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Date Published:
07 September 2014

Volume 8, Issue 5


Calls for clear mandate

Feature
Road transport is one of the few industry sectors where carbon dioxide emissions have risen greatly in recent years. According to the European Commission (EC) the transport sector is well on its way to becoming the European Union’s biggest source of CO2 by 2030. If advanced biofuels reach their calculated potential, the CO2 savings could range from 60% to 85% in most cases and thus make a... [read more]

EPA expands advanced biofuel pathways

Feature
After months of delay, on 2 July, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a final rule modifying and updating biofuels regulations. The new rule aims to maintain liquidity in the market for Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs), established under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). While this new rule increases the number of fuels that may qualify as advanced biofuels, it does not... [read more]

Uncertainty spreads

Feature
The US Grains Council (USGC), an export trade group, has revealed that China’s Import Inspection Authority, AQSIQ, now requires the imports of US distiller’s dried grain (DDG), a livestock feed that is a by-product of corn ethanol refining, to be officially certified free of genetically modified (GMO) corn, MIR-162. The new requirement, which was scheduled to take effect from 24 July,... [read more]

Laps ahead of the competition

Feature
The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is the most successful energy policy in the US in the past 40 years, the only policy to ever have loosened Big Oil’s stranglehold on the liquid fuels marketplace and the only policy that will help the nation kick its dangerous addiction to foreign oil. EPA’s proposed RFS waiver threatens to undermine the success of the RFS by not only halting future... [read more]

Current price index

Feature
After a slight recovery at the end of July, ethanol prices were once again hit in early August. The contango structure that dominated the market during Q2, was replaced by backwardation toward the middle of Q3, with a steep inverse going into Q4. The weakness at the back of the curve has meanwhile benefited some, as exporters have priced their volumes against Q4 values. The plunge in ethanol... [read more]

Delay in 2014 mandate snarls US biodiesel trade

Feature
After reaching their 2014 highs to date in mid-June, spot biodiesel prices in the US market tumbled into July, recovering some of their lost value late in the month into August. Spot values surged in June as climbing global oil prices reverberated through the fuels market, scared higher primarily by an insurgency in Iraq that threatened oil supply from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting... [read more]

Standing out from the crowd

Feature
Malaysia is the world’s largest exporter of palm oil. With the nation producing approximately 39% of the global supply of palm oil, it is the world’s second largest producer. The nation’s palm oil commodities account for around 10% of its economy. According to the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), demand for Malaysian palm oil will increase to 66.8 million tonnes in 2014,... [read more]

Raising the bar

Feature
In eastern China, across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, lies Anhui Province. Formed in the 17th century, the province is known for its agriculture, with wheat, sweet potatoes and rice among its abundant crops. The world’s largest cellulosic biorefinery will shortly open its doors to the Asian biofuels market. The plant, located in Fuyang City, will be the result of a Sinoforeign... [read more]

Will Brazil's elections propel ethanol opportunities?

Feature
The recent death of Brazil’s presidential candidate Eduardo Campos caused the country’s presidential race to come to a sudden stop. In no other market than the world’s biofuels market will that be more profoundly felt. In fact, Brazil’s position as the world’s second largest ethanol producer and largest sugar producer has been seriously challenged in Dilma... [read more]

Reaching new heights

Feature
Over the last 5 years, Asian countries have started their own biofuels plans/ mandates to further develop their biofuels industries, including ethanol. Biofuels developments in Asia could have an important impact on world energy and agricommodity markets. It has been estimated that by 2030, biofuels will account for around 3-14% of the total transport fuel mix in Asia – assuming there will... [read more]

From waste to wonder

Feature
In India, the annual generation of various agricultural residues, including cereal straws and bagasse, exceeds 400 million tonnes. While a small percentage of this waste is utilised in low-value applications in energy production and farming, a major part of it is either burned or ploughed into fields. The potential of these residues as a feedstock for cellulosic ethanol, then, is great. If just... [read more]

An emerging market

Feature
In the UAE, the introduction of biofuels is an altogether novel concept. However, the current biofuel market is growing in the Middle East at a fast pace, with biodiesel companies in particular emerging in Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Surrounding countries are now also starting to show an inclination toward introducing biodiesel as a potential sustainable fuel alternative to fossil fuels.... [read more]

Worlds apart

Feature
Over the last 10 years, biofuels has proved to be the only commercially-viable, environmentally sustainable alternative to fossil fuels. The large-scale adoption of biofuels has therefore proved to be an attractive prospect for the Asian market. The US Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) International Energy Statistics show that from 2000 to 2011, global biofuel production increased... [read more]

Spreading its wings

Feature
Sustainable aviation fuels, which are produced from renewable resources, can reduce CO2 emissions by up to 50% per tonne of fuel, resulting from the total lifecycle of alternative fuel production. Finding sustainable drop-in fuels that can be produced in commercial quantities without competing with food crops and water supplies is the only near-term alternative to fossil fuels for powering large... [read more]

Flying ahead

Feature
In the last decade, the prospect of using sustainable biofuel in commercial aircraft has become a reality. To date, three biojet fuel production pathways have been approved by standards agency ASTM and over 1600 commercial flights have taken place. The ‘drop-in fuels’ used are certified as chemically equivalent to fossil derived fuel and so are totally fungible with existing fuel... [read more]

A giant leap

Feature
The aviation industry contributes approximately 2% of manmade greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to the Earth. In the early days of biofuels, with advanced technologies offering limited scope for further significant improvements in aircraft efficiencies, the aviation industry needed an alternative fuel to help offset these emissions that could meet or exceed performance expectations of traditional... [read more]

In the driving seat

Feature
Qu: How important is it to create a sustainable aviation fuels industry? A: The commercial aviation industry is growing around the world, and Boeing’s goal is to ensure we can maintain aviation’s license to grow as a responsible industry. Unlike other modes of transport, commercial aviation needs liquid hydrocarbon fuels to ensure long-term sustainability as we will not have a... [read more]

Keeping our skies green

Feature
With KLM Royal Dutch Airlines receiving a Sustainable Bio award earlier this year from WBM Bio Business, the Netherlands-based airline shows no signs of slowing down in its bid for sustainable aviation. In May this year, KLM launched a series of transatlantic flights using an average of 20% blend of biofuels. The biofuel for this flight, made from used cooking oil (UCO), is sourced by ITAKA and... [read more]

Making diesel clean and sustainable

Feature
Regulators want to cut diesel engine emissions by more than 90% for both particulate matter (PM) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx), ultimately requiring major changes to engines and combustion, and major reliance on emissions control technologies not used previously on diesel engines – particulate filters and catalysts. It also required major changes to diesel fuel. Since sulfur comes out as a... [read more]

Taking cellulosic ethanol to the next level

Feature
Many technical and economic improvements can only be delivered once a technology is industrialised and operating at scale. Once that is achieved, progress is made by relentlessly exploiting the learning curve chipping away, one cent per gallon of cost at a time, fighting tooth and nail for those percentage points of up-time and operating efficiencies. Like all industrial technologies, cellulosic... [read more]

A competitive advantage

Feature
A well planned and well installed retrofit provides the capability to quickly stay ahead of the competition. ROI, or Return of Investment, is a tool used by financial analysts, and managers of all specialties to help make the decision on whether or not to make an investment. When discussing investment for a new plant, ROI is measured in years, but when discussing an upgrade, it is measured in... [read more]

Still going strong

Feature
The vast majority of products produced globally today require either heating or cooling at some point in their manufacturing process. Ethanol production is no exception. In an effort to keep production costs at a minimum, it is critical to understand and utilise the proper, most efficient form of heat transfer available for the application at hand. When this is accomplished, excessive costs for... [read more]

Financing the biobutanol upswing

Feature
It takes only a few ingredients to successfully commercialise a new bio-based chemical or fuel: a cost-performing, scalable technology, strong market demand, good patent protection, an experienced management team and a beneficial investment climate to fund novel production facilities. For biobutanol, after a substantial period of technology development and optimisation, these five factors are... [read more]

There's money to be made

Feature
Irish technology provider Nova Pangaea Technologies (NPT), which received a US patent in February for a method and system for the fractionation of lignocellulosic biomass, has revealed plans to begin building a 2 tonnes per hour pre-commercial demonstration-scale plant towards the end of this year. Designed to produce isoprenes, organic acids, xyloses, levoglucosan and soluble lignins, the plant... [read more]

The whole nine yards

Feature
Biobutanol, an alcohol produced from various renewable feedstocks (including sugar, starch and cellulosic biomass), can be used in the production of a variety of products, including fuels. To manufacture biobutanol on both a small- and large commercial-scale, the water content after fermentation must be removed efficiently. A number of companies, such as UK-based Green Biologics and Celtic... [read more]

ABE comes back to the future

Feature
Total butanol production by the top ten manufacturers accounts for almost 80% of the total world production. In terms of chemical properties, butanol has inherent advantages over ethanol for use as a liquid transportation fuel: • the 4-carbon butanol has more energy than the 2-carbon ethanol, creating more miles per gallon. • Butanol has a lower vapour pressure and higher flashpoint... [read more]

Growing the opportunity

Feature
As a four-carbon alcohol, isobutanol has a higher energy density, approximately 26% higher than ethanol. This high energy density means that a 16% volume blend of butanol displaces the same amount of fossil petrol as would be displaced by a 20% volume blend of ethanol, while offering motorists the same fuel economy as they obtain with today’s blend of 10% ethanol. As a drop-in biofuel, it... [read more]

Progress and future of a multi-purpose energy plant

Feature
In 2013, mineral oil represented about one third of global energy consumption. The burning of fossil fuels has a major share in global CO2 emissions that are currently estimated at 34.5 billion tonnes per year and expected to reach 50 billion tonnes per year by 2050. These numbers, combined with rising prices and a shrinking availability of conventional oil, have led to a worldwide renewed... [read more]

The importance of simulation in the process industries

Feature
Companies in the process industries have used computers to solve mathematic models of processes since the late 1950s. Steady state simulation or flowsheeting packages soon became standard tools for the design stage of the lifecycle of a project. Market forces, requirements to increase safety, reduce environmental impacts, and the need for energy savings have made increasing demands on the... [read more]

Cutting edge

Feature
When taking biofuel production from pilot scale to commercial reality it is critical to analyse certain factors, including oil yield, energy usage, valorisation of by-products and wastewater generation. Although it is possible to run pilot tests and experiment with different equipment settings, advanced modelling software offers an additional way of optimising the production process. Simulations... [read more]