in marginal land and hence does not threaten food... [read more]

A green future in store

Feature
Approaching a bulk liquid fuel storage terminal it would be no surprise to see rows of great conical steel structures emerging from the ground, but just around the corner green shoots are appearing. Indiana-based Wolf Lake Terminals began offering bulk liquid storage services in 1973. In 2001 it moved into biodiesel in association with biodiesel producer Evergreen Renewables. Wolf Lake Terminals... [read more]

Think big or think local

Feature
As with the steel industry, ‘big oil’ is concentrated at deep-water ports and any biofuels producer selling into the oil majors for blending needs to be close enough to pipe product straight in, or be able to produce suffi cient quantities close to a port or inland waterway to make shipping/barging feasible. On the other hand a smaller producer can reduce transport and distribution costs by... [read more]

Big oil steps up investment

Feature
Between 2008-2009 there was a 6.6% dip in clean energy investment as a result of the recession, according to research by Bloomberg New Energy Finance. But if greenhouse gas emissions goals are to be met, this pattern is going to have to change. According to Bloomberg, renewable energy will need to constitute 31% of the world’s installed power generation capacity by 2030 - a jump from the 13% it... [read more]

From forensic science to biofuel

Feature
In the world of biofuel, pyrolysis is normally thought of as a large-scale process where heating occurs in an inert atmosphere, ultimately producing an end product – typically a biodiesel. However, the process actually begins in a laboratory. This is where scientists use pyrolysis as an analytical tool to study the effects of temperature on different biosource materials. Understanding how source... [read more]

Putting seals to the test

Feature
An elastomer or rubber is a polymer with the property of elasticity. It is typically made up of carbon, hydrogen and sometimes fluorine, or in the case of silicone, oxygen and silicon atoms. Chemical or fluid absorption by an elastomer can lead to swelling of the seal. It is prone to attack by fluids exhibiting the same polarity, a phenomenon described as ‘like-dissolveslike’. For example,... [read more]

Supersizing anaerobic digestion

Feature
Anaerobic digestion (AD) is usually used to produce renewable energy from organic wastes in decentralised sites, producing a methane rich biogas from human and animal waste as well as crop residues. However volatile natural gas prices and renewable policies are encouraging companies to install large-scale units. The biogas produced can then be combusted in a generator to create power, cleaned to... [read more]

A practical, proven path to green energy

Feature
To lessen the reliance on petroleum-based fuels, governments around the world are calling for the development of second generation biofuels as soon as possible. One technology, RTP, or rapid thermal processing, can convert biomass into pyrolysis oil in two seconds. Pyrolysis oil Pyrolysis oil is a light, pourable, clean-burning liquid produced from biomass feedstocks that do not compete with food... [read more]

Potential of pyrolysis

Feature
The use of biomass as a fuel, or to produce heat and / or electricity is rapidly expanding but use on an industrial scale is still limited. This is in large part due to the low energy, density, structure, moisture and availability of biomass. To overcome this, various pretreatment options are available that will create a more uniform and dense product that is cheaper to transport. Fast pyrolysis... [read more]

Next generation enzymes

Feature
Molinos Río de la Plata, Argentina’s leading soyabean and sunflower seed processor, has implemented a new enzymatic degumming process at its San Lorenzo facility in Argentina. The Purifine phospholipase- C enzyme (PLC) process, developed by US-based cellulosic ethanol producer Verenium, increases operating efficiency and allows a higher percentage of vegetable oil to be extracted from seeds,... [read more]

Paving the way for the future

Feature
As governments around the globe clamour for more sustainable energy options than petrol and diesel, more and more focus is on the biofuels industry — especially advanced biofuels, which use non-food feedstocks like corn stover, switchgrass or woodchips. Since these feedstocks, also known as cellulosic biomass, do not require corn or other food crops, they are a very attractive alternative energy... [read more]