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Archive for the ‘Biofuels’ Category

Developed countries have accumulated so much garbage that there has been a scarcity of landfill space. Leaders of these countries have decided to ship their trash in third world nations for certain fees however; they do not realize that by doing so they endanger the populace from the disease and pollution that their garbage brings.  These less developed countries do not have the technology and proper knowledge on how to manage waste properly. This would also lead to precious waste of landfill space for such countries. Various companies have discovered a cost efficient stratagem in generating waste into alternative fuels.

The fuel is actually produced through conversion of organic materials into biomass fuel that could either be in the form of solid, liquid or gas. This fuel has the ability to be converted directly into environmental friendly source of energy. Environmentalist believes that it could be a compatible approach towards saving the environments resources. Biofuels would endow greater impact towards the transportation system, it is also considered as carbon neutral unlike fossil fuel generated oil. Taking waste products and converting it into useful and valuable fuel could lessen our reliance to our natural resources. With our strong desire to find alternative solutions to the growing problems of fuel cost, biofuel might be the best solution.

By replacing gasoline for biofuel that is derived from processed waste, it could lessen almost 90% percent of green house gas emission into the atmosphere. Controversies and various debates are conducted whether switching over to biofuel usage would bring harm to our environment rather than helping us fight climate change. Waste that is being disposed in landfills are constant and copious and finding the right technology that you could use in processing this waste into an eco-friendly type of fuel would no doubt be beneficial to us.

Processing waste properly and efficiently would solve the worlds growing problem once and for all. We are bothered by the harmful effects that waste may bring to our health and to our environment. Now that in our generation, we are blessed with fruitful knowledge that could aim in solving this problems for a brighter future. Biofuel can meet the world’s energy needs at the same time countering carbon emissions and fossil fuel dependency. The process in which biofuel encompass aims to produce a valuable source of energy that would provide us with clean energy solutions. Rather than having our waste dumped into landfill and wait for quite some time to be processed, we could use innovative technologies that are dedicated to diminish waste and emissions.

Biofuels may be considered as one of the renewable energy sources that are acquired from a carbon neutral process. The technology that is involved to engender this type of fuel provides a carbon neutral aspect that meets environmental standards set by the government. It takes care of the growing distress of our world today. Reducing waste in a productive way spawns renewable energy sources that would not deplete our planets natural resources.

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The US is the second largest producer of biodiesel in the world, producing 17.7% of the world’s biodiesel in 2009. The biodiesel market in the US is expected to reach 2,822 million liters in 2010 and 3,662 million liters in 2015. The US biodiesel market is driven by the US’ desire to achieve greater energy independence and security. The country depends heavily on imports to fulfill its transportation and industrial fuel requirements. The US is currently importing about 65% of its oil consumption and this figure is expected to increase even further. This dependence on imported oil can be reduced by increasing the production and use of domestically produced biofuels. The biodiesel industry in the US is very young and is gradually picking up speed due to large financial incentives at the federal as well as the state level. The biofuel production in the US was around 37,403 million liters in 2009. Of this, 92.5% was bioethanol and the remaining 7.5% was biodiesel.

The US ethanol industry has also seen an unprecedented expansion due to its favorable market conditions and supportive policy incentives. The federal renewable fuels standard (RFS) has helped the expansion of the US ethanol industry by setting goals for the production of renewable fuels. Seven states (Hawaii, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana, Missouri and Washington) have enacted renewable fuel standards that require the use of ethanol-blended fuel. Currently, there are around 200 ethanol plants in the US with a production capacity of more than 48,000 million liters. The country’s bioethanol production increased from 7,080 million liters in 2001 to more than 34,609 million liters by the year 2009, at the CAGR of 20.4% during 2001-2009. Further during 2009-2015, bioethanol production growth in the US is likely to come down to 2% and the production is likely to be around 38,924 million liters by the year 2015.

This analysis was taken from a research paper published by GlobalData, to download the full Research Paper for free, click below:

http://www.researchviews.com/energy/clean-technology/biofuels/Viewpoints.aspx?sector=Biofuels&DocID=10674

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Iraq’s Prime Minister, Nuri al-Maliki, has announced approval for an agricultural project that will develop biofuel from rotting dates.

According to Reuters, “Iraq has the world’s third largest oil reserves but its crumbling farm sector, which has suffered from decades of sanctions, isolation and war, is the country’s leading employer.”

The dates-to-biofuel program, being developed by an unnamed company based in the United Arab Emirates, is seen as a way to encourage growth in the farming sector which Iraqi officials hope will ultimately lead to greater agricultural productivity.

Iraqi officials also hope it will reinvigorate their once vibrant date export industry. The country, which produced 900,000 tons of dates prior to the U.S. invasion, now produces only 350,000 tons. By giving farmers a way to profit from dates that are starting to rot, they help to minimize the risk.

And the oil rich country plans to use the biofuel domestically at first, with the possibility of future export.

In another oil exporting country, Oman, Oman Green Energy Company (OGEC), has been testing the development of biofuel from the date palm for some years. In the case of OGEC, they claim to use cellulosic biomass extracted from around the date palms and in a way that doesn’t interfere with the date crop.

In a 2008 study, desert dates were also found to be an excellent source of biofuel stock, especially for arid regions. The study focused particularly on the Arava desert in Israel and its potential to develop cost-effective biodiesel production.

While biodiesel production in oil poor Israel makes sense, biofuels might be seen as a gamble in a country like Oman which exports 700,000 barrels of oil a day, and derives 90% of its export revenue from oil.  Likewise a biofuel program in Iraq, where the country’s financial stability has been put in the hands of its oil industry, may seem out of place. And yet, biofuels are seen as delivering additional value. In Iraq, they may be the key to bringing back a devastated agricultural sector.

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Biofuels from Engineered Tobacco Plants?

A biofuel is tricky to define because the usual fossil fuel we use, is in a way biofuel too. But we can safely say that most of the biofuels don’t add up their quota of carbon dioxide to the environment. The biofuels are therefore considered to be “CO2 neutral.” Researchers from the Biotechnology lenovo thinkpad x61 battery Foundation Laboratories at Thomas Jefferson University have developed a new method to increase the quantity of oil in tobacco leaves. So that oil in tobacco leaves can be utilized as biofuels in future. Their paper was published in Plant Biotechnology Journal which is an online journal.

Vyacheslav Andrianov is a Ph.D. and assistant professor of Cancer Biology at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University. According to him tobacco can produce biofuel more efficiently than other agricultural crops. But there is a hitch. When we try to extract oil lenovo ideapad y430 battery, most of it is available in tobacco seeds. Statistics say that tobacco seeds are composed of about 40 percent oil per dry weight. Another snag is tobacco plants don’t produce seeds in copious amounts. It is about 600 kg of seeds per acre. Dr. Andrianov and his colleagues aim to find ways so that the tobacco leaves produce more oil.

A usual tobacco plant leave has 1.7 percent to 4 percent of oil per dry weight. The researchers modified two genes of the plant. They are the diacyglycerol acytransferase (DGAT) gene or the LEAFY COTYLEDON 2 (LEC2) gene. The plants were engineered to over express one of the two genes. The alteration of DGAT gene resulted in about 5.8 percent of oil per dry weight in the leaves. It is around twice the amount of oil produced by and large. When the researcher went for the LEC2 gene modification it yielded around 6.8 percent of oil per dry weight.

According to Dr. Andrianov, “Tobacco is very attractive as a biofuel because the idea is to use plants that aren’t used in food production. We have found ways to genetically engineer the plants so that their leaves express more oil. In some instances, the modified plants produced 20-fold more oil in the leaves.”

Dr. Andrianov opines, “Based on these data, tobacco represents an attractive and promising ‘energy plant’ platform, and could also serve as a model for toshiba satellite a215 battery the utilization of other high-biomass plants for biofuel production.”

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Homes and businesses are not the only establishments upon which to apply the technologies of alternative energy. The environment can also benefit through the use of renewable energy in vehicles, most often in the form of biofuels. Australia has studied the advantages of biofuels and the impact the industry has on the country.

Currently, there is a general consensus amongst the public that there is a deficient supply of vehicles compatible with E10 fuel. E10 refers to blends of fuels containing 90% unleaded petrol and 10% ethanol. According to Heather Brodie, CEO of the Biofuels Association of Australia, the misconception by many citizens in Australia that too few cars exist which are compatible with E10 is that they are unaware that the most of the vehicles manufactured in Australia are compatible with E10 fuel and the majority of imported vehicles are as well.

It is possible that the public is unaware of this due to Australia’s somewhat slow start in embracing other forms of renewable energy. Biofuels have been used for a number of years in places such as the US, Europe, and Asia, so the technology is proven. Australia has been on board with biofuels for awhile now, but the citizens still remember the times when it was not readily available and the compatible vehicles were in the developmental stages. Ms. Brodie compares the reluctance to accept biofuels as a viable energy source to a time when unleaded petroleum fuels were shunned in favor of super blends. She claims that it is just a matter of getting used to a new method of powering our vehicles.

Australia currently maintains three commercial ethanol plants. All of them are located on the east coast of the country. Although biofuel technology has been utilized for decades, there are still growing pains as far as public perception and expansion of use; therefore, E10 is most readily available near its points of production. In order to encourage biofuel production to spread to other areas of Australia, Federal Government exempts domestically produced ethanol from excise tax until July of 2011. Additionally, Premiers in New South Wales and Queensland have debated the requirement that all petrol fuel be blended with ethanol in these states.

As with any renewable energy source, there will be skepticism toward biofuel because it is a relatively new technology. People tend to fear change, but biofuels are a change for the better, in Australia and the rest of the world.

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There is a growing concern these days for the environment, and several countries have taken the initiative to promote the use of renewable energy to lessen humanity’s impact on the planet.  Canada is one such country taking the lead in green technologies, and using biofuels is one of the steps they have taken in becoming one of the world’s leaders in the consumption of environmentally friendly fuels.

Biofuels are simply liquid fuels manufactured from plant and animal materials.  Because this matter is biodegradable, it is not only capable of powering vehicles and heating homes, but the waste is then absorbed once again into the earth, nurturing new life able to provide future renewable energy sources.

Bioethanol, commonly referred to as just ethanol, is the most common biofuel currently in production.  Canada’s federal government has taken note of ethanol’s potential as an alternative renewable energy and created a plan requiring gasoline to contain 5% ethanol by the end of this year.  The plan would also require diesel fuels to contain at least 2% ethanol by the end of 2012.  As a matter of fact, the provincial government of Manitoba has taken a leadership role in the biodiesel industry by creating mandates requiring similar percentages as those devised by the federal government that will go into effect in 2010.  This precedes the federal mandate by two years.  Manitoba is known for its prairie lands, the crops that grow there, and the animals that graze upon these crops.  The amount of plant and animal materials available for the production of biofuels is great.  Manitoba has inspired the provincial government of British Columbia to adopt similar strategies.

The corporation of Raven Biofuels Limited was established to research and develop technologies conducive to efficient and prolific use of biofuels throughout Canada, and they have identified British Columbia as a starting point.  Joining Raven Biofuels International Corporation (RBIC), their goal is to pay RBIC a fee providing them exclusive rights to biofuel development in Canada.  Their intent is to build the first commercial biorefinery and place it in Kamloops, British Columbia.  Though it may seem as though a monopoly or trust would emerge from this partnership, the goal is to set an example and to provide guidance to other potential commercial endeavors.  Municipalities have partnered with British Columbia’s provincial government to create the BC Bioenergy Strategy, which has already garnered million to fund a Biofuel Network focused on furthering biofuel energy technology not just in British Columbia, but throughout Canada.

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Involvement in the algae biofuels industry shot up by companies 550% between 2005 and 2007, driven by environmental concerns and high crude oil prices. However, oil prices have since declined, and the recent global financial crisis stymied many industries. Currently there seems to be continued interest in algae biofuels, but the industry is also plagued by excessive hype… So what is the near-term outlook for the algae biofuels production technologies market? 

One of the great benefits of algae as a feedstock is that it can be used to produce an array of biofuels: algal oil, biodiesel, renewable diesel, aviation biofuel, renewable jet fuel, biogasoline, ethanol, butanol, biomethane, and even hydrogen. Algae biofuels production also involves a wide array of technologies, from genetically engineered diatoms, green algae, and cyanobacteria; to open ponds or photobioreactors for cultivation; centrifuges and presses for extraction; and refineries, fermenters, and digesters for processing into fuels. 

Because the market for algae biofuels production technologies is diverse, it is helpful to break it down according to subsets of production technologies: cultivation technologies, harvesting and extraction technologies, and algae biofuels production facilities. Through 2015, cultivation technology sales are expected to hold most of the total algae biofuels production technologies market. The remaining market segments will be held by a combination of harvesting and extraction and fuels production facilities, for a total projected market value of over .6 billion in 2015. Starting at an estimated 1 million market size for 2010, this increase is significant and underscores that this is a quickly changing and evolving industry, expected to show an annual growth rate of nearly 43 percent. 

Algae biofuels production technologies are currently undergoing substantial development and scaled testing. As demonstration and commercial implementation move forward, emerging algae biofuels production technologies will garner up to about a third of the total market by 2015, as some current technologies are rendered obsolete or underperforming in terms of cost and production efficiency.

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In a rather “environmentally concerned” approach to cut down on the carbon emission from flights, Lufthansa airlines has announced that they will start commercial biofuel flights daily between Hamburg and Frankfurt in a six-month trial from April 2011. The move to operate an aircraft engine with biofuel over a long stretch of six months, is first of its kind in the world.

Energy security issues, hike in petrol prices and climate change from greenhouse gases emitted by airplanes have been troubling the airline industry for quite some time. Virgin Atlantic Airlines, British Airways and Continental Airline have have already tested on biofuel flights in the last two years. However, environmentalists have been constantly warning that production of biofuels can also have adverse effects on environment.

Utilizing biofuel in flight operations can save around 1,500 tonnes (15,00,000 kg) of Carbon dioxide emissions. However, as the airline industry worldwide is calling for an alternative source of energy, there’s a need to check for the sustainability of biofuels against fossil fuels and their effect on aircraft’s engine over a longer term. Plus, environmental concerns are another big issue related to production of biofuels.

According to a report by UN Food and Agricultural Organisation, biofuel plantations are destroying ecosystem of various regions in the world. Palm oil plantations set up for biofuel production in Indonesia and Malaysia, have led to deforestation resulting in more emission of greenhouse gases as the worst consequence.

In such a situation, a sustainable and environment-friendly way to produce biofuels is the need of the hour.

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