Engineering industrial yeast for renewable advanced biofuels applications

Science.gov (United States)

The industrial yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a candidate for the next-generation biocatalyst development due to its unique genomic background and robust performance in fermentation-based production. In order to meet challenges of renewable and sustainable advanced biofuels conversion including ...

Outlook for advanced biofuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamelinck, Carlo N; Faaij, Andre P.C.

2006-01-01

To assess which biofuels have the better potential for the short-term or the longer term (2030), and what developments are necessary to improve the performance of biofuels, the production of four promising biofuels-methanol, ethanol, hydrogen, and synthetic diesel-is systematically analysed. This present paper summarises, normalises and compares earlier reported work. First, the key technologies for the production of these fuels, such as gasification, gas processing, synthesis, hydrolysis, and fermentation, and their improvement options are studied and modelled. Then, the production facility's technological and economic performance is analysed, applying variations in technology and scale. Finally, likely biofuels chains (including distribution to cars, and end-use) are compared on an equal economic basis, such as costs per kilometre driven. Production costs of these fuels range 16-22 Euro /GJ HHV now, down to 9-13 Euro /GJ HHV in future (2030). This performance assumes both certain technological developments as well as the availability of biomass at 3 Euro /GJ HHV . The feedstock costs strongly influence the resulting biofuel costs by 2-3 Euro /GJ fuel for each Euro /GJ HHV feedstock difference. In biomass producing regions such as Latin America or the former USSR, the four fuels could be produced at 7-11 Euro /GJ HHV compared to diesel and gasoline costs of 7 and 8 Euro /GJ (excluding distribution, excise and VAT; at crude oil prices of ∼35 Euro /bbl or 5.7 Euro /GJ). The uncertainties in the biofuels production costs of the four selected biofuels are 15-30%. When applied in cars, biofuels have driving costs in ICEVs of about 0.18-0.24 Euro /km now (fuel excise duty and VAT excluded) and may be about 0.18 in future. The cars' contribution to these costs is much larger than the fuels' contribution. Large-scale gasification, thorough gas cleaning, and micro-biological processes for hydrolysis and fermentation are key major fields for RD and D efforts, next to

Crop residues for advanced biofuels workshop: A synposis

Science.gov (United States)

Crop residues are being harvested for a variety of purposes including their use as livestock feed and to produce advanced biofuels. Crop residue harvesting, by definition, reduces the potential annual carbon input to the soil from aboveground biomass but does not affect input from plant roots. The m...

76 FR 13345 - Notice of Contract Proposal (NOCP) for Payments to Eligible Advanced Biofuel Producers

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-11

... Advanced Biofuel Payment Program Application materials may be obtained by contacting one of Rural... Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number, which can be obtained at no cost via a toll-free... biogas and solid advanced biofuel per year. (In calculating whether a producer meets either of these...

Status of advanced biofuels demonstration facilities in 2012. A report to IEA Bioenergy task 39

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bacovsky, Dina; Ludwiczek, Nikolaus; Ognissanto, Monica; Woergetter, Manfred

2013-03-18

A number of companies around the world pursue projects to develop and deploy advanced technologies for the production of biofuels. Plenty of options are available, e.g. on which feedstock to use, how to pretreat it and how to convert it, up to which fuel to produce. This report monitors the multi-facetted development, adds transparency to the sector and thus supports the development and deployment of advanced biofuels production technologies. Main pathways under development can be classified into biochemical technologies, thermochemical technologies and chemical technologies. Biochemical technologies are usually based on lignocellulosic feedstock which is pretreated, hydrolysed into sugars and then fermented to ethanol. Alternative biochemical pathways process sugars or gaseous components into methanol, butanol, mixed alcohols, acetic acids, or other chemical building blocks. Most thermochemical technologies use gasification to convert lignocellulosic feedstock into synthesis gas, which can be converted into BtL-Diesel, SNG, DME or mixed alcohols. Alternative thermochemical pathways include pyrolysis of biomass and upgrading of the resulting pyrolysis oil. The most successful chemical pathway is the hydrotreatment of vegetable oil or fats to produce diesel-type hydrocarbons. Other pathways include catalytic decarboxylation, and methanol production from glycerin. This report is based on a database on advanced biofuels projects. The database feeds into an interactive map which is available at http://demoplants.bioenergy2020.eu, and it is updated continuously. The report includes general descriptions of the main advanced biofuels technologies under development, a list of 102 projects that are being pursued worldwide, and detailed descriptions of these projects. All data displayed has been made available by the companies that pursue these projects. For this reason, the list of projects may not be complete, as some companies may still be reluctant to share data. Since

From first generation biofuels to advanced solar biofuels.

Science.gov (United States)

Aro, Eva-Mari

2016-01-01

Roadmaps towards sustainable bioeconomy, including the production of biofuels, in many EU countries mostly rely on biomass use. However, although biomass is renewable, the efficiency of biomass production is too low to be able to fully replace the fossil fuels. The use of land for fuel production also introduces ethical problems in increasing the food price. Harvesting solar energy by the photosynthetic machinery of plants and autotrophic microorganisms is the basis for all biomass production. This paper describes current challenges and possibilities to sustainably increase the biomass production and highlights future technologies to further enhance biofuel production directly from sunlight. The biggest scientific breakthroughs are expected to rely on a new technology called "synthetic biology", which makes engineering of biological systems possible. It will enable direct conversion of solar energy to a fuel from inexhaustible raw materials: sun light, water and CO2. In the future, such solar biofuels are expected to be produced in engineered photosynthetic microorganisms or in completely synthetic living factories.

7 CFR Exhibit A to Subpart B of... - [Reserved

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 12 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false [Reserved] A Exhibit A to Subpart B of Part 1900 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) RURAL HOUSING SERVICE, RURAL BUSINESS... REGULATIONS GENERAL Adverse Decisions and Administrative Appeals Exhibit A to Subpart B of Part 1900 [Reserved] ...

Genetic Resources for Advanced Biofuel Production Described with the Gene Ontology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Trudy eTorto-Alalibo

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Dramatic increases in research in the area of microbial biofuel production coupled with high-throughput data generation on bioenergy-related microbes has led to a deluge of information in the scientific literature and in databases. Consolidating this information and making it easily accessible requires a unified vocabulary. The Gene Ontology (GO fulfills that requirement, as it is a well-developed structured vocabulary that describes the activities and locations of gene products in a consistent manner across all kingdoms of life. The Microbial Energy Gene Ontology (MENGO: http://www.mengo.biochem.vt.edu project is extending the GO to include new terms to describe microbial processes of interest to bioenergy production. Our effort has added over 600 bioenergy related terms to the Gene Ontology. These terms will aid in the comprehensive annotation of gene products from diverse energy-related microbial genomes. An area of microbial energy research that has received a lot of attention is microbial production of advanced biofuels. These include alcohols such as butanol, isopropanol, isobutanol, and fuels derived from fatty acids, isoprenoids, and polyhydroxyalkanoates. These fuels are superior to first generation biofuels (ethanol and biodiesel esterified from vegetable oil or animal fat, can be generated from non-food feedstock sources, can be used as supplements or substitutes for gasoline, diesel and jet fuels, and can be stored and distributed using existing infrastructure. Here we review the roles of genes associated with synthesis of advanced biofuels, and at the same time introduce the use of the GO to describe the functions of these genes in a standardized way.

77 FR 23673 - Notice of Stakeholder Meeting: Industry Roundtable-DON/USDA/DOE/DOT-FAA Advanced Drop-In Biofuels...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-04-20

...--DON/USDA/DOE/ DOT-FAA Advanced Drop-In Biofuels Initiative AGENCY: Department of the Navy, DoD. ACTION... participants in the biofuels supply chain. The purpose of the roundtable meeting is for the federal government... Biofuels Production Project. Questions related to the Special Notices or the pending Broad Agency...

Overcoming the initial investment hurdle for advanced biofuels. An analysis of biofuel-related risks and their impact on project financing. Report of ELOBIO subtask 7

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bole, T.; Londo, M.; Van Stralen, J.; Uslu, A.

2010-04-01

The ELOBIO research project aims to develop policies that will help achieve a higher share of biofuels in total transport fuel in a low-disturbing and sustainable way. Workpackage 7 of the ELOBIO project aims at addressing the objective of providing a reliable estimate of the potential and costs of biofuels, given the application of low-disturbing policy measures. More specifically, we seek to evaluate the impact of these biofuel policy measures on the investment climate for second-generation technologies. To this end, we try to answer several sub-questions in a following logical sequence: (1) What are the different factors that contribute to investment risk in biofuels and what are their relative contributions to overall biofuel project risk as perceived by finance providers?; (2) How do these risks translate into cost of capital for different biofuel technologies?; (3) How does cost of capital influence market penetration rates for the different technologies?; and (4) What is the best policy (or policy mix) to overcome the initial investment hurdle for advanced biofuels, thus lowering their cost of capital and achieve wider market deployment?.

Fostering citizen deliberations on the social acceptability of renewable fuels policy: The case of advanced lignocellulosic biofuels in Canada

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Longstaff, Holly; Secko, David M.; Capurro, Gabriela; Hanney, Patricia; McIntyre, Terry

2015-01-01

It is widely recognized that a lack of social acceptance is likely to hinder the ability of governments to achieve policy targets concerning renewable energies. In this paper, we discuss the results of a pre- and post-test online survey that was conducted as part of the 2012 “Advanced Biofuels” deliberative democracy public engagement event in Montréal, Québec. The event sough to foster public learning and discussion in order to produce socially acceptable policy input for one type of renewable energy: advanced lignocellulosic biofuels. Survey results show that the majority of participants were strongly supportive of advanced lignocellulosic biofuel development in Canada after the deliberative event. By the end of the event, support also grew for current Canadian biofuel policies and many agreed that increasing biofuel production should be widely supported by the Canadian public. However, despite this support, about two thirds of participants revealed that they did not feel included in government decisions about biofuels. The gap between support after inclusive deliberation and expressed exclusion from Canadian government decisions points to the importance of fostering future citizen engagements in this area of renewable energy policy. - Highlights: • We analyze outputs from the 2012 “Advanced Biofuels” deliberative democracy event. • We focus on social acceptance levels of advanced lignocellulosic biofuels in Canada. • Participants became less supportive of using food crops after the deliberation. • The majority were also supportive of current federal policy after the event. • However, most did not feel included in government decisions about biofuels

32 CFR Attachment B to Subpart B... - Standard B-Single Scope Background Investigation (SSBI)

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... (SSBI) B Attachment B to Subpart B of Part 147 National Defense Department of Defense OFFICE OF THE... FOR ACCESS TO CLASSIFIED INFORMATION Investigative Standards Pt. 147, Subpt. B, Att. B Attachment B to... Place of Birth: Corroboration of date and place of birth through a check of appropriate documentation; a...

Synthesis of three advanced biofuels from ionic liquid-pretreated switchgrass using engineered Escherichia coli

Science.gov (United States)

Bokinsky, Gregory; Peralta-Yahya, Pamela P.; George, Anthe; Holmes, Bradley M.; Steen, Eric J.; Dietrich, Jeffrey; Soon Lee, Taek; Tullman-Ercek, Danielle; Voigt, Christopher A.; Simmons, Blake A.; Keasling, Jay D.

2011-01-01

One approach to reducing the costs of advanced biofuel production from cellulosic biomass is to engineer a single microorganism to both digest plant biomass and produce hydrocarbons that have the properties of petrochemical fuels. Such an organism would require pathways for hydrocarbon production and the capacity to secrete sufficient enzymes to efficiently hydrolyze cellulose and hemicellulose. To demonstrate how one might engineer and coordinate all of the necessary components for a biomass-degrading, hydrocarbon-producing microorganism, we engineered a microorganism naïve to both processes, Escherichia coli, to grow using both the cellulose and hemicellulose fractions of several types of plant biomass pretreated with ionic liquids. Our engineered strains express cellulase, xylanase, beta-glucosidase, and xylobiosidase enzymes under control of native E. coli promoters selected to optimize growth on model cellulosic and hemicellulosic substrates. Furthermore, our strains grow using either the cellulose or hemicellulose components of ionic liquid-pretreated biomass or on both components when combined as a coculture. Both cellulolytic and hemicellulolytic strains were further engineered with three biofuel synthesis pathways to demonstrate the production of fuel substitutes or precursors suitable for gasoline, diesel, and jet engines directly from ionic liquid-treated switchgrass without externally supplied hydrolase enzymes. This demonstration represents a major advance toward realizing a consolidated bioprocess. With improvements in both biofuel synthesis pathways and biomass digestion capabilities, our approach could provide an economical route to production of advanced biofuels. PMID:22123987

Technology Roadmaps: Biofuels for Transport

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2011-07-01

Biofuels could provide up to 27% of total transport fuel worldwide by 2050. The use of transport fuels from biomass, when produced sustainably, can help cut petroleum use and reduce CO2 emissions in the transport sector, especially in heavy transport. Sustainable biofuel technologies, in particular advanced biofuels, will play an important role in achieving this roadmap vision. The roadmap describes the steps necessary to realise this ambitious biofuels target; identifies key actions by different stakeholders, and the role for government policy to adopt measures needed to ensure the sustainable expansion of both conventional and advanced biofuel production.

Supply chain design under uncertainty for advanced biofuel production based on bio-oil gasification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Qi; Hu, Guiping

2014-01-01

An advanced biofuels supply chain is proposed to reduce biomass transportation costs and take advantage of the economics of scale for a gasification facility. In this supply chain, biomass is converted to bio-oil at widely distributed small-scale fast pyrolysis plants, and after bio-oil gasification, the syngas is upgraded to transportation fuels at a centralized biorefinery. A two-stage stochastic programming is formulated to maximize biofuel producers' annual profit considering uncertainties in the supply chain for this pathway. The first stage makes the capital investment decisions including the locations and capacities of the decentralized fast pyrolysis plants as well as the centralized biorefinery, while the second stage determines the biomass and biofuels flows. A case study based on Iowa in the U.S. illustrates that it is economically feasible to meet desired demand using corn stover as the biomass feedstock. The results show that the locations of fast pyrolysis plants are sensitive to uncertainties while the capacity levels are insensitive. The stochastic model outperforms the deterministic model in the stochastic environment, especially when there is insufficient biomass. Also, farmers' participation can have a significant impact on the profitability and robustness of this supply chain. - Highlights: • Decentralized supply chain design for advanced biofuel production is considered. • A two-stage stochastic programming is formulated to consider uncertainties. • Farmers' participation has a significant impact on the biofuel supply chain design

29 CFR Appendix B to Subpart L of... - National Consensus Standards

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 29 Labor 5 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false National Consensus Standards B Appendix B to Subpart L of... Appendix B to Subpart L of Part 1910—National Consensus Standards The following table contains a cross-reference listing of those current national consensus standards which contains information and guidelines...

41 CFR Appendix A to Subpart B of... - 3-Key Points and Principles

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... Principles A Appendix A to Subpart B of Part 102 Public Contracts and Property Management Federal Property.... B, App. A Appendix A to Subpart B of Part 102-3—Key Points and Principles This appendix provides... principles that may be applied to situations not covered elsewhere in this subpart. The guidance follows: Key...

Recent advances on enzymatic glucose/oxygen and hydrogen/oxygen biofuel cells: Achievements and limitations

Science.gov (United States)

Cosnier, Serge; J. Gross, Andrew; Le Goff, Alan; Holzinger, Michael

2016-09-01

The possibility of producing electrical power from chemical energy with biological catalysts has induced the development of biofuel cells as viable energy sources for powering portable and implanted electronic devices. These power sources employ biocatalysts, called enzymes, which are highly specific and catalytic towards the oxidation of a biofuel and the reduction of oxygen or hydrogen peroxide. Enzymes, on one hand, are promising candidates to replace expensive noble metal-based catalysts in fuel cell research. On the other hand, they offer the exciting prospect of a new generation of fuel cells which harvest energy from body fluids. Biofuel cells which use glucose as a fuel are particularly interesting for generating electricity to power electronic devices inside a living body. Hydrogen consuming biofuel cells represent an emerging alternative to platinum catalysts due to comparable efficiencies and the capability to operate at lower temperatures. Currently, these technologies are not competitive with existing commercialised fuel cell devices due to limitations including insufficient power outputs and lifetimes. The advantages and challenges facing glucose biofuel cells for implantation and hydrogen biofuel cells will be summarised along with recent promising advances and the future prospects of these exotic energy-harvesting devices.

27 CFR 73.10 - What does subpart B cover?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

...? 73.10 Section 73.10 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO TAX AND TRADE BUREAU, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY (CONTINUED) PROCEDURES AND PRACTICES ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES; ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION OF FORMS Electronic Signatures § 73.10 What does subpart B cover? This subpart provides the...

Microbial advanced biofuels production: overcoming emulsification challenges for large-scale operation.

Science.gov (United States)

Heeres, Arjan S; Picone, Carolina S F; van der Wielen, Luuk A M; Cunha, Rosiane L; Cuellar, Maria C

2014-04-01

Isoprenoids and alkanes produced and secreted by microorganisms are emerging as an alternative biofuel for diesel and jet fuel replacements. In a similar way as for other bioprocesses comprising an organic liquid phase, the presence of microorganisms, medium composition, and process conditions may result in emulsion formation during fermentation, hindering product recovery. At the same time, a low-cost production process overcoming this challenge is required to make these advanced biofuels a feasible alternative. We review the main mechanisms and causes of emulsion formation during fermentation, because a better understanding on the microscale can give insights into how to improve large-scale processes and the process technology options that can address these challenges. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

7 CFR Exhibit C to Subpart B of... - Cooperative Agreement (Example)

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 14 2010-01-01 2009-01-01 true Cooperative Agreement (Example) C Exhibit C to Subpart B of Part 1955 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) RURAL HOUSING... Exhibit C to Subpart B of Part 1955—Cooperative Agreement (Example) Editorial Note: Exhibit C is not...

Next-Gen³: Sequencing, Modeling, and Advanced Biofuels - Final Technical Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zengler, Karsten [Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States). Dept. of Pediatrics; Palsson, Bernhard [Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States). Dept. of Bioengineering; Lewis, Nathan [Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States). Dept. of Pediatrics

2017-12-27

Successful, scalable implementation of biofuels is dependent on the efficient and near complete utilization of diverse biomass sources. One approach is to utilize the large recalcitrant biomass fraction (or any organic waste stream) through the thermochemical conversion of organic compounds to syngas, a mixture of carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO₂), and hydrogen (H₂), which can subsequently be metabolized by acetogenic microorganisms to produce next-gen biofuels. The goal of this proposal was to advance the development of the acetogen Clostridium ljungdahlii as a chassis organism for next-gen biofuel production from cheap, renewable sources and to detail the interconnectivity of metabolism, energy conservation, and regulation of acetogens using next-gen sequencing and next-gen modeling. To achieve this goal we determined optimization of carbon and energy utilization through differential translational efficiency in C. ljungdahlii. Furthermore, we reconstructed a next-generation model of all major cellular processes, such as macromolecular synthesis and transcriptional regulation and deployed this model to predicting proteome allocation, overflow metabolism, and metal requirements in this model acetogen. In addition we explored the evolutionary significance of tRNA operon structure using the next-gen model and determined the optimal operon structure for bioproduction. Our study substantially enhanced the knowledgebaase for chemolithoautotrophs and their potential for advanced biofuel production. It provides next-generation modeling capability, offer innovative tools for genome-scale engineering, and provide novel methods to utilize next-generation models for the design of tunable systems that produce commodity chemicals from inexpensive sources.

Competition between biofuels. Modeling technological learning and cost reductions over time

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Wit, M.; Junginger, M.; Faaij, A.; Lensink, S.M.; Londo, H.M.

2009-10-01

A key aspect in modeling the (future) competition between biofuels is the way in which production cost developments are computed. The objective of this study was threefold: (1) to construct a (endogenous) relation between cost development and cumulative production (2) to implement technological learning based on both engineering study insights and an experience curve approach, and (3) to investigate the impact of different technological learning assumptions on the market diffusion patterns of different biofuels. The analysis was executed with the European biofuel model BioTrans, which computes the least cost biofuel route. The model meets an increasing demand, reaching a 25% share of biofuels of the overall European transport fuel demand by 2030. Results show that 1st generation biodiesel is the most cost competitive fuel, dominating the early market. With increasing demand, modestly productive oilseed crops become more expensive rapidly, providing opportunities for advanced biofuels to enter the market. While biodiesel supply typically remains steady until 2030, almost all additional yearly demands are delivered by advanced biofuels, supplying up to 60% of the market by 2030. Sensitivity analysis shows that (a) overall increasing investment costs favour biodiesel production, (b) separate gasoline and diesel subtargets may diversify feedstock production and technology implementation, thus limiting the risk of failure and preventing lock-in and (c) the moment of an advanced technology's commercial market introduction determines, to a large degree, its future chances for increasing market share.

78 FR 34975 - Notice of Contract Proposals (NOCP) for the Advanced Biofuels Payment Program

Science.gov (United States)

2013-06-11

... Dun and Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number, which can be obtained at no cost via... liquid advanced biofuel per year or exceeding 15,900,000 million British Thermal Units of biogas and...

Fermentation broth components influence droplet coalescence and hinder advanced biofuel recovery during fermentation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Heeres, A.S.; Schroën, C.G.P.H.; Heijnen, J.J.; Wielen, van der L.A.M.; Cuellar, M.C.

2015-01-01

Developments in synthetic biology enabled the microbial production of long chain hydrocarbons, which can be used as advanced biofuels in aviation or transportation. Currently, these fuels are not economically competitive due to their production costs. The current process offers room for improvement:

Systems analysis and futuristic designs of advanced biofuel factory concepts.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chianelli, Russ; Leathers, James; Thoma, Steven George; Celina, Mathias C.; Gupta, Vipin P.

2007-10-01

The U.S. is addicted to petroleum--a dependency that periodically shocks the economy, compromises national security, and adversely affects the environment. If liquid fuels remain the main energy source for U.S. transportation for the foreseeable future, the system solution is the production of new liquid fuels that can directly displace diesel and gasoline. This study focuses on advanced concepts for biofuel factory production, describing three design concepts: biopetroleum, biodiesel, and higher alcohols. A general schematic is illustrated for each concept with technical description and analysis for each factory design. Looking beyond current biofuel pursuits by industry, this study explores unconventional feedstocks (e.g., extremophiles), out-of-favor reaction processes (e.g., radiation-induced catalytic cracking), and production of new fuel sources traditionally deemed undesirable (e.g., fusel oils). These concepts lay the foundation and path for future basic science and applied engineering to displace petroleum as a transportation energy source for good.

Outlook for advanced biofuels

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hamelinck, Carlo Noël

2004-01-01

Modern use of biomass can play an important role in a sustainable energy supply. Biomass abounds in most parts of the world and substantial amounts could be produced at low costs. Motor biofuels seem a sensible application of biomass: they are among the few sustainable alternatives to the

Biofuel technologies. Recent developments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gupta, Vijai Kumar [National Univ. of Ireland Galway (Ireland). Dept. of Biochemistry; MITS Univ., Rajasthan (India). Dept. of Science; Tuohy, Maria G. (eds.) [National Univ. of Ireland Galway (Ireland). Dept. of Biochemistry

2013-02-01

Written by experts. Richly illustrated. Of interest to both experienced researchers and beginners in the field. Biofuels are considered to be the main potential replacement for fossil fuels in the near future. In this book international experts present recent advances in biofuel research and related technologies. Topics include biomethane and biobutanol production, microbial fuel cells, feedstock production, biomass pre-treatment, enzyme hydrolysis, genetic manipulation of microbial cells and their application in the biofuels industry, bioreactor systems, and economical processing technologies for biofuel residues. The chapters provide concise information to help understand the technology-related implications of biofuels development. Moreover, recent updates on biofuel feedstocks, biofuel types, associated co- and byproducts and their applications are highlighted. The book addresses the needs of postgraduate researchers and scientists across diverse disciplines and industrial sectors in which biofuel technologies and related research and experimentation are pursued.

77 FR 5229 - Notice of Contract Proposals (NOCP) for Payments to Eligible Advanced Biofuel Producers

Science.gov (United States)

2012-02-02

... have a Dun and Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number, which can be obtained at no... exceeding 15,900,000 million British Thermal Units of biogas and solid advanced biofuel per year. (In...

Process modeling and supply chain design for advanced biofuel production based on bio-oil gasification

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Qi

As a potential substitute for petroleum-based fuel, second generation biofuels are playing an increasingly important role due to their economic, environmental, and social benefits. With the rapid development of biofuel industry, there has been an increasing literature on the techno-economic analysis and supply chain design for biofuel production based on a variety of production pathways. A recently proposed production pathway of advanced biofuel is to convert biomass to bio-oil at widely distributed small-scale fast pyrolysis plants, then gasify the bio-oil to syngas and upgrade the syngas to transportation fuels in centralized biorefinery. This thesis aims to investigate two types of assessments on this bio-oil gasification pathway: techno-economic analysis based on process modeling and literature data; supply chain design with a focus on optimal decisions for number of facilities to build, facility capacities and logistic decisions considering uncertainties. A detailed process modeling with corn stover as feedstock and liquid fuels as the final products is presented. Techno-economic analysis of the bio-oil gasification pathway is also discussed to assess the economic feasibility. Some preliminary results show a capital investment of 438 million dollar and minimum fuel selling price (MSP) of $5.6 per gallon of gasoline equivalent. The sensitivity analysis finds that MSP is most sensitive to internal rate of return (IRR), biomass feedstock cost, and fixed capital cost. A two-stage stochastic programming is formulated to solve the supply chain design problem considering uncertainties in biomass availability, technology advancement, and biofuel price. The first-stage makes the capital investment decisions including the locations and capacities of the decentralized fast pyrolysis plants and the centralized biorefinery while the second-stage determines the biomass and biofuel flows. The numerical results and case study illustrate that considering uncertainties can be

7 CFR Exhibit B-3 to Subpart B of... - Letter for Notifying Applicants, Lender, Holders and Borrowers of Adverse Decisions Where the...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... Farmer Program Primary Loan Servicing Actions) B Exhibit B-3 to Subpart B of Part 1900 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) RURAL HOUSING SERVICE, RURAL BUSINESS-COOPERATIVE... GENERAL Adverse Decisions and Administrative Appeals Pt. 1900, Subpt. B, Exh. B-3 Exhibit B-3 to Subpart B...

Production of advanced biofuels: co-processing of upgraded pyrolysis oil in standard refinery units

NARCIS (Netherlands)

De Miguel Mercader, F.; de Miguel Mercader, F.; Groeneveld, M.J.; Hogendoorn, Kees; Kersten, Sascha R.A.; Way, N.W.J.; Schaverien, C.J.

2010-01-01

One of the possible process options for the production of advanced biofuels is the co-processing of upgraded pyrolysis oil in standard refineries. The applicability of hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) was studied as a pyrolysis oil upgrading step to allow FCC co-processing. Different HDO reaction end

Recent Inventions and Trends in Algal Biofuels Research.

Science.gov (United States)

Karemore, Ankush; Nayak, Manoranjan; Sen, Ramkrishna

2016-01-01

In recent times, when energy crisis compounded by global warming and climate change is receiving worldwide attention, the emergence of algae, as a better feedstock for third-generation biofuels than energy crops or plants, holds great promise. As compared to conventional biofuels feedstocks, algae offer several advantages and can alone produce a significant amount of biofuels sustainably in a shorter period to fulfill the rising demand for energy. Towards commercialisation, there have been numerous efforts put for- ward for the development of algae-derived biofuel. This article reviews and summarizes the recent inventions and the current trends that are reported and captured in relevant patents pertaining to the novel methods of algae biomass cultivation and processing for biofuels and value-added products. In addition, the recent advancement in techniques and technologies for microalgal biofuel production has been highlighted. Various steps involved in the production of algal biofuels have been considered in this article. Moreover, the work that advances to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the processes for the manufacture of biofuels has been presented. Our survey was conducted in the patent databases: WIPO, Spacenet and USPTO. There are still some technological bottlenecks that could be overcome by designing advanced photobioreactor and raceway ponds, developing new and low cost technologies for biomass cultivation, harvesting, drying and extraction. Recent advancement in algae biofuels methods is directed toward developing efficient and integrated systems to produce biofuels by overcoming the current challenges. However, further research effort is required to scale-up and improve the efficiency of these methods in the upstream and downstream technologies to make the cost of biofuels competitive with petroleum fuels.

Biofuels barometer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

2008-01-01

Biofuels represent 2,6% of the energy content of all the fuels used in road transport in Europe today. Nearly half of the target of 5,75% for 2010 set by the directive on biofuels has thus been reached in four years time. To achieve 5,75%, the european union is going to have to increase its production and doubtless call even more on imports, at a moment when biofuels are found at the core of complex ecological and economic issues. This analysis provided data and reflexions on the biofuels situation in the european union: consumption, bio-diesel, bio-ethanol, producers, environmental problems, directives. (A.L.B.)

31 CFR Appendix B to Subpart I of... - Recertification Regarding Correspodent Accounts for Foreign Banks

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... Correspodent Accounts for Foreign Banks B Appendix B to Subpart I of Part 103 Money and Finance: Treasury Regulations Relating to Money and Finance FINANCIAL RECORDKEEPING AND REPORTING OF CURRENCY AND FOREIGN TRANSACTIONS Anti-Money Laundering Programs Pt. 103, Subpt. I, App. B Appendix B to Subpart I of Part 103...

Stimulating learning-by-doing in advanced biofuels: effectiveness of alternative policies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Xiaoguang; Khanna, Madhu; Yeh, Sonia

2012-01-01

This letter examines the effectiveness of various biofuel and climate policies in reducing future processing costs of cellulosic biofuels due to learning-by-doing. These policies include a biofuel production mandate alone and supplementing the biofuel mandate with other policies, namely a national low carbon fuel standard, a cellulosic biofuel production tax credit or a carbon price policy. We find that the binding biofuel targets considered here can reduce the unit processing cost of cellulosic ethanol by about 30% to 70% between 2015 and 2035 depending on the assumptions about learning rates and initial costs of biofuel production. The cost in 2035 is more sensitive to the speed with which learning occurs and less sensitive to uncertainty in the initial production cost. With learning rates of 5–10%, cellulosic biofuels will still be at least 40% more expensive than liquid fossil fuels in 2035. The addition of supplementary low carbon/tax credit policies to the mandate that enhance incentives for cellulosic biofuels can achieve similar reductions in these costs several years earlier than the mandate alone; the extent of these incentives differs across policies and different kinds of cellulosic biofuels. (letter)

Novel biofuel formulations for enhanced vehicle performance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Miller, Dennis [Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States); Narayan, Ramani [Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States); Berglund, Kris [Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States); Lira, Carl [Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States); Schock, Harold [Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States); Jaberi, Farhad [Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States); Lee, Tonghun [Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States); Anderson, James [Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States); Wallington, Timothy [Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States); Kurtz, Eric [Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States); Ruona, Will; Hass, Heinz

2013-08-30

This interdisciplinary research program at Michigan State University, in collaboration with Ford Motor Company, has explored the application of tailored or designed biofuels for enhanced vehicle performance and reduced emissions. The project has included a broad range of experimental research, from chemical and biological formation of advanced biofuel components to multicylinder engine testing of blended biofuels to determine engine performance parameters. In addition, the project included computation modeling of biofuel physical and combustion properties, and simulation of advanced combustion modes in model engines and in single cylinder engines. Formation of advanced biofuel components included the fermentation of five-carbon and six-carbon sugars to n-butanol and to butyric acid, two four-carbon building blocks. Chemical transformations include the esterification of the butyric acid produced to make butyrate esters, and the esterification of succinic acid with n-butanol to make dibutyl succinate (DBS) as attractive biofuel components. The conversion of standard biodiesel, made from canola or soy oil, from the methyl ester to the butyl ester (which has better fuel properties), and the ozonolysis of biodiesel and the raw oil to produce nonanoate fuel components were also examined in detail. Physical and combustion properties of these advanced biofuel components were determined during the project. Physical properties such as vapor pressure, heat of evaporation, density, and surface tension, and low temperature properties of cloud point and cold filter plugging point were examined for pure components and for blends of components with biodiesel and standard petroleum diesel. Combustion properties, particularly emission delay that is the key parameter in compression ignition engines, was measured in the MSU Rapid Compression Machine (RCM), an apparatus that was designed and constructed during the project simulating the compression stroke of an internal combustion

17 CFR Appendix B to Subpart A of... - Sample Clauses

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... Information Pt. 248, Subpt. A, App. B Appendix B to Subpart A of Part 248—Sample Clauses Link to an amendment..., such as “call the following toll-free number: (insert number)”]. A-7—Confidentiality and Security (All...

12 CFR Appendix A to Subpart B of... - Commentary

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

..., domestic or foreign, including foreign central banks as specified in paragraph (b)(1) of this section... under subpart B because they are not an instruction to a Federal Reserve Bank to pay money. (3) This... account will create an overdraft in the sender's account. The Board and the Federal Reserve Banks have...

Biofuels from food processing wastes.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Zhanying; O'Hara, Ian M; Mundree, Sagadevan; Gao, Baoyu; Ball, Andrew S; Zhu, Nanwen; Bai, Zhihui; Jin, Bo

2016-04-01

Food processing industry generates substantial high organic wastes along with high energy uses. The recovery of food processing wastes as renewable energy sources represents a sustainable option for the substitution of fossil energy, contributing to the transition of food sector towards a low-carbon economy. This article reviews the latest research progress on biofuel production using food processing wastes. While extensive work on laboratory and pilot-scale biosystems for energy production has been reported, this work presents a review of advances in metabolic pathways, key technical issues and bioengineering outcomes in biofuel production from food processing wastes. Research challenges and further prospects associated with the knowledge advances and technology development of biofuel production are discussed. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Biofuel supply chain, market, and policy analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Leilei

Renewable fuel is receiving an increasing attention as a substitute for fossil based energy. The US Department of Energy (DOE) has employed increasing effort on promoting the advanced biofuel productions. Although the advanced biofuel remains at its early stage, it is expected to play an important role in climate policy in the future in the transportation sector. This dissertation studies the emerging biofuel supply chain and markets by analyzing the production cost, and the outcomes of the biofuel market, including blended fuel market price and quantity, biofuel contract price and quantity, profitability of each stakeholder (farmers, biofuel producers, biofuel blenders) in the market. I also address government policy impacts on the emerging biofuel market. The dissertation is composed with three parts, each in a paper format. The first part studies the supply chain of emerging biofuel industry. Two optimization-based models are built to determine the number of facilities to deploy, facility locations, facility capacities, and operational planning within facilities. Cost analyses have been conducted under a variety of biofuel demand scenarios. It is my intention that this model will shed light on biofuel supply chain design considering operational planning under uncertain demand situations. The second part of the dissertation work focuses on analyzing the interaction between the key stakeholders along the supply chain. A bottom-up equilibrium model is built for the emerging biofuel market to study the competition in the advanced biofuel market, explicitly formulating the interactions between farmers, biofuel producers, blenders, and consumers. The model simulates the profit maximization of multiple market entities by incorporating their competitive decisions in farmers' land allocation, biomass transportation, biofuel production, and biofuel blending. As such, the equilibrium model is capable of and appropriate for policy analysis, especially for those policies

49 CFR Schedule G to Subpart B of... - Selected Statistical Data

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

..., L. 12, col. (b) 26Total passenger revenue Sch. 9002, L. 16, col. (b) 27Passenger-miles per bus mile... PROCEEDINGS Intercity Bus Industry Pt. 1139, Subpt. B, Sch. G Schedule G to Subpart B of Part 1139—Selected.... (b) 2Special bus revenue Sch. 2998, L. 2, col. (b) 3Express revenue Sch. 2998, L. 5, col. (b) 4Total...

Biofuels for transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2004-01-01

In the absence of strong government policies, the IEA projects that the worldwide use of oil in transport will nearly double between 2000 and 2030, leading to a similar increase in greenhouse gas emissions. Biofuels, such as ethanol, bio-diesel, and other liquid and gaseous fuels, could offer an important alternative to petroleum over this time frame and help reduce atmospheric pollution. This book looks at recent trends in biofuel production and considers what the future might hold if such alternatives were to displace petroleum in transport. The report takes a global perspective on the nascent biofuels industry, assessing regional similarities and differences as well as the cost and benefits of the various initiatives being undertaken around the world. In the short term, conventional biofuel production processes in IEA countries could help reduce oil use and thence greenhouse gas emissions, although the costs may be high. In the longer term, possibly within the next decade, advances in biofuel production and the use of new feedstocks could lead to greater, more cost-effective reductions. Countries such as Brazil are already producing relatively low-cost biofuels with substantial reductions in fossil energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. This book explores the range of options on offer and asks whether a global trade in biofuels should be more rigorously pursued

Glucose-based Biofuel Cells: Nanotechnology as a Vital Science in Biofuel Cells Performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hamideh Aghahosseini

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Nanotechnology has opened up new opportunities for the design of nanoscale electronic devices suitable for developing high-performance biofuel cells. Glucose-based biofuel cells as green energy sources can be a powerful tool in the service of small-scale power source technology as it provides a latent potential to supply power for various implantable medical electronic devices. By using physiologically produced glucose as a fuel, the living battery can recharge for continuous production of electricity. This review article presents how nanoscience, engineering and medicine are combined to assist in the development of renewable glucose-based biofuel cell systems. Here, we review recent advances and applications in both abiotic and enzymatic glucose biofuel cells with emphasis on their “implantable” and “implanted” types. Also the challenges facing the design and application of glucose-based biofuel cells to convert them to promising replacement candidates for non-rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are discussed. Nanotechnology could make glucose-based biofuel cells cheaper, lighter and more efficient and hence it can be a part of the solutions to these challenges.

World Biofuels Production Potential Understanding the Challenges to Meeting the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sastri, B.; Lee, A.

2008-09-15

. Within the mandate, amounts of advanced biofuels, including biomass-based diesel and cellulosic biofuels, are required beginning in 2009. Imported renewable fuels are also eligible for the RFS. Another key U.S. policy is the $1.01 per gal tax credit for producers of cellulosic biofuels enacted as part of the 2008 Farm Bill. This credit, along with the DOE's research, development and demonstration (RD&D) programs, are assumed to enable the rapid expansion of U.S. and global cellulosic biofuels production needed for the U.S. to approach the 2022 RFS goal. While the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has yet to issue RFS rules to determine which fuels would meet the greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction and land use restrictions specified in EISA, we assume that cellulosic ethanol, biomass-to-liquid fuels (BTL), sugar-derived ethanol, and fatty acid methyl ester biodiesel would all meet the EISA advanced biofuel requirements. We also assume that enough U.S. corn ethanol would meet EISA's biofuel requirements or otherwise be grandfathered under EISA to reach 15 B gal per year.

40 CFR Table 1 to Subpart Jj of... - General Provisions Applicability to Subpart JJ

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... Subpart JJ 1 Table 1 to Subpart JJ of Part 63 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY.... JJ, Table 1 Table 1 to Subpart JJ of Part 63—General Provisions Applicability to Subpart JJ Reference Applies to subpart JJ Comment 63.1(a) Yes 63.1(b)(1) No Subpart JJ specifies applicability. 63.1(b)(2) Yes...

Dynamic Modeling of Learning in Emerging Energy Industries: The Example of Advanced Biofuels in the United States: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vimmerstedt, Laura J.; Bush, Brian W.; Peterson, Steven O.

2015-09-03

This paper (and its supplemental model) presents novel approaches to modeling interactions and related policies among investment, production, and learning in an emerging competitive industry. New biomass-to-biofuels pathways are being developed and commercialized to support goals for U.S. advanced biofuel use, such as those in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. We explore the impact of learning rates and techno-economics in a learning model excerpted from the Biomass Scenario Model (BSM), developed by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to explore the impact of biofuel policy on the evolution of the biofuels industry. The BSM integrates investment, production, and learning among competing biofuel conversion options that are at different stages of industrial development. We explain the novel methods used to simulate the impact of differing assumptions about mature industry techno-economics and about learning rates while accounting for the different maturity levels of various conversion pathways. A sensitivity study shows that the parameters studied (fixed capital investment, process yield, progress ratios, and pre-commercial investment) exhibit highly interactive effects, and the system, as modeled, tends toward market dominance of a single pathway due to competition and learning dynamics.

Bringing biofuels on the market. Options to increase EU biofuels volumes beyond the current blending limits

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kampman, B.; Van Grinsven, A.; Croezen, H. [CE Delft, Delft (Netherlands); Verbeek, R.; Van Mensch, P.; Patuleia, A. [TNO, Delft, (Netherlands)

2013-07-15

This handbook on biofuels provides a comprehensive overview of different types of biofuels, and the technical options that exist to market the biofuels volumes expected to be consumed in the EU Member States in 2020. The study concludes that by fully utilizing the current blending limits of biodiesel (FAME) in diesel (B7) and bioethanol in petrol (E10) up to 7.9% share of biofuels in the EU transport sector can be technically reached by 2020. Increasing use of advanced biofuels, particularly blending of fungible fuels into diesel (eg. HVO and BTL) and the use of higher ethanol blends in compatible vehicles (e.g. E20), can play an important role. Also, the increased use of biomethane (in particular bio-CNG) and higher blends of biodiesel (FAME) can contribute. However, it is essential for both governments and industry to decide within 1 or 2 years on the way ahead and take necessary actions covering both, the fuels and the vehicles, to ensure their effective and timely implementation. Even though a range of technical options exist, many of these require considerable time and effort to implement and reach their potential. Large scale implementation of the options beyond current blending limits requires new, targeted policy measures, in many cases complemented by new fuel and vehicle standards, adaptation of engines and fuel distribution, etc. Marketing policies for these vehicles, fuels and blends are also likely to become much more important than in the current situation. Each Member State may develop its own strategy tailored to its market and policy objectives, but the EU should play a crucial facilitating role in these developments.

7 CFR Exhibit B to Subpart B of... - Notification of Tribe of Availability of Farm Property for Purchase

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... Agriculture (Continued) RURAL HOUSING SERVICE, RURAL BUSINESS-COOPERATIVE SERVICE, RURAL UTILITIES SERVICE...) PROPERTY MANAGEMENT Management of Property Pt. 1955, Subpt. B, Exh. B Exhibit B to Subpart B of Part 1955... property and be able to carry on a family farming operation. Those persons not eligible for FSA's regular...

25 CFR Appendix B to Subpart C - Population Adjustment Factor

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 25 Indians 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Population Adjustment Factor B Appendix B to Subpart C...—Population Adjustment Factor 1. The Population Adjustment Factor allows for participation in the IRR Program... Distribution factor* Number of tribes** Funding amount per tribe Less than 25 1 N1 MBA*** × 1 25-100 3.5 N2 MBA...

Fatty acid-derived biofuels and chemicals production in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yongjin J. Zhou

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Volatile energy costs and environmental concerns have spurred interest in the development of alternative, renewable, sustainable and cost-effective energy resources. Advanced biofuels have potential to replace fossil fuels in supporting high-power demanding machinery such as aircrafts and trucks. Microbial biosynthesis is generally considered as an environmental friendly refinery process, and fatty acid biosynthesis is an attractive route to synthesize chemicals and especially drop-in biofuels due to the high degree of reduction of fatty acids. The robustness and excellent accessibility to molecular genetics make the yeast S. cerevisiae a suitable host for the production of biofuels, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, and recent advances in metabolic engineering as well as systems and synthetic biology allow us to engineer the yeast fatty acid metabolism and modification pathways for production of advanced biofuels and chemicals.

Engineering the fatty acid metabolic pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae for advanced biofuel production

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaoling Tang

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Fatty acid-derived fuels and chemicals have attracted a great deal of attention in recent decades, due to their following properties of high compatibility to gasoline-based fuels and existing infrastructure for their direct utilization, storage and distribution. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is the ideal biofuel producing candidate, based on the wealth of available genetic information and versatile tools designed to manipulate its metabolic pathways. Engineering the fatty acid metabolic pathways in S. cerevisiae is an effective strategy to increase its fatty acid biosynthesis and provide more pathway precursors for production of targeted products. This review summarizes the recent progress in metabolic engineering of yeast cells for fatty acids and fatty acid derivatives production, including the regulation of acetyl-CoA biosynthesis, NADPH production, fatty acid elongation, and the accumulation of activated precursors of fatty acids for converting enzymes. By introducing specific enzymes in the engineered strains, a powerful platform with a scalable, controllable and economic route for advanced biofuel production has been established. Keywords: Metabolic engineering, Fatty acid biosynthesis, Fatty acid derivatives, Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Scope of algae as third generation biofuels

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shuvashish eBehera

2015-02-01

Full Text Available An initiative has been taken to develop different solid, liquid and gaseous biofuels as the alternative energy resources. The current research and technology based on the third generation biofuels derived from algal biomass have been considered as the best alternative bioresource that avoids the disadvantages of first and second generation biofuels. Algal biomass have been investigated for the implementation of economic conversion processes producing different biofuels such as biodiesel, bioethanol, biogas, biohydrogen and other valuable co-products. In the present review, the recent findings and advance developments in algal biomass for improved biofuel production. This review discusses about the importance of the algal cell contents, various strategies for product formation through various conversion technologies, and its future scope as an energy security.

Biofuels in the long-run global energy supply mix for transportation.

Science.gov (United States)

Timilsina, Govinda R

2014-01-13

Various policy instruments along with increasing oil prices have contributed to a sixfold increase in global biofuels production over the last decade (2000-2010). This rapid growth has proved controversial, however, and has raised concerns over potential conflicts with global food security and climate change mitigation. To address these concerns, policy support is now focused on advanced or second-generation biofuels instead of crop-based first-generation biofuels. This policy shift, together with the global financial crisis, has slowed the growth of biofuels production, which has remained stagnant since 2010. Based upon a review of the literature, this paper examines the potential long-run contribution of biofuels to the global energy mix, particularly for transportation. We find that the contribution of biofuels to global transportation fuel demand is likely to be limited to around 5% over the next 10-15 years. However, a number of studies suggest that biofuels could contribute up to a quarter of global transportation fuel demand by 2050, provided technological breakthroughs reduce the costs of sustainably produced advanced biofuels to a level where they can compete with petroleum fuels.

10 CFR Appendix C to Subpart B of... - Compliance Certification

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Building Technologies (EE-2J), Forrestal Building, 1000... 10 Energy 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Compliance Certification C Appendix C to Subpart B of Part 431 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY ENERGY CONSERVATION ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAM FOR CERTAIN COMMERCIAL...

Biofuels sources, biofuel policy, biofuel economy and global biofuel projections

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Demirbas, Ayhan

2008-01-01

The term biofuel is referred to liquid, gas and solid fuels predominantly produced from biomass. Biofuels include energy security reasons, environmental concerns, foreign exchange savings, and socioeconomic issues related to the rural sector. Biofuels include bioethanol, biomethanol, vegetable oils, biodiesel, biogas, bio-synthetic gas (bio-syngas), bio-oil, bio-char, Fischer-Tropsch liquids, and biohydrogen. Most traditional biofuels, such as ethanol from corn, wheat, or sugar beets, and biodiesel from oil seeds, are produced from classic agricultural food crops that require high-quality agricultural land for growth. Bioethanol is a petrol additive/substitute. Biomethanol can be produced from biomass using bio-syngas obtained from steam reforming process of biomass. Biomethanol is considerably easier to recover than the bioethanol from biomass. Ethanol forms an azeotrope with water so it is expensive to purify the ethanol during recovery. Methanol recycles easier because it does not form an azeotrope. Biodiesel is an environmentally friendly alternative liquid fuel that can be used in any diesel engine without modification. There has been renewed interest in the use of vegetable oils for making biodiesel due to its less polluting and renewable nature as against the conventional petroleum diesel fuel. Due to its environmental merits, the share of biofuel in the automotive fuel market will grow fast in the next decade. There are several reasons for biofuels to be considered as relevant technologies by both developing and industrialized countries. Biofuels include energy security reasons, environmental concerns, foreign exchange savings, and socioeconomic issues related to the rural sector. The biofuel economy will grow rapidly during the 21st century. Its economy development is based on agricultural production and most people live in the rural areas. In the most biomass-intensive scenario, modernized biomass energy contributes by 2050 about one half of total energy

Which future for aviation bio-fuels?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Botti, Jean; Combarnous, Michel; Jarry, Bruno; Monsan, Pierre; Burzynski, Jean-Pierre; Jeuland, Nicolas; Porot, Pierre; Demoment, Pascale; Gillmann, Marc; Marchand, Philippe; Kuentzmann, Paul; Kurtsoglou, Nicolas; Lombaert-Valot, Isabelle; Pelegrin, Marc; Renvier, Jacques; Rousseau, Julien; Stadler, Thierry; Tremeau, Benoit

2014-01-01

This collective report proposes a detailed overview of the evolution of aviation fuels and bio-fuels from technological, regulatory and economic points of view. It also proposes a road-map for possible future evolutions, and outlines the different assessments between American and European countries regarding the predictions for the beginning of industrial production and use of bio-jet-fuel. After having recalled international objectives, an overview of European and French commitments for technological and operational advances, and a discussion of the role of bio-fuels in the carbon cycle, the report presents various technical constraints met in aircraft industry and describes the role bio-fuels may have. The next part proposes an overview of bio-fuels which are industrially produced in the world in 2013. The authors then focus on aviation bio-fuels (main production processes, thermo-chemical processes), discuss the political context, and examine obstacles, partnerships and the role of public authorities

Overview on Biofuels from a European Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Ponti, Luigi; Gutierrez, Andrew Paul

2009-01-01

In light of the recently developed European Union (EU) Biofuels Strategy, the literature is reviewed to examine (a) the coherency of biofuel production with the EU nonindustrial vision of agriculture, and (b) given its insufficient land base, the implications of a proposed bioenergy pact to grow biofuel crops in the developing world to meet EU…

The biofuels, situation, perspectives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Acket, C.

2007-03-01

The climatic change with the fight against the greenhouse effect gases, sees the development of ''clean'' energy sources. Meanwhile the biofuels remain penalized by their high production cost, the interest is increasing. Facing their development ecologists highlight the environmental and social negative impacts of the development of the biofuels. The author aims to take stock on the techniques and the utilizations. (A.L.B.)

10 CFR Appendix X to Subpart B of... - Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption of Dehumidifiers

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 10 Energy 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption of Dehumidifiers X Appendix X to Subpart B of Part 430 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY ENERGY... Appendix X to Subpart B of Part 430—Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption of...

7 CFR Exhibit B-2 to Subpart B of... - Letter for Notifying Applicants, Lenders and Holders and Borrowers of Unfavorable Decision...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... and Borrowers of Unfavorable Decision Reached at the Meeting B Exhibit B-2 to Subpart B of Part 1900 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) RURAL HOUSING SERVICE, RURAL BUSINESS... REGULATIONS GENERAL Adverse Decisions and Administrative Appeals Pt. 1900, Subpt. B, Exh. B-2 Exhibit B-2 to...

The biofuels in France

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2006-04-01

The biofuels are liquid renewable energies sources resulting from vegetal matters. Today are two channels of biofuels: the ethanol channel for gasoline and the vegetal oils channel for the diesel. In the first part, the document presents the different channels and the energy efficiency of the products. It shows in the second part the advantages for the environment (CO 2 accounting) and for the energy independence. It discusses then the future developments and the projects. The fourth part is devoted to the legislation, regulations, taxes and financial incentives. The last part presents the french petroleum industry actions and attitudes in the framework of the biofuels development. (A.L.B.)

46 CFR Appendix B to Subpart C to... - Substance Technical Guidelines, Benzene

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 46 Shipping 7 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Substance Technical Guidelines, Benzene B Appendix B to... Subpart C to Part 197—Substance Technical Guidelines, Benzene I. Physical and Chemical Data (a) Substance... temperature: 580 °C (1076 °F). (3) Flammable limits in air, % by volume: Lower: 1.3%, Upper: 7.5%. (4...

The second generation biofuels from the biomass

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2007-01-01

The author takes stock on the second generation biofuels in the world, the recent technologies, their advantages, the research programs and the economical and environmental impacts of the biofuels development. (A.L.B.)

10 CFR Appendix B to Subpart B of... - Uniform Test Method for Measuring Nominal Full Load Efficiency of Electric Motors

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... Efficiency of Electric Motors B Appendix B to Subpart B of Part 431 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY ENERGY CONSERVATION ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAM FOR CERTAIN COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT Electric Motors Pt. 431... Efficiency of Electric Motors 1. Definitions. Definitions contained in §§ 431.2 and 431.12 are applicable to...

Renewable Enhanced Feedstocks for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts (REFABB)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Peoples, Oliver [Metabolix Inc., Cambridge, MA (United States); Snell, Kristi [Metabolix Inc., Cambridge, MA (United States)

2016-06-09

The basic concept of the REFABB project was that by genetically engineering the biomass crop switchgrass to produce a natural polymer PHB, which is readily broken down by heating (thermolysis) into the chemical building block crotonic acid, sufficient additional economic value would be added for the grower and processor to make it an attractive business at small scale. Processes for using thermolysis to upgrade biomass to densified pellets (char) or bio-oil are well known and require low capital investment similar to a corn ethanol facility. Several smaller thermolysis plants would then supply the densified biomass, which is easier to handle and transport to a centralized biorefinery where it would be used as the feedstock. Crotonic acid is not by itself a large volume commodity chemical, however, the project demonstrated that it can be used as a feedstock to produce a number of large volume chemicals including butanol which itself is a biofuel target. In effect the project would try to address three key technology barriers, feedstock logistics, feedstock supply and cost effective biomass conversion. This project adds to our understanding of the potential for future biomass biorefineries in two main areas. The first addressed in Task A was the importance and potential of developing an advanced value added biomass feedstock crop. In this Task several novel genetic engineering technologies were demonstrated for the first time. One important outcome was the identification of three novel genes which when re-introduced into the switchgrass plants had a remarkable impact on increasing the biomass yield based on dramatically increasing photosynthesis. These genes also turned out to be critical to increasing the levels of PHB in switchgrass by enabling the plants to fix carbon fast enough to support both plant growth and higher levels of the polymer. Challenges in the critical objective of Task B, demonstrating conversion of the PHB in biomass to crotonic acid at over 90

7 CFR Exhibit B-1 to Subpart B of... - Letter for Notifying Applicants, Lender, Holders and Borrowers of Adverse Decisions Where the...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... Borrowers of Adverse Decisions Where the Decision Is Appealable B Exhibit B-1 to Subpart B of Part 1900 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) RURAL HOUSING SERVICE, RURAL BUSINESS... REGULATIONS GENERAL Adverse Decisions and Administrative Appeals Pt. 1900, Subpt. B, Exh. B-1 Exhibit B-1 to...

Molecular Breeding of Advanced Microorganisms for Biofuel Production

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hiroshi Sakuragi

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Large amounts of fossil fuels are consumed every day in spite of increasing environmental problems. To preserve the environment and construct a sustainable society, the use of biofuels derived from different kinds of biomass is being practiced worldwide. Although bioethanol has been largely produced, it commonly requires food crops such as corn and sugar cane as substrates. To develop a sustainable energy supply, cellulosic biomass should be used for bioethanol production instead of grain biomass. For this purpose, cell surface engineering technology is a very promising method. In biobutanol and biodiesel production, engineered host fermentation has attracted much attention; however, this method has many limitations such as low productivity and low solvent tolerance of microorganisms. Despite these problems, biofuels such as bioethanol, biobutanol, and biodiesel are potential energy sources that can help establish a sustainable society.

7 CFR Exhibit D to Subpart B of... - Hearings/Review Officer Designations

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... Subpart B of Part 1900 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) RURAL HOUSING SERVICE, RURAL BUSINESS-COOPERATIVE SERVICE, RURAL UTILITIES SERVICE, AND FARM SERVICE AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE PROGRAM REGULATIONS GENERAL Adverse Decisions and Administrative Appeals Pt. 1900...

Next generation of liquid biofuel production

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Batidzirai, B.

2012-01-01

More than 99% of all currently produced biofuels are classified as “first generation” (i.e. fuels produced primarily from cereals, grains, sugar crops and oil seeds) (IEA, 2008b). “Second generation” or “next generation” biofuels, on the other hand, are produced from lignocellulosic feedstocks such

Engineering microbes for tolerance to next-generation biofuels

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dunlop Mary J

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract A major challenge when using microorganisms to produce bulk chemicals such as biofuels is that the production targets are often toxic to cells. Many biofuels are known to reduce cell viability through damage to the cell membrane and interference with essential physiological processes. Therefore, cells must trade off biofuel production and survival, reducing potential yields. Recently, there have been several efforts towards engineering strains for biofuel tolerance. Promising methods include engineering biofuel export systems, heat shock proteins, membrane modifications, more general stress responses, and approaches that integrate multiple tolerance strategies. In addition, in situ recovery methods and media supplements can help to ease the burden of end-product toxicity and may be used in combination with genetic approaches. Recent advances in systems and synthetic biology provide a framework for tolerance engineering. This review highlights recent targeted approaches towards improving microbial tolerance to next-generation biofuels with a particular emphasis on strategies that will improve production.

A Modular Approach to Integrating Biofuels Education into ChE Curriculum Part I--Learning Materials

Science.gov (United States)

He, Q. Peter; Wang, Jin; Zhang, Rong; Johnson, Donald; Knight, Andrew; Polala, Ravali

2016-01-01

In view of potential demand for skilled engineers and competent researchers in the biofuels field, we have identified a significant gap between advanced biofuels research and undergraduate biofuels education in chemical engineering. To help bridge this gap, we created educational materials that systematically integrate biofuels technologies into…

Assessment of biofuels supporting policies using the BioTrans model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lensink, Sander; Londo, Marc

2010-01-01

The introduction of advanced, 2nd generation biofuels is a difficult to forecast process. Policies may impact the timing of their introduction and the future biofuels mix. The least-cost optimization model BioTrans supports policy analyses on these issues. It includes costs for all parts of the supply chain, and endogenous learning for all biofuels technologies, including cost reductions through scale. BioTrans shows that there are significant lock-in effects favouring traditional biofuels, and that the optimal biofuels mix by 2030 is path dependent. The model captures important barriers for the introduction of emerging technologies, thereby providing valuable quantitative information that can be used in analyses of biofuels supporting policies. It is shown that biodiesel from oil crops will remain a cost effective way of producing biofuels in the medium term at moderate target levels. Aiming solely at least-cost biofuel production is in conflict with a longer term portfolio approach on biofuels, and the desire to come to biofuels with the lowest greenhouse gas emissions. Lowering the targets because of environmental constraints delays the development of 2nd generation biofuels, unless additional policy measures (such as specific sub targets for these fuels) are implemented.

40 CFR Table 2b to Subpart E of... - Reactivity Factors for Aliphatic Hydrocarbon Solvent Mixtures

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... Hydrocarbon Solvent Mixtures 2B Table 2B to Subpart E of Part 59 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL... Hydrocarbon Solvent Mixtures Bin Averageboiling point * (degrees F) Criteria Reactivityfactor 1 80-205 Alkanes... + Dry Point) / 2 (b) Aromatic Hydrocarbon Solvents ...

10 CFR Appendix R to Subpart B of... - Uniform Test Method for Measuring Average Lamp Efficacy (LE), Color Rendering Index (CRI), and...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... (LE), Color Rendering Index (CRI), and Correlated Color Temperature (CCT) of Electric Lamps R Appendix R to Subpart B of Part 430 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY ENERGY CONSERVATION ENERGY CONSERVATION PROGRAM FOR CONSUMER PRODUCTS Test Procedures Pt. 430, Subpt. B, App. R Appendix R to Subpart B of Part...

Biofuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poitrat, E.

2009-01-01

Biofuels are fuels made from non-fossil vegetal or animal materials (biomass). They belong to the renewable energy sources as they do not contribute to worsen some global environmental impacts, like the greenhouse effect, providing that their production is performed in efficient energy conditions with low fossil fuel consumption. This article presents: 1 - the usable raw materials: biomass-derived resources, qualitative and quantitative aspects, biomass uses; 2 - biofuels production from biomass: alcohols and ethers, vegetable oils and their esters, synthetic liquid or gaseous biofuels, biogas; 3 - characteristics of liquid biofuels and comparison with gasoline and diesel fuel; 4 - biofuel uses: alcohols and their esters, biofuels with oxygenated compounds; vegetable oils and their derivatives in diesel engines, biogas, example of global environmental impact: the greenhouse effect. (J.S.)

7 CFR Appendix B to Subpart B of... - Certification of Independent Certified Public Accountant Regarding Notes To Be Issued Pursuant to...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

...—Certification of Independent Certified Public Accountant Regarding Notes To Be Issued Pursuant to 7 CFR 1744.30... 7 Agriculture 11 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Certification of Independent Certified Public Accountant Regarding Notes To Be Issued Pursuant to 7 CFR 1744.30(c) B Appendix B to Subpart B of Part 1744...

National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bio-Products Final Technical Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Olivares, Jose A. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Baxter, Ivan [US Dept. of Agriculture (USDA)., Washington, DC (United States); Brown, Judith [Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States); Carleton, Michael [Matrix Genetics, Seattle, WA (United States); Cattolico, Rose Anne [Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States); Taraka, Dale [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Detter, John C. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Devarenne, Timothy P. [Texas Agrilife Research, College Station, TX (United States); Dutcher, Susan K. [Washington Univ., St. Louis, MO (United States); Fox, David T. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Goodenough, Ursula [Washington Univ., St. Louis, MO (United States); Jaworski, Jan [Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, MO (United States); Kramer, David [Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States); Lipton, Mary S. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); McCormick, Margaret [Matrix Genetics, Seattle, WA (United States); Merchant, Sabeeha [Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States); Molnar, Istvan [Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States); Panisko, Ellen A. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Pellegrini, Matteo [Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States); Polle, Juergen [City Univ. (CUNY), NY (United States). Brooklyn College; Sabarsky, Martin [Cellana, Inc., San Diego, CA (United States); Sayre, Richard T. [New Mexico Consortium, Los Alamos, NM (United States); Starkenburg,, Shawn [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Stormo, Gary [Washington Univ., St. Louis, MO (United States); Twary, Scott N. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Unkefer, Clifford J. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Unkefer, Pat J. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Yuan, Joshua S. [Texas Agrilife Research, College Station, TX (United States); Arnold, Bob [Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States); Bai, Xuemei [Cellana, Inc., San Diego, CA (United States); Boeing, Wiebke [New Mexico State Univ., Las Cruces, NM (United States); Brown, Lois [Texas Agrilife Research, College Station, TX (United States); Gujarathi, Ninad [Reliance Industries Limited, Mumbai (India); Huesemann, Michael [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Lammers, Pete [New Mexico State Univ., Las Cruces, NM (United States); Laur, Paul [Eldorado Biofuels, Santa Fe, NM (United States); Khandan, Nirmala [New Mexico State Univ., Las Cruces, NM (United States); Parsons, Ronald [Solix BioSystems, Fort Collins, CO (United States); Samocha, Tzachi [Texas Agrilife Research, College Station, TX (United States); Thomasson, Alex [Texas Agrilife Research, College Station, TX (United States); Unc, Adrian [New Mexico State Univ., Las Cruces, NM (United States); Waller, Pete [Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States); Bonner, James [Clarkson Univ., Potsdam, NY (United States); Coons, Jim [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Fernando, Sandun [Texas Agrilife Research, College Station, TX (United States); Goodall, Brian [Valicor Renewables, Dexter, MI (United States); Kadam, Kiran [Valicor Renewables, Dexter, MI (United States); Lacey, Ronald [Texas Agrilife Research, College Station, TX (United States); Wei, Liu [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Marrone, Babs [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Nikolov, Zivko [Texas Agrilife Research, College Station, TX (United States); Trewyn, Brian [Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States); Albrecht, Karl [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Capareda, Sergio [Texas Agrilife Research, College Station, TX (United States); Cheny, Scott [Diversified Energy, Gilbert, AZ (United States); Deng, Shuguang [New Mexico State Univ., Las Cruces, NM (United States); Elliott, Douglas [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Cesar, Granda [Terrabon, LLC, Bryan, TX (United States); Hallen, Richard [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Lupton, Steven [UOP Honeywell Co, LLC, Des Plaines, IL (United States); Lynch, Sharry [UOP Honeywell Co, LLC, Des Plaines, IL (United States); Marchese, Anthony [Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States); Nieweg, Jennifer [Albemarle Catilin, Ames, IA (United States); Ogden, Kimberly [Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States); Oyler, James [Genifuel, Salt Lake City, UT (United States); Reardon, Ken [Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States); Roberts, William [North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (United States); Sams, David [Albemarle Catilin, Ames, IA (United States); Schaub, Tanner [New Mexico State Univ., Las Cruces, NM (United States); Silks, Pete [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Archibeque, Shawn [Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States); Foster, James [Texas Agrilife Research, College Station, TX (United States); Gaitlan, Delbert [Texas Agrilife Research, College Station, TX (United States); Lawrence, Addison [Texas Agrilife Research, College Station, TX (United States); Lodge-Ivey, Shanna [New Mexico State Univ., Las Cruces, NM (United States); Wickersham, Tyron [Texas Agrilife Research, College Station, TX (United States); Blowers, Paul [Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States); Davis, Ryan [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Downes, C. Meghan [New Mexico State Univ., Las Cruces, NM (United States); Dunlop, Eric [Pan Pacific Technologies Pty. Ltd., Adelaide (Australia); Frank, Edward [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Handler, Robert [Michigan Technological Univ., Houghton, MI (United States); Newby, Deborah [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Pienkos, Philip [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Richardson, James [Texas Agrilife Research, College Station, TX (United States); Seider, Warren [Univ. of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (United States); Shonnard, David [Michigan Technological Univ., Houghton, MI (United States); Skaggs, Richard [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

2014-09-30

The main objective of NAABB was to combine science, technology, and engineering expertise from across the nation to break down critical technical barriers to commercialization of algae-based biofuels. The approach was to address technology development across the entire value chain of algal biofuels production, from selection of strains to cultivation, harvesting, extraction, fuel conversion, and agricultural coproduct production. Sustainable practices and financial feasibility assessments ununderscored the approach and drove the technology development.

Biofuel initiatives in Japan: Strategies, policies, and future potential

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsumoto, Naoko; Sano, Daisuke; Elder, Mark

2009-01-01

Japan has developed a variety of national strategies and plans related to biofuels which address four main policy objectives, including reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, energy security, rural development, and realisation of a recycle-based society. This paper reviews these national strategies and plans as well as associated implementing policies, and discusses the extent to which these objectives may be achieved. This paper found that the long-term potential of biofuels to contribute to GHG reduction goals will depend not only on the rates of technological development of the second generation biofuels but also on the development of other advanced vehicles. In the medium term, the potential contribution of biofuels to rural development and realising a recycle-based society could become significant depending on the progress of technology for both second generation biofuel production and the collection and transportation of their feedstocks. The potential contribution of biofuels to Japan's energy security is constrained by the availability of imports and the potential of domestic production. (author)

From 1st- to 2nd-Generation Biofuel Technologies: Extended Executive Summary

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2008-07-01

This report looks at the technical challenges facing 2nd-generation biofuels, evaluates their costs and examines related current policies to support their development and deployment. The potential for production of more advanced biofuels is also discussed. Although significant progress continues to be made to overcome the technical and economic challenges, 2nd-generation biofuels still face major constraints to their commercial deployment.

Potentials of biofuels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Munack, A.; Schroder, O. [Johann Heinrich von Thunen Inst., Braunschweig (Germany); Krahl, J. [Coburg Univ. of Applied Sciences, Coburg (Germany); Bunger, J. [Inst. for Prevention and Occupational Medicine of the German Social Accident Insurance, Ruhr-Univ. Inst., Bochum (Germany)

2010-07-01

This paper discussed the potential of biofuels with particular reference to the situation in Germany and Europe. Emphasis was on technical potential, such as biofuel production, utilization and environmental aspects. The Institute of Agricultural Technology and Biosystems Engineering ran vTI emission tests on diesel engines to evaluate the environmental impacts of biofuels. This testing facility is able to drive heavy-duty diesel engines in both stationary and dynamic test cycles, such as the European ESC and ETC. Additional analyses were conducted to determine the fine and ultra-fine particles, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), aldehydes, ketones, and the usual regulated exhaust gas compounds. Ames tests were conducted to assess the mutagenic potential of tailpipe emissions. Previous study results showed that neat vegetable oils can render the exhaust high in mutagenic potency. Some of the non-regulated exhaust gas compounds were found to vary nonlinearly with the blend composition. B20 was found to have high mutagenic potential and was subject to sedimentation.

Biofuels and Their Co-Products as Livestock Feed: Global Economic and Environmental Implications.

Science.gov (United States)

Popp, József; Harangi-Rákos, Mónika; Gabnai, Zoltán; Balogh, Péter; Antal, Gabriella; Bai, Attila

2016-02-29

This review studies biofuel expansion in terms of competition between conventional and advanced biofuels based on bioenergy potential. Production of advanced biofuels is generally more expensive than current biofuels because products are not yet cost competitive. What is overlooked in the discussion about biofuel is the contribution the industry makes to the global animal feed supply and land use for cultivation of feedstocks. The global ethanol industry produces 44 million metric tonnes of high-quality feed, however, the co-products of biodiesel production have a moderate impact on the feed market contributing to just 8-9 million tonnes of protein meal output a year. By economically displacing traditional feed ingredients co-products from biofuel production are an important and valuable component of the biofuels sector and the global feed market. The return of co-products to the feed market has agricultural land use (and GHG emissions) implications as well. The use of co-products generated from grains and oilseeds can reduce net land use by 11% to 40%. The proportion of global cropland used for biofuels is currently some 2% (30-35 million hectares). By adding co-products substituted for grains and oilseeds the land required for cultivation of feedstocks declines to 1.5% of the global crop area.

Increasing Feedstock Production for Biofuels: Economic Drivers, Environmental Implications, and the Role of Research

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

none,

2009-10-27

The Biomass Research and Development Board (Board) commissioned an economic analysis of feedstocks to produce biofuels. The Board seeks to inform investments in research and development needed to expand biofuel production. This analysis focuses on feedstocks; other interagency teams have projects underway for other parts of the biofuel sector (e.g., logistics). The analysis encompasses feedstocks for both conventional and advanced biofuels from agriculture and forestry sources.

An economic evaluation of alternative biofuel deployment scenarios in the USA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gbadebo Oladosu

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Energy market conditions have shifted dramatically since the USA renewable fuel standards (RFS1 in 2005; RFS2 in 2007 were enacted. The USA has transitioned from an increasing dependence on oil imports to abundant domestic oil production. In addition, increases in the use of ethanol, the main biofuel currently produced in the USA, is now limited by the blend wall constraint. Given this, the current study evaluates alternative biofuel deployment scenarios in the USA, accounting for changes in market conditions. The analysis is performed with a general equilibrium model that reflects the structure of the USA biofuel market as the transition to advanced biofuels begins. Results suggest that ethanol consumption would increase, albeit slowly, if current biofuel deployment rates of about 10% are maintained as persistently lower oil prices lead to a gradual increase in the consumption of liquid transportation fuels. Without the blend wall constraint, this study finds that the overall economic impact of a full implementation of the USA RFS2 policy is largely neutral before 2022. However, the economic impacts become slightly negative under the blend wall constraint since more expensive bio-hydrocarbons are needed to meet the RFS2 mandates. Results for a scenario with reduced advanced biofuel deployment based on current policy plans show near neutral economic impacts up to 2027. This scenario is also consistent with another scenario where the volume of bio-hydrocarbons deployed is reduced to adjust for its higher cost and energy content relative to deploying the mandated RFS2 advanced biofuel volumes as ethanol. The important role of technological change is demonstrated under pioneer and accelerated technology scenarios, with the latter leading to neutral or positive economic effects up to 2023 under most blend wall scenarios. All scenarios evaluated in this study are found to have positive long-term benefits for the USA economy.

Review of the algal biology program within the National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Unkefer, Clifford J.; Sayre, Richard T.; Magnuson, Jon K.; Anderson, Daniel B.; Baxter, Ivan; Blaby, Ian K.; Brown, Judith K.; Carleton, Michael; Cattolico, Rose Ann; Dale, Taraka; Devarenne, Timothy P.; Downes, C. Meghan; Dutcher, Susan K.; Fox, David T.; Goodenough, Ursula; Jaworski, Jan; Holladay, Jonathan E.; Kramer, David M.; Koppisch, Andrew T.; Lipton, Mary S.; Marrone, Babetta L.; McCormick, Margaret; Molnár, István; Mott, John B.; Ogden, Kimberly L.; Panisko, Ellen A.; Pellegrini, Matteo; Polle, Juergen; Richardson, James W.; Sabarsky, Martin; Starkenburg, Shawn R.; Stormo, Gary D.; Teshima, Munehiro; Twary, Scott N.; Unkefer, Pat J.; Yuan, Joshua S.; Olivares, José A.

2017-03-01

In 2010,when the National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts (NAABB) consortiumbegan, littlewas known about themolecular basis of algal biomass or oil production. Very fewalgal genome sequenceswere available and efforts to identify the best-producing wild species through bioprospecting approaches had largely stalled after the U.S. Department of Energy's Aquatic Species Program. This lack of knowledge included how reduced carbon was partitioned into storage products like triglycerides or starch and the role played bymetabolite remodeling in the accumulation of energy-dense storage products. Furthermore, genetic transformation and metabolic engineering approaches to improve algal biomass and oil yields were in their infancy. Genome sequencing and transcriptional profiling were becoming less expensive, however; and the tools to annotate gene expression profiles under various growth and engineered conditions were just starting to be developed for algae. It was in this context that an integrated algal biology program was introduced in the NAABB to address the greatest constraints limiting algal biomass yield. This review describes the NAABB algal biology program, including hypotheses, research objectives, and strategies to move algal biology research into the twenty-first century and to realize the greatest potential of algae biomass systems to produce biofuels.

33 CFR 117.40 - Advance notice for drawbridge opening.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... of the advanced notice for the drawbridge will be added to subpart B of this part. [USCG-2001-10881... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Advance notice for drawbridge... SECURITY BRIDGES DRAWBRIDGE OPERATION REGULATIONS General Requirements § 117.40 Advance notice for...

Sustainable multipurpose biorefineries for third-generation biofuels and value-added co-products

Science.gov (United States)

Modern biorefinery facilities conduct many types of processes, including those producing advanced biofuels, commodity chemicals, biodiesel, and value-added co-products such as sweeteners and bioinsecticides, with many more co-products, chemicals and biofuels on the horizon. Most of these processes ...

Next generation biofuel engineering in prokaryotes

Science.gov (United States)

Gronenberg, Luisa S.; Marcheschi, Ryan J.; Liao, James C.

2014-01-01

Next-generation biofuels must be compatible with current transportation infrastructure and be derived from environmentally sustainable resources that do not compete with food crops. Many bacterial species have unique properties advantageous to the production of such next-generation fuels. However, no single species possesses all characteristics necessary to make high quantities of fuels from plant waste or CO2. Species containing a subset of the desired characteristics are used as starting points for engineering organisms with all desired attributes. Metabolic engineering of model organisms has yielded high titer production of advanced fuels, including alcohols, isoprenoids and fatty acid derivatives. Technical developments now allow engineering of native fuel producers, as well as lignocellulolytic and autotrophic bacteria, for the production of biofuels. Continued research on multiple fronts is required to engineer organisms for truly sustainable and economical biofuel production. PMID:23623045

Biofuels combustion.

Science.gov (United States)

Westbrook, Charles K

2013-01-01

This review describes major features of current research in renewable fuels derived from plants and from fatty acids. Recent and ongoing fundamental studies of biofuel molecular structure, oxidation reactions, and biofuel chemical properties are reviewed, in addition to combustion applications of biofuels in the major types of engines in which biofuels are used. Biofuels and their combustion are compared with combustion features of conventional petroleum-based fuels. Two main classes of biofuels are described, those consisting of small, primarily alcohol, fuels (particularly ethanol, n-butanol, and iso-pentanol) that are used primarily to replace or supplement gasoline and those derived from fatty acids and used primarily to replace or supplement conventional diesel fuels. Research efforts on so-called second- and third-generation biofuels are discussed briefly.

34 CFR Appendix B to Subpart L of... - Ratio Methodology for Private Non-Profit Institutions

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 34 Education 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Ratio Methodology for Private Non-Profit Institutions B Appendix B to Subpart L of Part 668 Education Regulations of the Offices of the Department of Education (Continued) OFFICE OF POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION STUDENT ASSISTANCE GENERAL PROVISIONS...

Synthetic biology and the technicity of biofuels.

Science.gov (United States)

Mackenzie, Adrian

2013-06-01

The principal existing real-world application of synthetic biology is biofuels. Several 'next generation biofuel' companies-Synthetic Genomics, Amyris and Joule Unlimited Technologies-claim to be using synthetic biology to make biofuels. The irony of this is that highly advanced science and engineering serves the very mundane and familiar realm of transport. Despite their rather prosaic nature, biofuels could offer an interesting way to highlight the novelty of synthetic biology from several angles at once. Drawing on the French philosopher of technology and biology Gilbert Simondon, we can understand biofuels as technical objects whose genesis involves processes of concretisation that negotiate between heterogeneous geographical, biological, technical, scientific and commercial realities. Simondon's notion of technicity, the degree of concretisation of a technical object, usefully conceptualises this relationality. Viewed in terms of technicity, we might understand better how technical entities, elements, and ensembles are coming into being in the name of synthetic biology. The broader argument here is that when we seek to identify the newness of disciplines, their newness might be less epistemic and more logistic. Crown Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Increase of the investments for the biofuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jemain, A.

2005-01-01

With the construction for 2007 of six new units of biofuels (three bio-diesel and three bio-ethanol), France is developing its energy policy in favor of the biofuels. This decision benefits Diester and Sofiproteol industries which will invest in the development of their deposits. The enthusiasm is less for the bio-ethanol industries. (A.L.B.)

Protein engineering in designing tailored enzymes and microorganisms for biofuels production

Science.gov (United States)

Wen, Fei; Nair, Nikhil U; Zhao, Huimin

2009-01-01

Summary Lignocellulosic biofuels represent a sustainable, renewable, and the only foreseeable alternative energy source to transportation fossil fuels. However, the recalcitrant nature of lignocellulose poses technical hurdles to an economically viable biorefinery. Low enzymatic hydrolysis efficiency and low productivity, yield, and titer of biofuels are among the top cost contributors. Protein engineering has been used to improve the performances of lignocellulose-degrading enzymes, as well as proteins involved in biofuel synthesis pathways. Unlike its great success seen in other industrial applications, protein engineering has achieved only modest results in improving the lignocellulose-to-biofuels efficiency. This review will discuss the unique challenges that protein engineering faces in the process of converting lignocellulose to biofuels and how they are addressed by recent advances in this field. PMID:19660930

The development of the biofuels in the french farms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Treguer, D.; Sourie, J.C.

2005-03-01

At first, developed to compensate the farmers incomes after 1993, the biofuels are going today on a second development phase, in the framework of the Kyoto protocol. The aim of this paper is to define the particularities of the biofuels production agricultural phase. The most important aspects of the common agricultural policy (PAC) for the biofuels are underlined. The costs of the raw material and the tool developed by the INRA to estimate the biofuels costs are also presented. In conclusion the authors propose some reference results. (A.L.B.)

Biofuel alternatives to ethanol: pumping the microbial well

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fortman, J.L.; Chhabra, Swapnil; Mukhopadhyay, Aindrila; Chou, Howard; Lee, Taek Soon; Steen, Eric; Keasling, Jay D.

2009-08-19

Engineered microorganisms are currently used for the production of food products, pharmaceuticals, ethanol fuel and more. Even so, the enormous potential of this technology has yet to be fully exploited. The need for sustainable sources of transportation fuels has generated a tremendous interest in technologies that enable biofuel production. Decades of work have produced a considerable knowledge-base for the physiology and pathway engineering of microbes, making microbial engineering an ideal strategy for producing biofuel. Although ethanol currently dominates the biofuel market, some of its inherent physical properties make it a less than ideal product. To highlight additional options, we review advances in microbial engineering for the production of other potential fuel molecules, using a variety of biosynthetic pathways.

Cyanobacterial Biofuels: Strategies and Developments on Network and Modeling.

Science.gov (United States)

Klanchui, Amornpan; Raethong, Nachon; Prommeenate, Peerada; Vongsangnak, Wanwipa; Meechai, Asawin

Cyanobacteria, the phototrophic microorganisms, have attracted much attention recently as a promising source for environmentally sustainable biofuels production. However, barriers for commercial markets of cyanobacteria-based biofuels concern the economic feasibility. Miscellaneous strategies for improving the production performance of cyanobacteria have thus been developed. Among these, the simple ad hoc strategies resulting in failure to optimize fully cell growth coupled with desired product yield are explored. With the advancement of genomics and systems biology, a new paradigm toward systems metabolic engineering has been recognized. In particular, a genome-scale metabolic network reconstruction and modeling is a crucial systems-based tool for whole-cell-wide investigation and prediction. In this review, the cyanobacterial genome-scale metabolic models, which offer a system-level understanding of cyanobacterial metabolism, are described. The main process of metabolic network reconstruction and modeling of cyanobacteria are summarized. Strategies and developments on genome-scale network and modeling through the systems metabolic engineering approach are advanced and employed for efficient cyanobacterial-based biofuels production.

40 CFR Appendix B to Subpart Nnn... - Free Formaldehyde Analysis of Insulation Resins by Hydroxylamine Hydrochloride

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... Insulation Resins by Hydroxylamine Hydrochloride B Appendix B to Subpart NNN of Part 63 Protection of...—Free Formaldehyde Analysis of Insulation Resins by Hydroxylamine Hydrochloride 1. Scope This method was... hydrochloric acid that is liberated when hydroxylamine hydrochloride reacts with formaldehyde to form...

7 CFR Exhibit D to Subpart B of... - Fact Sheet-The Federal Interagency Task Force on Food and Shelter for the Homeless

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... (CONTINUED) PROPERTY MANAGEMENT Management of Property Exhibit D to Subpart B of Part 1955—Fact Sheet—The... 7 Agriculture 14 2010-01-01 2009-01-01 true Fact Sheet-The Federal Interagency Task Force on Food and Shelter for the Homeless D Exhibit D to Subpart B of Part 1955 Agriculture Regulations of the...

Synthetic Biology Guides Biofuel Production

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael R. Connor

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The advancement of microbial processes for the production of renewable liquid fuels has increased with concerns about the current fuel economy. The development of advanced biofuels in particular has risen to address some of the shortcomings of ethanol. These advanced fuels have chemical properties similar to petroleum-based liquid fuels, thus removing the need for engine modification or infrastructure redesign. While the productivity and titers of each of these processes remains to be improved, progress in synthetic biology has provided tools to guide the engineering of these processes through present and future challenges.

Biofuel production in Escherichia coli. The role of metabolic engineering and synthetic biology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Clomburg, James M. [Rice Univ., Houston, TX (United States). Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; Gonzalez, Ramon [Rice Univ., Houston, TX (United States). Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; Rice Univ., Houston, TX (United States). Dept. of Bioengineering

2010-03-15

The microbial production of biofuels is a promising avenue for the development of viable processes for the generation of fuels from sustainable resources. In order to become cost and energy effective, these processes must utilize organisms that can be optimized to efficiently produce candidate fuels from a variety of feedstocks. Escherichia coli has become a promising host organism for the microbial production of biofuels in part due to the ease at which this organism can be manipulated. Advancements in metabolic engineering and synthetic biology have led to the ability to efficiently engineer E. coli as a biocatalyst for the production of a wide variety of potential biofuels from several biomass constituents. This review focuses on recent efforts devoted to engineering E. coli for the production of biofuels, with emphasis on the key aspects of both the utilization of a variety of substrates as well as the synthesis of several promising biofuels. Strategies for the efficient utilization of carbohydrates, carbohydrate mixtures, and noncarbohydrate carbon sources will be discussed along with engineering efforts for the exploitation of both fermentative and nonfermentative pathways for the production of candidate biofuels such as alcohols and higher carbon biofuels derived from fatty acid and isoprenoid pathways. Continued advancements in metabolic engineering and synthetic biology will help improve not only the titers, yields, and productivities of biofuels discussed herein, but also increase the potential range of compounds that can be produced. (orig.)

10 CFR Appendix B1 to Subpart B of... - Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption of Freezers

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 10 Energy 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption... to Subpart B of Part 430—Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption of Freezers 1... temperature, then these test results shall be used to determine energy consumption. If the compartment...

Laccase applications in biofuels production: current status and future prospects.

Science.gov (United States)

Kudanga, Tukayi; Le Roes-Hill, Marilize

2014-08-01

The desire to reduce dependence on the ever diminishing fossil fuel reserves coupled with the impetus towards green energy has seen increased research in biofuels as alternative sources of energy. Lignocellulose materials are one of the most promising feedstocks for advanced biofuels production. However, their utilisation is dependent on the efficient hydrolysis of polysaccharides, which in part is dependent on cost-effective and benign pretreatment of biomass to remove or modify lignin and release or expose sugars to hydrolytic enzymes. Laccase is one of the enzymes that are being investigated not only for potential use as pretreatment agents in biofuel production, mainly as a delignifying enzyme, but also as a biotechnological tool for removal of inhibitors (mainly phenolic) of subsequent enzymatic processes. The current review discusses the major advances in the application of laccase as a potential pretreatment strategy, the underlying principles as well as directions for future research in the search for better enzyme-based technologies for biofuel production. Future perspectives could include synergy between enzymes that may be required for optimal results and the adoption of the biorefinery concept in line with the move towards the global implementation of the bioeconomy strategy.

Biofuel, land and water: maize, switchgrass or Miscanthus?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhuang Qianlai; Qin Zhangcai; Chen Min

2013-01-01

The productive cellulosic crops switchgrass and Miscanthus are considered as viable biofuel sources. To meet the 2022 national biofuel target mandate, actions must be taken, e.g., maize cultivation must be intensified and expanded, and other biofuel crops (switchgrass and Miscanthus) must be cultivated. This raises questions on the use efficiencies of land and water; to date, the demand on these resources to meet the national biofuel target has rarely been analyzed. Here, we present a data-model assimilation analysis, assuming that maize, switchgrass and Miscanthus will be grown on currently available croplands in the US. Model simulations suggest that maize can produce 3.0–5.4 kiloliters (kl) of ethanol for every hectare of land, depending on the feedstock to ethanol conversion efficiency; Miscanthus has more than twice the biofuel production capacity relative to maize, and switchgrass is the least productive of the three potential sources of ethanol. To meet the biofuel target, about 26.5 million hectares of land and over 90 km 3 of water (of evapotranspiration) are needed if maize grain alone is used. If Miscanthus was substituted for maize, the process would save half of the land and one third of the water. With more advanced biofuel conversion technology for Miscanthus, only nine million hectares of land and 45 km 3 of water would probably meet the national target. Miscanthus could be a good alternative biofuel crop to maize due to its significantly lower demand for land and water on a per unit of ethanol basis. (letter)

Biofuel alternatives to ethanol: pumping the microbial well

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fortman, J. L.; Chhabra, Swapnil; Mukhopadhyay, Aindrila; Chou, Howard; Lee, Taek Soon; Steen, Eric; Keasling, Jay D.

2009-12-02

Engineered microorganisms are currently used for the production of food products, pharmaceuticals, ethanol fuel and more. Even so, the enormous potential of this technology has yet to be fully exploited. The need for sustainable sources of transportation fuels has gener-ated a tremendous interest in technologies that enable biofuel production. Decades of work have produced a considerable knowledge-base for the physiology and pathway engineering of microbes, making microbial engineering an ideal strategy for producing biofuel. Although ethanol currently dominates the biofuel mar-ket, some of its inherent physical properties make it a less than ideal product. To highlight additional options, we review advances in microbial engineering for the production of other potential fuel molecules, using a variety of biosynthetic pathways.

Advanced biofuels - GHG emissions and energy balances. A report to IEA bioenergy task 39

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

O' Connor, Don [S and T 2 Consultants Inc., Delta, British Columbia (Canada)

2013-05-25

In this work, a number of advanced biofuel pathways were examined with respect to their energy balances and GHG emission performance. Some of these pathways have relatively detailed public techno-economic modelling studies available on which the energy and GHG lifecycle modelling has been based. However there is a continuum in the quality of publicly available data and, for some of the pathways a significant number of assumptions had to be made in order to generate results. Some caution is therefore warranted when the results of different systems are compared. Furthermore, none of the modelling data is based on actual operating systems, as the processes being assessed are not yet in commercial operation; rather, they are each in different stages of research, development and demonstration.

Relative Greenhouse Gas Abatement Cost Competitiveness of Biofuels in Germany

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Markus Millinger

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Transport biofuels derived from biogenic material are used for substituting fossil fuels, thereby abating greenhouse gas (GHG emissions. Numerous competing conversion options exist to produce biofuels, with differing GHG emissions and costs. In this paper, the analysis and modeling of the long-term development of GHG abatement and relative GHG abatement cost competitiveness between crop-based biofuels in Germany are carried out. Presently dominant conventional biofuels and advanced liquid biofuels were found not to be competitive compared to the substantially higher yielding options available: sugar beet-based ethanol for the short- to medium-term least-cost option and substitute natural gas (SNG for the medium to long term. The competitiveness of SNG was found to depend highly on the emissions development of the power mix. Silage maize-based biomethane was found competitive on a land area basis, but not on an energetic basis. Due to land limitations, as well as cost and GHG uncertainty, a stronger focus on the land use of crop-based biofuels should be laid out in policy.

Recommendations for a sustainable development of biofuels in France

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Douaud, A.; Gruson, J.F.

2006-01-01

The biofuels are presented as a solution to the greenhouse gases and the petroleum consumption decrease. The development of the biofuels needs an active research of the production, transformation and use costs improvement. It will be necessary to prepare the market of the biofuels to the globalization. Some recommendations are also provided in the domains of the vegetal oil ester, the ethanol for the diesel and for the development of simulation tools to evaluate the costs. (A.L.B.)

Biofuel market and carbon modeling to evaluate French biofuel policy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bernard, F.; Prieur, A.

2006-10-01

In order to comply with European objectives, France has set up an ambitious biofuel plan. This plan is evaluated considering two criteria: tax exemption need and GHG emission savings. An economic marginal analysis and a life cycle assessment (LCA) are provided using a coupling procedure between a partial agro-industrial equilibrium model and a refining optimization model. Thus, we are able to determine the minimum tax exemption needed to place on the market a targeted quantity of biofuel by deducing the agro-industrial marginal cost of biofuel production to the biofuel refining long-run marginal revenue. In parallel, a biofuels LCA is carried out using model outputs. Such a method avoid common allocation problems between joint products. The French biofuel plan is evaluated for 2008, 2010 and 2012 using prospective scenarios. Results suggest that biofuel competitiveness depends on crude oil prices and petroleum products demands. Consequently, biofuel tax exemption does not always appear to be necessary. LCA results show that biofuels production and use, from 'seed to wheel', would facilitate the French Government's to compliance with its 'Plan Climat' objectives by reducing up to 5% GHG emissions in the French road transport sector by 2010. (authors)

Molecular Breeding of Advanced Microorganisms for Biofuel Production

OpenAIRE

Sakuragi, Hiroshi; Kuroda, Kouichi; Ueda, Mitsuyoshi

2011-01-01

Large amounts of fossil fuels are consumed every day in spite of increasing environmental problems. To preserve the environment and construct a sustainable society, the use of biofuels derived from different kinds of biomass is being practiced worldwide. Although bioethanol has been largely produced, it commonly requires food crops such as corn and sugar cane as substrates. To develop a sustainable energy supply, cellulosic biomass should be used for bioethanol production instead of grain bio...

49 CFR Figure 2 to Subpart B of... - Example of a Multi-Level Car Complying with Window Location and Staggering Requirements-§§ 238...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Example of a Multi-Level Car Complying with Window Location and Staggering Requirements-§§ 238.113 and 238.114 2 Figure 2 to Subpart B of Part 238.... 238, Subpt. B, Fig. 2 Figure 2 to Subpart B of Part 238—Example of a Multi-Level Car Complying with...

7 CFR Exhibit D to Subpart B of... - Designated Counties for Housing Application Packaging Grants

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 13 2010-01-01 2009-01-01 true Designated Counties for Housing Application Packaging... Application Packaging Grants Pt. 1944, Subpt. B, Exh. D Exhibit D to Subpart B of Part 1944—Designated Counties for Housing Application Packaging Grants ER25my05.036 ER25my05.037 ER25my05.038 ER25my05.039 [70...

40 CFR Appendix E to Subpart B of... - The Standard for Automotive Refrigerant Recycling Equipment Intended for Use With Both CFC-12 and...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... Refrigerant Recycling Equipment Intended for Use With Both CFC-12 and HFC-134a E Appendix E to Subpart B of... Appendix E to Subpart B of Part 82—The Standard for Automotive Refrigerant Recycling Equipment Intended for... Intended for Use With Both CFC-12 and HFC-134a Foreword The purpose of this standard is to establish...

Biofuel market and carbon modeling to analyse French biofuel policy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bernard, F.; Prieur, A.

2007-01-01

In order to comply with European Union objectives, France has set up an ambitious biofuel plan. This plan is evaluated on the basis of two criteria: tax exemption on fossil fuels and greenhouse gases (GHG) emission savings. An economic marginal analysis and a life cycle assessment (LCA) are provided using a coupling procedure between a partial agro-industrial equilibrium model and an oil refining optimization model. Thus, we determine the minimum tax exemption needed to place on the market a targeted quantity of biofuel by deducting the biofuel long-run marginal revenue of refiners from the agro-industrial marginal cost of biofuel production. With a clear view of the refiner's economic choices, total pollutant emissions along the biofuel production chains are quantified and used to feed an LCA. The French biofuel plan is evaluated for 2008, 2010 and 2012 using prospective scenarios. Results suggest that biofuel competitiveness depends on crude oil prices and demand for petroleum products and consequently these parameters should be taken into account by authorities to modulate biofuel tax exemption. LCA results show that biofuel production and use, from 'seed to wheel', would facilitate the French Government's compliance with its 'Plan Climat' objectives by reducing up to 5% GHG emissions in the French road transport sector by 2010

Isoprenoid drugs, biofuels, and chemicals--artemisinin, farnesene, and beyond.

Science.gov (United States)

George, Kevin W; Alonso-Gutierrez, Jorge; Keasling, Jay D; Lee, Taek Soon

2015-01-01

Isoprenoids have been identified and used as natural pharmaceuticals, fragrances, solvents, and, more recently, advanced biofuels. Although isoprenoids are most commonly found in plants, researchers have successfully engineered both the eukaryotic and prokaryotic isoprenoid biosynthetic pathways to produce these valuable chemicals in microorganisms at high yields. The microbial synthesis of the precursor to artemisinin--an important antimalarial drug produced from the sweet wormwood Artemisia annua--serves as perhaps the most successful example of this approach. Through advances in synthetic biology and metabolic engineering, microbial-derived semisynthetic artemisinin may soon replace plant-derived artemisinin as the primary source of this valuable pharmaceutical. The richness and diversity of isoprenoid structures also make them ideal candidates for advanced biofuels that may act as "drop-in" replacements for gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. Indeed, the sesquiterpenes farnesene and bisabolene, monoterpenes pinene and limonene, and hemiterpenes isopentenol and isopentanol have been evaluated as fuels or fuel precursors. As in the artemisinin project, these isoprenoids have been produced microbially through synthetic biology and metabolic engineering efforts. Here, we provide a brief review of the numerous isoprenoid compounds that have found use as pharmaceuticals, flavors, commodity chemicals, and, most importantly, advanced biofuels. In each case, we highlight the metabolic engineering strategies that were used to produce these compounds successfully in microbial hosts. In addition, we present a current outlook on microbial isoprenoid production, with an eye towards the many challenges that must be addressed to achieve higher yields and industrial-scale production.

Advances in biofuel production from oil palm and palm oil processing wastes: A review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jundika C. Kurnia

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Over the last decades, the palm oil industry has been growing rapidly due to increasing demands for food, cosmetic, and hygienic products. Aside from producing palm oil, the industry generates a huge quantity of residues (dry and wet which can be processed to produce biofuel. Driven by the necessity to find an alternative and renewable energy/fuel resources, numerous technologies have been developed and more are being developed to process oil-palm and palm-oil wastes into biofuel. To further develop these technologies, it is essential to understand the current stage of the industry and technology developments. The objective of this paper is to provide an overview of the palm oil industry, review technologies available to process oil palm and palm oil residues into biofuel, and to summarise the challenges that should be overcome for further development. The paper also discusses the research and development needs, technoeconomics, and life cycle analysis of biofuel production from oil-palm and palm-oil wastes.

The biofuels in debate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rigaud, Ch.

2007-01-01

As the development of the biofuels is increasing in the world, many voices are beginning to rise to denounce the environmental risks and the competition of the green fuels with the alimentary farming. The debate points out the problems to solve to develop a sustainable channel. (A.L.B.)

Biofuels Baseline 2008

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hamelinck, C.; Koper, M.; Berndes, G.; Englund, O.; Diaz-Chavez, R.; Kunen, E.; Walden, D.

2011-10-15

The European Union is promoting the use of biofuels and other renewable energy in transport. In April 2009, the Renewable Energy Directive (2009/28/EC) was adopted that set a 10% target for renewable energy in transport in 2020. The directive sets several requirements to the sustainability of biofuels marketed in the frame of the Directive. The Commission is required to report to the European Parliament on a regular basis on a range of sustainability impacts resulting from the use of biofuels in the EU. This report serves as a baseline of information for regular monitoring on the impacts of the Directive. Chapter 2 discusses the EU biofuels market, the production and consumption of biofuels and international trade. It is derived where the feedstock for EU consumed biofuels originally come from. Chapter 3 discusses the biofuel policy framework in the EU and major third countries of supply. It looks at various policy aspects that are relevant to comply with the EU sustainability requirements. Chapter 4 discusses the environmental and social sustainability aspects associated with EU biofuels and their feedstock. Chapter 5 discusses the macro-economic effects that indirectly result from increased EU biofuels consumption, on commodity prices and land use. Chapter 6 presents country factsheets for main third countries that supplied biofuels to the EU market in 2008.

Limits to biofuels

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Johansson S.

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Biofuel production is dependent upon agriculture and forestry systems, and the expectations of future biofuel potential are high. A study of the global food production and biofuel production from edible crops implies that biofuel produced from edible parts of crops lead to a global deficit of food. This is rather well known, which is why there is a strong urge to develop biofuel systems that make use of residues or products from forest to eliminate competition with food production. However, biofuel from agro-residues still depend upon the crop production system, and there are many parameters to deal with in order to investigate the sustainability of biofuel production. There is a theoretical limit to how much biofuel can be achieved globally from agro-residues and this amounts to approximately one third of todays’ use of fossil fuels in the transport sector. In reality this theoretical potential may be eliminated by the energy use in the biomass-conversion technologies and production systems, depending on what type of assessment method is used. By surveying existing studies on biofuel conversion the theoretical limit of biofuels from 2010 years’ agricultural production was found to be either non-existent due to energy consumption in the conversion process, or up to 2–6000TWh (biogas from residues and waste and ethanol from woody biomass in the more optimistic cases.

Limits to biofuels

Science.gov (United States)

Johansson, S.

2013-06-01

Biofuel production is dependent upon agriculture and forestry systems, and the expectations of future biofuel potential are high. A study of the global food production and biofuel production from edible crops implies that biofuel produced from edible parts of crops lead to a global deficit of food. This is rather well known, which is why there is a strong urge to develop biofuel systems that make use of residues or products from forest to eliminate competition with food production. However, biofuel from agro-residues still depend upon the crop production system, and there are many parameters to deal with in order to investigate the sustainability of biofuel production. There is a theoretical limit to how much biofuel can be achieved globally from agro-residues and this amounts to approximately one third of todays' use of fossil fuels in the transport sector. In reality this theoretical potential may be eliminated by the energy use in the biomass-conversion technologies and production systems, depending on what type of assessment method is used. By surveying existing studies on biofuel conversion the theoretical limit of biofuels from 2010 years' agricultural production was found to be either non-existent due to energy consumption in the conversion process, or up to 2-6000TWh (biogas from residues and waste and ethanol from woody biomass) in the more optimistic cases.

Evaluation of biofuels sustainability: can we keep biofuel appropriate and green?

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Amigun, B

2009-11-01

Full Text Available and Industrial Research (CSIR) Pretoria, South Africa bamigun@csir.co.za Outlines • State of biofuels in Africa - Biofuels initiatives in Africa • Barriers to biofuels market penetration and policy incentives to stimulate the market. • Sustainability... are then motivated to put these ideas into practice. The end of Phase I is the political decision to invest money and other resources into biofuel research. Biofuels developmental stages in Africa…explanation © CSIR 2009 www...

Three generation production biotechnology of biomass into bio-fuel

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Chaocheng

2017-08-01

The great change of climate change, depletion of natural resources, and scarcity of fossil fuel in the whole world nowadays have witnessed a sense of urgency home and abroad among scales of researchers, development practitioners, and industrialists to search for completely brand new sustainable solutions in the area of biomass transforming into bio-fuels attributing to our duty-that is, it is our responsibility to take up this challenge to secure our energy in the near future with the help of sustainable approaches and technological advancements to produce greener fuel from nature organic sources or biomass which comes generally from organic natural matters such as trees, woods, manure, sewage sludge, grass cuttings, and timber waste with a source of huge green energy called bio-fuel. Biomass includes most of the biological materials, livings or dead bodies. This energy source is ripely used industrially, or domestically for rather many years, but the recent trend is on the production of green fuel with different advance processing systems in a greener. More sustainable method. Biomass is becoming a booming industry currently on account of its cheaper cost and abundant resources all around, making it fairly more effective for the sustainable use of the bio-energy. In the past few years, the world has witnessed a remarkable development in the bio-fuel production technology, and three generations of bio-fuel have already existed in our society. The combination of membrane technology with the existing process line can play a vital role for the production of green fuel in a sustainable manner. In this paper, the science and technology for sustainable bio-fuel production will be introduced in detail for a cleaner world.

19 CFR 181.98 - Situations in which no NAFTA advance ruling may be issued.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... subpart. No advance ruling letter will be issued in regard to a completed transaction. (b) Pending matters... issue the requested advance ruling. In addition, no NAFTA advance ruling letter will be issued with... other court will not preclude the issuance of an advance ruling letter, provided neither Customs nor any...

Biofuels and algae

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

2011-01-01

Bio-fuels based on micro-algae are promising, their licensing for being used in plane fuels in a mix containing 50% of fossil kerosene is expected in the coming months. In United-States research on bio-fuels has been made more important since 2006 when 2 policies were launched: 'Advanced energy initiative' and 'Twenty-in-ten', the latter aiming to develop alternative fuels. In Europe less investment has been made concerning micro-algae fuels but research programs were launched in Spain, United-Kingdom and France. In France 3 important projects were launched: SHAMASH (2006-2010) whose aim is to produce lipidic fuels from micro-algae, ALGOHUB (2008-2013) whose aim is to use micro-algae as a raw material for humane and animal food, medicine and cosmetics, SYMBIOSE (2009-2011) whose aim is the optimization of the production of methane through the anaerobic digestion of micro-algae, SALINALGUE (2010-2016) whose aim is to grow micro-algae for the production of bio-energies and bio-products. (A.C.)

Biofuels: What Are They and How Can They Improve Practical Work and Discussions?

Science.gov (United States)

MacLean, Tristan

2014-01-01

This article looks at the potential of bioenergy as a replacement for fossil fuels, the cutting-edge research being undertaken by scientists, and classroom resources available for teaching this topic. There is currently a large programme of scientific research aiming to develop advanced biofuels (replenishable liquid biofuels from non-food plants,…

The development of the biofuels in the german farms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Palz, W.

2005-03-01

Germany is today at the first place of the world for the production and the utilization of vegetable oils and by products, the Diester. The main reasons of this enjoyment is the two european directives on biofuels and the tax exemption at 100% decided by the government in 2004. All the biofuels available in Germany, as the ethanol, the vegetable oils and the bio-alcohol, are presented in this paper. The research axis and the government policy in favor of the biofuels are also discussed. (A.L.B.)

Review and experimental study on pyrolysis and hydrothermal liquefaction of microalgae for biofuel production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chiaramonti, David; Prussi, Matteo; Buffi, Marco; Rizzo, Andrea Maria; Pari, Luigi

2017-01-01

Highlights: • A review of microalgae thermochemical conversion to bioliquids was carried out. • We focused on pyrolysis and hydrothermal liquefaction for biocrude/biofuels. • Original experimental research on microalgae pyrolysis was also carried out. • Starvation does not impact significant on the energy content of the biocrude. • This result is relevant for designing full scale microalgae production plants. - Abstract: Advanced Biofuels steadily developed during recent year, with several highly innovative processes and technologies explored at various scales: among these, lignocellulosic ethanol and CTO (Crude Tall Oil)-biofuel technologies already achieved early-commercial status, while hydrotreating of vegetable oils is today fully commercial, with almost 3.5 Mt/y installed capacity worldwide. In this context, microalgae grown in salt-water and arid areas represent a promising sustainable chain for advanced biofuel production but, at the same time, they also represent a considerable challenge. Processing microalgae in an economic way into a viable and sustainable liquid biofuel (a low-cost mass-product) is not trivial. So far, the most studied microalgae-based biofuel chain is composed by microorganism cultivation, lipid accumulation, oil extraction, co-product valorization, and algae oil conversion through conventional esterification into Fatty Acids Methyl Esters (FAME), i.e. Biodiesel, or Hydrotreated Esters and Fatty Acids (HEFA), the latter representing a very high quality drop-in biofuel (suitable either for road transport or for aviation). However, extracting the algae oil at low cost and industrial scale is not yet a mature process, and there is not yet industrial production of algae-biofuel from these two lipid-based chains. Another option can however be considered: processing the algae through dedicated thermochemical reactors into advanced biofuels, thus approaching the downstream processing of algae in a completely different way than

40 CFR Appendix B1 to Subpart F of... - Performance of Refrigerant Recovery, Recycling and/or Reclaim Equipment

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... Refrigeration Institute Standard 740-1993. Refrigerant Recovery/Recycling Equipment Section 1. Purpose 1..., Recycling and/or Reclaim Equipment B1 Appendix B1 to Subpart F of Part 82 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR PROGRAMS (CONTINUED) PROTECTION OF STRATOSPHERIC OZONE Recycling...

The biofuels in France; Les biocarburants en France

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2006-04-15

The biofuels are liquid renewable energies sources resulting from vegetal matters. Today are two channels of biofuels: the ethanol channel for gasoline and the vegetal oils channel for the diesel. In the first part, the document presents the different channels and the energy efficiency of the products. It shows in the second part the advantages for the environment (CO{sub 2} accounting) and for the energy independence. It discusses then the future developments and the projects. The fourth part is devoted to the legislation, regulations, taxes and financial incentives. The last part presents the french petroleum industry actions and attitudes in the framework of the biofuels development. (A.L.B.)

Source profiles and contributions of biofuel combustion for PM2.5, PM10 and their compositions, in a city influenced by biofuel stoves.

Science.gov (United States)

Tian, Ying-Ze; Chen, Jia-Bao; Zhang, Lin-Lin; Du, Xin; Wei, Jin-Jin; Fan, Hui; Xu, Jiao; Wang, Hai-Ting; Guan, Liao; Shi, Guo-Liang; Feng, Yin-Chang

2017-12-01

Source and ambient samples were collected in a city in China that uses considerable biofuel, to assess influence of biofuel combustion and other sources on particulate matter (PM). Profiles and size distribution of biofuel combustion were investigated. Higher levels in source profiles, a significant increase in heavy-biomass ambient and stronger correlations of K + , Cl - , OC and EC suggest that they can be tracers of biofuel combustion. And char-EC/soot-EC (8.5 for PM 2.5 and 15.8 for PM 10 of source samples) can also be used to distinguish it. In source samples, water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) were approximately 28.0%-68.8% (PM 2.5 ) and 27.2%-43.8% (PM 10 ) of OC. For size distribution, biofuel combustion mainly produces smaller particles. OC1, OC2, EC1 and EC2 abundances showed two peaks with one below 1 μm and one above 2 μm. An advanced three-way factory analysis model was applied to quantify source contributions to ambient PM 2.5 and PM 10 . Higher contributions of coal combustion, vehicular emission, nitrate and biofuel combustion occurred during the heavy-biomass period, and higher contributions of sulfate and crustal dust were observed during the light-biomass period. Mass and percentage contributions of biofuel combustion were significantly higher in heavy-biomass period. The biofuel combustion attributed above 45% of K + and Cl - , above 30% of EC and about 20% of OC. In addition, through analysis of source profiles and contributions, they were consistently evident that biofuel combustion and crustal dust contributed more to cation than to anion, while sulfate & SOC and nitrate showed stronger influence on anion than on cation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Biofuels versus food production: Does biofuels production increase food prices?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ajanovic, Amela

2011-01-01

Rapidly growing fossil energy consumption in the transport sector in the last two centuries caused problems such as increasing greenhouse gas emissions, growing energy dependency and supply insecurity. One approach to solve these problems could be to increase the use of biofuels. Preferred feedstocks for current 1st generation biofuels production are corn, wheat, sugarcane, soybean, rapeseed and sunflowers. The major problem is that these feedstocks are also used for food and feed production. The core objective of this paper is to investigate whether the recent increase of biofuels production had a significant impact on the development of agricultural commodity (feedstock) prices. The most important impact factors like biofuels production, land use, yields, feedstock and crude oil prices are analysed. The major conclusions of this analysis are: In recent years the share of bioenergy-based fuels has increased moderately, but continuously, and so did feedstock production, as well as yields. So far, no significant impact of biofuels production on feedstock prices can be observed. Hence, a co-existence of biofuel and food production seems possible especially for 2nd generation biofuels. However, sustainability criteria should be seriously considered. But even if all crops, forests and grasslands currently not used were used for biofuels production it would be impossible to substitute all fossil fuels used today in transport.

The biofuels, situation, perspectives; Les Biocarburants, situation, perspectives

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Acket, C

2007-03-15

The climatic change with the fight against the greenhouse effect gases, sees the development of ''clean'' energy sources. Meanwhile the biofuels remain penalized by their high production cost, the interest is increasing. Facing their development ecologists highlight the environmental and social negative impacts of the development of the biofuels. The author aims to take stock on the techniques and the utilizations. (A.L.B.)

Comprehensive Evaluation of Algal Biofuel Production: Experimental and Target Results

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Colin M. Beal

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Worldwide, algal biofuel research and development efforts have focused on increasing the competitiveness of algal biofuels by increasing the energy and financial return on investments, reducing water intensity and resource requirements, and increasing algal productivity. In this study, analyses are presented in each of these areas—costs, resource needs, and productivity—for two cases: (1 an Experimental Case, using mostly measured data for a lab-scale system, and (2 a theorized Highly Productive Case that represents an optimized commercial-scale production system, albeit one that relies on full-price water, nutrients, and carbon dioxide. For both cases, the analysis described herein concludes that the energy and financial return on investments are less than 1, the water intensity is greater than that for conventional fuels, and the amounts of required resources at a meaningful scale of production amount to significant fractions of current consumption (e.g., nitrogen. The analysis and presentation of results highlight critical areas for advancement and innovation that must occur for sustainable and profitable algal biofuel production can occur at a scale that yields significant petroleum displacement. To this end, targets for energy consumption, production cost, water consumption, and nutrient consumption are presented that would promote sustainable algal biofuel production. Furthermore, this work demonstrates a procedure and method by which subsequent advances in technology and biotechnology can be framed to track progress.

Co-Optimization of Internal Combustion Engines and Biofuels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McCormick, Robert L.

2016-03-08

The development of advanced engines has significant potential advantages in reduced aftertreatment costs for air pollutant emission control, and just as importantly for efficiency improvements and associated greenhouse gas emission reductions. There are significant opportunities to leverage fuel properties to create more optimal engine designs for both advanced spark-ignition and compression-ignition combustion strategies. The fact that biofuel blendstocks offer a potentially low-carbon approach to fuel production, leads to the idea of optimizing the entire fuel production-utilization value chain as a system from the standpoint of life cycle greenhouse gas emissions. This is a difficult challenge that has yet to be realized. This presentation will discuss the relationship between chemical structure and critical fuel properties for more efficient combustion, survey the properties of a range of biofuels that may be produced in the future, and describe the ongoing challenges of fuel-engine co-optimization.

Metabolic Engineering of Yeast to Produce Fatty Acid-derived Biofuels: Bottlenecks and Solutions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiayuan eSheng

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Fatty acid-derived biofuels can be a better solution than bioethanol to replace petroleum fuel, since they have similar energy content and combustion properties as current transportation fuels. The environmentally friendly microbial fermentation process has been used to synthesize advanced biofuels from renewable feedstock. Due to their robustness as well as the high tolerance to fermentation inhibitors and phage contamination, yeast strains such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Yarrowia lipolytica have attracted tremendous attention in recent studies regarding the production of fatty acid-derived biofuels, including fatty acids, fatty acid ethyl esters, fatty alcohols, and fatty alkanes. However, the native yeast strains cannot produce fatty acids and fatty acid-derived biofuels in large quantities. To this end, we have summarized recent publications in this review on metabolic engineering of yeast strains to improve the production of fatty acid-derived biofuels, identified the bottlenecks that limit the productivity of biofuels, and categorized the appropriate approaches to overcome these obstacles.

Bio-fuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-01-01

This report presents an overview of the technologies which are currently used or presently developed for the production of bio-fuels in Europe and more particularly in France. After a brief history of this production since the beginning of the 20. century, the authors describe the support to agriculture and the influence of the Common Agricultural Policy, outline the influence of the present context of struggle against the greenhouse effect, and present the European legislative context. Data on the bio-fuels consumption in the European Union in 2006 are discussed. An overview of the evolution of the activity related to bio-fuels in France, indicating the locations of ethanol and bio-diesel production facilities, and the evolution of bio-fuel consumption, is given. The German situation is briefly presented. Production of ethanol by fermentation, the manufacturing of ETBE, the bio-diesel production from vegetable oils are discussed. Second generation bio-fuels are then presented (cellulose enzymatic processing), together with studies on thermochemical processes and available biomass resources

Allies in Biofuels. Opportunities in the Dutch - Argentinean biofuels trade relation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Verhagen, M.

2007-01-01

First generation biofuels as an environmental solution are showing their own negative environmental, social and economic side effects. These need to be dealt with, because it is apparent that those same biofuels can be produced in a sustainable manner, thereby contributing to a healthier planet. Since both Argentina and the Netherlands would benefit from sustainable biofuels trade, policy measures need to be taken to guide the proper way. In what manner could bilateral cooperation concerning biofuels, optimize trade and policy output in both countries? By answering this question, one can hand solutions to upcoming problems - barriers to a sustainable energy structure - while at the same time facilitating trade between Argentina and the Netherlands. Besides providing information about the European, Dutch and Argentine market, this report presents an overview of biofuel policies. Special attention is given to the issue of sustainable biofuel production, in order to spread the necessary awareness, create wide support for corresponding politics, and offer opportunities for cooperation to prevent future entrapment. An entrapment, which could easily occur when actors in politics and business ignore international requirements for sustainable biofuel production. The research aims to produce the following output: Policy recommendations regarding the promotion of environmentally sound biofuels in both countries; A set arena to support a policy dialogue between both countries; An overview of current Dutch and Argentinean biofuel policies; Up to date information on current volumes of production, consumption and trade; Data with contact information of partners in both countries. Argentina shows an extremely professional agricultural sector, producing large quantities of vegetable oils, specifically of soybean. This sector has started to turn its attention towards biofuels - particularly to biodiesel. Projected production (for 2007-2008) is astonishingly high. The sector mainly

Biofuels in Oregon and Washington: A Business Case Analysis of Opportunities and Challenges

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stiles, Dennis L.; Jones, Susan A.; Orth, Rick J.; Saffell, Bernard F.; Zhu, Yunhua

2008-02-28

The purpose of this report is to assemble the information needed to estimate the significance of the opportunity for producing biofuels in the region as well as the associated challenges. The report reviews the current state of the industry, the biomass resources that are available within current production practices, and the biofuels production technology that is available within the marketplace. The report also identifys the areas in which alternative approaches or strategies, or technologoical advances, might offer an opportunity to expand the Nortwest biofuels industry beyond its current state.

21 CFR 111.8 - What are the requirements under this subpart B for written procedures?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false What are the requirements under this subpart B for written procedures? 111.8 Section 111.8 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) FOOD FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION CURRENT GOOD MANUFACTURING PRACTICE IN...

21 CFR 111.14 - Under this subpart B, what records must you make and keep?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Under this subpart B, what records must you make and keep? 111.14 Section 111.14 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) FOOD FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION CURRENT GOOD MANUFACTURING PRACTICE IN...

Biofuels barometer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

2011-01-01

In 2010 bio-fuel continued to gnaw away at petrol and diesel consumption in the European Union (EU). However its pace backs the assertion that bio-fuel consumption growth in EU slackened off in 2010. In the transport sector, it increased by only 1.7 Mtoe compared to 2.7 Mtoe in 2009. The final total bio-fuel consumption figure for 2010 should hover at around 13.9 Mtoe that can be broken down into 10.7 Mtoe for bio-diesel, 2.9 Mtoe for bio-ethanol and 0.3 Mtoe for others. Germany leads the pack for the consumption of bio-fuels and for the production of bio-diesel followed by France and Spain

Biofuels barometer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

2012-01-01

The European Union governments no longer view the rapid increase in biofuel consumption as a priority. Between 2010 and 2011 biofuel consumption increased by only 3%, which translates into 13.6 million tonnes of oil equivalent (toe) used in 2011 compared to 13.2 million toe in 2010. In 2011 6 European countries had a biofuel consumption in transport that went further 1 million toe: Germany (2,956,746 toe), France (2,050,873 toe), Spain (1,672,710 toe), Italy (1,432,455 toe), United Kingdom (1,056,105 toe) and Poland (1,017,793 toe). The breakdown of the biofuel consumption for transport in the European Union in 2011 into types of biofuels is: bio-diesel (78%), bio-ethanol (21%), biogas (0.5%) and vegetable oil (0.5%). In 2011, 4 bio-diesel producers had a production capacity in Europe that passed beyond 900,000 tonnes: Diester Industrie International (France) with 3,000,000 tonnes, Neste Oil (Finland) with 1,180,000 tonnes, ADM bio-diesel (Germany) with 975,000 tonnes, and Infinita (Spain) with 900,000 tonnes. It seems that the European Union's attention has shifted to setting up sustainability systems to verify that the biofuel used in the various countries complies with the Renewable Energy Directive's sustainability criteria

Interactive association between biopolymers and biofunctions in carinata seeds as energy feedstock and their coproducts (carinata meal) from biofuel and bio-oil processing before and after biodegradation: current advanced molecular spectroscopic investigations.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Peiqiang; Xin, Hangshu; Ban, Yajing; Zhang, Xuewei

2014-05-07

Recent advances in biofuel and bio-oil processing technology require huge supplies of energy feedstocks for processing. Very recently, new carinata seeds have been developed as energy feedstocks for biofuel and bio-oil production. The processing results in a large amount of coproducts, which are carinata meal. To date, there is no systematic study on interactive association between biopolymers and biofunctions in carinata seed as energy feedstocks for biofuel and bioethanol processing and their processing coproducts (carinata meal). Molecular spectroscopy with synchrotron and globar sources is a rapid and noninvasive analytical technique and is able to investigate molecular structure conformation in relation to biopolymer functions and bioavailability. However, to date, these techniques are seldom used in biofuel and bioethanol processing in other research laboratories. This paper aims to provide research progress and updates with molecular spectroscopy on the energy feedstock (carinata seed) and coproducts (carinata meal) from biofuel and bioethanol processing and show how to use these molecular techniques to study the interactive association between biopolymers and biofunctions in the energy feedstocks and their coproducts (carinata meal) from biofuel and bio-oil processing before and after biodegradation.

The path to next generation biofuels: successes and challenges in the era of synthetic biology

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

Volatility of oil prices along with major concerns about climate change, oil supply security and depleting reserves have sparked renewed interest in the production of fuels from renewable resources. Recent advances in synthetic biology provide new tools for metabolic engineers to direct their strategies and construct optimal biocatalysts for the sustainable production of biofuels. Metabolic engineering and synthetic biology efforts entailing the engineering of native and de novo pathways for conversion of biomass constituents to short-chain alcohols and advanced biofuels are herewith reviewed. In the foreseeable future, formal integration of functional genomics and systems biology with synthetic biology and metabolic engineering will undoubtedly support the discovery, characterization, and engineering of new metabolic routes and more efficient microbial systems for the production of biofuels. PMID:20089184

Microalgae as sustainable renewable energy feedstock for biofuel production.

Science.gov (United States)

Medipally, Srikanth Reddy; Yusoff, Fatimah Md; Banerjee, Sanjoy; Shariff, M

2015-01-01

The world energy crisis and increased greenhouse gas emissions have driven the search for alternative and environmentally friendly renewable energy sources. According to life cycle analysis, microalgae biofuel is identified as one of the major renewable energy sources for sustainable development, with potential to replace the fossil-based fuels. Microalgae biofuel was devoid of the major drawbacks associated with oil crops and lignocelluloses-based biofuels. Algae-based biofuels are technically and economically viable and cost competitive, require no additional lands, require minimal water use, and mitigate atmospheric CO2. However, commercial production of microalgae biodiesel is still not feasible due to the low biomass concentration and costly downstream processes. The viability of microalgae biodiesel production can be achieved by designing advanced photobioreactors, developing low cost technologies for biomass harvesting, drying, and oil extraction. Commercial production can also be accomplished by improving the genetic engineering strategies to control environmental stress conditions and by engineering metabolic pathways for high lipid production. In addition, new emerging technologies such as algal-bacterial interactions for enhancement of microalgae growth and lipid production are also explored. This review focuses mainly on the problems encountered in the commercial production of microalgae biofuels and the possible techniques to overcome these difficulties.

Microalgae as Sustainable Renewable Energy Feedstock for Biofuel Production

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Srikanth Reddy Medipally

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The world energy crisis and increased greenhouse gas emissions have driven the search for alternative and environmentally friendly renewable energy sources. According to life cycle analysis, microalgae biofuel is identified as one of the major renewable energy sources for sustainable development, with potential to replace the fossil-based fuels. Microalgae biofuel was devoid of the major drawbacks associated with oil crops and lignocelluloses-based biofuels. Algae-based biofuels are technically and economically viable and cost competitive, require no additional lands, require minimal water use, and mitigate atmospheric CO2. However, commercial production of microalgae biodiesel is still not feasible due to the low biomass concentration and costly downstream processes. The viability of microalgae biodiesel production can be achieved by designing advanced photobioreactors, developing low cost technologies for biomass harvesting, drying, and oil extraction. Commercial production can also be accomplished by improving the genetic engineering strategies to control environmental stress conditions and by engineering metabolic pathways for high lipid production. In addition, new emerging technologies such as algal-bacterial interactions for enhancement of microalgae growth and lipid production are also explored. This review focuses mainly on the problems encountered in the commercial production of microalgae biofuels and the possible techniques to overcome these difficulties.

Microalgae as Sustainable Renewable Energy Feedstock for Biofuel Production

Science.gov (United States)

Yusoff, Fatimah Md.; Shariff, M.

2015-01-01

The world energy crisis and increased greenhouse gas emissions have driven the search for alternative and environmentally friendly renewable energy sources. According to life cycle analysis, microalgae biofuel is identified as one of the major renewable energy sources for sustainable development, with potential to replace the fossil-based fuels. Microalgae biofuel was devoid of the major drawbacks associated with oil crops and lignocelluloses-based biofuels. Algae-based biofuels are technically and economically viable and cost competitive, require no additional lands, require minimal water use, and mitigate atmospheric CO2. However, commercial production of microalgae biodiesel is still not feasible due to the low biomass concentration and costly downstream processes. The viability of microalgae biodiesel production can be achieved by designing advanced photobioreactors, developing low cost technologies for biomass harvesting, drying, and oil extraction. Commercial production can also be accomplished by improving the genetic engineering strategies to control environmental stress conditions and by engineering metabolic pathways for high lipid production. In addition, new emerging technologies such as algal-bacterial interactions for enhancement of microalgae growth and lipid production are also explored. This review focuses mainly on the problems encountered in the commercial production of microalgae biofuels and the possible techniques to overcome these difficulties. PMID:25874216

23 CFR Appendix A to Subpart B of... - Guide Letter of Certification by State Engineer

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 23 Highways 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Guide Letter of Certification by State Engineer A Appendix A to Subpart B of Part 637 Highways FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION... State Engineer Date Project No. This is to certify that: The results of the tests used in the acceptance...

Perspectives for Sustainable Aviation Biofuels in Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luís A. B. Cortez

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The aviation industry has set ambitious goals to reduce carbon emissions in coming decades. The strategy involves the use of sustainable biofuels, aiming to achieve benefits from environmental, social, and economic perspectives. In this context, Brazilian conditions are favorable, with a mature agroindustry that regularly produces automotive biofuel largely adopted by Brazilian road vehicles, while air transportation has been growing at an accelerating pace and a modern aircraft industry is in place. This paper presents the main conclusions and recommendations from a broad assessment of the technological, economic, and sustainability challenges and opportunities associated with the development of drop-in aviation biofuels in Brazil. It was written by a research team that prepared the initial reports and conducted eight workshops with the active participation of more than 30 stakeholders encompassing the private sector, government institutions, NGOs, and academia. The main outcome was a set of guidelines for establishing a new biofuels industry, including recommendations for (a filling the identified research and development knowledge gaps in the production of sustainable feedstock; (b overcoming the barriers in conversion technology, including scaling-up issues; (c promoting greater involvement and interaction between private and government stakeholders; and (d creating a national strategy to promote the development of aviation biofuels.

10 CFR Appendix I to Subpart B of... - Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption of Conventional Ranges, Conventional...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... PROGRAM FOR CONSUMER PRODUCTS Test Procedures Pt. 430, Subpt. B, App. I Appendix I to Subpart B of Part... between the center and the corners of the conventional gas oven on the diagonals of a horizontal plane...

7 CFR Exhibit B-2 to Subpart I of... - Breakdown of Construction Development for Determining Percentage Construction Completed

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... construction of basement or porch floors and steps whether wood or concrete. 17. Heating—finished 3 3 3 Subject... 7 Agriculture 13 2010-01-01 2009-01-01 true Breakdown of Construction Development for Determining Percentage Construction Completed B Exhibit B-2 to Subpart I of Part 1944 Agriculture Regulations of the...

22 CFR 212.41 - Exemptions from publication and disclosure requirements of subparts B, C, and D.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 22 Foreign Relations 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Exemptions from publication and disclosure requirements of subparts B, C, and D. 212.41 Section 212.41 Foreign Relations AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PUBLIC INFORMATION Exemptions From Disclosure § 212.41 Exemptions from publication and disclosure...

The bio-fuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Levy, R.H.

1993-02-01

In France, using fallow soils for energy production may be a solution to agriculture problems. Technical and economical studies of biofuels (ethanol, methanol, ethyl tributyl ether, methyl tributyl ether and methyl ester) are presented with costs of production from the raw material to the end product, characteristics of the end product, engine consumption for pure or mixed fuels, and environmental impacts. For the author, the mixed ethanol process shows no advantages in term of energy dependency (ETBE, MTBE and colza ester give better results), ethanol production uses 90% and colza ester production 53% of the calorific power of the produced biofuels. Commercial balance: damaged, fiscal receipts: reduced, new jobs creation: inferior to 10.000 and the majority outside of the agriculture sphere, environmental impacts: slight diminution of greenhouse gases, but growth of soil and water pollution, all these points are developed by the author. Observations of some contradictors are also given. (A.B.). refs. figs., tabs

Protein engineering for biofuel production: Recent development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nisha Singh

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The unstable and unsure handiness of crude oil sources moreover the rising price of fuels have shifted international efforts to utilize renewable resources for the assembly of greener energy and a replacement which might additionally meet the high energy demand of the globe. Biofuels represent a sustainable, renewable, and also the solely predictable energy supply to fossil fuels. During the green production of Biofuels, several in vivo processes place confidence in the conversion of biomass to sugars by engineered enzymes, and the subsequent conversion of sugars to chemicals via designed proteins in microbial production hosts. Enzymes are indispensable within the effort to provide fuels in an ecologically friendly manner. They have the potential to catalyze reactions with high specificity and potency while not using dangerous chemicals. Nature provides an in depth assortment of enzymes, however usually these should be altered to perform desired functions in needed conditions. Presently available enzymes like cellulose are subject to tight induction and regulation systems and additionally suffer inhibition from numerous end products. Therefore, more impregnable and economical catalyst preparations ought to be developed for the enzymatic method to be more economical. Approaches like protein engineering, reconstitution of protein mixtures and bio prospecting for superior enzymes are gaining importance. Advances in enzyme engineering allow the planning and/or directed evolution of enzymes specifically tailored for such industrial applications. Recent years have seen the production of improved enzymes to help with the conversion of biomass into fuels. The assembly of the many of those fuels is feasible due to advances in protein engineering. This review discusses the distinctive challenges that protein engineering faces in the method of changing lignocellulose to biofuels and the way they're addressed by recent advances in this field.

Recent advances on the production and utilization trends of bio-fuels: A global perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Demirbas, M.F.; Balat, Mustafa

2006-01-01

Bio-fuels are important because they replace petroleum fuels. There are many benefits for the environment, economy and consumers in using bio-fuels. Bio-oil can be used as a substitute for fossil fuels to generate heat, power and/or chemicals. Upgrading of bio-oil to a transportation fuel is technically feasible, but needs further development. Bio-fuels are made from biomass through thermochemical processes such as pyrolysis, gasification, liquefaction and supercritical fluid extraction or biochemical. Biochemical conversion of biomass is completed through alcoholic fermentation to produce liquid fuels and anaerobic digestion or fermentation, resulting in biogas. In wood derived pyrolysis oil, specific oxygenated compounds are present in relatively large amounts. Basically, the recovery of pure compounds from the complex bio-oil is technically feasible but probably economically unattractive because of the high costs for recovery of the chemical and its low concentration in the oil

Algal biofuels.

Science.gov (United States)

Razeghifard, Reza

2013-11-01

The world is facing energy crisis and environmental issues due to the depletion of fossil fuels and increasing CO2 concentration in the atmosphere. Growing microalgae can contribute to practical solutions for these global problems because they can harvest solar energy and capture CO2 by converting it into biofuel using photosynthesis. Microalgae are robust organisms capable of rapid growth under a variety of conditions including in open ponds or closed photobioreactors. Their reduced biomass compounds can be used as the feedstock for mass production of a variety of biofuels. As another advantage, their ability to accumulate or secrete biofuels can be controlled by changing their growth conditions or metabolic engineering. This review is aimed to highlight different forms of biofuels produced by microalgae and the approaches taken to improve their biofuel productivity. The costs for industrial-scale production of algal biofuels in open ponds or closed photobioreactors are analyzed. Different strategies for photoproduction of hydrogen by the hydrogenase enzyme of green algae are discussed. Algae are also good sources of biodiesel since some species can make large quantities of lipids as their biomass. The lipid contents for some of the best oil-producing strains of algae in optimized growth conditions are reviewed. The potential of microalgae for producing petroleum related chemicals or ready-make fuels such as bioethanol, triterpenic hydrocarbons, isobutyraldehyde, isobutanol, and isoprene from their biomass are also presented.

Metabolic engineering of yeast for lignocellulosic biofuel production.

Science.gov (United States)

Jin, Yong-Su; Cate, Jamie Hd

2017-12-01

Production of biofuels from lignocellulosic biomass remains an unsolved challenge in industrial biotechnology. Efforts to use yeast for conversion face the question of which host organism to use, counterbalancing the ease of genetic manipulation with the promise of robust industrial phenotypes. Saccharomyces cerevisiae remains the premier host for metabolic engineering of biofuel pathways, due to its many genetic, systems and synthetic biology tools. Numerous engineering strategies for expanding substrate ranges and diversifying products of S. cerevisiae have been developed. Other yeasts generally lack these tools, yet harbor superior phenotypes that could be exploited in the harsh processes required for lignocellulosic biofuel production. These include thermotolerance, resistance to toxic compounds generated during plant biomass deconstruction, and wider carbon consumption capabilities. Although promising, these yeasts have yet to be widely exploited. By contrast, oleaginous yeasts such as Yarrowia lipolytica capable of producing high titers of lipids are rapidly advancing in terms of the tools available for their metabolic manipulation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Too difficult to govern? An assessment of the governability of transport biofuels in the EU

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Di Lucia, Lorenzo

2013-01-01

Transport biofuels are currently the subject of heated debate in the EU. In the past decade the deployment of these technologies has been justified by claims of attractive environmental, geopolitical and rural development benefits. However, expectations have rapidly turned into deep criticism regarding the sustainability of these technologies and the desirability of pursuing the biofuel path. This situation has generated an on-going controversy and policy deadlock at EU level. This study explores these issues from a governance perspective. Employing the concept of system governability, derived from interactive governance theory, it attempts to shed some light on the problems facing the governance of biofuels and on how the quality of the governance system could be improved. The analysis showed that the governability of the system decreased substantially in the period 2003–2012 due to increasing governing needs and decreasing governing capacity. The quality of the governance system can be improved by (i) improving governing capacity by reducing conflicts among governing actors, advancing consistency among institutions and creating capacity at international and global level; and (ii) promoting advanced technologies and adjusting societal ambitions and expectations regarding biofuels. - highlights: • Biofuels in the EU are significantly more difficult to govern today than in 2003. • This is due to the qualities of the system to be governed and the governing system. • Sustainable biofuel systems are inherently difficult to govern

Biofuels worldwide

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

His, St.

2004-01-01

After over 20 years of industrial development, the outlook for biofuels now looks bright. Recent developments indicate that the use of biofuels, previously confined to a handful of countries including Brazil and the United States, is 'going global' and a world market may emerge. However, these prospects could eventually be limited by constraints relative to resources and costs. The future of biofuels probably depends on the development of new technologies to valorize lignocellulosic substances such as wood and straw. (author)

Economic challenges for the future relevance of biofuels in transport in EU countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ajanovic, A.; Haas, R.

2010-01-01

The discussion on the promotion of biofuels is ambiguous: on the one hand benefits like reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and increase of energy supply security are expected, on the other hand low effectiveness with respect to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and high costs are being criticized. The core objective of this paper is to investigate the market prospects of biofuels for transport in the EU in a dynamic framework till 2030. The major results of this analysis are: (i) Under current policy conditions - mainly exemption of excise taxes - the economic prospects of 1st generation biofuels in Europe are rather promising; the major problems of 1st generation biofuels are lack of available land for feedstocks and the modest ecological performance; (ii) Large expectations are currently put into advanced 2nd generation biofuels production from lignocellulosic materials. With respect to the future costs development of 2nd generation biofuels, currently it can only be stated that in a favourable case by 2030 they will be close to the costs of 1st generation biofuels. However, because of the increasing prices for fossil gasoline and diesel in all international scenarios - given remaining tax exemptions - biofuels will become competitive already in the next few years. (author)

Life Cycle Assessment for Biofuels

Science.gov (United States)

A presentation based on life cycle assessment (LCA) for biofuels is given. The presentation focuses on energy and biofuels, interesting environmental aspects of biofuels, and how to do a life cycle assessment with some examples related to biofuel systems. The stages of a (biofuel...

Biofuel Database

Science.gov (United States)

Biofuel Database (Web, free access)   This database brings together structural, biological, and thermodynamic data for enzymes that are either in current use or are being considered for use in the production of biofuels.

Transporter-mediated biofuel secretion.

Science.gov (United States)

Doshi, Rupak; Nguyen, Tuan; Chang, Geoffrey

2013-05-07

Engineering microorganisms to produce biofuels is currently among the most promising strategies in renewable energy. However, harvesting these organisms for extracting biofuels is energy- and cost-intensive, limiting the commercial feasibility of large-scale production. Here, we demonstrate the use of a class of transport proteins of pharmacological interest to circumvent the need to harvest biomass during biofuel production. We show that membrane-embedded transporters, better known to efflux lipids and drugs, can be used to mediate the secretion of intracellularly synthesized model isoprenoid biofuel compounds to the extracellular milieu. Transporter-mediated biofuel secretion sustainably maintained an approximate three- to fivefold boost in biofuel production in our Escherichia coli test system. Because the transporters used in this study belong to the ubiquitous ATP-binding cassette protein family, we propose their use as "plug-and-play" biofuel-secreting systems in a variety of bacteria, cyanobacteria, diatoms, yeast, and algae used for biofuel production. This investigation showcases the potential of expressing desired membrane transport proteins in cell factories to achieve the export or import of substances of economic, environmental, or therapeutic importance.

Enzymatic deconstruction of xylan for biofuel production

Science.gov (United States)

DODD, DYLAN; CANN, ISAAC K. O.

2010-01-01

The combustion of fossil-derived fuels has a significant impact on atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels and correspondingly is an important contributor to anthropogenic global climate change. Plants have evolved photosynthetic mechanisms in which solar energy is used to fix CO2 into carbohydrates. Thus, combustion of biofuels, derived from plant biomass, can be considered a potentially carbon neutral process. One of the major limitations for efficient conversion of plant biomass to biofuels is the recalcitrant nature of the plant cell wall, which is composed mostly of lignocellulosic materials (lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose). The heteropolymer xylan represents the most abundant hemicellulosic polysaccharide and is composed primarily of xylose, arabinose, and glucuronic acid. Microbes have evolved a plethora of enzymatic strategies for hydrolyzing xylan into its constituent sugars for subsequent fermentation to biofuels. Therefore, microorganisms are considered an important source of biocatalysts in the emerging biofuel industry. To produce an optimized enzymatic cocktail for xylan deconstruction, it will be valuable to gain insight at the molecular level of the chemical linkages and the mechanisms by which these enzymes recognize their substrates and catalyze their reactions. Recent advances in genomics, proteomics, and structural biology have revolutionized our understanding of the microbial xylanolytic enzymes. This review focuses on current understanding of the molecular basis for substrate specificity and catalysis by enzymes involved in xylan deconstruction. PMID:20431716

Water use implications of biofuel scenarios

Science.gov (United States)

Teter, J.; Mishra, G. S.; Yeh, S.

2012-12-01

Existing studies rely upon attributional lifecycle analysis (LCA) approaches to estimate water intensity of biofuels in liters of irrigated/evapotranspiration water consumed for biofuel production. Such approaches can be misleading. From a policy perspective, a better approach is to compare differential water impacts among scenarios on a landscape scale. We address the shortcomings of existing studies by using consequential LCA, and incorporate direct and indirect land use (changes) of biofuel scenarios, marginal vs. average biofuel water use estimates, future climate, and geographic heterogeneity. We use the outputs of a partial equilibrium economic model, climate and soil data, and a process-based crop-soil-climate-water model to estimate differences in green water (GW - directly from precipitation to soil) and blue water (BW - supplied by irrigation) use among three scenarios: (1) business-as-usual (BAU), (2) Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) mandates, and (3) a national Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) plus the RFS scenario. We use spatial statistical methods to interpolate key climatic variables using daily climate observations for the contiguous USA. Finally, we use FAO's crop model AquaCrop to estimate the domestic GW and BW impacts of biofuel policies from 2007-2035. We assess the differences among scenarios along the following metrics: (1) crop area expansion at the county level, including prime and marginal lands, (2) crop-specific and overall annual/seasonal water balances including (a) water inflows (irrigation & precipitation), (b) crop-atmosphere interactions: (evaporation & transpiration) and (d) soil-water flows (runoff & soil infiltration), in mm 3 /acre over the relevant time period. The functional unit of analysis is the BW and GW requirements of biofuels (mm3 per Btu biofuel) at the county level. Differential water use impacts among scenarios are a primarily a function of (1) land use conversion, in particular that of formerly uncropped land classes

Algal biofuels: challenges and opportunities.

Science.gov (United States)

Leite, Gustavo B; Abdelaziz, Ahmed E M; Hallenbeck, Patrick C

2013-10-01

Biodiesel production using microalgae is attractive in a number of respects. Here a number of pros and cons to using microalgae for biofuels production are reviewed. Algal cultivation can be carried out using non-arable land and non-potable water with simple nutrient supply. In addition, algal biomass productivities are much higher than those of vascular plants and the extractable content of lipids that can be usefully converted to biodiesel, triacylglycerols (TAGs) can be much higher than that of the oil seeds now used for first generation biodiesel. On the other hand, practical, cost-effective production of biofuels from microalgae requires that a number of obstacles be overcome. These include the development of low-cost, effective growth systems, efficient and energy saving harvesting techniques, and methods for oil extraction and conversion that are environmentally benign and cost-effective. Promising recent advances in these areas are highlighted. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Bio-fuel barometer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2015-01-01

After a year of doubt and decline the consumption of bio-fuel resumed a growth in 2014 in Europe: +6.1% compared to 2013, to reach 14 millions tep (Mtep) that is just below the 2012 peak. This increase was mainly due to bio-diesel. By taking into account the energy content and not the volume, the consumption of bio-diesel represented 79.7% of bio-fuel consumption in 2014, that of bio-ethanol only 19.1% and that of biogas 1%. The incorporating rate of bio-fuels in fuels used for transport were 4.6% in 2013 and 4.9% in 2014. The trend is good and the future of bio-fuel seems clearer as the European Union has set a not-so-bad limit of 7% for first generation bio-fuels in order to take into account the CASI effect. The CASI effect shows that an increase of the consumption of first generation bio-fuels (it means bio-fuels produced from food crops like rape, soy, cereals, sugar beet,...) implies in fact a global increase in greenhouse gas release that is due to a compensation phenomenon. More uncultivated lands (like forests, grasslands, bogs are turned into cultivated lands in order to compensate lands used for bio-fuel production. In most European countries the consumption of bio-diesel increased in 2014 while it was a bad year for the European industry of ethanol because ethanol prices dropped by 16 %. Oil companies are now among the most important producers of bio-diesel in Europe.

World Biofuels Study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alfstad,T.

2008-10-01

This report forms part of a project entitled 'World Biofuels Study'. The objective is to study world biofuel markets and to examine the possible contribution that biofuel imports could make to help meet the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA). The study was sponsored by the Biomass Program of the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), U.S. Department of Energy. It is a collaborative effort among the Office of Policy and International Affairs (PI), Department of Energy and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). The project consisted of three main components: (1) Assessment of the resource potential for biofuel feedstocks such as sugarcane, grains, soybean, palm oil and lignocellulosic crops and development of supply curves (ORNL). (2) Assessment of the cost and performance of biofuel production technologies (NREL). (3) Scenario-based analysis of world biofuel markets using the ETP global energy model with data developed in the first parts of the study (BNL). This report covers the modeling and analysis part of the project conducted by BNL in cooperation with PI. The Energy Technology Perspectives (ETP) energy system model was used as the analytical tool for this study. ETP is a 15 region global model designed using the MARKAL framework. MARKAL-based models are partial equilibrium models that incorporate a description of the physical energy system and provide a bottom-up approach to study the entire energy system. ETP was updated for this study with biomass resource data and biofuel production technology cost and performance data developed by ORNL and NREL under Tasks 1 and 2 of this project. Many countries around the world are embarking on ambitious biofuel policies through renewable fuel standards and economic incentives. As a result, the global biofuel demand is expected to grow very

Near-zero emissions combustor system for syngas and biofuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yongho, Kim; Rosocha, Louis

2010-01-01

research necessary to develop a novel, high-efficiency, low-emissions (near-zero, or as low as reasonably achievable), advanced combustion technology for electricity and heat production from biofuels and fuels derived from MSW. For any type of combustion technology, including the advanced technology of this project, two problems of special interest must be addressed: developing and optimizing the combustion chambers and the systems for igniting and sustaining the fuel-burning process. For MSW in particular, there are new challenges over gaseous or liquid fuels because solid fuels must be ground into fine particulates (∼ 10 (micro)m diameter), fed into the advanced combustor, and combusted under plasma-assisted conditions that are quite different than gaseous or liquid fuels. The principal idea of the combustion chamber design is to use so-called reverse vortex gas flow, which allows efficient cooling of the chamber wall and flame stabilization in the central area of the combustor (Tornado chamber). Considerable progress has been made in design ing an advanced, reverse vortex flow combustion chamber for biofuels, although it was not tested on biofuels and a system that could be fully commercialized has never been completed.

Tailoring next-generation biofuels and their combustion in next-generation engines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gladden, John Michael [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Wu, Weihua [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Taatjes, Craig A. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Scheer, Adam Michael [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Turner, Kevin M. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Yu, Eizadora T. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); O' Bryan, Greg [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Powell, Amy Jo [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Gao, Connie W. [Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)

2013-11-01

Increasing energy costs, the dependence on foreign oil supplies, and environmental concerns have emphasized the need to produce sustainable renewable fuels and chemicals. The strategy for producing next-generation biofuels must include efficient processes for biomass conversion to liquid fuels and the fuels must be compatible with current and future engines. Unfortunately, biofuel development generally takes place without any consideration of combustion characteristics, and combustion scientists typically measure biofuels properties without any feedback to the production design. We seek to optimize the fuel/engine system by bringing combustion performance, specifically for advanced next-generation engines, into the development of novel biosynthetic fuel pathways. Here we report an innovative coupling of combustion chemistry, from fundamentals to engine measurements, to the optimization of fuel production using metabolic engineering. We have established the necessary connections among the fundamental chemistry, engine science, and synthetic biology for fuel production, building a powerful framework for co-development of engines and biofuels.

Can the Nigerian biofuel policy and incentives (2007) transform Nigeria into a biofuel economy?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohimain, Elijah I.

2013-01-01

Nigeria's economy is largely dependent on petroleum, yet the country is suffering from fuel supply shortages. In response to the transportation fuel supply difficulties in Nigeria, the country released the Nigerian Biofuel Policy and Incentives in 2007 to create favorable investment climate for the entrance of Nigeria into the biofuel sector. The paper assessed the progress made thus far by Nigeria, 4 years after the Nigerian biofuel was released in an attempt to answer the question whether the policy is adequate to transform Nigeria into a biofuel economy. The study found that little progress has been made, which includes commencement of the construction of 20 bioethanol factories, installation of biofuel handling facilities at two depots (Mosimi and Atlas Cove), and selection of retail outlets for biofuel/conventional fuel mix. The site construction of the announced biofuel projects is now slow and other progress is marginal. We therefore conclude that the Nigerian biofuel policy is unlikely to transform Nigeria into a biofuel economy unless the Government revert and refocus on biofuel and include additional financial incentives such as grants and subsidy to complement the tax waivers (income, import duty, VAT), loans, and insurance cover contained in the policy. - Highlights: ► Nigeria's economy is dependent on petroleum, yet the country is suffering from fuel shortages. ► The Nigerian Biofuel Policy and Incentives was released in 2007. ► Little progress has been made since the policy was released 4 years ago. ► Hence, the policy is unlikely to transform Nigeria into a biofuel economy

Yeast synthetic biology toolbox and applications for biofuel production.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsai, Ching-Sung; Kwak, Suryang; Turner, Timothy L; Jin, Yong-Su

2015-02-01

Yeasts are efficient biofuel producers with numerous advantages outcompeting bacterial counterparts. While most synthetic biology tools have been developed and customized for bacteria especially for Escherichia coli, yeast synthetic biological tools have been exploited for improving yeast to produce fuels and chemicals from renewable biomass. Here we review the current status of synthetic biological tools and their applications for biofuel production, focusing on the model strain Saccharomyces cerevisiae We describe assembly techniques that have been developed for constructing genes, pathways, and genomes in yeast. Moreover, we discuss synthetic parts for allowing precise control of gene expression at both transcriptional and translational levels. Applications of these synthetic biological approaches have led to identification of effective gene targets that are responsible for desirable traits, such as cellulosic sugar utilization, advanced biofuel production, and enhanced tolerance against toxic products for biofuel production from renewable biomass. Although an array of synthetic biology tools and devices are available, we observed some gaps existing in tool development to achieve industrial utilization. Looking forward, future tool development should focus on industrial cultivation conditions utilizing industrial strains. © FEMS 2015. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permission@oup.com.

Biofuels - the UFIP position

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2004-01-01

Since 2003 a directive promote the biofuels use. The industry is then using them in ETBE (Ethyl Tertio Butyl Ether) fuels and in diesel oil of vegetal oils esters EMHV. Meanwhile some of them present technical difficulties and must free themselves from fiscal incentives which make them competitive. For these reasons, the UFIP (french union of petroleum industries) do not agree their obligatory incorporation. (A.L.B.)

Advanced Algal Systems Fact Sheet

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

2016-06-01

Research and development (R&D) on advanced algal biofuels and bioproducts presents an opportunity to sustainably expand biomass resource potential in the United States. The Bioenergy Technologies Office’s (BETO’s) Advanced Algal Systems Program is carrying out a long-term, applied R&D strategy to lower the costs of algal biofuel production by working with partners to develop revolutionary technologies and conduct crosscutting analyses to better understand the potential

40 CFR Table 4 to Subpart Dd of... - Tank Control Levels for Tanks at New Affected Sources as Required by 40 CFR 63.685(b)(2)

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... Affected Sources as Required by 40 CFR 63.685(b)(2) 4 Table 4 to Subpart DD of Part 63 Protection of... Hazardous Air Pollutants from Off-Site Waste and Recovery Operations Pt. 63, Subpt. DD, Table 4 Table 4 to Subpart DD of Part 63—Tank Control Levels for Tanks at New Affected Sources as Required by 40 CFR 63.685(b...

Strategic niche management for biofuels: Analysing past experiments for developing new biofuel policies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laak, W.W.M. van der; Raven, R.P.J.M.; Verbong, G.P.J.

2007-01-01

Biofuels have gained a lot of attention since the implementation of the 2003 European Directive on biofuels. In the Netherlands the contribution of biofuels is still very limited despite several experiments in the past. This article aims to contribute to the development of successful policies for stimulating biofuels by analysing three experiments in depth. The approach of strategic niche management (SNM) is used to explain success and failure of these projects. Based on the analysis as well as recent innovation literature we develop a list of guidelines that is important to consider when developing biofuel policies

Biofuels: which interest, which perspectives?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2006-01-01

This paper is a synthesis of several studies concerning the production and utilization of bio-fuels: energy balance and greenhouse effect of the various bio-fuel systems; economical analysis and profitability of bio-fuel production; is the valorization of bio-fuel residues and by-products in animal feeding a realistic hypothesis?; assessment of the cost for the community due to tax exemption for bio-fuels

Biofuels and sustainability.

Science.gov (United States)

Solomon, Barry D

2010-01-01

Interest in liquid biofuels production and use has increased worldwide as part of government policies to address the growing scarcity and riskiness of petroleum use, and, at least in theory, to help mitigate adverse global climate change. The existing biofuels markets are dominated by U.S. ethanol production based on cornstarch, Brazilian ethanol production based on sugarcane, and European biodiesel production based on rapeseed oil. Other promising efforts have included programs to shift toward the production and use of biofuels based on residues and waste materials from the agricultural and forestry sectors, and perennial grasses, such as switchgrass and miscanthus--so-called cellulosic ethanol. This article reviews these efforts and the recent literature in the context of ecological economics and sustainability science. Several common dimensions for sustainable biofuels are discussed: scale (resource assessment, land availability, and land use practices); efficiency (economic and energy); equity (geographic distribution of resources and the "food versus fuel" debate); socio-economic issues; and environmental effects and emissions. Recent proposals have been made for the development of sustainable biofuels criteria, culminating in standards released in Sweden in 2008 and a draft report from the international Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels. These criteria hold promise for accelerating a shift away from unsustainable biofuels based on grain, such as corn, and toward possible sustainable feedstock and production practices that may be able to meet a variety of social, economic, and environmental sustainability criteria.

Biofuels in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Tianwei; Yu, Jianliang; Lu, Jike; Zhang, Tao

2010-01-01

The Chinese government is stimulating the biofuels development to replace partially fossil fuels in the transport sector, which can enhance energy security, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and stimulate rural development. Bioethanol, biodiesel, biobutanol, biogas, and biohydrogen are the main biofuels developed in China. In this chapter, we mainly present the current status of biofuel development in China, and illustrate the issues of feedstocks, food security and conversion processes.

Four myths surrounding U.S. biofuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wetzstein, M.; Wetzstein, H.

2011-01-01

The rapid growth of biofuels has elicited claims and predictions concerning the current and future role of these fuels in the U.S. vehicle-fuel portfolio. These assertions are at times based on a false set of assumptions concerning the biofuel's market related to the petroleum and agricultural commodities markets, and the nonmarket consequences of our automobile driving. As an aid in clarifying these market relations, the following four biofuel myths are presented: (1) biofuels will be adopted because we will soon run out of oil, (2) biofuels will solve the major external costs associated with our automobile driving, (3) biofuels cause food price inflation (the food before fuel issue), and (4) biofuels will become a major vehicle fuel. - Highlights: → Biofuels will be adopted because we will soon run out of oil. → Biofuels will solve the major external costs associated with our automobile driving. → Biofuels cause food price inflation (the food before fuel issue). → Biofuels will become a major vehicle fuel.

40 CFR Table 1 to Subpart Wwwww of... - Applicability of General Provisions to Subpart WWWWW

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... operating permits for purposes of being subject to this subpart. § 63.1(c)(3)-(4) [Reserved] § 63.1(c)(5) Subject to notification requirements No § 63.1(d) [Reserved] § 63.1(e) Emission limitation by permit Yes... requirements Yes § 63.6(b)(6) [Reserved] § 63.6(c)(1) Compliance dates for existing sources Yes Subpart WWWWW...

Panorama 2007: Biofuels Worldwide

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prieur-Vernat, A.; His, St.

2007-01-01

The biofuels market is booming: after more than 20 years of industrial development, global bio-fuel production is growing fast. Willingness to reduce their oil dependence and necessity to promote low-carbon energies are the two main drivers for states to support biofuels development. (author)

Status and outlook for biofuels, other alternative fuels and new vehicles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nylund, N -O; Aakko-Saksa, P; Sipilae, K

2008-03-15

The report presents an outlook for alternative motor fuels and new vehicles. The time period covered extends up to 2030. The International Energy Agency and the U.S. Energy Information Administration predict that the world energy demand will increase by over 50% from now to 2030, if policies remain unchanged. Most of the growth in demand for energy in general, as well as for transport fuels, will take place in non-OECD countries. Gasoline and diesel are projected to remain the dominant automotive fuels until 2030. Vehicle technology and high quality fuels will eventually solve the problem of harmful exhaust emissions. However, the problem with CO{sub 2} still remains, and much attention will be given to increase efficiency. Hybrid technology is one option to reduce fuel consumption. Diesel engines are fuel efficient, but have high emissions compared with advanced gasoline engines. New combustion systems combining the best qualities of gasoline and diesel engines promise low emissions as well as high efficiency. The scenarios for alternative fuels vary a lot. By 2030, alternative fuels could represent a 10- 30% share of transport fuels, depending on policies. Ambitious goals for biofuels in transport have been set. As advanced biofuels are still in their infancy, it seems probable that traditional biofuels will also be used in 2030. Ethanol is the fastest growing biofuel. Currently the sustainability of biofuels is discussed extensively. Synthetic fuels promise excellent end-use properties, reduced emissions, and if produced from biomass, also reduced CO{sub 2} emissions. The report presents an analysis of technology options to meet the requirements for energy security, reduced CO{sub 2} emissions, reduced local emissions as well as sustainability in general in the long run. In the short term, energy savings will be the main measure for CO{sub 2} reductions in transport, fuel switches will have a secondary role. (orig.)

Metabolic engineering of microorganisms for biofuels production: from bugs to synthetic biology to fuels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kuk Lee, Sung; Chou, Howard; Ham, Timothy S.; Soon Lee, Taek; Keasling, Jay D.

2009-12-02

The ability to generate microorganisms that can produce biofuels similar to petroleum-based transportation fuels would allow the use of existing engines and infrastructure and would save an enormous amount of capital required for replacing the current infrastructure to accommodate biofuels that have properties significantly different from petroleum-based fuels. Several groups have demonstrated the feasibility of manipulating microbes to produce molecules similar to petroleum-derived products, albeit at relatively low productivity (e.g. maximum butanol production is around 20 g/L). For cost-effective production of biofuels, the fuel-producing hosts and pathways must be engineered and optimized. Advances in metabolic engineering and synthetic biology will provide new tools for metabolic engineers to better understand how to rewire the cell in order to create the desired phenotypes for the production of economically viable biofuels.

An overview of biofuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qureshi, I.H.; Ahmad, S.

2007-01-01

Biofuels for transport have received considerable attention due to rising oil prices and growing concern about greenhouse gas emissions. Biofuels namely ethanol and esters of fatty acids have the potential to displace a substantial amount of petroleum fuel in the next few decades which will help to conserve fossil fuel resources. Life cycle analyses show that biofuels release lesser amount of greenhouse gases and other air pollutants. Thus biofuels are seen as a pragmatic step towards reducing carbon dioxide emission from transport sector. Biofuels are compatible with petroleum and combustion engines can easily operate with 10% ethanol and 20% biodiesel blended fuel with no modification. However higher concentrations require 'flex-fuel' engines which automatically adjust fuel injection depending upon fuel mix. Biofuels are derived from renewable biomass and can be produced from a variety of feedstocks. The only limiting factors are the availability of cropland, growth of plants and the climate. Countries with warmer climate can get about five times more biofuel crops from each acre of land than cold climate countries. Genetically modified crops and fast growing trees are being developed increase the production of energy crops. (author)

Effects of Deployment Investment on the Growth of the Biofuels Industry. 2016 Update

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vimmerstedt, Laura J. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Warner, Ethan S. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Stright, Dana [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2016-03-01

This report updates the 2013 report of the same title. Some text originally published in that report is retained and indicated in gray. In support of the national goals for biofuel use in the United States, numerous technologies have been developed that convert biomass to biofuels. Some of these biomass to biofuel conversion technology pathways are operating at commercial scales, while others are in earlier stages of development. The advancement of a new pathway toward commercialization involves various types of progress, including yield improvements, process engineering, and financial performance. Actions of private investors and public programs can accelerate the demonstration and deployment of new conversion technology pathways. These investors (both private and public) will pursue a range of pilot, demonstration, and pioneer scale biorefinery investments; the most cost-effective set of investments for advancing the maturity of any given biomass to biofuel conversion technology pathway is unknown. In some cases, whether or not the pathway itself will ultimately be technically and financially successful is also unknown. This report presents results from the Biomass Scenario Model--a system dynamics model of the biomass to biofuels system--that estimate effects of investments in biorefineries at different maturity levels and operational scales. The report discusses challenges in estimating effects of such investments and explores the interaction between this deployment investment and a volumetric production incentive. Model results show that investments in demonstration and deployment have a substantial growth impact on the development of the biofuels industry. Results also show that other conditions, such as accompanying incentives, have major impacts on the effectiveness of such investments. Results from the 2013 report are compared to new results. This report does not advocate for or against investments, incentives, or policies, but analyzes simulations of

Biomass, biogas and biofuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Colonna, P.

2011-01-01

This article reviews the different ways to produce biofuels. It appears that there are 3 generations of biofuels. The first generation was based on the use of the energetic reserves of the plants for instance sugar from beetroot or starch from cereals or oil from oleaginous plants. The second generation is based on a more complete use of the plant, the main constituents of the plant: cellulose and lignin are turned into energy. The third generation of biofuels relies on the use of energy plants and algae. The second generation of biofuels reduces drastically the competition between an alimentary use and a non-alimentary use of plants. In 2008 the production of biofuels reached 43 Mtep which represents only 2% of all the energy used in the transport sector. The international agency for energy expects that the production of biofuels would be multiplied by a factor 6 (even 10 if inciting measures are taken) by 2030. (A.C.)

NREL biofuels program overview

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mielenz, J.R. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO (United States)

1996-09-01

The NREL Biofuels Program has been developing technology for conversion of biomass to transportation fuels with support from DOE Office of Transportation Technologies Biofuels System Program. This support has gone to both the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and over 100 subcontractors in universities and industry. This overview will outline the value of the Biofuels development program to the Nation, the current status of the technology development, and what research areas still need further support and progress for the development of a biofuels industry in the US.

Making biofuels sustainable

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gallagher, Ed

2008-01-01

Full text: As the twentieth century drew to a close, there was considerable support for the use of biofuels as a source of renewable energy. To many people, they offered significant savings in greenhouse gas emissions compared to fossil fuels, an opportunity for reduced dependency on oil for transport, and potential as a counter weight to increasing oil prices. They also promised an opportunity for rural economies to benefit from a new market for their products and a chance of narrowing the gap between rich and poor nations. Biofuel development was encouraged by government subsidies, and rapid growth occurred in many parts of the world. Forty per cent of Brazilian sugar cane is used for biofuel production, for example, as is almost a quarter of maize grown in the United States. Although only around 1 per cent of arable land is cultivated to grow feedstock for biofuels, there has been increasing concern over the way a largely unchecked market has developed, and about its social and environmental consequences. Recent research has confirmed that food prices have been driven significantly higher by competition for prime agricultural land and that savings in greenhouse gas emissions are much smaller - and in some cases entirely eliminated - when environmentally important land, such as rainforest, is destroyed to grow biofuels. As a result, many now believe that the economic benefits of biofuels have been obtained at too high a social and environmental price, and they question whether they can be a truly sustainable source of energy. The United Kingdom has always had sustainability at the heart of its biofuel policies and set up the Renewable Fuels Agency to ensure that this goal was met. The direct effects of biofuel production are already being assessed through five measures of environmental performance and two measures of social performance, as well as measures of the energy efficiency of the production processes used and of the greenhouse gas savings achieved

Strategic niche management for biofuels : analysing past experiments for developing new biofuels policy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Laak, W.W.M.; Raven, R.P.J.M.; Verbong, G.P.J.

2007-01-01

Biofuels have gained a lot of attention since the implementation of the 2003 European Directive on biofuels. In the Netherlands the contribution of biofuels is still very limited despite several experiments in the past. This article aims to contribute to the development of successful policies for

Stagnating liquid biofuel developments in Russia: Present status andfuture perspectives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pristupa, Alexey O.; Mol, Arthur P.J.; Oosterveer, Peter

2010-01-01

It is widely acknowledged that Russia possesses enormous biomass resources (). Its vast areas devoted to agricultural production and plentiful timber resources suggest good prospects for the development of liquid biofuel production. However, no significant advances in this direction have been reported till now. None of the numerous investment projects announced at the heydays of biofuel excitement in Russia (2006-2008) are at the moment commercially operating. There are no specialised plants for the production of bioethanol and biodiesel in Russia. Little is known of the reasons for this discrepancy between biofuel potential and actual development. In investigating this discrepancy, this article analyses national developments and investigates local dynamics through a case-study in the Omsk region. It is found that the reasons for this discrepancy are not related to technological incapabilities, but are to be found in the low policy and institutional priority given to non-fossil fuel exploitation and lack of market opportunities. Sprouts of second generation liquid biofuel technologies can be identified within the state system, but it remains to be seen how strong and how long these will be supported by the Russian state.

Biofuel technology handbook. 2. ed.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rutz, Dominik; Janssen, Rainer

2008-01-15

This comprehensive handbook was created in order to promote the production and use of biofuels and to inform politicians, decision makers, biofuel traders and all other relevant stakeholders about the state-of-the-art of biofuels and relevant technologies. The large variety of feedstock types and different conversion technologies are described. Explanations about the most promising bio fuels provide a basis to discuss about the manifold issues of biofuels. The impartial information in this handbook further contributes to diminish existing barriers for the broad use of biofuels. Emphasis of this handbook is on first generation biofuels: bio ethanol, Biodiesel, pure plant oil, and bio methane. It also includes second generation biofuels such as BTL-fuels and bio ethanol from lingo-cellulose as well as bio hydrogen. The whole life cycle of bio fuels is assessed under technical, economical, ecological, and social aspect. Characteristics and applications of bio fuels for transport purposes are demonstrated and evaluated. This is completed by an assessment about the most recent studies on biofuel energy balances. This handbook describes the current discussion about green house gas (GHG) balances and sustainability aspects. GHG calculation methods are presented and potential impacts of biofuel production characterized: deforestation of rainforests and wetlands, loss of biodiversity, water pollution, human health, child labour, and labour conditions.

49 CFR Figure 1a to Subpart B of... - Example of Location of Rescue Access Windows-§ 238.114

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Example of Location of Rescue Access Windows-§ 238.114 1A Figure 1A to Subpart B of Part 238 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to... B of Part 238—Example of Location of Rescue Access Windows—§ 238.114 ER01FE08.002 [73 FR 6403, Feb...

The price for biofuels sustainability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pacini, Henrique; Assunção, Lucas; Dam, Jinke van; Toneto, Rudinei

2013-01-01

The production and usage of biofuels has increased worldwide, seeking goals of energy security, low-carbon energy and rural development. As biofuels trade increased, the European Union introduced sustainability regulations in an attempt to reduce the risks associated with biofuels. Producers were then confronted with costs of sustainability certification, in order to access the EU market. Hopes were that sustainably-produced biofuels would be rewarded with higher prices in the EU. Based on a review of recent literature, interviews with traders and price data from Platts, this paper explores whether sustainability premiums emerged and if so, did they represent an attracting feature in the market for sustainable biofuels. This article finds that premiums for ethanol and biodiesel evolved differently between 2011 and 2012, but have been in general very small or inexistent, with certified fuels becoming the new norm in the market. For different reasons, there has been an apparent convergence between biofuel policies in the EU and the US. As market operators perceive a long-term trend for full certification in the biofuels market, producers in developing countries are likely to face additional challenges in terms of finance and capacity to cope with the sustainability requirements. - Highlights: • EU biofuel sustainability rules were once thought to reward compliant producers with price-premiums. • Premiums for certified biofuels, however, have been small for biodiesel and almost non-existent for ethanol. • As sustainable biofuels became the new norm, premiums disappeared almost completely in 2012. • Early stages of supply chains concentrate the highest compliance costs, affecting specially developing country producers. • Producers are now in a market where sustainable biofuels have become the new norm

Potential application of Candida melibiosica in biofuel cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Hubenova, Yolina; Mitov, Mario

2010-04-01

Various prokaryote species have been widely studied for microbial fuel cell (MFC) application. However, the information about yeast utilization into biofuel cells is still scanty. The aim of this investigation is to verify if Candida melibiosica 2491, a yeast strain, possessing high phytase activity, could be applied as a biocatalyst in a yeast biofuel cell. The microbiological requirements were coupled with the electrochemical ones tracing main biochemical pathway metabolites such as different carbohydrate and inorganic phosphates and their assimilation with time. The obtained results show that from the three carbohydrates investigated - glucose, fructose and sucrose, fructose is the most suitable for the yeast cultivation. The presence of yeast extract and peptone improves the performance into the biofuel cell. The relationship between the yeast cell amount and the biofuel cell characteristics was determined. Analyses showed that electricity was generated by the yeast culture even in the absence of an artificial mediator. The addition of methylene blue at concentrations higher than 0.1 mM improves the current and power density output. The obtained experimental results proved that C. melibiosica 2491 belongs to the electrogenic strains. 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Global biofuel use, 1850-2000

Science.gov (United States)

Fernandes, Suneeta D.; Trautmann, Nina M.; Streets, David G.; Roden, Christoph A.; Bond, Tami C.

2007-06-01

This paper presents annual, country-level estimates of biofuel use for the period 1850-2000. We estimate that global biofuel consumption rose from about 1000 Tg in 1850 to 2460 Tg in 2000, an increase of 140%. In the late 19th century, biofuel consumption in North America was very high, ˜220-250 Tg/yr, because widespread land clearing supplied plentiful fuelwood. At that time biofuel use in Western Europe was lower, ˜180-200 Tg/yr. As fossil fuels became available, biofuel use in the developed world fell. Compensating changes in other parts of the world, however, caused global consumption to remain remarkably stable between 1850 and 1950 at ˜1200 ± 200 Tg/yr. It was only after World War II that biofuel use began to increase more rapidly in response to population growth in the developing world. Between 1950 and 2000, biofuel use in Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia grew by 170%, 160%, and 130%, respectively.

The second generation biofuels from the biomass; Les biocarburants de deuxieme generation issus de la biomasse

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2007-07-01

The author takes stock on the second generation biofuels in the world, the recent technologies, their advantages, the research programs and the economical and environmental impacts of the biofuels development. (A.L.B.)

Biofuels and Biotechnology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mielenz, Jonathan R [ORNL

2009-01-01

The world obtains 86% of its energy from fossil fuels, 40% from petroleum, a majority of which goes to the transportation sector (www.IEA.gov). Well-recognized alternatives are fuels derived from renewable sources known as biofuels. There are a number of biofuels useful for transportation fuels, which include ethanol, biobutanol, mixed alcohols, biodiesel, and hydrogen. These biofuels are produced from biologically derived feedstock, almost exclusively being plant materials, either food or feed sources or inedible plant material called biomass. This chapter will discuss technologies for production of liquid transportation biofuels from renewable feedstocks, but hydrogen will not be included, as the production technology and infrastructure are not near term. In addition, a specific emphasis will be placed upon the research opportunities and potential for application of system biology tools to dissect and understand the biological processes central to production of these biofuels from biomass and biological materials. There are a number of technologies for production of each of these biofuels that range from fully mature processes such as grain-derived ethanol, emerging technology of ethanol form cellulose derived ethanol and immature processes such thermochemical conversion technologies and production of hydrogen all produced from renewable biological feedstocks. Conversion of biomass by various thermochemical and combustion technologies to produce thermochemical biodiesel or steam and electricity provide growing sources of bioenergy. However, these technologies are outside of the scope of this chapter, as is the use of biological processing for upgrading and conversion of fossil fuels. Therefore, this chapter will focus on the current status of production of biofuels produced from biological-derived feedstocks using biological processes. Regardless of the status of development of the biological process for production of the biofuels, each process can benefit from

31 CFR Appendix A to Subpart H of... - Notice for Purposes of Subsection 314(b) of the USA Patriot Act and 31 CFR 103.110

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

...(b) of the USA Patriot Act and 31 CFR 103.110 A Appendix A to Subpart H of Part 103 Money and Finance: Treasury Regulations Relating to Money and Finance FINANCIAL RECORDKEEPING AND REPORTING OF CURRENCY AND... Activity App. A, Subpt. H, Pt. 103 Appendix A to Subpart H of Part 103—Notice for Purposes of Subsection...

Tracking U.S. biofuel innovation through patents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kessler, Jeff; Sperling, Daniel

2016-01-01

We use biofuel patents as a proxy for biofuel innovation. Through use of natural language processing and machine-learning algorithms, we expand patent classification capabilities to better explain the history of biofuels innovation. Results indicate that after the initial establishment of the U.S. biofuel industry, there were two surges in biofuel innovation: 1995–2000, characterized by heavy patenting by 1st generation (food-based) biofuel firms; and 2005–2010, characterized by a second surge of innovation by those same large firms, complemented by a large number of biotechnology firms producing a relatively small number of 2nd generation biofuel patents. Our analysis corroborates the widespread understanding that the first surge in biofuel innovation was linked to innovations in agriculture, and that the second surge of biofuel innovation was driven by demand-pull policies mandating and incentivizing biofuels. But the slow emergence of a 2nd generation cellulose-based biofuels industry, far slower than called for by policy, suggests that technology-push policies more focused on R&D and investment may be needed to accelerate the commercialization of 2nd generation biofuels. - Highlights: • Patenting activity closely corresponds to sociotechnical shifts in biofuel innovation. • The Renewable Fuel Standard likely contributed to the rise in biofuel patenting activity after 2005. • 2nd generation biofuel technology innovation appears lacking compared to 1st generation technologies.

Biorefinery developments for advanced biofuels from a widening array of biomass feedstocks

Science.gov (United States)

When the United States passed the Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS) of 2007 into law it mandated that, by the year 2022, 36 billion gallons of biofuels be produced annually in the U.S. to displace petroleum. This targeted quota, which required that at least half of domestic transportation fuel be “adva...

Investigating biofuels through network analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Curci, Ylenia; Mongeau Ospina, Christian A.

2016-01-01

Biofuel policies are motivated by a plethora of political concerns related to energy security, environmental damages, and support of the agricultural sector. In response to this, much scientific work has chiefly focussed on analysing the biofuel domain and on giving policy advice and recommendations. Although innovation has been acknowledged as one of the key factors in sustainable and cost-effective biofuel development, there is an urgent need to investigate technological trajectories in the biofuel sector by starting from consistent data and appropriate methodological tools. To do so, this work proposes a procedure to select patent data unequivocally related to the investigated sector, it uses co-occurrence of technological terms to compute patent similarity and highlights content and interdependencies of biofuels technological trajectories by revealing hidden topics from unstructured patent text fields. The analysis suggests that there is a breaking trend towards modern generation biofuels and that innovators seem to focus increasingly on the ability of alternative energy sources to adapt to the transport/industrial sector. - Highlights: • Innovative effort is devoted to biofuels additives and modern biofuels technologies. • A breaking trend can be observed from the second half of the last decade. • A patent network is identified via text mining techniques that extract latent topics.

European biofuel policies in retrospect

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Thuijl, E.; Deurwaarder, E.P.

2006-05-01

Despite the benefits of the production and use of biofuels in the fields of agriculture, security of energy supply and the environment, in India and surrounding countries, the barriers to the use of biofuels are still substantial. The project ProBios (Promotion of Biofuels for Sustainable Development in South and South East Asia) aims at promoting biofuels in the view of sustainable development in the Southern and South eastern Asian countries. The first stage of this project concerns a study, which will provide a thorough review of the complicated and sector-overarching issue of biofuels in India and surrounding countries. This report describes past experiences with the policy context for a selection of EU countries, with the purpose of identifying conclusions from the European experience that may be valuable for Indian and South East Asian policy makers and other biofuels stakeholders

Leveraging microbial biosynthetic pathways for the generation of 'drop-in' biofuels.

Science.gov (United States)

Zargar, Amin; Bailey, Constance B; Haushalter, Robert W; Eiben, Christopher B; Katz, Leonard; Keasling, Jay D

2017-06-01

Advances in retooling microorganisms have enabled bioproduction of 'drop-in' biofuels, fuels that are compatible with existing spark-ignition, compression-ignition, and gas-turbine engines. As the majority of petroleum consumption in the United States consists of gasoline (47%), diesel fuel and heating oil (21%), and jet fuel (8%), 'drop-in' biofuels that replace these petrochemical sources are particularly attractive. In this review, we discuss the application of aldehyde decarbonylases to produce gasoline substitutes from fatty acid products, a recently crystallized reductase that could hydrogenate jet fuel precursors from terpene synthases, and the exquisite control of polyketide synthases to produce biofuels with desired physical properties (e.g., lower freezing points). With our increased understanding of biosynthetic logic of metabolic pathways, we discuss the unique advantages of fatty acid, terpene, and polyketide synthases for the production of bio-based gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Engineering yeast metabolism for production of terpenoids for use as perfume ingredients, pharmaceuticals and biofuels

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhang, Yueping; Nielsen, Jens; Liu, Zihe

2017-01-01

of terpenoids that find applications as perfume ingredients, pharmaceuticals and advanced biofuels. In this review, we describe the strategies to rewire the yeast pathway for terpenoid biosynthesis. Recent advances will be discussed together with challenges and perspectives of yeast as a cell factory to produce...

A modelling approach to estimate the European biofuel production: from crops to biofuels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Clodic, Melissa [Institute National de la Recherche Agronomique (IFP/INRA), Paris (France). Instituto Frances do Petroleo

2008-07-01

Today, in the context of energy competition and climate change, biofuels are promoted as a renewable resource to diversify the energy supply. However, biofuel development remains controversial. Here, we will present a way to make an environmental and economic cost and benefit analysis of European biofuels, from the crops until the marketed products, by using a linear programming optimization modelling approach. To make this European biofuel production model, named AGRAF, possible, we decided to use different independent linear programming optimization models which represent the separate parts of the process: European agricultural production, production of transforming industries and refinery production. To model the agricultural and the refining sections, we have chosen to improve existing and experimented models by adding a biofuel production part. For the transforming industry, we will create a new partial equilibrium model which will represent stake holders such as Sofiproteol, Stereos, etc. Data will then be exchanged between the models to coordinate all the biofuel production steps. Here, we will also focus on spatialization in order to meet certain of our requirements, such as the exchange flux analysis or the determination of transport costs, usually important in an industrial optimization model. (author)

Methodological aspects on international biofuels trade: International streams and trade of solid and liquid biofuels in Finland

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heinimoe, J.

2008-01-01

The use of biomass for fuel is increasing in industrialised countries. Rapidly developing biomass markets for energy purposes along with weak information on biofuels trade that statistics offer have been incentives for several recently published studies investigating the status of biofuels trade. The comparison of the studies is often challenging due particularly to the various approaches to the indirect trade of biofuels and the diverse data sources utilised. The purpose of this study was to provide an overview of the Finnish situation with respect to the status of the streams of international biofuels trade. Parallel to this, the study aimed to identify methodological and statistical challenges in observing international biofuels trade. The study analysed available statistical information and introduced a procedure to obtain a clear overview on import and export streams of biofuels. In Finland, the total direct import and export of biofuels, being mainly composed of wood pellets and tall oil, is tiny in comparison with the total consumption of biofuels. Instead, the indirect trade has remarkable importance. Large import volumes of industrial raw wood make Finland a net importer of biofuels. In 2004, approximately 22% (64 PJ) of wood-based energy in Finland originated from imported wood. The study showed that the indirect trade of biofuels may be a significant sector of global biofuels trade. In the case of Finland, a comprehensive compilation of statistics on energy and forestry enabled the determination of the trade status satisfactory. However, national and international statistics should be further developed to take better into consideration international trade and to support continuously developing biofuels markets. (author)

Visible light mediated upgrading of biomass to biofuel

Science.gov (United States)

AgPd@g-C3N4, comprising heterogenized Ag and Pdnanoparticles on graphitic carbon nitride, g-C3N4, has beensynthesized and used for the upgrading of biofuel as exemplifiedby the hydrodeoxygenation of lignin-derived vanillin underphotochemical conditions using formic acid. The bimetallicframework is found to be highly active due to the synergisticeffects of Ag and Pd with the graphitic carbon nitride support andtheir mutual interaction.This dataset is associated with the following publication:Varma , R., M. Nadagouda , S. Verma, and R.B. Nasir Baig. Visible light mediated upgrading of biomass to biofuel. Energy & Environmental Science. RSC Publishing, Cambridge, UK, 18(5): 1327-1333, (2016).

Oil price, biofuels and food supply

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Timilsina, Govinda R.; Mevel, Simon; Shrestha, Ashish

2011-01-01

The price of oil could play a significant role in influencing the expansion of biofuels, but this issue has yet to be fully investigated in the literature. Using a global computable general equilibrium (CGE) model, this study analyzes the impact of oil price on biofuel expansion, and subsequently, on food supply. The study shows that a 65% increase in oil price in 2020 from the 2009 level would increase the global biofuel penetration to 5.4% in 2020 from 2.4% in 2009. If oil prices rise 150% from their 2009 levels by 2020, the resulting penetration of biofuels would be 9%, which is higher than that would be caused by current mandates and targets introduced in more than forty countries around the world. The study also shows that aggregate agricultural output drops due to an oil price increase, but the drop is small in major biofuel producing countries as the expansion of biofuels would partially offset the negative impacts of the oil price increase on agricultural outputs. An increase in oil price would reduce global food supply through direct impacts as well as through the diversion of food commodities and cropland towards the production of biofuels. - Highlights: ► A global CGE model to analyze impacts of oil price on biofuels and food supply. ► Global biofuel penetration increases from 2.4% (2009) to 5.4% (2020) in baseline. ► A 150% rise of oil price boosts biofuels more than current mandates and targets do. ► Biofuels partially offset drops in agricultural outputs caused by oil price rise. ► Biofuels as well as oil price rise negatively affect global food supply.

10 CFR Appendix T to Subpart B of... - Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Water Consumption of Water Closets and Urinals

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 10 Energy 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Water Consumption of... Appendix T to Subpart B of Part 430—Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Water Consumption of Water... previous step. The final water consumption value shall be rounded to one decimal place. b. The test...

The potential of C4 grasses for cellulosic biofuel production

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tim eWeijde

2013-05-01

Full Text Available With the advent of biorefinery technologies enabling plant biomass to be processed into biofuel, many researchers set out to study and improve candidate biomass crops. Many of these candidates are C4 grasses, characterized by a high productivity and resource use efficiency. In this review the potential of five C4 grasses as lignocellulose feedstock for biofuel production is discussed. These include three important field crops - maize, sugarcane and sorghum - and two undomesticated perennial energy grasses - miscanthus and switchgrass. Although all these grasses are high yielding, they produce different products. While miscanthus and switchgrass are exploited exclusively for lignocellulosic biomass, maize, sorghum and sugarcane are dual-purpose crops. It is unlikely that all the prerequisites for the sustainable and economic production of biomass for a global cellulosic biofuel industry will be fulfilled by a single crop. High and stable yields of lignocellulose are required in diverse environments worldwide, to sustain a year-round production of biofuel. A high resource use efficiency is indispensable to allow cultivation with minimal inputs of nutrients and water and the exploitation of marginal soils for biomass production. Finally, the lignocellulose composition of the feedstock should be optimized to allow its efficient conversion into biofuel and other by-products. Breeding for these objectives should encompass diverse crops, to meet the demands of local biorefineries and provide adaptability to different environments. Collectively, these C4 grasses are likely to play a central role in the supply of lignocellulose for the cellulosic ethanol industry. Moreover, as these species are evolutionary closely related, advances in each of these crops will expedite improvements in the other crops. This review aims to provide an overview of their potential, prospects and research needs as lignocellulose feedstocks for the commercial production of

Estimates of US biofuels consumption, 1990

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1991-10-01

This report is the sixth in the series of publications developed by the Energy Information Administration to quantify the amount of biofuel-derived primary energy used by the US economy. It provides preliminary estimates of 1990 US biofuels energy consumption by sector and by biofuels energy resource type. The objective of this report is to provide updated annual estimates of biofuels energy consumption for use by congress, federal and state agencies, and other groups involved in activities related to the use of biofuels. 5 figs., 10 tabs

Estimates of US biofuels consumption, 1990

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1991-10-01

This report is the sixth in the series of publications developed by the Energy Information Administration to quantify the amount of biofuel-derived primary energy used by the US economy. It provides preliminary estimates of 1990 US biofuels energy consumption by sector and by biofuels energy resource type. The objective of this report is to provide updated annual estimates of biofuels energy consumption for use by congress, federal and state agencies, and other groups involved in activities related to the use of biofuels. 5 figs., 10 tabs.

20 CFR 655.00 - Authority of the Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) Administrator under subparts A, B...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Authority of the Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) Administrator under subparts A, B, and C. 655.00 Section 655.00 Employees' Benefits EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR TEMPORARY EMPLOYMENT OF FOREIGN WORKERS IN THE UNITED STATES § 655.00 Authority of the...

40 CFR Table 3 to Subpart Dd of... - Tank Control Levels for Tanks at Existing Affected Sources as Required by 40 CFR 63.685(b)(1)

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... Existing Affected Sources as Required by 40 CFR 63.685(b)(1) 3 Table 3 to Subpart DD of Part 63 Protection... Hazardous Air Pollutants from Off-Site Waste and Recovery Operations Pt. 63, Subpt. DD, Table 3 Table 3 to Subpart DD of Part 63—Tank Control Levels for Tanks at Existing Affected Sources as Required by 40 CFR 63...

Market analysis biofuels. Implications for the armed forces in the Netherlands

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Wilde, H.P.J.; Londo, H.M.

2009-11-01

Commercial road fuels are increasingly blended with biofuels. These biofuel blends impose risks for the specific application in the military environment. Therefore the Ministry of Defence has commissioned ECN to provide a market analysis of biofuel (blends) projected to become available up till 2030, with a focus on diesel fuels for ground use. We conclude that the percentage of conventional biodiesel (FAME) in the EU is likely to increase up to around 7% until 2020. It is unlikely that the share of FAME in commercially available diesel blends will increase above 10%. Hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) is expected to gain an increasing market share, especially in the time window 2015-2020. After 2020, the fraction of biogenic diesel in blends may further increase. However, this additional demand will most likely be met by the production of advanced high quality 2nd generation BTL diesel, thereby not reducing the fuel quality, also not for military applications. From a global perspective, it is most likely that up to 2030 biodiesel blends will only contain a minor average fraction of diesel from biological origin (below 3%). The main reason is that biofuel substitutes for petrol are expected to maintain their market share of about 80% of the total biofuel production. However, in addition to the EU, biodiesel blends up to 10% may also be introduced in regions with a large biodiesel feedstock supply potential, such as South East Asia, Latin America or Sub-Sahara Africa.

The Danish Biofuel Debate

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Janus

2014-01-01

of biofuels enrol scientific authority to support their positions? The sociological theory of functional differentiation combined with the concept of advocacy coalition can help in exploring this relationship between scientific claims-making and the policy stance of different actors in public debates about...... biofuels. In Denmark two distinct scientific perspectives about biofuels map onto the policy debates through articulation by two competing advocacy coalitions. One is a reductionist biorefinery perspective originating in biochemistry and neighbouring disciplines. This perspective works upwards from...

Biofuels - 5 disturbing questions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Legalland, J.P.; Lemarchand, J.L.

2008-01-01

Initially considered as the supreme weapon against greenhouse gas emissions, biofuels are today hold responsible to all harms of the Earth: leap of agriculture products price, deforestation, food crisis. Considered some time ago as the perfect clean substitute to petroleum, biofuels are now suspected to have harmful effects on the environment. Should it be just an enormous technical, environmental and human swindle? Should we abandon immediately biofuels to protect the earth and fight the threatening again starvation? Should we wait for the second generation of efficient biofuels, made from non food-derived products and cultivation wastes? This book analyses this delicate debate through 5 main questions: do they starve the world? Are they a clean energy source? Do they contribute to deforestation? Are they economically practicable? Is the second generation ready? (J.S.)

Market possibilities for biofuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hektor, B.

1992-01-01

The market for biofuels in Sweden after introduction of a proposed CO 2 -tax on fossil fuels is forecast. The competition between biofuels, fossil fuels and electricity is described for important market segments such as: Paper industry, Sawmills, Other energy-intensive industry, Power and heat producers, small Heat producers, and for Space heating of one-family houses. A market increase of the use of biofuels is probable for the segment small (district) heating centrals, 10 TWh in the next ten year period and even more during a longer period. Other market segments will not be much affected. An increased use of biofuels in paper and pulp industry will not influence the fuel market, since the increase will happen in the industry's normal lumber purchase. (2 figs., 18 tabs.)

Production of Advanced Biofuels via Liquefaction - Hydrothermal Liquefaction Reactor Design: April 5, 2013

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Knorr, D.; Lukas, J.; Schoen, P.

2013-11-01

This report provides detailed reactor designs and capital costs, and operating cost estimates for the hydrothermal liquefaction reactor system, used for biomass-to-biofuels conversion, under development at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Five cases were developed and the costs associated with all cases ranged from $22 MM/year - $47 MM/year.

National Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ferrell, John [Dept. of Energy (DOE), Washington DC (United States); Sarisky-Reed, Valerie [Dept. of Energy (DOE), Washington DC (United States)

2010-05-01

The framework for National Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap was constructed at the Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap Workshop, held December 9-10, 2008, at the University of Maryland-College Park. The Workshop was organized by the Biomass Program to discuss and identify the critical challenges currently hindering the development of a domestic, commercial-scale algal biofuels industry. This Roadmap presents information from a scientific, economic, and policy perspectives that can support and guide RD&D investment in algal biofuels. While addressing the potential economic and environmental benefits of using algal biomass for the production of liquid transportation fuels, the Roadmap describes the current status of algae RD&D. In doing so, it lays the groundwork for identifying challenges that likely need to be overcome for algal biomass to be used in the production of economically viable biofuels.

Impact of Technology and Feedstock Choice on the Environmental Footprint of Biofuels

Science.gov (United States)

Schultz, P. B.; Dodder, R. S.

2012-12-01

The implementation of the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard program (RFS2) has led to a dramatic shift in the use of biofuel in the U.S. transportation system over the last decade. To satisfy this demand, the production of U.S. corn-based ethanol has grown rapidly, with an average increase of over 25% annually from 2002 to 2010. RFS2 requires a similarly steep increase in the production of advanced biofuels, such as cellulosic ethanol. Unlike corn-based ethanol, which is derived from the biochemical fermentation of sugars in wet and dry mills, it is likely that a more diverse suite of technologies will need to be developed to be able to meet the advanced biofuel RFS2 targets, including biochemical as well as thermochemical (e.g., gasification and pyrolysis) approaches. Rather than relying on energy crops, a potential advantage of thermochemical approaches is the ability to use a wider variety of feedstocks, including municipal solid waste and wood waste. In this work, we conduct a system-level analysis to understand how technology and feedstock choice can impact the environmental footprint of biofuels in the U.S. We use a least-cost optimization model of the U.S. energy system to account for interactions between various components of the energy system: industrial, transportation, electric, and residential/commercial sectors. The model was used to understand the scale of feedstock demand required from dedicated energy crops, as well as other biomass feedstocks, in order to meet the RFS2 mandate. On a regional basis, we compare the overall water-consumption and land requirements for biofuels production given a suite of liquid-fuel production technologies. By considering a range of scenarios, we examine how the use of various feedstocks (e.g., agricultural residues, wood wastes, mill residues and municipal wastes) can be used to off-set environmental impacts as compared to relying solely on energy crops.

Trash to treasure: Production of biofuels and commodity chemicals via syngas fermenting microorganisms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Latif, Haythem; Zeidan, Ahmad; Nielsen, Alex Toftgaard

2014-01-01

Fermentation of syngas is a means through which unutilized organic waste streams can be converted biologically into biofuels and commodity chemicals. Despite recent advances, several issues remain which limit implementation of industrial-scale syngas fermentation processes. At the cellular level...

Washington State Biofuels Industry Development

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gustafson, Richard [Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)

2017-04-09

The funding from this research grant enabled us to design, renovate, and equip laboratories to support University of Washington biofuels research program. The research that is being done with the equipment from this grant will facilitate the establishment of a biofuels industry in the Pacific Northwest and enable the University of Washington to launch a substantial biofuels and bio-based product research program.

[Biofuels, food security and transgenic crops].

Science.gov (United States)

Acosta, Orlando; Chaparro-Giraldo, Alejandro

2009-01-01

Soaring global food prices are threatening to push more poor people back below the poverty line; this will probably become aggravated by the serious challenge that increasing population and climate changes are posing for food security. There is growing evidence that human activities involving fossil fuel consumption and land use are contributing to greenhouse gas emissions and consequently changing the climate worldwide. The finite nature of fossil fuel reserves is causing concern about energy security and there is a growing interest in the use of renewable energy sources such as biofuels. There is growing concern regarding the fact that biofuels are currently produced from food crops, thereby leading to an undesirable competition for their use as food and feed. Nevertheless, biofuels can be produced from other feedstocks such as lingo-cellulose from perennial grasses, forestry and vegetable waste. Biofuel energy content should not be exceeded by that of the fossil fuel invested in its production to ensure that it is energetically sustainable; however, biofuels must also be economically competitive and environmentally acceptable. Climate change and biofuels are challenging FAO efforts aimed at eradicating hunger worldwide by the next decade. Given that current crops used in biofuel production have not been domesticated for this purpose, transgenic technology can offer an enormous contribution towards improving biofuel crops' environmental and economic performance. The present paper critically presents some relevant relationships between biofuels, food security and transgenic plant technology.

Biofuels. Environment, technology and food security

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Escobar, Jose C.; Lora, Electo S.; Venturini, Osvaldo J.; Yanez, Edgar E.; Castillo, Edgar F.; Almazan, Oscar

2009-01-01

The imminent decline of the world's oil production, its high market prices and environmental impacts have made the production of biofuels to reach unprecedent volumes over the last 10 years. This is why there have been intense debates among international organizations and political leaders in order to discuss the impacts of the biofuel use intensification. Besides assessing the causes of the rise in the demand and production of biofuels, this paper also shows the state of the art of their world's current production. It is also discussed different vegetable raw materials sources and technological paths to produce biofuels, as well as issues regarding production cost and the relation of their economic feasibility with oil international prices. The environmental impacts of programs that encourage biofuel production, farmland land requirements and the impacts on food production are also discussed, considering the life cycle analysis (LCA) as a tool. It is concluded that the rise in the use of biofuels is inevitable and that international cooperation, regulations and certification mechanisms must be established regarding the use of land, the mitigation of environmental and social impacts caused by biofuel production. It is also mandatory to establish appropriate working conditions and decent remuneration for workers of the biofuels production chain. (author)

40 CFR Table 2b to Subpart Zzzz of... - Operating Limitations for New and Reconstructed 2SLB and Compression Ignition Stationary RICE...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... Reconstructed 2SLB and Compression Ignition Stationary RICE >500 HP Located at a Major Source of HAP Emissions, Existing Non-Emergency Compression Ignition Stationary RICE >500 HP, and New and Reconstructed 4SLB Burn Stationary RICE â¥250 HP Located at a Major Source of HAP Emissions 2b Table 2b to Subpart ZZZZ of Part 63...

Promoting biofuels: Implications for developing countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peters, Joerg; Thielmann, Sascha

2008-01-01

Interest in biofuels is growing worldwide as concerns about the security of energy supply and climate change are moving into the focus of policy makers. With the exception of bioethanol from Brazil, however, production costs of biofuels are typically much higher than those of fossil fuels. As a result, promotion measures such as tax exemptions or blending quotas are indispensable for ascertaining substantial biofuel demand. With particular focus on developing countries, this paper discusses the economic justification of biofuel promotion instruments and investigates their implications. Based on data from India and Tanzania, we find that substantial biofuel usage induces significant financial costs. Furthermore, acreage availability is a binding natural limitation that could also lead to conflicts with food production. Yet, if carefully implemented under the appropriate conditions, biofuel programs might present opportunities for certain developing countries

10 CFR Appendix U to Subpart B of... - Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption of Ceiling Fans

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 10 Energy 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption... Subpart B of Part 430—Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption of Ceiling Fans 1. Scope... significant digits as the previous step. Round the final energy consumption value to the nearest whole number...

[Model-based biofuels system analysis: a review].

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Shiyan; Zhang, Xiliang; Zhao, Lili; Ou, Xunmin

2011-03-01

Model-based system analysis is an important tool for evaluating the potential and impacts of biofuels, and for drafting biofuels technology roadmaps and targets. The broad reach of the biofuels supply chain requires that biofuels system analyses span a range of disciplines, including agriculture/forestry, energy, economics, and the environment. Here we reviewed various models developed for or applied to modeling biofuels, and presented a critical analysis of Agriculture/Forestry System Models, Energy System Models, Integrated Assessment Models, Micro-level Cost, Energy and Emission Calculation Models, and Specific Macro-level Biofuel Models. We focused on the models' strengths, weaknesses, and applicability, facilitating the selection of a suitable type of model for specific issues. Such an analysis was a prerequisite for future biofuels system modeling, and represented a valuable resource for researchers and policy makers.

Aviation Management Perception of Biofuel as an Alternative Fuel Source

Science.gov (United States)

Marticek, Michael

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore lived experiences and perceptions from a population of 75 aviation managers in various locations in Pennsylvania about the use of aviation biofuel and how it will impact the aviation industry. The primary research question for this study focused on the impact of biofuel on the airline industry and how management believes biofuel can contribute to the reduction of fossil fuel. Grounded in the conceptual framework of sustainability, interview data collected from 27 airline and fueling leaders were analyzed for like terms, coded, and reduced to 3 themes. Data were organized and prioritized based on frequency of mention. The findings represented themes of (a) flight planning tools, (b) production, and (c) costs that are associated with aviation fuel. The results confirmed findings addressed in the literature review, specifically that aviation biofuel will transform the airline industry through lower cost and production. These findings have broad applicability for all management personnel in the aviation industry. Implications for social change and improved business environments could be realized with a cleaner environment, reduced fuel emissions, and improved air quality.

Second generation biofuels: Economics and policies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carriquiry, Miguel A.; Du Xiaodong; Timilsina, Govinda R.

2011-01-01

This study reviews economics of production of second generation biofuels from various feedstocks, including crop and wood/forestry residues, lignocellulosic energy crops, jatropha, and algae. The study indicates that while second generation biofuels could significantly contribute to the future energy supply mix, cost is a major barrier to its commercial production in the near to medium term. Depending upon type of biofuels, feedstock prices and conversion costs, the cost of cellulosic ethanol is found to be two to three times higher than the current price of gasoline on an energy equivalent basis. The median cost (across the studies reviewed) of biodiesel produced from microalgae, a prospective feedstock, is seven times higher than the current price of diesel, although much higher cost estimates have been reported. As compared with the case of first generation biofuels, in which feedstock can account for over two-thirds of the total costs, the share of feedstock in the total costs is relatively lower (30-50%) in the case of second generation biofuels. While significant cost reductions are needed for both types of second generation biofuels, the critical barriers are at different steps of the production process. For cellulosic ethanol, the biomass conversion costs needs to be reduced. On the other hand, feedstock cost is the main issue for biodiesel. At present, policy instruments, such as fiscal incentives and consumption mandates have in general not differentiated between the first and second generation biofuels except in the cases of the US and EU. The policy regime should be revised to account for the relative merits of different types of biofuels. - Highlights: → Second generation biofuels could significantly contribute to the future energy supply mix. → Cost is a major barrier to its the commercial production in the near to medium term. → The policy regime should be revised to account for the relative merits of different biofuels.

Second generation biofuels: Economics and policies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carriquiry, Miguel A., E-mail: miguelc@iastate.edu [Center for Agricultural and Rural Development, Iowa State University (United States); Du Xiaodong, E-mail: xdu23@wisc.edu [Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Wisconsin-Madison (United States); Timilsina, Govinda R., E-mail: gtimilsina@worldbank.org [Development Research Group, The World Bank (United States)

2011-07-15

This study reviews economics of production of second generation biofuels from various feedstocks, including crop and wood/forestry residues, lignocellulosic energy crops, jatropha, and algae. The study indicates that while second generation biofuels could significantly contribute to the future energy supply mix, cost is a major barrier to its commercial production in the near to medium term. Depending upon type of biofuels, feedstock prices and conversion costs, the cost of cellulosic ethanol is found to be two to three times higher than the current price of gasoline on an energy equivalent basis. The median cost (across the studies reviewed) of biodiesel produced from microalgae, a prospective feedstock, is seven times higher than the current price of diesel, although much higher cost estimates have been reported. As compared with the case of first generation biofuels, in which feedstock can account for over two-thirds of the total costs, the share of feedstock in the total costs is relatively lower (30-50%) in the case of second generation biofuels. While significant cost reductions are needed for both types of second generation biofuels, the critical barriers are at different steps of the production process. For cellulosic ethanol, the biomass conversion costs needs to be reduced. On the other hand, feedstock cost is the main issue for biodiesel. At present, policy instruments, such as fiscal incentives and consumption mandates have in general not differentiated between the first and second generation biofuels except in the cases of the US and EU. The policy regime should be revised to account for the relative merits of different types of biofuels. - Highlights: > Second generation biofuels could significantly contribute to the future energy supply mix. > Cost is a major barrier to its the commercial production in the near to medium term. > The policy regime should be revised to account for the relative merits of different biofuels.

Comparing the social costs of biofuels and fossil fuels: A case study of Vietnam

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Le, Loan T.; Ierland, Ekko C. van; Zhu, Xueqin; Wesseler, Justus; Ngo, Giang

2013-01-01

Biofuel substitution for fossil fuels has been recommended in the literature and promoted in many countries; however, there are concerns about its economic viability. In this paper we focus on the cost-effectiveness of fuels, i.e., we compare the social costs of biofuels and fossil fuels for a functional unit defined as 1 km of vehicle transportation. We base our empirical results on a case study in Vietnam and compare two biofuels and their alternative fossil fuels: ethanol and gasoline, and biodiesel and diesel with a focus on the blends of E5 and E10 for ethanol, and B5 and B10 for biodiesel. At the discount rate of 4%, ethanol substitution for gasoline in form of E5 or E10 saves 33% of the social cost of gasoline if the fuel consumption of E5 and E10 is the same as gasoline. The ethanol substitution will be cost-effective if the fuel consumption of E5 and E10, in terms of L km −1 , is not exceeding the consumption of gasoline by more than 1.7% and 3.5% for E5 and E10 respectively. The biodiesel substitution would be cost-effective if the fuel consumption of B5 and B10, in terms of L km −1 compared to diesel, would decrease by more than 1.4% and 2.8% for B5 and B10 respectively at the discount rate of 4%. -- Highlights: •We examine cost-effectiveness of biofuels under efficiency levels of blends. •Cassava-based ethanol used as E5 saves 33% of social cost compared to gasoline. •Ethanol is cost-effective if E5 consumption per km is less than 1.017 times gasoline consumption. •Jatropha-based biodiesel used as B5 or B10 is currently not cost-effective in comparison to diesel. •Biodiesel would be cost-effective if B5 consumption per km would be less than 0.986 times diesel consumption

Cyanobacteria as a platform for biofuel production

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicole E Nozzi

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Cyanobacteria have great potential as a platform for biofuel production because of their fast growth, ability to fix carbon dioxide gas, and their genetic tractability. Furthermore they do not require fermentable sugars or arable land for growth and so competition with cropland would be greatly reduced. In this perspective we discuss the challenges and areas for improvement most pertinent for advancing cyanobacterial fuel production, including: improving genetic parts, carbon fixation, metabolic flux, nutrient requirements on a large scale, and photosynthetic efficiency using natural light.

Biofuels, a bad thing?; Boeser Biokraftstoff?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jensen, D.; Bensmann, M.

2008-05-15

The discussions over biofuels are still going on. Critics claim that biofuels ruin engine components, destroy rainforests and cause high food prices and global hunger. According to this contribution, the Federal government's biofuels policy was wrong and was doomed to fail. (orig.)

Preliminary comparison with 40 CFR Part 191, Subpart B for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, December 1990

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bertram-Howery, S.G.; Marietta, M.G.; Rechard, R.P.; Anderson, D.R.; Swift, P.N.; Baker, B.L.; Bean, J.E. Jr.; McCurley, R.D.; Rudeen, D.K.; Beyeler, W.; Brinster, K.F.; Guzowski, R.V.; Schreiber, J.D.; Helton, J.C.; Vaughn, P.

1990-12-01

The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is planned as the first mined geologic repository for transuranic (TRU) wastes generated by defense programs of the United States Department of Energy (DOE). Before disposing of waste at the WIPP, the DOE must evaluate compliance with the United states Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Standard, Environmental Radiation Protection Standards for Management and Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel, High-Level and Transuranic Radioactive Wastes (40 CFR Part 191, US EPA, 1985). Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) is evaluating long-term performance against criteria in Subpart B of the Standard. ''Performance assessment'' as used in this report includes analyses for the Containment Requirements (section 191.13(a)) and the Individual Protection Requirements (section 191.15). Because proving predictions about future human actions or natural events is not possible, the EPA expects compliance to be determined on the basis of specified quantitative analyses and informed, qualitative judgment. The goal of the WIPP performance-assessment team at SNL is to provide as detailed and thorough a basis as practical for the quantitative aspects of that decision. This report summarizes SNL's late-1990 understanding of the WIPP Project's ability to evaluate compliance with Subpart B. 245 refs., 88 figs., 23 tabs

Preliminary comparison with 40 CFR Part 191, Subpart B for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, December 1990

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bertram-Howery, S.G.; Marietta, M.G.; Rechard, R.P.; Anderson, D.R. (Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (USA)); Swift, P.N. (Tech. Reps., Inc., Albuquerque, NM (USA)); Baker, B.L. (Technadyne Engineering Consultants, Inc., Albuquerque, NM (USA)); Bean, J.E. Jr.; McCurley, R.D.; Rudeen, D.K. (New Mexico Engineering Research Inst., Albuquerque, NM (USA)); Beyeler, W.; Brinster, K.F.; Guzowski, R.V.; Sch

1990-12-01

The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is planned as the first mined geologic repository for transuranic (TRU) wastes generated by defense programs of the United States Department of Energy (DOE). Before disposing of waste at the WIPP, the DOE must evaluate compliance with the United states Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Standard, Environmental Radiation Protection Standards for Management and Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel, High-Level and Transuranic Radioactive Wastes (40 CFR Part 191, US EPA, 1985). Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) is evaluating long-term performance against criteria in Subpart B of the Standard. Performance assessment'' as used in this report includes analyses for the Containment Requirements ({section} 191.13(a)) and the Individual Protection Requirements ({section} 191.15). Because proving predictions about future human actions or natural events is not possible, the EPA expects compliance to be determined on the basis of specified quantitative analyses and informed, qualitative judgment. The goal of the WIPP performance-assessment team at SNL is to provide as detailed and thorough a basis as practical for the quantitative aspects of that decision. This report summarizes SNL's late-1990 understanding of the WIPP Project's ability to evaluate compliance with Subpart B. 245 refs., 88 figs., 23 tabs.

Biofuels. An overview. Final Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Castro, J.F.M.

2007-05-01

The overall objective of this desk study is to get an overview of the most relevant liquid biofuels especially in the African context, and more specifically in the Netherlands' relevant partner countries. The study will focus on biofuels for transport, but will also consider biofuels for cooking and power generation. Biogas as the result of anaerobic fermentation which can be used for cooking, lighting and electricity generation will not be considered in this study. Liquid biofuels are usually divided into alcohols that are used to substitute for gasoline and oils that are used to substitute for diesel and are often called Biodiesel, and this division will be followed in this study. In chapter 2 we will analyse several aspects of the use of alcohols particularly ethanol, in chapter 3 the same analysis will be done for oils, using as example the very promising Jatropha oil. In chapter we will analyse socio-economic issues of the use of these biofuels

5 CFR 1201.121 - Scope of jurisdiction; application of subparts B, F, and H.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... agency actions against administrative law judges, decided under this subpart. Subpart H of this part also... stays of certain personnel actions, proposed agency actions against administrative law judges, and... with Special Counsel complaints and stay requests, and agency actions against administrative law judges...

External noise when using biofuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kotaleski, J.

1994-08-01

The aim of this study has been to cover sources of noise dealing with all steps in a biofuel chain; producing, transporting, storing and firing the biofuel. When the availability of relevant test results from noise surveys is not so good and mostly badly documented, the study has been concentrated on estimation of external noise for planning and design purposes, from a prospective biofuel-fired plant. A synoptic tabulation of estimated acoustic power levels from different noise sources, has been done. The results from measurements of external noise from different existing combined power and heating plants are tabulated. The Nordic model for simulation of external noise has been used for a prospective plant - VEGA - designed by Vattenfall. The aim has been to estimate its noise pollutions at critical points at the nearest residential area (250 m from the fenced industry area). The software - ILYD - is easy to handle, but knowledge about the model is necessary. A requisite for the reliability is the access to measurements or estimations of different sources of noise, at different levels of octaves from 63 to 8000 Hz. The degree of accuracy increases with the number of broad band sources, that are integrated. Using ILYD with available data, a night limit of 40 dB(A) should be possible to fulfill with good degree of accuracy at VEGA, between 10 pm and 7 am, with good planning and under normal operation conditions. A demand for 35 dB(A) as a limit can be harder to fulfill, especially at mornings from 6 to 7. Noise from heavy vehicles within the plant area is classified as industrial noise and not as road traffic noise. This type of noise depends very much on the way of driving and assumed acceleration. Concerning wheel-mounted loaders, they may then only be used during daytime. The simulations show, that even at daytime from 7 to 6 pm, it would be possible to use an acoustically damped chipping machine, inside the power industry area. 31 refs, 13 figs, tabs, 8

Paper electrodes for bioelectrochemistry: Biosensors and biofuel cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Desmet, Cloé; Marquette, Christophe A; Blum, Loïc J; Doumèche, Bastien

2016-02-15

Paper-based analytical devices (PAD) emerge in the scientific community since 2007 as low-cost, wearable and disposable devices for point-of-care diagnostic due to the widespread availability, long-time knowledge and easy manufacturing of cellulose. Rapidly, electrodes were introduced in PAD for electrochemical measurements. Together with biological components, a new generation of electrochemical biosensors was born. This review aims to take an inventory of existing electrochemical paper-based biosensors and biofuel cells and to identify, at the light of newly acquired data, suitable methodologies and crucial parameters in this field. Paper selection, electrode material, hydrophobization of cellulose, dedicated electrochemical devices and electrode configuration in biosensors and biofuel cells will be discussed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

10 CFR Appendix P to Subpart B of... - Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption of Pool Heaters

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 10 Energy 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption... Subpart B of Part 430—Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption of Pool Heaters 1. Test... 2.9 of ANSI Z21.56-1994. The measurement of energy consumption for oil-fired pool heaters in Btu is...

Alternative Crops and Biofuel Production

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kenkel, Philip [Oklahoma State Univ., Stillwater, OK (United States); Holcomb, Rodney B. [Oklahoma State Univ., Stillwater, OK (United States)

2013-03-01

In order for the biofuel industry to meet the RFS benchmarks for biofuels, new feedstock sources and production systems will have to be identified and evaluated. The Southern Plains has the potential to produce over a billion gallons of biofuels from regionally produced alternative crops, agricultural residues, and animal fats. While information on biofuel conversion processes is available, it is difficult for entrepreneurs, community planners and other interested individuals to determine the feasibility of biofuel processes or to match production alternatives with feed stock availability and community infrastructure. This project facilitates the development of biofuel production from these regionally available feed stocks. Project activities are concentrated in five major areas. The first component focused on demonstrating the supply of biofuel feedstocks. This involves modeling the yield and cost of production of dedicated energy crops at the county level. In 1991 the DOE selected switchgrass as a renewable source to produce transportation fuel after extensive evaluations of many plant species in multiple location (Caddel et al,. 2010). However, data on the yield and cost of production of switchgrass are limited. This deficiency in demonstrating the supply of biofuel feedstocks was addressed by modeling the potential supply and geographic variability of switchgrass yields based on relationship of available switchgrass yields to the yields of other forage crops. This model made it possible to create a database of projected switchgrass yields for five different soil types at the county level. A major advantage of this methodology is that the supply projections can be easily updated as improved varieties of switchgrass are developed and additional yield data becomes available. The modeling techniques are illustrated using the geographic area of Oklahoma. A summary of the regional supply is then provided.

Algal Biofuels | Bioenergy | NREL

Science.gov (United States)

biofuels and bioproducts, Algal Research (2016) Process Design and Economics for the Production of Algal cyanobacteria, Nature Plants (2015) Acid-catalyzed algal biomass pretreatment for integrated lipid and nitrogen, we can indefinitely maintain the genetic state of the sample for future research in biofuels

10 CFR Appendix N to Subpart B of... - Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption of Furnaces and Boilers

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 10 Energy 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption... Appendix N to Subpart B of Part 430—Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption of Furnaces... average burner operating hours, average annual fuel energy consumption and average annual auxiliary...

An assessment of Thailand's biofuel development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kumar, S.; Salam, P. Abdul; Shrestha, Pujan

2013-01-01

The paper provides an assessment of first generation biofuel (ethanol and biodiesel) development in Thailand in terms of feedstock used, production trends, planned targets and policies and discusses the biofuel sustainability issues-environmental, socio-economic and food security aspects. The pol......The paper provides an assessment of first generation biofuel (ethanol and biodiesel) development in Thailand in terms of feedstock used, production trends, planned targets and policies and discusses the biofuel sustainability issues-environmental, socio-economic and food security aspects...... to land and water use and food security are important considerations to be addressed for its large scale application. Second generation biofuels derived from agricultural residues perform favorably on environmental and social sustainability issues in comparison to first generation biofuel sources...... as transportation fuel. Alternatively, the same amount of residue could provide 0.8-2.1 billion liters per year of diesel (biomass to Fischer-Tropsch diesel) to potentially offset 6%-15% of national diesel consumption in the transportation sector....

A roadmap for biofuels...

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Faaij, A.P.C.; Londo, H.M.

2009-01-01

Biofuels have been in the eye of the storm, in particular since 2008, when the food crisis was considered by many to be caused by the increased production of biofuels. Heavy criticism in public media made various governments, including the European Commission, reconsider their targets and ambitions

Advanced Technology and Alternative Fuel Vehicles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tuttle, J.

2001-01-01

This fact sheet provides a basic overview of today's alternative fuel choices--including biofuels, biodiesel, electricity, and hydrogen--alternative fuel vehicles, and advanced vehicle technology, such as hybrid electric vehicles, fuel cells and advanced drive trains

The rationality of biofuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Horta Nogueira, Luiz Augusto; Moreira, Jose Roberto; Schuchardt, Ulf; Goldemberg, Jose

2013-01-01

In an editorial of a recent issue of a known academic journal, Prof. Hartmut Michel affirmed that “…the production of biofuels constitutes an extremely inefficient land use… We should not grow plants for biofuel production.”, after comparing the area occupied with plants for bioenergy production with the one required for photovoltaic cells to supply the same amount of energy for transportation. This assertion is not correct for all situations and this comparison deserves a more careful analysis, evaluating the actual and prospective technological scenarios and other relevant aspects, such as capacity requirements, energy consumed during the life cycle of energy systems and the associated impacts. In this communication this comparison is revaluated, presenting a different perspective, more favorable for the bioenergy routes. - Highlights: • Energy systems and life cycle impacts are compared under equal conditions. • The comparison is done between biofuels and photovoltaic/battery in mobility uses. • Biofuels are a valuable option when produced sustainably by efficient routes

Sustainability development: Biofuels in agriculture

OpenAIRE

Cheteni, Priviledge

2017-01-01

Biofuels are socially and politically accepted as a form of sustainable energy in numerous countries. However, cases of environmental degradation and land grabs have highlighted the negative effects to their adoption. Smallholder farmers are vital in the development of a biofuel industry. The study sort to assess the implications in the adoption of biofuel crops by smallholder farmers. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to 129 smallholder farmers who were sampled from the Easter...

Biofuels from Bacteria Is PNNL Biochemist’s Goal (DOE Pulse Profile)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wiley, Julie G.; Manke, Kristin L.

2012-01-02

When you ask Mary Lipton what her strengths are, she quickly responds with her personality type. 'I'm an Expressive,' she says, aptly punctuating her words with her hands. 'The plus side is that I communicate and collaborate well, and I look at the bigger picture. On the other hand, I don't concentrate on details. But I can incorporate the details into a larger vision.' Regardless of how they are perceived, these traits have served Lipton well as a scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. She's nationally recognized for applying new mass spectrometry-based technologies to characterize environmental microbes and microbial communities, particularly for their use in generating biofuels. 'I work on biofuels because at some point, everyone pays for the high cost of fuel. It affects all of us, whether directly at the gas pump or by higher food and materials costs,' says Lipton. Lipton categorizes her biofuels research area as environmental proteomics, which she defines as the application of advanced protein-based techniques to understanding environmental and biological systems. But she's quick to note that environmental proteomics doesn't just aid development of new biofuels, but also helps further understanding of the impact of climate change and the use of organisms for bioremediation.

Leveraging microbial biosynthetic pathways for the generation of 'drop-in' biofuels

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zargar, Amin; Bailey, Constance B.; Haushalter, Robert W.

2017-01-01

Advances in retooling microorganisms have enabled bioproduction of 'drop-in' biofuels, fuels that are compatible with existing spark-ignition, compression-ignition, and gas-turbine engines. As the majority of petroleum consumption in the United States consists of gasoline (47%), diesel fuel...... acid, terpene, and polyketide synthases for the production of bio-based gasoline, diesel and jet fuel....

10 CFR Appendix F to Subpart B of... - Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption of Room Air Conditioners

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... of Room Air Conditioners F Appendix F to Subpart B of Part 430 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY ENERGY... Conditioners 1. Test method. The test method for testing room air conditioners shall consist of application of the methods and conditions in American National Standard (ANS) Z234.1-1972, “Room Air Conditioners...

Privileged Biofuels, Marginalized Indigenous Peoples: The Coevolution of Biofuels Development in the Tropics

Science.gov (United States)

Montefrio, Marvin Joseph F.

2012-01-01

Biofuels development has assumed an important role in integrating Indigenous peoples and other marginalized populations in the production of biofuels for global consumption. By combining the theories of commoditization and the environmental sociology of networks and flows, the author analyzed emerging trends and possible changes in institutions…

Bio-fuels barometer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

2010-01-01

European Union bio-fuel use for transport reached 12 million tonnes of oil equivalent (mtoe) threshold during 2009. The slowdown in the growth of European consumption deepened again. Bio-fuel used in transport only grew by 18.7% between 2008 and 2009, as against 30.3% between 2007 and 2008 and 41.8% between 2006 and 2007. The bio-fuel incorporation rate in all fuels used by transport in the E.U. is unlikely to pass 4% in 2009. We can note that: -) the proportion of bio-fuel in the German fuels market has plummeted since 2007: from 7.3% in 2007 to 5.5% in 2009; -) France stays on course with an incorporation rate of 6.25% in 2009; -) In Spain the incorporation rate reached 3.4% in 2009 while it was 1.9% in 2008. The European bio-diesel industry has had another tough year. European production only rose by 16.6% in 2009 or by about 9 million tonnes which is well below the previous year-on-year growth rate recorded (35.7%). France is leading the production of bio-ethanol fuels in Europe with an output of 1250 million liters in 2009 while the total European production reached 3700 million litters and the world production 74000 million liters. (A.C.)

Sustainability aspects of biofuel production

Science.gov (United States)

Pawłowski, L.; Cel, W.; Wójcik Oliveira, K.

2018-05-01

Nowadays, world development depends on the energy supply. The use of fossil fuels leads to two threats: depletion of resources within a single century and climate changes caused by the emission of CO2 from fossil fuels combustion. Widespread application of renewable energy sources, in which biofuels play a major role, is proposed as a counter-measure. The paper made an attempt to evaluate to what extent biofuels meet the criteria of sustainable development. It was shown that excessive development of biofuels may threaten the sustainable development paradigms both in the aspect of: intergenerational equity, leading to an increase of food prices, as well as intergenerational equity, resulting in degradation of the environment. The paper presents the possibility of sustainable biofuels production increase.

Biofuels: policies, standards and technologies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2010-09-15

Skyrocketing prices of crude oil in the middle of the first decade of the 21st century accompanied by rising prices for food focused political and public attention on the role of biofuels. On the one hand, biofuels were considered as a potential automotive fuel with a bright future, on the other hand, biofuels were accused of competing with food production for land. The truth must lie somewhere in-between and is strongly dependent on the individual circumstance in different countries and regions. As food and energy are closely interconnected and often compete with each other for other resources, such as water, the World Energy Council - following numerous requests of its Member Committees - decided to undertake an independent assessment of biofuels policies, technologies and standards.

Potential of biofuels for shipping. Final Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Florentinus, A.; Hamelinck, C.; Van den Bos, A.; Winkel, R.; Cuijpers, M. [Ecofys Netherlands, Utrecht (Netherlands)

2012-01-15

Biofuels could be one of the options to realize a lower carbon intensity in the propulsion of ships and also possibly reduce the effect of ship emissions on local air quality. Therefore, EMSA, the European Maritime Safety Agency, is evaluating if and how biofuels could be used in the shipping sector as an alternative fuel. To determine the potential of biofuels for ships, a clearer picture is needed on technical and organizational limitations of biofuels in ships, both on board of the ship as in the fuel supply chain to the ship. Economic and sustainability analysis of biofuels should be included in this picture, as well as an overview on current and potential policy measures to stimulate the use of biofuels in shipping. Ecofys has determined the potential of biofuels, based on analysis of collected data through literature review, own expertise and experiences, direct communication with EMSA, research publications, market developments based on press and other media, and consultations with relevant stakeholders in the shipping market.

Biofuels: making tough choices

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vermeulen, Sonja; Dufey, Annie; Vorley, Bill

2008-02-15

The jury is still out on biofuels. But one thing at least is certain: serious trade-offs are involved in the production and use of these biomass-derived alternatives to fossil fuels. This has not been lost on the European Union. The year kicked off with an announcement from the EU environment commissioner that it may be better for the EU to miss its target of reaching 10 per cent biofuel content in road fuels by 2020 than to compromise the environment and human wellbeing. The 'decision tree' outlined here can guide the interdependent processes of deliberation and analysis needed for making tough choices in national biofuels development.

National Alliance for Advance Biofuels and Bio-Products Final Technical Report Addendum Hydrothermal Processing Pilot System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oyler, James [Genifuel Corporation

2015-12-22

The main objective of the NAABB was to combine science, technology, and engineering expertise from across the nation to break down critical technical barriers to commercialization of algae-based biofuels. As a part of the consortium, Genifuel’s NAABB goals was to fabricate and demonstrate a pilot-scale system to convert algae into fuels. The purpose of this pilot system was to show that processes developed in the laboratory at bench-scale during the program could be successfully scaled up to a pre-commercial level, and thereby provide visibility into the ultimate viability and cost of algae biofuels. The pilot system has now been completed and tested, and this report documents what has been achieved.

Biofuels for sustainable transportation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Neufeld, S.

2000-05-23

Biomass is an attractive energy source, and transportation fuels made from biomass offer a number of benefits. Developing the technology to produce and use biofuels will create transportation fuel options that can positively impact the national energy security, the economy, and the environment. Biofuels include ethanol, methanol, biodiesel, biocrude, and methane.

Panorama 2018 - 2017 biofuels scoreboard

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boute, Anne; Lorne, Daphne

2018-01-01

This note presents some 2017 statistical data about biofuels: consumption, fuel substitution rate, world ethanol and bio-diesel markets, diesel substitutes, French market, R and D investments, political measures for biofuels development

Effect of biofuel on environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kalam, M.A; Masjuki, H.H.; Maleque, M.A.

2001-01-01

Biofuels are alcohols, esters, and other chemical made from cellulosic biomass such as herbaceous and woody plants, agricultural and forestry residues, and a large portion of municipal solid and industrial waste. Biofuels are renewable and mostly suitable for diesel engines due to their similar physiochemical properties as traditional diesel oil. Demand of biofuel is increasing and some European countries have started using biofuel in diesel engine. This interest has been grown in many countries mainly due to fluctuating oil prices because of diminishing availability of conventional sources and polluted environment. However, the use of biofuel for diesel engine would be more beneficial to oil importing countries by saving foreign exchange, because biofuel is domestic renewable fuels. This paper presents the evaluation results of a multi-cylinder diesel engine operated on blends of ten, twenty, thirty, forty and fifty percent of ordinary coconut oil (COCO) with ordinary diesel (OD). The test results from all the COCO blends were compared with OD. The fuels were compared based on the emissions results including, exhaust temperature, NO x , smoke, CO, HC, benzene and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH). Carbon deposit on injector nozzles was also monitored. Exhaust emissions results showed that increasing coconut oil in blend decreases all the exhaust emissions. Carbon deposited on injector nozzles was observed where no hard carbon was found on injector tip when the engine was running on COCO blends. (Author)

10 CFR Appendix Q to Subpart B of... - Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption of Fluorescent Lamp Ballasts

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 10 Energy 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption... Appendix Q to Subpart B of Part 430—Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption of Fluorescent... reference; see § 430.3). The test for measuring standby mode energy consumption of fluorescent lamp ballasts...

A wireless transmission system powered by an enzyme biofuel cell implanted in an orange.

Science.gov (United States)

MacVittie, Kevin; Conlon, Tyler; Katz, Evgeny

2015-12-01

A biofuel cell composed of catalytic electrodes made of "buckypaper" modified with PQQ-dependent glucose dehydrogenase and FAD-dependent fructose dehydrogenase on the anode and with laccase on the cathode was used to activate a wireless information transmission system. The cathode/anode pair was implanted in orange pulp extracting power from its content (glucose and fructose in the juice). The open circuit voltage, Voc, short circuit current density, jsc, and maximum power produced by the biofuel cell, Pmax, were found as ca. 0.6 V, ca. 0.33 mA·cm(-2) and 670 μW, respectively. The voltage produced by the biofuel cell was amplified with an energy harvesting circuit and applied to a wireless transmitter. The present study continues the research line where different implantable biofuel cells are used for the activation of electronic devices. The study emphasizes the biosensor and environmental monitoring applications of implantable biofuel cells harvesting power from natural sources, rather than their biomedical use. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Land Clearing and the Biofuel Carbon Debt

Science.gov (United States)

Fargione, Joseph; Hill, Jason; Tilman, David; Polasky, Stephen; Hawthorne, Peter

2008-02-01

Increasing energy use, climate change, and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuels make switching to low-carbon fuels a high priority. Biofuels are a potential low-carbon energy source, but whether biofuels offer carbon savings depends on how they are produced. Converting rainforests, peatlands, savannas, or grasslands to produce food crop based biofuels in Brazil, Southeast Asia, and the United States creates a “biofuel carbon debt” by releasing 17 to 420 times more CO2 than the annual greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions that these biofuels would provide by displacing fossil fuels. In contrast, biofuels made from waste biomass or from biomass grown on degraded and abandoned agricultural lands planted with perennials incur little or no carbon debt and can offer immediate and sustained GHG advantages.

Biofuels and biodiversity in South Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patrick J. O’Farrell

2011-05-01

Full Text Available The South African government, as part of its efforts to mitigate the effects of the ongoing energy crisis, has proposed that biofuels should form an important part of the country’s energy supply. The contribution of liquid biofuels to the national fuel supply is expected to be at least 2% by 2013. The Biofuels Industrial Strategy of the Republic of South Africa of 2007 outlines key incentives for reaching this target and promoting the development of a sustainable biofuels industry. This paper discusses issues relating to this strategy as well as key drivers in biofuel processing with reference to potential impacts on South Africa’s rich biological heritage.

Our understanding of many of the broader aspects of biofuels needs to be enhanced. We identify key areas where challenges exist, such as the link between technology, conversion processes and feedstock selection. The available and proposed processing technologies have important implications for land use and the use of different non-native plant species as desired feedstocks. South Africa has a long history of planting non-native plant species for commercial purposes, notably for commercial forestry. Valuable lessons can be drawn from this experience on mitigation against potential impacts by considering plausible scenarios and the appropriate management framework and policies. We conceptualise key issues embodied in the biofuels strategy, adapting a framework developed for assessing and quantifying impacts of invasive alien species. In so doing, we provide guidelines for minimising the potential impacts of biofuel projects on biodiversity.

Application of US and EU Sustainability Criteria to Analysis of Biofuels-Induced Land Use Change

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Krissana Treesilvattanakul

2014-08-01

Full Text Available This research asks and answers a question that had been avoided by all the previous research on biofuels impacts. That is, to what extent are the US and EU biofuels sustainability criteria binding in the sense that if applied, sufficient land would be available to implement the programs? In answering the question, we simulate the global land by agro-ecological zone that would be needed to supply feedstocks for the US and EU biofuel programs using an advanced version of the GTAP-BIO model. Then we estimate the global area of land that would not be available due to sustainability criteria restrictions, again by agro-ecological zone. Finally, we determine the extent to which the US and EU sustainability criteria are binding and find that they are not binding at the biofuel levels currently targeted by the US and EU. In addition, we evaluate the same question, but this time freezing global food consumption, and get the same answer—plenty of land is available to meet the targets and supply food demands.

Algal Pretreatment Improves Biofuels Yield and Value; Highlights in Science, NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

2015-05-15

One of the major challenges associated with algal biofuels production in a biorefinery-type setting is improving biomass utilization in its entirety, increasing the process energetic yields and providing economically viable and scalable co-product concepts. We demonstrate the effectiveness of a novel, integrated technology based on moderate temperatures and low pH to convert the carbohydrates in wet algal biomass to soluble sugars for fermentation, while making lipids more accessible for downstream extraction and leaving a protein-enriched fraction behind. This research has been highlighted in the Green Chemistry journal article mentioned above and a milestone report, and is based on the work the researchers are doing for the AOP projects Algal Biomass Conversion and Algal Biofuels Techno-economic Analysis. That work has demonstrated an advanced process for algal biofuel production that captures the value of both the algal lipids and carbohydrates for conversion to biofuels.  With this process, as much as 150 GGE/ton of biomass can be produced, 2-3X more than can be produced by terrestrial feedstocks.  This can also reduce the cost of biofuel production by as much as 40%. This also represents the first ever design case for the algal lipid upgrading pathway.

Recommendations for a sustainable development of biofuels in France; Recommandations pour un developpement durable des biocarburants en France

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Douaud, A.; Gruson, J.F

2006-01-15

The biofuels are presented as a solution to the greenhouse gases and the petroleum consumption decrease. The development of the biofuels needs an active research of the production, transformation and use costs improvement. It will be necessary to prepare the market of the biofuels to the globalization. Some recommendations are also provided in the domains of the vegetal oil ester, the ethanol for the diesel and for the development of simulation tools to evaluate the costs. (A.L.B.)

Transfer of biofuel technologies in private and commercial sectors in western India

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saxena, S.C.; Vasudevan, P.

1991-01-01

The energy crisis all over the world has stimulated a lot of interest in renewable energies and indigenously produced fuels. Biofuels falls potentially into both these categories, hence biofuel technologies have attracted both scientists and practicing engineers in R ampersand D and transfer. Most of the biofuel technologies in India do not form part of the market economy, owing to unfavorable economic returns, but need large scale transfer due to their importance in the overall scenario of meeting growing energy requirements, calling for innovative approaches. In this paper an attempt has been made to analyze the gaps in transfer of biofuel technologies and describe an alternate model evolved by the authors. The experiences in the form of case studies are given, with a view to throw light on the A-B-C model's efficacy in terms of linkages and employment generation potential. Select reference to attempts made by other institutions in technology transfer to commercial sectors has also been made to focus attention on some key issues having policy implications

Biofuel investment in Tanzania: Omissions in implementation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Habib-Mintz, Nazia

2010-01-01

Increasing demand for biofuels as a component of climate change mitigation, energy security, and a fossil fuel alternative attracts investors to developing countries like Tanzania. Ample unused land is critical for first generation biofuels production and an important feature to attract foreign direct investments that can contribute towards agricultural modernization and poverty reduction initiatives. Despite the economic justifications, the existing institutional and infrastructural capacities dictate the impacts of biofuels market penetrations. Furthermore, exogenous factors like global recessionary pressure depressed oil prices below the level at which biofuel production were profitable in 2007, making Tanzania's competitiveness and potential benefits questionable. This paper investigates the extent that first generation, jatropha-based biofuels industry development in Tanzania observed during fieldwork in Kisarawe and Bahi may fulfill policy objectives. This paper argues that without strong regulatory frameworks for land, investment management, and rural development, biofuel industrialization could further exacerbate poverty and food insecurity in Tanzania. The paper concludes with policy recommendations for first generation biofuel development while keeping in mind implications of second generation production. Since the topic is broad and multifaceted, a multidisciplinary approach is used that includes political, institutional, and agricultural economics to analyze and conceptualize biofuel industry development and food security.

10 CFR Appendix S to Subpart B of... - Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Water Consumption of Faucets and Showerheads

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 10 Energy 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Water Consumption of... Appendix S to Subpart B of Part 430—Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Water Consumption of Faucets and... water consumption value shall be rounded to one decimal place for non-metered faucets, or two decimal...

10 CFR Appendix G to Subpart B of... - Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption of Unvented Home Heating Equipment

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 10 Energy 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption..., App. G Appendix G to Subpart B of Part 430—Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption of... energy consumption for primary electric heaters. For primary electric heaters, calculate the annual...

Assessing the environmental sustainability of biofuels.

Science.gov (United States)

Kazamia, Elena; Smith, Alison G

2014-10-01

Biofuels vary in their potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions when displacing fossil fuels. Savings depend primarily on the crop used for biofuel production, and on the effect that expanding its cultivation has on land use. Evidence-based policies should be used to ensure that maximal sustainability benefits result from the development of biofuels. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Algae as a Feedstock for Biofuels. An Assessment of the Current Status and Potential for Algal Biofuels Production. Joint Summary report of IEA-AMF Annex XXXIV-2 and IEA Bioenergy Task 39

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

O' Conner, D. [S and T2 Consultants, Inc. (Canada)

2011-09-15

In 2010, the IEA Advanced Motor Fuels Implementing Agreement and the IEA Bioenergy Task 39 both commissioned reports on the status and potential opportunities for Algal Biofuels. While there were substantial similarities in the findings of the two reports, each report provides unique perspectives on different aspects of the technology and the opportunities. This summary draws on both of those reports. The Task 39 report (Bioenergy Algal Biofuels.pdf) was authored by Al Darzins and Philip Pienkos (NREL, US) and Les Edye (BioIndustry Partners, Australia). The IEA AMF report was prepared by Karen Sikes and Ralph McGill (Sentech, Inc. US) and Martijn Van Walwijk (Independent Researcher).

Assessing the quality of a deliberative democracy mini-public event about advanced biofuel production and development in Canada.

Science.gov (United States)

Longstaff, Holly; Secko, David M

2016-02-01

The importance of evaluating deliberative public engagement events is well recognized, but such activities are rarely conducted for a variety of theoretical, political and practical reasons. In this article, we provide an assessment of the criteria presented in the 2008 National Research Council report on Public Participation in Environmental Assessment and Decision Making (NRC report) as explicit indicators of quality for the 2012 'Advanced Biofuels' deliberative democracy event. The National Research Council's criteria were selected to evaluate this event because they are decision oriented, are the products of an exhaustive review of similar past events, are intended specifically for environmental processes and encompass many of the criteria presented in other evaluation frameworks. It is our hope that the results of our study may encourage others to employ and assess the National Research Council's criteria as a generalizable benchmark that may justifiably be used in forthcoming deliberative events exploring different topics with different audiences. © The Author(s) 2014.

Biofuels and sustainability in Africa

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Amigun, Bamikole; Stafford, William [Sustainable Energy Futures, Natural Resources and the Environment, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), 7599 Stellenbosch (South Africa); Musango, Josephine Kaviti [Resource Based Sustainable Development, Natural Resources and the Environment, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), 7599 Stellenbosch (South Africa)

2011-02-15

The combined effects of climate change, the continued volatility of fuel prices, the recent food crisis and global economic turbulence have triggered a sense of urgency among policymakers, industries and development practitioners to find sustainable and viable solutions in the area of biofuels. This sense of urgency is reflected in the rapid expansion of global biofuels production and markets over the past few years. Biofuels development offers developing countries some prospect of self-reliant energy supplies at national and local levels, with potential economic, ecological, social, and security benefits. Forty-two African countries are net oil importers. This makes them particularly vulnerable to volatility in global fuel prices and dependent on foreign exchange to cover their domestic energy needs. The goal therefore is to reduce the high dependence on imported petroleum by developing domestic, renewable energy. But can this objective be achieved while leaving a minimal social and environmental footprint? A fundamental question is if biofuels can be produced with consideration of social, economic and environmental factors without setting unrealistic expectation for an evolving renewable energy industry that holds such great promise. The overall performance of different biofuels in reducing non-renewable energy use and greenhouse gas emissions varies when considering the entire lifecycle from production through to use. The net performance depends on the type of feedstock, the production process and the amount of non-renewable energy needed. This paper presents an overview of the development of biofuels in Africa, and highlights country-specific economic, environmental and social issues. It proposes a combination framework of policy incentives as a function of technology maturity, discusses practices, processes and technologies that can improve efficiency, lower energy and water demand, and further reduce the social and environmental footprint of biofuels

Biofuels and sustainability in Africa

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amigun, Bamikole; Stafford, William; Musango, Josephine Kaviti

2011-01-01

The combined effects of climate change, the continued volatility of fuel prices, the recent food crisis and global economic turbulence have triggered a sense of urgency among policymakers, industries and development practitioners to find sustainable and viable solutions in the area of biofuels. This sense of urgency is reflected in the rapid expansion of global biofuels production and markets over the past few years. Biofuels development offers developing countries some prospect of self-reliant energy supplies at national and local levels, with potential economic, ecological, social, and security benefits. Forty-two African countries are net oil importers. This makes them particularly vulnerable to volatility in global fuel prices and dependent on foreign exchange to cover their domestic energy needs. The goal therefore is to reduce the high dependence on imported petroleum by developing domestic, renewable energy. But can this objective be achieved while leaving a minimal social and environmental footprint? A fundamental question is if biofuels can be produced with consideration of social, economic and environmental factors without setting unrealistic expectation for an evolving renewable energy industry that holds such great promise. The overall performance of different biofuels in reducing non-renewable energy use and greenhouse gas emissions varies when considering the entire lifecycle from production through to use. The net performance depends on the type of feedstock, the production process and the amount of non-renewable energy needed. This paper presents an overview of the development of biofuels in Africa, and highlights country-specific economic, environmental and social issues. It proposes a combination framework of policy incentives as a function of technology maturity, discusses practices, processes and technologies that can improve efficiency, lower energy and water demand, and further reduce the social and environmental footprint of biofuels

Round table on bio-fuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-11-01

The French ministers of agriculture and of industry have organized a meeting with the main French actors of agriculture, petroleum industry, car making and accessories industry and with professionals of agriculture machines to encourage the development of bio-fuels in France. This meeting took place in Paris in November 21, 2005. Its aim was to favor the partnerships between the different actors and the public authorities in order to reach the ambitious goals of the government of 5.75% of bio-fuels in fossil fuels by 2008, 7% by 2010 and 10% by 2015. The main points discussed by the participants were: the compatibility of automotive fuel standards with the objectives of bio-fuel incorporation, the development of direct incorporation of methanol in gasoline, the ethanol-ETBE partnership, the question of the lower calorific value of ETBE (ethyl tertio butyl ether), the development of new bio-fuels, the development of bio-diesel and the specific case of pure vegetal oils, and the fiscal framework of bio-fuels. This meeting has permitted to reach important improvements with 15 concrete agreements undertaken by the participants. (J.S.)

2016 National Algal Biofuels Technology Review

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barry, Amanda [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Bioenergy Technologies Office, Washington, DC (United States); Wolfe, Alexis [Oak Ridge Inst. for Science and Education (ORISE), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); English, Christine [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Bioenergy Technologies Office, Washington, DC (United States); Ruddick, Colleen [BCS, Incorporated, Washington, DC (United States); Lambert, Devinn [Bioenergy Technologies Office, Washington, DC (United States)

2016-06-01

The Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, is committed to advancing the vision of a viable, sustainable domestic biomass industry that produces renewable biofuels, bioproducts, and biopower; enhances U.S. energy security; reduces our dependence on fossil fuels; provides environmental benefits; and creates economic opportunities across the nation. BETO’s goals are driven by various federal policies and laws, including the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA). To accomplish its goals, BETO has undertaken a diverse portfolio of research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) activities, in partnership with national laboratories, academia, and industry.

International Trade of Biofuels (Brochure)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2013-05-01

In recent years, the production and trade of biofuels has increased to meet global demand for renewable fuels. Ethanol and biodiesel contribute much of this trade because they are the most established biofuels. Their growth has been aided through a variety of policies, especially in the European Union, Brazil, and the United States, but ethanol trade and production have faced more targeted policies and tariffs than biodiesel. This fact sheet contains a summary of the trade of biofuels among nations, including historical data on production, consumption, and trade.

Sustainability of biofuels in Latin America: Risks and opportunities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Janssen, Rainer, E-mail: rainer.janssen@wip-munich.de [WIP Renewable Energies, Sylvensteinstrasse 2, 81369 Munich (Germany); Rutz, Dominik Damian [WIP Renewable Energies, Sylvensteinstrasse 2, 81369 Munich (Germany)

2011-10-15

Several Latin American countries are setting up biofuel programmes to establish alternative markets for agricultural commodities. This is mainly triggered by the current success of Brazilian bioethanol production for the domestic market and for export. Furthermore, the global biofuel market is expected to increase due to ambitious biofuel programmes in the EU and in the USA. Colombia, Venezuela, Costa Rica and Guatemala are focusing on bioethanol production from sugarcane whereas biofuel production in Argentina is based on soy biodiesel. Recent developments of the biofuel sector take place extremely rapid especially in Argentina, which became one of the five largest biodiesel producers in the world in 2008. Till date no specific biofuel sustainability certification systems have been implemented in Latin American, as well as on global level. This fact and the predominant use of food crops for biofuel production raise concerns about the sustainability of biofuel production related to environmental and social aspects. This paper provides an overview of the hotspots of conflicts in biofuel production in Latin America. It investigates presently available sustainability tools and initiatives to ensure sustainable biofuel production in Latin America. Finally, it provides an outlook on how to integrate sustainability in the Latin American biofuel sector. - Research Highlights: > This study investigates risks and opportunities of biofuels in Latin America. > Latin American countries are setting up programmes to promote biofuel development. > Strong biofuel sectors provide opportunities for economic development. > Potential negative impact includes deforestation and effects on food security. > Sustainability initiatives exist to minimise negative impact.

Sustainability of biofuels in Latin America: Risks and opportunities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Janssen, Rainer; Rutz, Dominik Damian

2011-01-01

Several Latin American countries are setting up biofuel programmes to establish alternative markets for agricultural commodities. This is mainly triggered by the current success of Brazilian bioethanol production for the domestic market and for export. Furthermore, the global biofuel market is expected to increase due to ambitious biofuel programmes in the EU and in the USA. Colombia, Venezuela, Costa Rica and Guatemala are focusing on bioethanol production from sugarcane whereas biofuel production in Argentina is based on soy biodiesel. Recent developments of the biofuel sector take place extremely rapid especially in Argentina, which became one of the five largest biodiesel producers in the world in 2008. Till date no specific biofuel sustainability certification systems have been implemented in Latin American, as well as on global level. This fact and the predominant use of food crops for biofuel production raise concerns about the sustainability of biofuel production related to environmental and social aspects. This paper provides an overview of the hotspots of conflicts in biofuel production in Latin America. It investigates presently available sustainability tools and initiatives to ensure sustainable biofuel production in Latin America. Finally, it provides an outlook on how to integrate sustainability in the Latin American biofuel sector. - Research Highlights: → This study investigates risks and opportunities of biofuels in Latin America. → Latin American countries are setting up programmes to promote biofuel development. → Strong biofuel sectors provide opportunities for economic development. → Potential negative impact includes deforestation and effects on food security. → Sustainability initiatives exist to minimise negative impact.

Modifying plants for biofuel and biomaterial production.

Science.gov (United States)

Furtado, Agnelo; Lupoi, Jason S; Hoang, Nam V; Healey, Adam; Singh, Seema; Simmons, Blake A; Henry, Robert J

2014-12-01

The productivity of plants as biofuel or biomaterial crops is established by both the yield of plant biomass per unit area of land and the efficiency of conversion of the biomass to biofuel. Higher yielding biofuel crops with increased conversion efficiencies allow production on a smaller land footprint minimizing competition with agriculture for food production and biodiversity conservation. Plants have traditionally been domesticated for food, fibre and feed applications. However, utilization for biofuels may require the breeding of novel phenotypes, or new species entirely. Genomics approaches support genetic selection strategies to deliver significant genetic improvement of plants as sources of biomass for biofuel manufacture. Genetic modification of plants provides a further range of options for improving the composition of biomass and for plant modifications to assist the fabrication of biofuels. The relative carbohydrate and lignin content influences the deconstruction of plant cell walls to biofuels. Key options for facilitating the deconstruction leading to higher monomeric sugar release from plants include increasing cellulose content, reducing cellulose crystallinity, and/or altering the amount or composition of noncellulosic polysaccharides or lignin. Modification of chemical linkages within and between these biomass components may improve the ease of deconstruction. Expression of enzymes in the plant may provide a cost-effective option for biochemical conversion to biofuel. © 2014 Society for Experimental Biology, Association of Applied Biologists and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Impacts of Residential Biofuel Emissions on Air Quality and Climate

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Y.; Unger, N.; Harper, K.; Storelvmo, T.

2016-12-01

The residential biofuel sector is defined as fuelwood, agricultural residues and dung used for household cooking and heating. Aerosol emissions from this human activity play an important role affecting local, regional and global air quality, climate and public health. However, there are only few studies available that evaluate the net impacts and large uncertainties persist. Here we use the Community Atmosphere Model version 5.3 (CAM v5.3) within the Community Earth System Model version 1.2.2, to quantify the impacts of cook-stove biofuel emissions on air quality and climate. The model incorporates a novel advanced treatment of black carbon (BC) effects on mixed-phase/ice clouds. We update the global anthropogenic emission inventory in CAM v5.3 to a state-of-the-art emission inventory from the Greenhouse Gas-Air Pollution Interactions and Synergies integrated assessment model. Global in-situ and aircraft campaign observations for BC and organic carbon are used to evaluate and validate the model performance. Sensitivity simulations are employed to assess the impacts of residential biofuel emissions on regional and global direct and indirect radiative forcings in the contemporary world. We focus the analyses on several key regions including India, China and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Innovative technological paradigm-based approach towards biofuel feedstock

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu, Jiuping; Li, Meihui

2017-01-01

Highlights: • DAS was developed through an innovative approach towards literature mining and technological paradigm theory. • A novel concept of biofuel feedstock development paradigm (BFDP) is proposed. • The biofuel production diffusion velocity model gives predictions for the future. • Soft path appears to be the driving force for the new paradigm shift. • An integrated biofuel production feedstock system is expected to play a significant role in a low-carbon sustainable future. - Abstract: Biofuels produced from renewable energy biomass are playing a more significant role because of the environmental problems resulting from the use of fossil fuels. However, a major problem with biofuel production is that despite the range of feedstock that can be used, raw material availability varies considerably. By combining a series of theories and methods, the research objective of this study is to determine the current developments and the future trends in biofuel feedstock. By combining technological paradigm theory with literature mining, it was found that biofuel feedstock production development followed a three-stage trajectory, which was in accordance with the traditional technological paradigm – the S-curve. This new curve can be divided into BFDP (biofuel feedstock development paradigm) competition, BFDP diffusion, and BFDP shift. The biofuel production diffusion velocity model showed that there has been constant growth from 2000, with the growth rate reaching a peak in 2008, after which time it began to drop. Biofuel production worldwide is expected to remain unchanged until 2030 when a paradigm shift is expected. This study also illustrates the results of our innovative procedure – a combination of the data analysis system and the technological paradigm theory – for the present biofuel feedstock soft path that will lead to this paradigm shift, with integrated biofuel production feedstock systems expected to be a significant new trend.

Socio-economic aspects of different biofuel development pathways

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Duer, Henrik; Christensen, Pernille Ovre

2010-01-01

There are several policy drivers for biofuels on a larger scale in the EU transport sector, including increased security of energy supply, reduced emission of greenhouse gases (GHG), and new markets for the agricultural sector. The purpose of this socio-economic cost analysis is to provide an overview of the costs of meeting EU biofuels targets, taking into account several external costs and benefits. Biofuels are generally more expensive than traditional fossil fuels, but the expected increasing value of GHG emission reductions will over time reduce the cost gap. High crude oil prices significantly improve the economic benefit of biofuels, but increased demand for biomass for energy purposes is likely to increase the price of biofuels feedstock and biofuels costs. The key question is to what extent increasing oil prices will be passed on to biofuels costs. Socio-economic least costs for biofuels production require a market with a clear pricing of GHG emissions to ensure that this factor is included in the decision-making of actors in all links of the fuel chain.

Biofuels - Illusion or Reality? - The european experience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Furfari, A.

2008-01-01

Environmental issues, rising prices and security of supply are putting energy at the centre of all attentions. Policy-makers pushed by various stakeholders are struggling to find more sustainable solutions to the world legitimate demand for energy. The transport sector is especially under pressure as it relies for 98% on oil. Despite vast research and development investments, no short-term solutions appeared to be reliable. Thanks to lawmakers support to biofuels, these substitutes for oil are now seen as the potential solution for a sustainable transport. This book analyses the real possibility of biofuels. Does Europe has enough land to produce the needed feedstock? What are the real gains in terms of greenhouse gases emissions and energy efficiency? Are biofuels really a sustainable solution? Will this policy succeed? Are the targets reachable? The reader will find some indications in this book to make up his mind on this complex, multifaceted and highly political subject. Contents: Summary. Introduction. Biofuels in the U.S.A. and Brazil. Do we have enough land in Europe? Biofuels life cycle analysis. Greenhouse gases reduction and efficiency. Case of the glycerin price. Variables affecting biofuels sustainability. Standard for Biofuels. Conclusion. General Bibliography. Annexes. References

40 CFR Appendix A to Subpart Aa of... - Applicability of General Provisions (40 CFR Part 63, Subpart A) to Subpart AA

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... (40 CFR Part 63, Subpart A) to Subpart AA A Appendix A to Subpart AA of Part 63 Protection of... Hazardous Air Pollutants From Phosphoric Acid Manufacturing Plants Pt. 63, Subpt. AA, App. A Appendix A to Subpart AA of Part 63—Applicability of General Provisions (40 CFR Part 63, Subpart A) to Subpart AA 40 CFR...

How policies affect international biofuel price linkages

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rajcaniova, Miroslava; Drabik, Dusan; Ciaian, Pavel

2013-01-01

We estimate the role of biofuel policies in determining which country is the price leader in world biofuel markets using a cointegration analysis and a Vector Error Correction (VEC) model. Weekly prices are analyzed for the EU, US, and Brazilian ethanol and biodiesel markets in the 2002–2010 and 2005–2010 time periods, respectively. The US blender's tax credit and Brazil's consumer tax exemption are found to play a role in determining the ethanol prices in other countries. For biodiesel, our results demonstrate that EU policies – the consumer tax exemption and blending target – tend to determine the world biodiesel price. - Highlights: • We estimate the role of biofuel policies in determining biofuel prices. • We use a cointegration analysis and the Vector Error Correction (VEC) model. • The biofuel policies in US and Brazil determine the world ethanol prices. • EU biofuel policies tend to form the world biodiesel price

Frames in the Ethiopian Debate on Biofuels

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brigitte Portner

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Biofuel production, while highly contested, is supported by a number of policies worldwide. Ethiopia was among the first sub-Saharan countries to devise a biofuel policy strategy to guide the associated demand toward sustainable development. In this paper, I discuss Ethiopia’s biofuel policy from an interpretative research position using a frames approach and argue that useful insights can be obtained by paying more attention to national contexts and values represented in the debates on whether biofuel production can or will contribute to sustainable development. To this end, I was able to distinguish three major frames used in the Ethiopian debate on biofuels: an environmental rehabilitation frame, a green revolution frame and a legitimacy frame. The article concludes that actors advocating for frames related to social and human issues have difficulties entering the debate and forming alliances, and that those voices need to be included in order for Ethiopia to develop a sustainable biofuel sector.

The National Biofuels Strategy - Importance of sustainable feedstock production systems in regional-based supply chains

Science.gov (United States)

Region-based production systems are needed to produce the feedstocks that will be turned into the biofuels required to meet Federal mandated targets. Executive and Legislative actions have put into motion significant government responses designed to advance the development and production of domestic...

The greenhouse gas intensity and potential biofuel production capacity of maize stover harvest in the US Midwest

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jones, Curtis D. [Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park MD 20742 USA; Zhang, Xuesong [Joint Global Change Research Institute, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and University of Maryland, College Park MD 20740 USA; Reddy, Ashwan D. [Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park MD 20742 USA; Robertson, G. Philip [Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Michigan State University, East Lansing MI 48824 USA; W.K. Kellogg Biological Station, Michigan State University, Hickory Corners MI 49060 USA; Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing MI 48824 USA; Izaurralde, Roberto César [Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park MD 20742 USA; Texas A& M AgriLife Research & Extension Center, Temple TX 76502 USA

2017-08-11

Agricultural residues are important sources of feedstock for a cellulosic biofuels industry that is being developed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve energy independence. While the US Midwest has been recognized as key to providing maize stover for meeting near-term cellulosic biofuel production goals, there is uncertainty that such feedstocks can produce biofuels that meet federal cellulosic standards. Here, we conducted extensive site-level calibration of the Environmental Policy Integrated Climate (EPIC) terrestrial ecosystems model and applied the model at high spatial resolution across the US Midwest to improve estimates of the maximum production potential and greenhouse gas emissions expected from continuous maize residue-derived biofuels. A comparison of methodologies for calculating the soil carbon impacts of residue harvesting demonstrates the large impact of study duration, depth of soil considered, and inclusion of litter carbon in soil carbon change calculations on the estimated greenhouse gas intensity of maize stover-derived biofuels. Using the most representative methodology for assessing long-term residue harvesting impacts, we estimate that only 5.3 billion liters per year (bly) of ethanol, or 8.7% of the near-term US cellulosic biofuel demand, could be met under common no-till farming practices. However, appreciably more feedstock becomes available at modestly higher emissions levels, with potential for 89.0 bly of ethanol production meeting US advanced biofuel standards. Adjustments to management practices, such as adding cover crops to no-till management, will be required to produce sufficient quantities of residue meeting the greenhouse gas emission reduction standard for cellulosic biofuels. Considering the rapid increase in residue availability with modest relaxations in GHG reduction level, it is expected that management practices with modest benefits to soil carbon would allow considerable expansion of potential cellulosic

7 CFR Appendix D to Subpart B of... - Certification of Independent Certified Public Accountant Regarding Notes To Be Issued Pursuant to...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

...—Certification of Independent Certified Public Accountant Regarding Notes To Be Issued Pursuant to 7 CFR 1744.30... 7 Agriculture 11 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Certification of Independent Certified Public Accountant Regarding Notes To Be Issued Pursuant to 7 CFR 1744.30 D Appendix D to Subpart B of Part 1744...

Coupling of Algal Biofuel Production with Wastewater

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Neha Chamoli Bhatt

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Microalgae have gained enormous consideration from scientific community worldwide emerging as a viable feedstock for a renewable energy source virtually being carbon neutral, high lipid content, and comparatively more advantageous to other sources of biofuels. Although microalgae are seen as a valuable source in majority part of the world for production of biofuels and bioproducts, still they are unable to accomplish sustainable large-scale algal biofuel production. Wastewater has organic and inorganic supplements required for algal growth. The coupling of microalgae with wastewater is an effective way of waste remediation and a cost-effective microalgal biofuel production. In this review article, we will primarily discuss the possibilities and current scenario regarding coupling of microalgal cultivation with biofuel production emphasizing recent progress in this area.

DLA Energy Biofuel Feedstock Metrics Study

Science.gov (United States)

2012-12-11

moderately/highly in- vasive  Metric 2: Genetically modified organism ( GMO ) hazard, Yes/No and Hazard Category  Metric 3: Species hybridization...4– biofuel distribution Stage # 5– biofuel use Metric 1: State inva- siveness ranking Yes Minimal Minimal No No Metric 2: GMO hazard Yes...may utilize GMO microbial or microalgae species across the applicable biofuel life cycles (stages 1–3). The following consequence Metrics 4–6 then

Lessons from first generation biofuels and implications for the sustainability appraisal of second generation biofuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohr, Alison; Raman, Sujatha

2013-01-01

Aims: The emergence of second generation (2G) biofuels is widely seen as a sustainable response to the increasing controversy surrounding the first generation (1G). Yet, sustainability credentials of 2G biofuels are also being questioned. Drawing on work in Science and Technology Studies, we argue that controversies help focus attention on key, often value-related questions that need to be posed to address broader societal concerns. This paper examines lessons drawn from the 1G controversy to assess implications for the sustainability appraisal of 2G biofuels. Scope: We present an overview of key 1G sustainability challenges, assess their relevance for 2G, and highlight the challenges for policy in managing the transition. We address limitations of existing sustainability assessments by exploring where challenges might emerge across the whole system of bioenergy and the wider context of the social system in which bioenergy research and policy are done. Conclusions: Key lessons arising from 1G are potentially relevant to the sustainability appraisal of 2G biofuels depending on the particular circumstances or conditions under which 2G is introduced. We conclude that sustainability challenges commonly categorised as either economic, environmental or social are, in reality, more complexly interconnected (so that an artificial separation of these categories is problematic). - Highlights: • Controversy surrounding 1G biofuels is relevant to sustainability appraisal of 2G. • Challenges for policy in managing the transition to 2G biofuels are highlighted. • A key lesson is that sustainability challenges are complexly interconnected

Towards Sustainable Production of Biofuels from Microalgae

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hans Ragnar Giselrød

2008-07-01

Full Text Available Renewable and carbon neutral biofuels are necessary for environmental and economic sustainability. The viability of the first generation biofuels production is however questionable because of the conflict with food supply. Microalgal biofuels are a viable alternative. The oil productivity of many microalgae exceeds the best producing oil crops. This paper aims to analyze and promote integration approaches for sustainable microalgal biofuel production to meet the energy and environmental needs of the society. The emphasis is on hydrothermal liquefaction technology for direct conversion of algal biomass to liquid fuel.

10 CFR Appendix W to Subpart B of... - Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption of Medium Base Compact Fluorescent Lamps

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 10 Energy 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption of Medium Base Compact Fluorescent Lamps W Appendix W to Subpart B of Part 430 Energy DEPARTMENT OF... the previous step. Round the final energy consumption value, as applicable, to the nearest decimal...

Integrated biofuels process synthesis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Torres-Ortega, Carlo Edgar; Rong, Ben-Guang

2017-01-01

Second and third generation bioethanol and biodiesel are more environmentally friendly fuels than gasoline and petrodiesel, andmore sustainable than first generation biofuels. However, their production processes are more complex and more expensive. In this chapter, we describe a two-stage synthesis......% used for bioethanol process), and steam and electricity from combustion (54%used as electricity) in the bioethanol and biodiesel processes. In the second stage, we saved about 5% in equipment costs and 12% in utility costs for bioethanol separation. This dual synthesis methodology, consisting of a top......-level screening task followed by a down-level intensification task, proved to be an efficient methodology for integrated biofuel process synthesis. The case study illustrates and provides important insights into the optimal synthesis and intensification of biofuel production processes with the proposed synthesis...

10 CFR Appendix V to Subpart B of... - Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption of Ceiling Fan Light Kits

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 10 Energy 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption... Appendix V to Subpart B of Part 430—Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption of Ceiling Fan... the final energy consumption value to a whole number as follows: (i) A fractional number at or above...

From biomass to sustainable biofuels in southern Africa

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Van Zyl, W.H.; Den Haan, R.; Rose, S.H.; La Grange, D.C.; Bloom, M. [Stellenbosch Univ., Matieland (South Africa). Dept. of Microbiology; Gorgens, J.F.; Knoetze, J.H. [Stellenbosch Univ., Matieland (South Africa). Dept. of Process Engineering; Von Blottnitz, H. [Cape Town Univ., Rondebosch (South Africa). Dept. of Chemical Engineering

2009-07-01

This presentation reported on a global sustainable bioenergy project with particular reference to South Africa's strategy to develop biofuels. The current biofuel production in South Africa was presented along with the potential for biofuels production and other clean alternative fuels. The South African industrial biofuel strategy (IBS) was developed in 2007 with a mandate to create jobs in the energy-crop and biofuels value chain; attract investment into rural areas; promote agricultural development; and reduce the import of foreign oil. The proposed crops for bioethanol include sugar cane and sugar beet, while the proposed crops for biodiesel include sunflower, canola and soya beans. The exclusion of maize was based on food security concerns. Jatropha curcas was also excluded because it is considered to be an invasive species. In addition to environmental benefits, the production of biofuels from biomass in Africa offers improved energy security, economic development and social upliftment. All biofuel projects are evaluated to ensure that these benefits are realized. Although first generation technologies do not score well due to marginal energy balance, negative life cycle impacts or detriment to biodiversity, the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass scores well in terms of enabling the commercialization of second generation biofuels. This paper discussed both the biochemical and thermochemical technological interventions needed to develop commercially-viable second generation lignocellulose conversion technologies to biofuels. tabs., figs.

Indirect land use change and biofuel policy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kocoloski, Matthew; Griffin, W Michael; Matthews, H Scott

2009-01-01

Biofuel debates often focus heavily on carbon emissions, with parties arguing for (or against) biofuels solely on the basis of whether the greenhouse gas emissions of biofuels are less than (or greater than) those of gasoline. Recent studies argue that land use change leads to significant greenhouse gas emissions, making some biofuels more carbon intensive than gasoline. We argue that evaluating the suitability and utility of biofuels or any alternative energy source within the limited framework of plus and minus carbon emissions is too narrow an approach. Biofuels have numerous impacts, and policy makers should seek compromises rather than relying solely on carbon emissions to determine policy. Here, we estimate that cellulosic ethanol, despite having potentially higher life cycle CO 2 emissions (including from land use) than gasoline, would still be cost-effective at a CO 2 price of $80 per ton or less, well above estimated CO 2 mitigation costs for many alternatives. As an example of the broader approach to biofuel policy, we suggest the possibility of using the potential cost reductions of cellulosic ethanol relative to gasoline to balance out additional carbon emissions resulting from indirect land use change as an example of ways in which policies could be used to arrive at workable solutions.

Indirect land use change and biofuel policy

Science.gov (United States)

Kocoloski, Matthew; Griffin, W. Michael; Matthews, H. Scott

2009-09-01

Biofuel debates often focus heavily on carbon emissions, with parties arguing for (or against) biofuels solely on the basis of whether the greenhouse gas emissions of biofuels are less than (or greater than) those of gasoline. Recent studies argue that land use change leads to significant greenhouse gas emissions, making some biofuels more carbon intensive than gasoline. We argue that evaluating the suitability and utility of biofuels or any alternative energy source within the limited framework of plus and minus carbon emissions is too narrow an approach. Biofuels have numerous impacts, and policy makers should seek compromises rather than relying solely on carbon emissions to determine policy. Here, we estimate that cellulosic ethanol, despite having potentially higher life cycle CO2 emissions (including from land use) than gasoline, would still be cost-effective at a CO2 price of 80 per ton or less, well above estimated CO2 mitigation costs for many alternatives. As an example of the broader approach to biofuel policy, we suggest the possibility of using the potential cost reductions of cellulosic ethanol relative to gasoline to balance out additional carbon emissions resulting from indirect land use change as an example of ways in which policies could be used to arrive at workable solutions.

Opportunity for profitable investments in cellulosic biofuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Babcock, Bruce A.; Marette, Stephan; Treguer, David

2011-01-01

Research efforts to allow large-scale conversion of cellulose into biofuels are being undertaken in the US and EU. These efforts are designed to increase logistic and conversion efficiencies, enhancing the economic competitiveness of cellulosic biofuels. However, not enough attention has been paid to the future market conditions for cellulosic biofuels, which will determine whether the necessary private investment will be available to allow a cellulosic biofuels industry to emerge. We examine the future market for cellulosic biofuels, differentiating between cellulosic ethanol and 'drop-in' cellulosic biofuels that can be transported with petroleum fuels and have equivalent energy values. We show that emergence of a cellulosic ethanol industry is unlikely without costly government subsidies, in part because of strong competition from conventional ethanol and limits on ethanol blending. If production costs of drop-in cellulosic biofuels fall enough to become competitive, then their expansion will not necessarily cause feedstock prices to rise. As long as local supplies of feedstocks that have no or low-valued alternative uses exist, then expansion will not cause prices to rise significantly. If cellulosic feedstocks come from dedicated biomass crops, then the supply curves will have a steeper slope because of competition for land. (author)

18 CFR Appendix I to Subpart F of... - Procedures for Compliance With the Endangered Species Act of 1973 Under § 157.206(b)(3)(i)

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... Compliance With the Endangered Species Act of 1973 Under § 157.206(b)(3)(i) I Appendix I to Subpart F of... Compliance With the Endangered Species Act of 1973 Under § 157.206(b)(3)(i) The following procedures apply to... ENERGY REGULATIONS UNDER NATURAL GAS ACT APPLICATIONS FOR CERTIFICATES OF PUBLIC CONVENIENCE AND...

Contrasts and synergies in different biofuel reports.

Science.gov (United States)

Michalopoulos, A; Landeweerd, L; Van der Werf-Kulichova, Z; Puylaert, P G B; Osseweijer, P

2011-04-06

The societal debate on biofuels is characterised by increased complexity. This can hinder the effective governance of the field. This paper attempts a quantitative bird's eye meta-analysis of this complexity by mapping different stakeholder perspectives and expected outcomes as seen in the secondary literature on biofuels, along the lines of the People-Planet-Profit framework. Our analysis illustrates the tension between stated and actual drivers of large scale biofuel development, especially for first generation biofuels. Although environmental (Planet) aspects have dominated the biofuel debate, their overall assessment is mostly negative with regard to first generation biofuels. By contrast, economic (Profit) aspects are the only ones that are assessed positively with regard to first generation biofuels. Furthermore, positive and negative assessments of biofuel development are strongly influenced by the differences in focus between different stakeholder clusters. Stakeholders who appear generally supportive to biofuel development (industry) focus relatively more on aspects that are generally assessed as positive (Profit). By contrast, non-supportive stakeholders (NGO's) tend to focus mainly on aspects that are generally assessed as negative (Planet). Moreover, our analysis of reference lists revealed few citations of primary scientific data, and also that intergovernmental organizations produce the most influential publications in the debate. The surprising lack of listed references to scientific (primary) data reveals a need to assess in which arena the transition of scientific data towards secondary publications takes place, and how one can measure its quality. This work should be understood as a first effort to take some control over a complex and contradictory number of publications, and to allow the effective governance of the field through the identification of areas of overlapping consensus and persisting controversy, without reverting to claims on

Assessment of bio-fuel options for solid oxide fuel cell applications

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Jiefeng

Rising concerns of inadequate petroleum supply, volatile crude oil price, and adverse environmental impacts from using fossil fuels have spurred the United States to promote bio-fuel domestic production and develop advanced energy systems such as fuel cells. The present dissertation analyzed the bio-fuel applications in a solid oxide fuel cell-based auxiliary power unit from environmental, economic, and technological perspectives. Life cycle assessment integrated with thermodynamics was applied to evaluate the environmental impacts (e.g., greenhouse gas emission, fossil energy consumption) of producing bio-fuels from waste biomass. Landfill gas from municipal solid wastes and biodiesel from waste cooking oil are both suggested as the promising bio-fuel options. A nonlinear optimization model was developed with a multi-objective optimization technique to analyze the economic aspect of biodiesel-ethanol-diesel ternary blends used in transportation sectors and capture the dynamic variables affecting bio-fuel productions and applications (e.g., market disturbances, bio-fuel tax credit, policy changes, fuel specification, and technological innovation). A single-tube catalytic reformer with rhodium/ceria-zirconia catalyst was used for autothermal reformation of various heavy hydrocarbon fuels (e.g., diesel, biodiesel, biodiesel-diesel, and biodiesel-ethanol-diesel) to produce a hydrogen-rich stream reformates suitable for use in solid oxide fuel cell systems. A customized mixing chamber was designed and integrated with the reformer to overcome the technical challenges of heavy hydrocarbon reformation. A thermodynamic analysis, based on total Gibbs free energy minimization, was implemented to optimize the operating environment for the reformations of various fuels. This was complimented by experimental investigations of fuel autothermal reformation. 25% biodiesel blended with 10% ethanol and 65% diesel was determined to be viable fuel for use on a truck travelling with

Economy-wide impacts of biofuels in Argentina

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Timilsina, Govinda R.; Chisari, Omar O.; Romero, Carlos A.

2013-01-01

Argentina is one of the world's largest biodiesel producers and the largest exporter, using soybeans as feedstock. Using a computable general equilibrium model that explicitly represents the biofuel industry, this study carries out several simulations on two sets of issues: (i) international markets for biofuel and feedstock, such as an increase in prices of soybean, soybean oil, and biodiesel, and (ii) domestic policies related to biofuels, such as an introduction of biofuel mandates. Both sets of issues can have important consequences to the Argentinean economy. The simulations indicate that increases in international prices of biofuels and feedstocks would increase Argentina's gross domestic product and social welfare. Increases in international prices of ethanol and corn also can benefit Argentina, but to a lesser extent. The domestic mandates for biofuels, however, would cause small losses in economic output and social welfare because they divert part of biodiesel and feedstock from exports to lower-return domestic consumption. An increase in the export tax on either feedstock or biodiesel also would lead to a reduction in gross domestic product and social welfare, although government revenue would rise. - Highlights: ► Argentina is one of the largest biodiesel producer and exporter using soybeans. ► Economy-wide impacts are assessed using a CGE model for Argentina. ► Policies simulated are feedstock and biodiesel price change, and domestic mandates. ► Increases in international prices of biofuels and feedstock benefit the country. ► Domestic mandates for biofuels cause small losses in economic output

Biofuel impacts on water.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tidwell, Vincent Carroll; Malczynski, Leonard A.; Sun, Amy Cha-Tien

2011-01-01

Sandia National Laboratories and General Motors Global Energy Systems team conducted a joint biofuels systems analysis project from March to November 2008. The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility, implications, limitations, and enablers of large-scale production of biofuels. 90 billion gallons of ethanol (the energy equivalent of approximately 60 billion gallons of gasoline) per year by 2030 was chosen as the book-end target to understand an aggressive deployment. Since previous studies have addressed the potential of biomass but not the supply chain rollout needed to achieve large production targets, the focus of this study was on a comprehensive systems understanding the evolution of the full supply chain and key interdependencies over time. The supply chain components examined in this study included agricultural land use changes, production of biomass feedstocks, storage and transportation of these feedstocks, construction of conversion plants, conversion of feedstocks to ethanol at these plants, transportation of ethanol and blending with gasoline, and distribution to retail outlets. To support this analysis, we developed a 'Seed to Station' system dynamics model (Biofuels Deployment Model - BDM) to explore the feasibility of meeting specified ethanol production targets. The focus of this report is water and its linkage to broad scale biofuel deployment.

Lignin plays a negative role in the biochemical process for producing lignocellulosic biofuels.

Science.gov (United States)

Zeng, Yining; Zhao, Shuai; Yang, Shihui; Ding, Shi-You

2014-06-01

A biochemical platform holds the most promising route toward lignocellulosic biofuels, in which polysaccharides are hydrolyzed by cellulase enzymes into simple sugars and fermented to ethanol by microbes. However, these polysaccharides are cross-linked in the plant cell walls with the hydrophobic network of lignin that physically impedes enzymatic deconstruction. A thermochemical pretreatment process is often required to remove or delocalize lignin, which may also generate inhibitors that hamper enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation. Here we review recent advances in understanding lignin structure in the plant cell walls and the negative roles of lignin in the processes of converting biomass to biofuels. Perspectives and future directions to improve the biomass conversion process are also discussed. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Bio-fuels - biohazard

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Slovak, K.

2008-01-01

Politicians have a clear explanation for growing commodity prices. It is all the fault of speculators. It is easy to point the finger at an imaginary enemy. It is more difficult and from the point of view of a political career suicidal to admit one's mistakes. And there are reasons for remorse. According to studies prepared by the OECD and the World Bank bio-fuels are to be blame for high food prices. The bio-fuel boom that increases the demand for agro-commodities has been created by politicians offering generous subsidies. And so farming products do not end up on the table, but in the fuel tanks of cars in the form of additives. And their only efficiency is that they make food more expensive. The first relevant indication that environmentalist tendencies in global politics have resulted in shortages and food price increases can be found in a confidential report prepared by the World Bank. Parts of the report were leaked to the media last month. According to this information growing bio-fuel production has resulted in a food price increase by 75%. The theory that this development was caused by speculators and Chinese and Indian demand received a serious blow. And the OECD report definitely contradicted the excuse used by the politicians. According to the report one of the main reasons for growing food prices are generously subsidized bio-fuels. Their share of the increase of demand for agro-commodities in 2005 -2007 was 60% according to the study. (author)

Biofuels development and the policy regime.

Science.gov (United States)

Philp, Jim C; Guy, Ken; Ritchie, Rachael J

2013-01-01

Any major change to the energy order is certain to provoke both positive and negative societal responses. The current wave of biofuels development ignited controversies that have re-shaped the thinking about their future development. Mistakes were made in the early support for road transport biofuels in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. This article examines some of the policies that shaped the early development of biofuels and looks to the future. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Stabilizing the agricultural frontier: Leveraging REDD with biofuels for sustainable development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Killeen, Timothy J.; Schroth, Goetz; Turner, Will; Harvey, Celia A.; Steininger, Marc K.; Dragisic, Christine; Mittermeier, Russell A.

2011-01-01

We evaluate the potential of a proposed policy model that would explicitly link the cultivation of biofuels with forest conservation (Biofuel + FC) as part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The model postulates that a ratio of 4:1 forest conservation to biofuel cultivation be linked to proposals for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD + Biofuel), while a ratio of 9:1 biofuel cultivation to reforestation on degraded landscape (RDL + Biofuel) be linked to the afforestation/reforestation component of the Clean Development Mechanism. Both biofuel production options would be limited to the cultivation of woody perennial biofuel species on low biomass landscapes in order to maximize the carbon benefits of the proposed policy model. The potential to conserve forest, avoid GHG emissions, improve carbon sequestration, and produce renewable energy are evaluated by an illustrative model for five case studies (Pará – Brazil, East Kalimantan – Indonesia, Madagascar, Colombia and Liberia). The Biofuel + FC policy model is then compared with three counterfactual scenarios: REDD Alone with no biofuel cultivation; Biofuel Alone with expanded biofuel cultivation in the absence of REDD and a Most Likely scenario where REDD and biofuel cultivation are implemented without explicit regulatory linkages. The proposed policy model would leverage forest carbon with biofuel markets, which would reduce greenhouse gas emissions and conserve biodiversity, as well as improve human welfare in developing countries, a win–win–win strategy for sustainable development. -- Highlights: ► We propose to link biofuel cultivation with forest conservation (REDD + Biofuels). ► A similar proposal to support reforestation on degraded landscapes (RDL + Biofuels). ► Woody perennial biofuel species on low biomass landscapes maximize carbon benefits. ► REDD+ revenues can subsidize and foster sustainable biofuels. ► Production of

Proteomic Analysis of Metabolic Responses to Biofuels and Chemicals in Photosynthetic Cyanobacteria.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, T; Chen, L; Zhang, W

2017-01-01

Recent progresses in various "omics" technologies have enabled quantitative measurements of biological molecules in a high-throughput manner. Among them, high-throughput proteomics is a rapidly advancing field that offers a new means to quantify metabolic changes at protein level, which has significantly facilitated our understanding of cellular process, such as protein synthesis, posttranslational modifications, and degradation in responding to environmental perturbations. Cyanobacteria are autotrophic prokaryotes that can perform oxygenic photosynthesis and have recently attracted significant attentions as one promising alternative to traditionally biomass-based "microbial cell factories" to produce green fuels and chemicals. However, early studies have shown that the low tolerance to toxic biofuels and chemicals represented one major hurdle for further improving productivity of the cyanobacterial production systems. To address the issue, metabolic responses and their regulation of cyanobacterial cells to toxic end-products need to be defined. In this chapter, we discuss recent progresses in interpreting cyanobacterial responses to biofuels and chemicals using high-throughput proteomics approach, aiming to provide insights and guidelines on how to enhance tolerance and productivity of biofuels or chemicals in the renewable cyanobacteria systems in the future. © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Preliminary performance assessment for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, December 1992. Vol. 1: Third comparison with 40 CFR 191, Subpart B

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1992-12-15

Before disposing of transuranic radioactive wastes in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), the United States Department of Energy (DOE) must evaluate compliance with applicable long-term regulations of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Sandia National Laboratories is conducting iterative performance assessments of the WIPP for the DOE to provide interim guidance while preparing for final compliance evaluations. This volume contains an overview of WIPP performance assessment and a preliminary comparison with the long-term requirements of the Environmental Radiation Protection Standards for Management and Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel, High-Level and Transuranic Radioactive Wastes (40 CFR 191, Subpart B). Detailed information about the technical basis for the preliminary comparison is contained in Volume 2. The reference data base and values for input parameters used in the modeling system are contained in Volume 3. Uncertainty and sensitivity analyses related to 40 CFR 191B are contained in Volume 4. Volume 5 contains uncertainty and sensitivity analyses of gas and brine migration for undisturbed performance. Finally, guidance derived from the entire 1992 performance assessment is presented in Volume 6. Results of the 1992 performance assessment are preliminary, and are not suitable for final comparison with 40 CFR 191, Subpart B. Portions of the modeling system and the data base remain incomplete, and the level of confidence in the performance estimates is not sufficient for a defensible compliance evaluation. Results are, however, suitable for providing guidance to the WIPP Project. All results are conditional on the models and data used, and are presented for preliminary comparison to the Containment Requirements of 40 CFR 191, Subpart B as mean complementary cumulative distribution functions (CCDFs) displaying estimated probabilistic releases of radionuclides to the accessible environment. Results compare three conceptual models for

Preliminary performance assessment for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, December 1992. Vol. 1: Third comparison with 40 CFR 191, Subpart B

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-12-01

Before disposing of transuranic radioactive wastes in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), the United States Department of Energy (DOE) must evaluate compliance with applicable long-term regulations of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Sandia National Laboratories is conducting iterative performance assessments of the WIPP for the DOE to provide interim guidance while preparing for final compliance evaluations. This volume contains an overview of WIPP performance assessment and a preliminary comparison with the long-term requirements of the Environmental Radiation Protection Standards for Management and Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel, High-Level and Transuranic Radioactive Wastes (40 CFR 191, Subpart B). Detailed information about the technical basis for the preliminary comparison is contained in Volume 2. The reference data base and values for input parameters used in the modeling system are contained in Volume 3. Uncertainty and sensitivity analyses related to 40 CFR 191B are contained in Volume 4. Volume 5 contains uncertainty and sensitivity analyses of gas and brine migration for undisturbed performance. Finally, guidance derived from the entire 1992 performance assessment is presented in Volume 6. Results of the 1992 performance assessment are preliminary, and are not suitable for final comparison with 40 CFR 191, Subpart B. Portions of the modeling system and the data base remain incomplete, and the level of confidence in the performance estimates is not sufficient for a defensible compliance evaluation. Results are, however, suitable for providing guidance to the WIPP Project. All results are conditional on the models and data used, and are presented for preliminary comparison to the Containment Requirements of 40 CFR 191, Subpart B as mean complementary cumulative distribution functions (CCDFs) displaying estimated probabilistic releases of radionuclides to the accessible environment. Results compare three conceptual models for

An Assessment of Thailand’s Biofuel Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pujan Shrestha

2013-04-01

Full Text Available The paper provides an assessment of first generation biofuel (ethanol and biodiesel development in Thailand in terms of feedstock used, production trends, planned targets and policies and discusses the biofuel sustainability issues—environmental, socio-economic and food security aspects. The policies, measures and incentives for the development of biofuel include targets, blending mandates and favorable tax schemes to encourage production and consumption of biofuels. Biofuel development improves energy security, rural income and reduces greenhouse gas (GHG emissions, but issues related to land and water use and food security are important considerations to be addressed for its large scale application. Second generation biofuels derived from agricultural residues perform favorably on environmental and social sustainability issues in comparison to first generation biofuel sources. The authors estimate that sustainably-derived agricultural crop residues alone could amount to 10.4 × 106 bone dry tonnes per year. This has the technical potential of producing 1.14–3.12 billion liters per year of ethanol to possibly displace between 25%–69% of Thailand’s 2011 gasoline consumption as transportation fuel. Alternatively, the same amount of residue could provide 0.8–2.1 billion liters per year of diesel (biomass to Fischer-Tropsch diesel to potentially offset 6%–15% of national diesel consumption in the transportation sector.

Biofuels barometer - EurObserv'ER - July 2011

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2011-07-01

13,6 % the increase in EU biofuel consumption in 2010. In 2010 biofuel continued to gnaw away at petrol and diesel consumption in the European Union. However its pace backs the assertion that EU biofuel consumption growth slackened off. In the transport sector, it increased by only 1.7 Mtoe compared to 2.7 Mtoe in 2009. The final total biofuel consumption figure for 2010 should hover at around 13,9 Mtoe

Institutional analysis of biofuel production in Northern Ghana

OpenAIRE

Kwoyiga, Lydia

2013-01-01

The thesis studied the nature of institutional arrangement around biofuel production and how this arrangement has shaped the production outcome of biofuel companies and community development. The study was conducted in two communities of the Yendi Municipal Assembly of the Northern Region of Ghana. In this area, a biofuel company called Biofuel Africa Limited has acquired areas of land and cultivated Jatropha plantations. A total of 32 informants were interviewed to arrive at information ne...

Biofuel Crops Expansion: Evaluating the Impact on the Agricultural Water Scarcity Costs and Hydropower Production with Hydro Economic Modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Marques, G.

2015-12-01

Biofuels such as ethanol from sugar cane remain an important element to help mitigate the impacts of fossil fuels on the atmosphere. However, meeting fuel demands with biofuels requires technological advancement for water productivity and scale of production. This may translate into increased water demands for biofuel crops and potential for conflicts with incumbent crops and other water uses including domestic, hydropower generation and environmental. It is therefore important to evaluate the effects of increased biofuel production on the verge of water scarcity costs and hydropower production. The present research applies a hydro-economic optimization model to compare different scenarios of irrigated biofuel and hydropower production, and estimates the potential tradeoffs. A case study from the Araguari watershed in Brazil is provided. These results should be useful to (i) identify improved water allocation among competing economic demands, (ii) support water management and operations decisions in watersheds where biofuels are expected to increase, and (iii) identify the impact of bio fuel production in the water availability and economic value. Under optimized conditions, adoption of sugar cane for biofuel production heavily relies on the opportunity costs of other crops and hydropower generation. Areas with a lower value crop groups seem more suitable to adopt sugar cane for biofuel when the price of ethanol is sufficiently high and the opportunity costs of hydropower productions are not conflicting. The approach also highlights the potential for insights in water management from studying regional versus larger scales bundled systems involving water use, food production and power generation.

Controversies, development and trends of biofuel industry in the world

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

WenJun Zhang

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Controversies, development and trends of biofuel industry in the world were discussed in present article. First-generation biofuels, i.e., grain and land based biofuels, occupied large areas of arable lands and severely constrained food supplies, are widely disputed. They have been replaced by second-generation biofuels. The raw materials of the second-generation biofuels include plants, straw, grass and other crops and forest residues. However, the cost for production of the second-generation biofuels is higher. Therefore the development of the third-generation biofuels is undergoing. The third-generation technologies use, mainly algae, as raw material to produce bioethanol, biobutanol, biodiesel and hydrogen, and use discarded fruits to produce dimethylfuran, etc. Different countries and regions are experiencing different stages of biofuel industry. In the future the raw materials for biofuel production will be focused on various by-products, wastes, and organisms that have not direct economic benefit for human. Production technologies should be improved or invented to reduce carbon emission and environmental pollution during biofuel production and to reduce production cost.

Fuel taxes and biofuel promotion: a complementary approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Santamaría, Marta; Azqueta, Diego

2015-01-01

Public support for renewable energy technologies is usually justified in terms of its contribution to reducing energy dependency; an improvement in environmental quality and a stimulation of economic activity and employment. In the case of biofuels, greenhouse gas emissions reduction has received significant attention. Nevertheless, nowadays there is a lively debate surrounding the convenience of biofuels. This is a consequence of the potentially negative impacts revealed from their production on a large scale. The aim of the present work is to analyses the potential contribution of biofuels to the main impact categories identified above. This paper tries to analyze the role of biofuel promotion in the context of fuel taxes. Based on the assessment of biofuels in Spain related to environmental damage and economic impacts, it shows that fuel taxes and biofuel promotion should be considered as complementary tools and treated accordingly. (full text)

Glucose-based Biofuel Cells: Nanotechnology as a Vital Science in Biofuel Cells Performance

OpenAIRE

Hamideh Aghahosseini; Ali Ramazani; Pegah Azimzadeh Asiabi; Farideh Gouranlou; Fahimeh Hosseini; Aram Rezaei; Bong-Ki Min; Sang Woo Joo

2016-01-01

Nanotechnology has opened up new opportunities for the design of nanoscale electronic devices suitable for developing high-performance biofuel cells. Glucose-based biofuel cells as green energy sources can be a powerful tool in the service of small-scale power source technology as it provides a latent potential to supply power for various implantable medical electronic devices. By using physiologically produced glucose as a fuel, the living battery can recharge for continuous production of el...

Transitioning to sustainable use of biofuel in Australia★

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sasongko Nugroho Adi

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Biofuel is identified as one of the key renewable energy sources for sustainable development, and can potentially replace fossil-based fuels. Anticipating the competition between food and energy security, the Australian Government is intensively exploring other biofuel resources. There have been numerous research projects in Australia using the second and third generation model based on different feedstocks including lignocellulosic and microalgae. Such projects have been successfully demonstrated but are yet to be commercially viable. Moreover, transition pathways to realize the potential benefits of these value chains are not well understood. This preliminary study tried to provide an alternative framework and proposes future long-term transport biofuel pathways in Australia which can be seen as a solution for a post-carbon society. The study is targeted to outline the milestone of the Australian biofuel industry and its roadmap into the future. An investigation has been carried out on biofuel status and barrier, technology development, market and the chronology of biofuel related policies in Australia to understand the current situation and possibilities to develop further strategies, while also providing an insight into the consequences of producing biofuel for transportation. Several methods have been proposed to introduce the transition into a post-carbon society. Seven scenarios were divided, covering the roadmap of first, second and third generation of biofuel, alternative transportation modes such as electric vehicles (EVs and fuel cell vehicles (FCVs and the elimination of the fossil fuel running vehicles within a time frame of 20 years. The utilization of biofuel can be seen as a short to medium mode for transition into a green transportation society. Our investigation also showed that microalgae gave a better ecological footprint which offers the strongest potential for future Australian biofuel industry and aviation. Meanwhile, EVs

40 CFR Table 9 to Subpart U of... - Routine Reports Required by This Subpart

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

...)(ii) Requests for Approval of a Nominal Control Efficiency for Use in Emissions Averaging Initial... determination. a There may be two versions of this report due at different times; one for equipment subject to § 63.502 and one for other emission points subject to this subpart. b There will be two versions of...

Biofuels barometer - EurObserv'ER - July 2010

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2010-07-01

12.1 Mtoe of biofuels consumed in the transport sector in the EU in 2009. European Union biofuel use for transport reached the 12 million tons of oil equivalent (mtoe) threshold during 2009, heralding a further drop in the pace of the sector's growth, which rose by only 18.7% between 2008 and 2009 - just 1.9 mtoe of consumption over the previous year. The biofuel incorporation rate in all fuels used by transport in the EU is unlikely to pass 4% in 2009, which is a very long way short of the 5.75% goal for 2010 set in the 2003 European biofuel directive, which would require around 18 mtoe of biofuel use

Spatio-Temporal Impacts of Biofuel Production and Climate Variability on Water Quantity and Quality in Upper Mississippi River Basin

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Debjani Deb

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Impact of climate change on the water resources of the United States exposes the vulnerability of feedstock-specific mandated fuel targets to extreme weather conditions that could become more frequent and intensify in the future. Consequently, a sustainable biofuel policy should consider: (a how climate change would alter both water supply and demand; and (b in turn, how related changes in water availability will impact the production of biofuel crops; and (c the environmental implications of large scale biofuel productions. Understanding the role of biofuels in the water cycle is the key to understanding many of the environmental impacts of biofuels. Therefore, the focus of this study is to model the rarely explored interactions between land use, climate change, water resources and the environment in future biofuel production systems. Results from this study will help explore the impacts of the US biofuel policy and climate change on water and agricultural resources. We used the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT to analyze the water quantity and quality consequences of land use and land management related changes in cropping conditions (e.g., more use of marginal lands, greater residue harvest, increased yields, plus management practices due to biofuel crops to meet the Renewable Fuel Standard target on water quality and quantity.

A viable technology to generate third-generation biofuel

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Singh, Anoop; Olsen, Stig Irving; Nigam, Poonam Singh

2011-01-01

First generation biofuels are commercialized at large as the production technologies are well developed. However, to grow the raw materials, there is a great need to compromise with food security, which made first generation biofuels not so much promising. The second generation of biofuels does...

40 CFR Table 18 to Subpart G of... - Information for Waste Management Units To Be Submitted With Notification of Compliance Status a,b

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2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 9 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Information for Waste Management Units... Subpart G of Part 63—Information for Waste Management Units To Be Submitted With Notification of Compliance Status a,b Waste management unit identification c Description d Wastewater stream(s) received or...

46 CFR Appendix B to Subpart A of... - Oath of Parent or Subsidiary Corporation Act of September 2, 1958 (46 U.S.C. app. 883-1)

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 46 Shipping 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Oath of Parent or Subsidiary Corporation Act of..., App. B Appendix B to Subpart A of Part 68—Oath of Parent or Subsidiary Corporation Act of September 2... Subsidiary Corporation, Act of September 2, 1958 (46 U.S.C. app. 883-1) Corporation: Name Address State of...

Assessment of Peruvian biofuel resources and alternatives

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Harper, J.P.; Smith, W.; Mariani, E.

1979-08-01

Comprehensive assessment of the biofuel potential of Peru is based on: determination of current biofuel utilization practices, evauation of Peruvian biomass productivity, identification of Peruvian agricultural and forestry resources, assessment of resource development and management concerns, identification of market considerations, description of biofuel technological options, and identification of regional biofuel technology applications. Discussion of current biofuel utilization centers on a qualitative description of the main conversion approaches currently being practiced in Peru. Biomass productivity evaluations consider the terrain and soil, and climatic conditions found in Peru. The potential energy from Peruvian agricultural and forestry resources is described quantitatively. Potental regional production of agricultural residues and forest resources that could supply energy are identified. Assessment of resource development and management concerns focuses on harvesting, reforestation, training, and environmental consequences of utilization of forest resources. Market factors assessed include: importation, internal market development, external market development, energy policy and pricing, and transportation. Nine biofuel technology options for Peru are identified: (1) small-to-medium-scale gasification, (2) a wood waste inventory, (3) stationary and mobile charcoal production systems, (4) wood distillation, (5) forest resource development and management, (6) electrical cogeneration, (7) anaerobic digestion technology, (8) development of ethanol production capabilities, and (9) agricultural strategies for fuel production. Applications of these biofuel options are identified for each of the three major regions - nine applications for the Costa Region, eight for the Sierra Region, and ten for the Selva Region.

Biofuels – On the way to sustainability?: Opinion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin Kaltschmitt

2016-12-01

stabilizing element because biofuels and conventional fossil fuels can be exchanged completely and immediately. They can help to level out price variations of biomass by taking up agricultural products in case of a global production exceeding the demand from the food and feed market. Vice versa, biofuel production could be reduced in case of low yields and a resulting shortage of biomass to alleviate pressure on the food and feed market. One precondition for creating such a harmonized or stabilized market is that sustainability criteria, which are already mandatorily applied to biomass feedstocks used for biofuel production, are applied to all traded agricultural products regardless of their use. Consequently, such a concept could boost a more sustainable agricultural and forestry primary productionFurthermore, the following targets need to be achieved in the years to come in order to increase competitiveness, reduce negative environmental consequences and to promote acceptance of biofuels:Widening of the biomass resource basis; this includes better crops, the use of organic wastes as well as "new" biomass feedstocks (e.g. algae;Technological advances in biomass production and downstream processing in order to increase efficiencies throughout the overall provision chain;Better combination of biomass production and processing for the various markets to exploit synergy effects and minimize losses (e.g. promotion of the bio-refinery concept;Improved assessment of sustainability criteria throughout the overall provision chain; this includes also aspects like impacts on biodiversity and soil properties, iLUC, child labor etc. Such aspects are essential to cope with an increasing demand for biomass driven by a growing world population, changing consumption patterns as well as an increasing demand for renewable energy provision and industrial purposes. All over, tremendous progress has been made in recent years in increasing sustainability and efficiency of biofuel production

Final Technical Report - Use of Systems Biology Approaches to Develop Advanced Biofuel-Synthesizing Cyanobacterial Strains

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pakrasi, Himadri [Washington Univ., St. Louis, MO (United States)

2016-09-01

The overall objective of this project was to use a systems biology approach to evaluate the potentials of a number of cyanobacterial strains for photobiological production of advanced biofuels and/or their chemical precursors. Cyanobacteria are oxygen evolving photosynthetic prokaryotes. Among them, certain unicellular species such as Cyanothece can also fix N₂, a process that is exquisitely sensitive to oxygen. To accommodate such incompatible processes in a single cell, Cyanothece produces oxygen during the day, and creates an O₂-limited intracellular environment during the night to perform O₂-sensitive processes such as N₂-fixation. Thus, Cyanothece cells are natural bioreactors for the storage of captured solar energy with subsequent utilization at a different time during a diurnal cycle. Our studies include the identification of a novel, fast-growing, mixotrophic, transformable cyanobacterium. This strain has been sequenced and will be made available to the community. In addition, we have developed genome-scale models for a family of cyanobacteria to assess their metabolic repertoire. Furthermore, we developed a method for rapid construction of metabolic models using multiple annotation sources and a metabolic model of a related organism. This method will allow rapid annotation and screening of potential phenotypes based on the newly available genome sequences of many organisms.

Biofuel: an alternative to fossil fuel for alleviating world energy and economic crises.

Science.gov (United States)

Bhattarai, Keshav; Stalick, Wayne M; McKay, Scott; Geme, Gija; Bhattarai, Nimisha

2011-01-01

The time has come when it is desirable to look for alternative energy resources to confront the global energy crisis. Consideration of the increasing environmental problems and the possible crisis of fossil fuel availability at record high prices dictate that some changes will need to occur sooner rather than later. The recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is just another example of the environmental threats that fossil fuels pose. This paper is an attempt to explore various bio-resources such as corn, barley, oat, rice, wheat, sorghum, sugar, safflower, and coniferous and non-coniferous species for the production of biofuels (ethanol and biodiesel). In order to assess the potential production of biofuel, in this paper, countries are organized into three groups based on: (a) geographic areas; (b) economic development; and(c) lending types, as classified by the World Bank. First, the total fossil fuel energy consumption and supply and possible carbon emission from burning fossil fuel is projected for these three groups of countries. Second, the possibility of production of biofuel from grains and vegetative product is projected. Third, a comparison of fossil fuel and biofuel is done to examine energy sustainability issues.

The use of Meta-Regression Analysis to harmonize LCA literature: an application to GHG emissions of 2. and 3. generation biofuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Menten, Fabio; Cheze, Benoit; Patouillard, Laure; Bouvart, Frederique

2013-01-01

This article presents the results of a literature review performs with a meta-regression analysis (MRA) that focuses on the estimates of advanced biofuel Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions assessed with a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach. The mean GHG emissions of both second (G2) and third generation (G3) biofuels and the effects of factors influencing these estimates are identified and quantified by means of specific statistical methods. 47 LCA studies are included in the database, providing 593 estimates. Each study estimate of the database is characterized by i) technical data/characteristics, ii) author's methodological choices and iii) typology of the study under consideration. The database is composed of both the vector of these estimates - expressed in grams of CO 2 equivalent per MJ of biofuel (g CO 2 eq/MJ) - and a matrix containing vectors of predictor variables which can be continuous or dummy variables. The former is the dependent variable while the latter corresponds to the explanatory variables of the meta-regression model. Parameters are estimated by mean of econometrics methods. Our results clearly highlight a hierarchy between G3 and G2 biofuels: life cycle GHG emissions of G3 biofuels are statistically higher than those of Ethanol which, in turn, are superior to those of BtL. Moreover, this article finds empirical support for many of the hypotheses formulated in narrative literature surveys concerning potential factors which may explain estimates variations. Finally, the MRA results are used to address the harmonization issue in the field of advanced biofuels GHG emissions thanks to the technique of benefits transfer using meta-regression models. The range of values hence obtained appears to be lower than the fossil fuel reference (about 83.8 in g CO 2 eq/ MJ). However, only Ethanol and BtL do comply with the GHG emission reduction thresholds for biofuels defined in both the American and European directives. (authors)

Anaerobic Biodegradation of Biofuels (Ethanol and Biodiesel) and Proposed Biofuels (n-Propanol, iso-Propanol, n-Butanol)

Science.gov (United States)

Biofuels, such as ethanol and biodiesel, are a growing component of the nation’s fuel supply. Ethanol is the primary biofuel in the US market, distributed as a blend with petroleum gasoline, in concentrations ranging from 10% ethanol (E10) to 85% ethanol (E85). Biodiesel, made fr...

Third Generation Biofuels via Direct Cellulose Fermentation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David B. Levin

2008-07-01

Full Text Available Consolidated bioprocessing (CBP is a system in which cellulase production, substrate hydrolysis, and fermentation are accomplished in a single process step by cellulolytic microorganisms. CBP offers the potential for lower biofuel production costs due to simpler feedstock processing, lower energy inputs, and higher conversion efficiencies than separate hydrolysis and fermentation processes, and is an economically attractive near-term goal for “third generation” biofuel production. In this review article, production of third generation biofuels from cellulosic feedstocks will be addressed in respect to the metabolism of cellulolytic bacteria and the development of strategies to increase biofuel yields through metabolic engineering.

NREL Algal Biofuels Projects and Partnerships

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2016-10-01

This fact sheet highlights several algal biofuels research and development projects focused on improving the economics of the algal biofuels production process. These projects should serve as a foundation for the research efforts toward algae as a source of fuels and other chemicals.

Trade-offs between Biofuels Energy Production, Land Use and Water Use in Florida

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fidler, Michal [Intelligentsia International Inc., LaBelle, FL (United States); Capece, John [Intelligentsia International Inc., LaBelle, FL (United States); Hanlon, Edward [Univ. of Florida, Immokalee, FL (United States); Alsharif, Kamal [Univ. of South Florida, Tampa, FL (United States)

2014-02-11

Objective of the presentation is to document land use and water use implications of biomass production to demonstrate the overall resources implications associated with bioethanol production for Florida’s transportation sector needs. Rationale for using biofuels (BF) is explained, so are advantages & challenges of BF production and use. Land use changes (LUC) in Florida are presented and consequences outlined. It is documented that Florida’s agricultural land is a very limited resource, with only 0.43 ac/person comparing to the global average of 1.71 ac/person. The direct relation of increased biofuels production causing increased water use is explained. Favorable climate, water resources, advanced research, traditional leading agricultural role, minor oil reserves, no refineries and increasing energy demands are the main reasons why Florida considers pursuing BF production in large scale. Eight various bioethanol crops produced in Florida were considered in this study (Miscanthus, Switchgrass, Sweet Sorghum, Corn, Elephantgrass, Sugarcane, Energycane, Eucalyptus). Biomass yield and bioethanol yield of these crops are documented. Bioethanol needs of Florida are estimated and related land requirements for the needed bioethanol production calculated. Projections for various bioethanol blends (E15 to E85) are then presented. Finally, water demand for biofuels production is quantified. It is concluded that land use requirement for production of all ethanol in E85 fuel blend in Florida is roughly the same as the total available ag land in Florida for the best yielding biofuels crops (energycane, eucalyptus). Water demand for production of all ethanol needed for E100 would increase current overall water consumption in Florida between 65% and 100% for the most common biofuels crops. Vehicular energy is only 33% of Floridians energy consumption, so even all Florida’s agricultural land was given up for biofuels, it would still produce only 33% of Florida’s total

Microalgae biofuel potentials (review).

Science.gov (United States)

Ghasemi, Y; Rasoul-Amini, S; Naseri, A T; Montazeri-Najafabady, N; Mobasher, M A; Dabbagh, F

2012-01-01

With the decrease of fossil based fuels and the environmental impact of them over the planet, it seems necessary to seek the sustainable sources of clean energy. Biofuels, is becoming a worldwide leader in the development of renewable energy resources. It is worthwhile to say that algal biofuel production is thought to help stabilize the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and decrease global warming impacts. Also, among algal fuels' attractive characteristics, algal biodiesel is non toxic, with no sulfur, highly biodegradable and relatively harmless to the environment if spilled. Algae are capable of producing in excess of 30 times more oil per acre than corn and soybean crops. Currently, algal biofuel production has not been commercialized due to high costs associated with production, harvesting and oil extraction but the technology is progressing. Extensive research was conducted to determine the utilization of microalgae as an energy source and make algae oil production commercially viable.

REFUEL. Potential and realizable cost reduction of 2nd generation biofuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Londo, H.M.; Deurwaarder, E.P.; Lensink, S.M.; Junginer, H.M.; De Wit, M.

2007-05-01

In the REFUEL project steering possibilities for and impacts of a greater market penetration of biofuels are assessed. Several benefits are attributed to second generation biofuels, fuels made from lignocellulosic feedstock, such as higher productivity, less impacts on land use and food markets and improved greenhouse gas emission reductions. The chances of second generation biofuels entering the market autonomously are assessed and several policy measures enhancing those changes are evaluated. It shows that most second generation biofuels might become competitive in the biofuel market, if the production of biodiesel from oil crops becomes limited by land availability. Setting high biofuel targets, setting greenhouse gas emissions caps on biofuel and setting subtargets for second generation biofuels, all have a similar impact of stimulating second generation's entrance into the biofuel market. Contrary, low biofuel targets and high imports can have a discouraging impact on second generation biofuel development, and thereby on overall greenhouse gas performance. Since this paper shows preliminary results from the REFUEL study, one is advised to contact the authors before quantitatively referring to this paper

Biofuels barometer - EurObserv'ER - July 2015

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2015-07-01

+6.1% The increase of biofuel consumption in European Union transport between 2013 and 2014 (in energy content). Biofuel consumption for transport picked up in Europe after a year of uncertainty and decline, increasing by 6.1% over 2013, to 14 million toe (Mtoe) according to EurObserv'ER's first estimates. However it is still below its 2012 level when 14.5 Mtoe of biofuel was incorporated. Consumption of biofuel that meets the European Renewable Energy directive's sustainability criteria rose to 12.5 Mtoe, its highest level so far

Biofuels in Italy: obstacles and development opportunities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pignatelli, Vito; Clementi, Chiara

2006-01-01

Today biofuels are the sole realistically practical way to reduce CO 2 emissions in the transportation sector. In many countries, including Italy, biofuel production and use are already a reality corresponding to a large agro-industrial production system that uses essentially mature technologies. To significantly lower production costs and optimise land use, Italy needs to develop new, second-generation biofuel production operations that can offer significant opportunities to the nation's agro-industrial sector [it

Alternative spatial allocation of suitable land for biofuel production in China

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhang, Jianjun; Chen, Yang; Rao, Yongheng

2017-01-01

How to select locations for biofuel production is still a critical consideration for balance of crop and biofuel productions as well as of energy consumption and environmental conservation. Biofuels are widely produced all over the world, but this practice in China is still at the initial stage....... Based on China's current stage on food security and changing biofuel demands, this paper selected agro-environmental and socio-economic factors of biofuel production, and simulated and spatially allocated areas suited for biofuel production under the two scenarios of planning-oriented scenario (Po......S) and biofuel-oriented scenario (BoS) by the target year 2020. It also estimated biofuel production potentials and zones across China's provinces. The results show that land suited for biofuel production is primarily located in Northwestern, Northern, Northeastern, Central and Southwestern China...

The changing dynamics between biofuels and commodity markets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bole, T.; Londo, H.M.

2008-06-01

The recent development of the biofuel industries coincides with significant increases in prices of basic commodities such as food and feed. Against popular perception, it appears that there is not a straightforward causal relationship between the two; there are a number of factors that determine the level and strength of the impact of the biofuels sector on other commodities. For the case of markets of agricultural raw material these factors include the amount of feedstock claimed by the biofuels industry, its relative purchasing power, the responsiveness of the agricultural sector to price incentives and availability of substitutes. For consumer food markets we must additionally consider the relative share of agricultural input costs in the retail food price and the demand elasticity. Based on the analysis of these factors and estimates of other studies that attempted to quantify the price impacts of biofuels on crop prices, we conclude that the impact of biofuels is relatively small, especially when compared with other causes that triggered the recent price increases. We end the paper with a recommendation for future efforts in curbing food price inflations while keeping ambitious biofuel targets and suggest a shift in focus of the debate around the social costs of biofuels

The Third Pacific Basin Biofuels Workshop: Proceedings

Science.gov (United States)

Among the many compelling reasons for the development of biofuels on remote Pacific islands, several of the most important include: (1) a lack of indigenous fossil fuels necessitates their import at great economic loss to local island economics, (2) ideal conditions for plant growth exist on many Pacific islands to produce yields of biomass feedstocks, (3) gaseous and liquid fuels such as methane, methanol and ethanol manufactured locally from biomass feedstocks are the most viable alternatives to gasoline and diesel fuels for transportation, and (4) the combustion of biofuels is cleaner than burning petroleum products and contributes no net atmospheric CO2 to aggravate the greenhouse effect and the subsequent threat of sea level rise to low islands. Dr. Vic Phillips, HNEI Program Manager of the Hawaii Integrated Biofuels Research Program welcomed 60 participants to the Third Pacific Basin Biofuels Workshop at the Sheraton Makaha Hotel, Waianae, Oahu, on March 27 and 28, 1989. The objectives of the workshop were to update progress since the Second Pacific Basin Biofuels Workshop in April 1987 and to develop a plan for action for biofuels R and D, technology transfer, and commercialization now (immediate attention), in the near-term (less than two years), in the mid-term (three to five years), and in the long-term (more than six years). An emerging theme of the workshop was how the production, conversion, and utilization of biofuels can help increase environmental and economic security locally and globally. Individual papers are processed separately for the data base.

Biofuel Cells – Alternative Power Sources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Babanova, Sofia; Yolina Hubenova; Mario Mitov

2009-01-01

Energy generation from renewable sources and effective waste treatment are two key challenges for the sustainable development. Microbiological (or Bio-) Fuel Cells provide an elegant solution by linking both tasks. Biofuel cells, which can directly generate electricity from biodegradable substances, have rapidly gained increasing research attention. Widely available fuel sources and moderate operational conditions make them promising in renewable energy generation, wastewater treatment, power sources for remote devices, etc. This paper reviews the use of microorganisms as biocatalysts in microbiological fuel cells. The principle of biofuel cells and their construction elements are discussed. Keywords: alternative power sources, biofuel cells, biocatalysts

Bio-fuel production potential in Romania

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laurentiu, F.; Silvian, F.; Dumitru, F.

2006-01-01

The paper is based on the ESTO Study: Techno- Economic Feasibility of Large-Scale Production of Bio-Fuels in EU-Candidate Countries. Bio-fuel production has not been taken into account significantly until now in Romania, being limited to small- scale productions of ethanol, used mostly for various industrial purposes. However the climatic conditions and the quality of the soil are very suitable in the country for development of the main crops (wheat, sugar-beet, sunflower and rape-seed) used in bio-ethanol and bio-diesel production. The paper intended to consider a pertinent discussion of the present situation in Romania's agriculture stressing on the following essential items in the estimation of bio-fuels production potential: availability of feed-stock for bio-fuel production; actual productions of bio-fuels; fuel consumption; cost assessment; SWOT approach; expected trends. Our analysis was based on specific agricultural data for the period 1996-2000. An important ethanol potential (due to wheat, sugar-beet and maize cultures), as well as bio-diesel one (due to sun-flower and rape-seed) were predicted for the period 2005-2010 which could be exploited with the support of an important financial and technological effort, mainly from EU countries

Biofuel consumption, biodiversity, and the environmental Kuznets curve: trivariate analysis in a panel of biofuel consuming countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Zaman, Khalid

2017-11-01

This study examined the relationship between biofuel consumption, forest biodiversity, and a set of national scale indicators of per capita income, foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, trade openness, and population density with a panel data of 12 biofuels consuming countries for a period of 2000 to 2013. The study used Global Environmental Facility (GEF) biodiversity benefits index and forest biodiversity index in an environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) framework. The results confirmed an inverted U-shaped relationship between GEF biodiversity index and per capita income, while there is flat/no relationship between carbon emissions and economic growth, and between forest biodiversity and economic growth models. FDI inflows and trade openness both reduce carbon emissions while population density and biofuel consumption increase carbon emissions and decrease GEF biodiversity index. Trade openness supports to increases GEF biodiversity index while it decreases forest biodiversity index and biofuel consumption in a region.

Land substitution effects of biofuel side products and implications on the land area requirement for EU 2020 biofuel targets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ozdemir, Enver Doruk; Haerdtlein, Marlies; Eltrop, Ludger

2009-01-01

The provision of biofuels today is based on energy crops rather than residual biomass, which results in the requirement of agricultural land area. The side products may serve as animal feed and thus prevent cultivation of other feedstock and the use of corresponding land area. These effects of biofuel provision have to be taken into account for a comprising assessment of land area requirement for biofuel provision. Between 18.5 and 21.1 Mio. hectares (ha) of land area is needed to meet the EU 2020 biofuel target depending on the biofuel portfolio when substitution effects are neglected. The utilization of the bioethanol side products distiller's dried grain and solubles (DDGS) and pressed beet slices may save up to 0.7 Mio. ha of maize cultivation area in the EU. The substitution effect due to the utilization of biodiesel side products (oil cakes of rape, palm and soy) as animal feed may account for up to 7.1 Mio. ha of soy cultivation area in Brazil. The results show that the substitution of land area due to use of side products might ease the pressures on land area requirement considerably and should therefore not be neglected in assessing the impacts of biofuel provision worldwide.

40 CFR Table 1 to Subpart W of... - General Provisions Applicability to Subpart W

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2010-07-01

... Subpart W 1 Table 1 to Subpart W of Part 63 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY... Polyamides Production Pt. 63, Subpt. W, Table 1 Table 1 to Subpart W of Part 63—General Provisions Applicability to Subpart W Reference Applies to subpart W BLR WSR WSR alternative standard, and BLR equipment...

46 CFR 1.03-10 - Definition of terms used in this subpart.

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2010-10-01

... Definition of terms used in this subpart. (a) The term recognized classification society means the American Bureau of Shipping or other classification society recognized by the Commandant. (b) The term new vessel... 46 Shipping 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Definition of terms used in this subpart. 1.03-10...

40 CFR Table 1 to Subpart N of... - General Provisions Applicability to Subpart N

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2010-07-01

... Subpart N 1 Table 1 to Subpart N of Part 63 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY... Electroplating and Chromium Anodizing Tanks Pt. 63, Subpt. N, Table 1 Table 1 to Subpart N of Part 63—General Provisions Applicability to Subpart N General provisionsreference Applies to subpart N Comment 63.1(a)(1) Yes...

The Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels: plant scientist input needed.

Science.gov (United States)

Haye, Sébastien; Hardtke, Christian S

2009-08-01

The Energy Center at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Swiss federal institute of technology) is coordinating a multi-stakeholder effort, the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels (http://energycenter.epfl.ch/biofuels), to develop global standards for sustainable biofuels production and processing. Given that many of the aspects related to biofuel production request a high scientific level of understanding, it is crucial that scientists take part in the discussion.

Perspectives of microalgal biofuels as a renewable source of energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kiran, Bala; Kumar, Ritunesh; Deshmukh, Devendra

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Microalgae offer solution of wastewater treatment, CO 2 sequestration, and energy crises. • Microalgal biofuel is renewable, nontoxic and environmentally friendly option. • Integration of wastewater treatment with biofuels production has made them more cost effective. • This article details out the potential production process and benefits of microalgal biofuels. - Abstract: Excessive use of fossil fuels to satisfy our rapidly increasing energy demand has created severe environmental problems, such as air pollution, acid rain and global warming. Biofuels are a potential alternative to fossil fuels. First- and second-generation biofuels face criticism due to food security and biodiversity issues. Third-generation biofuels, based on microalgae, seem to be a plausible solution to the current energy crisis, as their oil-producing capability is many times higher than that of various oil crops. Microalgae are the fastest-growing plants and can serve as a sustainable energy source for the production of biodiesel and several other biofuels by conversion of sunlight into chemical energy. Biofuels produced from microalgae are renewable, non-toxic, biodegradable and environment friendly. Microalgae can be grown in open pond systems or closed photobioreactors. Microalgal biofuels are a potential means to keep the development of human activities in synchronization with the environment. The integration of wastewater treatment with biofuel production using microalgae has made microalgal biofuels more attractive and cost effective. A biorefinery approach can also be used to improve the economics of biofuel production, in which all components of microalgal biomass (i.e., proteins, lipids and carbohydrates) are used to produce useful products. The integration of various processes for maximum economic and environmental benefits minimizes the amount of waste produced and the pollution level. This paper presents an overview of various aspects associated with

Reconciling biofuels, sustainability and commodities demand. Pitfalls and policy options

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Uslu, A.; Bole, T.; Londo, M.; Pelkmans, L.; Berndes, G.; Prieler, S.; Fischer, G.; Cueste Cabal, H.

2010-06-01

Increasing fossil fuel prices, energy security considerations and environmental concerns, particularly concerning climate change, have motivated countries to explore alternative energy sources including biofuels. Global demand for biofuels has been rising rapidly due to biofuel support policies established in many countries. However, proposed strong links between biofuels demand and recent years' high food commodity prices, and notions that increasing biofuels production might bring about serious negative environmental impacts, in particularly associated with the land use change to biofuel crops, have shifted public enthusiasm about biofuels. In this context, the ELOBIO project aims at shedding further light to these aspects of biofuel expansion by collecting and reviewing the available data, and also developing strategies to decrease negative effects of biofuels while enabling their positive contribution to climate change, security of supply and rural development. ELOBIO considers aspects associated with both 1st and 2nd generation biofuels, hence analyses effects on both agricultural commodity markets and lignocellulosic markets. This project, funded by the Intelligent Energy Europe programme, consists of a review of current experiences with biofuels and other renewable energy policies and their impacts on other markets, iterative stakeholder-supported development of low-disturbing biofuels policies, model supported assessment of these policies' impacts on food, feed and lignocellulosic markets, and finally an assessment of the effects of selected optimal policies on biofuels costs and potentials. Results of the ELOBIO study show that rapid biofuel deployment without careful monitoring of consequences and implementation of mitigating measures risks leading to negative consequences. Implementing ambitious global biofuel targets for 2020, based on current 1st generation technologies, can push international agricultural commodity prices upwards and increase crop

Total employment effect of biofuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stridsberg, S.

1998-08-01

The study examined the total employment effect of both direct production of biofuel and energy conversion to heat and electricity, as well as the indirect employment effect arising from investments and other activities in conjunction with the production organization. A secondary effect depending on the increased capital flow is also included in the final result. The scenarios are based on two periods, 1993-2005 and 2005-2020. In the present study, the different fuels and the different applications have been analyzed individually with regard to direct and indirect employment within each separate sector. The greatest employment effect in the production chain is shown for logging residues with 290 full-time jobs/TWh, whereas other biofuels range between 80 and 280 full-time jobs/TWh. In the processing chain, the corresponding range is 200-300 full-time jobs per each additional TWh. Additionally and finally, there are secondary effects that give a total of 650 full-time jobs/TWh. Together with the predicted increase, this suggests that unprocessed fuel will provide an additional 16 000 annual full-time jobs, and that fuel processing will contribute with a further 5 000 full-time jobs. The energy production from the fuels will provide an additional 13 000 full-time jobs. The total figure of 34 000 annual full-time jobs must then be reduced by about 4000 on account of lost jobs, mainly in the oil sector and to some extent in imports of biofuel. In addition, the anticipated increase in capital turnover that occurs within the biofuel sector, will increase full-time jobs up to year 2020. Finally, a discussion is given of the accomplishment of the programmes anticipated by the scenario, where it is noted that processing of biofuel to wafers, pellets or powder places major demands on access to raw material of good quality and that agrarian fuels must be given priority if they are to enter the system sufficiently fast. Straw is already a resource but is still not accepted by

Improving the environmental performance of biofuels with industrial symbiosis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin, Michael; Eklund, Mats

2011-01-01

In the production of biofuels for transport many critics have argued about the poor energy efficiency and environmental performance of the production industries. Optimism is thus set on the production of second generation biofuels, while first generation biofuels continue to dominate worldwide. Therefore it is interesting to consider how the environmental performance of first generation biofuel industries can be improved. The field of industrial symbiosis offers many possibilities for potential improvements in the biofuel industry and theories from this research field are used in this paper to highlight how environmental performance improvements can be accomplished. This comes in the form of by-product synergies and utility synergies which can improve material and energy handling. Furthermore, the processes and products can gain increased environmental performance improvements by the adaption of a renewable energy system which will act as a utility provider for many industries in a symbiotic network. By-products may thereafter be upcycled through biogas production processes to generate both energy and a bio-fertilizer. A case study of an actual biofuel industrial symbiosis is also reviewed to provide support for these theories. -- Highlights: → By-product and utility synergies may improve the production processes of biofuel industries for reduced energy consumption and improved environmental performance. → Upcycling tenants can make use of wastes to upgrade waste to a valuable product and/or energy source. → Energy systems for biofuel production have a large influence on the performance of biofuel industries.

Biofuels development in Sub-Saharan Africa: Are the policies conducive?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jumbe, Charles B.L.; Msiska, Frederick B.M.; Madjera, Michael

2009-01-01

This paper analyses national, regional and international biofuels policies and strategies to assess whether these policies promote or undermine the development of biofuels sector in Africa. Despite having a huge comparative advantage in land, labour and good climatic conditions favourable for the growing of energy crops, few countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have included biofuels strategies in their energy or national development policies. Further results show that while developed countries commit huge financial resources for research, technology development and the provision of tax-incentives to both producers and consumers, there is little government support for promoting biofuels in Africa. Although the consequences of biofuels on food supply remain uncertain, the mandatory blending of biofuels with fossil fuels by industrialized countries will create demand for land in Africa for the growing of energy crops for biofuels. This paper urgently calls upon national governments in Sub-Saharan Africa to develop appropriate strategies and regulatory frameworks to harness the potential economic opportunities from biofuels sector development, while protecting the environment and rural communities from the adverse effects of land alienation from the mainstream agriculture towards the growing of energy crops for biofuels at the expense of traditional food crops.

Biofuels development in Sub-Saharan Africa: Are the policies conducive?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jumbe, Charles B.L., E-mail: charlesjumbe@bunda.unima.m [University of Malawi, Centre for Agricultural Research and Development, Bunda College, P.O. Box 219, Lilongwe (Malawi); Msiska, Frederick B.M., E-mail: frederickmsiska@yahoo.co [Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, P.O. Box 30134, Lilongwe 3 (Malawi); Madjera, Michael, E-mail: michael.madjera@onlinehome.d [Evangelical Church in Middle Germany, P.O. Box 1424, 39004 Magdeburg (Germany)

2009-11-15

This paper analyses national, regional and international biofuels policies and strategies to assess whether these policies promote or undermine the development of biofuels sector in Africa. Despite having a huge comparative advantage in land, labour and good climatic conditions favourable for the growing of energy crops, few countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have included biofuels strategies in their energy or national development policies. Further results show that while developed countries commit huge financial resources for research, technology development and the provision of tax-incentives to both producers and consumers, there is little government support for promoting biofuels in Africa. Although the consequences of biofuels on food supply remain uncertain, the mandatory blending of biofuels with fossil fuels by industrialized countries will create demand for land in Africa for the growing of energy crops for biofuels. This paper urgently calls upon national governments in Sub-Saharan Africa to develop appropriate strategies and regulatory frameworks to harness the potential economic opportunities from biofuels sector development, while protecting the environment and rural communities from the adverse effects of land alienation from the mainstream agriculture towards the growing of energy crops for biofuels at the expense of traditional food crops.

Biofuels development in Sub-Saharan Africa. Are the policies conducive?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jumbe, Charles B.L. [University of Malawi, Centre for Agricultural Research and Development, Bunda College, P.O. Box 219, Lilongwe (Malawi); Msiska, Frederick B.M. [Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, P.O. Box 30134, Lilongwe 3 (Malawi); Madjera, Michael [Evangelical Church in Middle Germany, P.O. Box 1424, 39004 Magdeburg (Germany)

2009-11-15

This paper analyses national, regional and international biofuels policies and strategies to assess whether these policies promote or undermine the development of biofuels sector in Africa. Despite having a huge comparative advantage in land, labour and good climatic conditions favourable for the growing of energy crops, few countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have included biofuels strategies in their energy or national development policies. Further results show that while developed countries commit huge financial resources for research, technology development and the provision of tax-incentives to both producers and consumers, there is little government support for promoting biofuels in Africa. Although the consequences of biofuels on food supply remain uncertain, the mandatory blending of biofuels with fossil fuels by industrialized countries will create demand for land in Africa for the growing of energy crops for biofuels. This paper urgently calls upon national governments in Sub-Saharan Africa to develop appropriate strategies and regulatory frameworks to harness the potential economic opportunities from biofuels sector development, while protecting the environment and rural communities from the adverse effects of land alienation from the mainstream agriculture towards the growing of energy crops for biofuels at the expense of traditional food crops. (author)

Environmental and energy aspects of liquid biofuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Boo, W.

1993-02-01

When spending public money to reduce CO 2 emissions, it is necessary to establish which alternative energy source results in the largest reduction of CO 2 emission per unit cost. Comparison of different biofuels with other energy resources is therefore important. Bioethanol is compared with leadfree gasoline, and rapeseed oil methylester (RME) is compared with diesel. Subsequently, biofuel production as a method to reduce CO 2 emission will be compared with other sustainable energy resources. This comparison is based on the energy balance in chapter two and the final costs of biofuels in chapter six. The comparison of biofuels and current fossil fuels is based on emissions to the atmosphere of greenhouse gases and acidifying pollutants in chapter three. Pollution to soil and water by arable cropping is a specific characteristic of biofuel production and is difficult to compare with fossil fuels. On this subject biofuels are compared with other land uses in chapter four. This also applies to other adverse environmental aspects of agricultural production such as competition for land use with natural areas and recreation purposes. To explore future technological developments, a comparison is made in energy balances with estimated results after the year 2000. The overall conclusion is that there are far better options to achieve CO 2 reduction. 2 figs., 9 tabs., 14 appendices, 28 refs

The Brazilian biofuels industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Goldemberg José

2008-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Ethanol is a biofuel that is used as a replacement for approximately 3% of the fossil-based gasoline consumed in the world today. Most of this biofuel is produced from sugarcane in Brazil and corn in the United States. We present here the rationale for the ethanol program in Brazil, its present 'status' and its perspectives. The environmental benefits of the program, particularly the contribution of ethanol to reducing the emission of greenhouse gases, are discussed, as well as the limitations to its expansion.

40 CFR Table 1 to Subpart R of... - General Provisions Applicability to Subpart R

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... Subpart R 1 Table 1 to Subpart R of Part 63 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY... Pipeline Breakout Stations) Pt. 63, Subpt. R, Table 1 Table 1 to Subpart R of Part 63—General Provisions Applicability to Subpart R Reference Applies to subpart R Comment 63.1(a)(1) Yes 63.1(a)(2) Yes 63.1(a)(3) Yes...

Biofuels from microbes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Antoni, D. [Technische Univ. Muenchen, Freising-Weihenstephan (Germany). Inst. of Resource and Energy Technology; Zverlov, V.V.; Schwarz, W.H. [Technische Univ. Muenchen, Freising-Weihenstephan (Germany). Dept. of Microbiology

2007-11-15

Today, biomass covers about 10% of the world's primary energy demand. Against a backdrop of rising crude oil prices, depletion of resources, political instability in producing countries and environmental challenges, besides efficiency and intelligent use, only biomass has the potential to replace the supply of an energy hungry civilisation. Plant biomass is an abundant and renewable source of energy-rich carbohydrates which can be efficiently converted by microbes into biofuels, of which, only bioethanol is produced on an industrial scale today. Biomethane is produced on a large scale, but is not yet utilised for transportation. Biobutanol is on the agenda of several companies and may be used in the near future as a supplement for gasoline, diesel and kerosene, as well as contributing to the partially biological production of butyl-t-butylether, BTBE as does bioethanol today with ETBE. Biohydrogen, biomethanol and microbially made biodiesel still require further development. This paper reviews microbially made biofuels which have potential to replace our present day fuels, either alone, by blending, or by chemical conversion. It also summarises the history of biofuels and provides insight into the actual production in various countries, reviewing their policies and adaptivity to the energy challenges of foreseeable future. (orig.)

Thermodynamic evaluation of biomass-to-biofuels production systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Piekarczyk, Wodzisław; Czarnowska, Lucyna; Ptasiński, Krzysztof; Stanek, Wojciech

2013-01-01

Biomass is a renewable feedstock for producing modern energy carriers. However, the usage of biomass is accompanied by possible drawbacks, mainly due to limitation of land and water, and competition with food production. In this paper, the analysis concerns so-called second generation biofuels, like Fischer–Tropsch fuels or Substitute Natural Gas which are produced either from wood or from waste biomass. For these biofuels the most promising conversion case is the one which involves production of syngas from biomass gasification, followed by synthesis of biofuels. The thermodynamic efficiency of biofuels production is analyzed and compared using both the direct exergy analysis and the thermo-ecological cost. This analysis leads to the detection of exergy losses in various elements which forms the starting point to the improvement of conversion efficiency. The efficiency of biomass conversion to biofuels is also evaluated for the whole production chain, including biomass cultivation, transportation and conversion. The global effects of natural resources management are investigated using the thermo-ecological cost. The energy carriers' utilities such as electricity and heat are externally generated either from fossil fuels or from renewable biomass. In the former case the production of biofuels not always can be considered as a renewable energy source whereas in the latter case the production of biofuels leads always to the reduction of depletion of non-renewable resources

Development of optimal enzymatic and microbial conversion systems for biofuel production

Science.gov (United States)

Aramrueang, Natthiporn

The increase in demand for fuels, along with the concerns over the depletion of fossil fuels and the environmental problems associated with the use of the petroleum-based fuels, has driven the exploitation of clean and renewable energy. Through a collaboration project with Mendota Bioenergy LLC to produce advanced biofuel from sugar beet and other locally grown crops in the Central Valley of California through demonstration and commercial-scale biorefineries, the present study focused on the investigation of selected potential biomass as biofuel feedstock and development of bioconversion systems for sustainable biofuel production. For an efficient biomass-to-biofuel conversion process, three important steps, which are central to this research, must be considered: feedstock characterization, enzymatic hydrolysis of the feedstock, and the bioconversion process. The first part of the research focused on the characterization of various lignocellulosic biomass as feedstocks and investigated their potential ethanol yields. Physical characteristics and chemical composition were analyzed for four sugar beet varieties, three melon varieties, tomato, Jose tall wheatgrass, wheat hay, and wheat straw. Melons and tomato are those products discarded by the growers or processors due to poor quality. The mass-based ethanol potential of each feedstock was determined based on the composition. The high sugar-containing feedstocks are sugar beet roots, melons, and tomato, containing 72%, 63%, and 42% average soluble sugars on a dry basis, respectively. Thus, for these crops, the soluble sugars are the main substrate for ethanol production. The potential ethanol yields, on average, for sugar beet roots, melons, and tomato are 591, 526, and 448 L ethanol/metric ton dry basis (d.b.), respectively. Lignocellulosic biomass, including Jose Tall wheatgrass and wheat straw, are composed primarily of cellulose (27-39% d.b.) and hemicellulose (26-30% d.b.). The ethanol yields from these

Washington State University Algae Biofuels Research

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

chen, Shulin [Washington State Univ., Pullman, WA (United States). Dept. of Biological Systems Engineering; McCormick, Margaret [Targeted Growth, Inc., Seattle, WA (United States); Sutterlin, Rusty [Inventure Renewables, Inc., Gig Harbor, WA (United States)

2012-12-29

The goal of this project was to advance algal technologies for the production of biofuels and biochemicals by establishing the Washington State Algae Alliance, a collaboration partnership among two private companies (Targeted Growth, Inc. (TGI), Inventure Chemicals (Inventure) Inc (now Inventure Renewables Inc) and Washington State University (WSU). This project included three major components. The first one was strain development at TGI by genetically engineering cyanobacteria to yield high levels of lipid and other specialty chemicals. The second component was developing an algal culture system at WSU to produce algal biomass as biofuel feedstock year-round in the northern states of the United States. This system included two cultivation modes, the first one was a phototrophic process and the second a heterotrophic process. The phototrophic process would be used for algae production in open ponds during warm seasons; the heterotrophic process would be used in cold seasons so that year-round production of algal lipid would be possible. In warm seasons the heterotrophic process would also produce algal seeds to be used in the phototrophic culture process. Selected strains of green algae and cyanobacteria developed by TGI were tested in the system. The third component was downstream algal biomass processing by Inventure that included efficiently harvesting the usable fuel fractions from the algae mass and effectively isolating and separating the usable components into specific fractions, and converting isolated fractions into green chemicals.

Bio-fuels barometer - EurObserv'ER - July 2016

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2016-07-01

The European bio-fuel market is now regulated by the directive, known as ILUC, whose wording focuses on the environmental impact of first generation bio-fuel development. This long-awaited clarification has arrived against the backdrop of falling oil prices and shrinking European Union bio-fuel consumption, which should drop by 1.7% between 2014 and 2015, according to EurObserv'ER

Biofuels barometer - EurObserv'ER - July 2016

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2016-07-01

The European biofuel market is now regulated by the directive, known as ILUC, whose wording focuses on the environmental impact of first generation biofuel development. This long-awaited clarification has arrived against the backdrop of falling oil prices and shrinking European Union biofuel consumption, which should drop by 1.7% between 2014 and 2015, according to EurObserv'ER

Liquid biofuels - can they meet our expectations?

Science.gov (United States)

Glatzel, G.

2012-04-01

Liquid biofuels are one of the options for reducing the emission of greenhouse gases and the dependence on fossil fuels. This is reflected in the DIRECTIVE 2003/30/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on the promotion of the use of biofuels or other renewable fuels for transport. The promotion of E10, an automotive fuel containing 10 percent bioethanol, is based on this directive. At present almost all bioethanol is produced from agricultural crops such as maize, corn or sugar beet and sugar cane in suitable climates. In view of shortages and rising prices of food, in particular in developing countries, the use of food and feed crops for biofuel production is increasingly criticized. Alternative sources of biomass are perennial grasses and wood, whose cellulose fraction can be converted to alcohol by the so called "second generation" processes, which seem to be close to commercial deployment. The use of the total plant biomass increases the biofuel yield per hectare as compared to conventional crops. Of special interest for biofuel production is woody biomass from forests as this avoids competition with food production on arable land. Historically woody biomass was for millennia the predominant source of thermal energy. Before fossil fuels came into use, up to 80 percent of a forest was used for fuel wood, charcoal and raw materials such as potash for trade and industry. Now forests are managed to yield up to 80 percent of high grade timber for the wood industry. Replacing sophisticatedly managed forests by fast growing biofuel plantations could make economic sense for land owners when a protected market is guaranteed by politics, because biofuel plantations would be highly mechanized and cheap to operate, even if costs for certified planting material and fertilizer are added. For forest owners the decision to clear existing long rotation forests for biofuel plantations would still be weighty because of the extended time of decades required to rebuild a

Integrated microbial processes for biofuels and high value-added products: the way to improve the cost effectiveness of biofuel production.

Science.gov (United States)

da Silva, Teresa Lopes; Gouveia, Luísa; Reis, Alberto

2014-02-01

The production of microbial biofuels is currently under investigation, as they are alternative sources to fossil fuels, which are diminishing and their use has a negative impact on the environment. However, so far, biofuels derived from microbes are not economically competitive. One way to overcome this bottleneck is the use of microorganisms to transform substrates into biofuels and high value-added products, and simultaneously taking advantage of the various microbial biomass components to produce other products of interest, as an integrated process. In this way, it is possible to maximize the economic value of the whole process, with the desired reduction of the waste streams produced. It is expected that this integrated system makes the biofuel production economically sustainable and competitive in the near future. This review describes the investigation on integrated microbial processes (based on bacteria, yeast, and microalgal cultivations) that have been experimentally developed, highlighting the importance of this approach as a way to optimize microbial biofuel production process.

Putting a green toe on the biofuels foot : determining and reducing the ecological footprint anticipated from accelerated biofuel development in Canada

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McIntyre, T.

2007-01-01

Results from recent Environment Canada (EC) research on punctuated life cycle analysis of biofuels and completed ongoing global benchmarking were presented. The purpose of the presentation was to demonstrate how the research community was responding to and organizing themselves for the biofuels opportunity/challenge agenda. The presentation provided a list of some of the environmental benefits of biofuels claimed in the public domain and identified potential environmental impact areas of concern. The author indicated that environmental data was not very robust and that this complex issue lends itself to a weak understanding of theoretical versus likely/achievable benefits. Other topics that were presented included biomass conversion technologies; the petrochemical distribution infrastructure in Canada; the biofuels distribution infrastructure; biofuel spill fate and behaviour; and the focus of EC's BEST research and development program. 2 tabs., 1 fig

Improving Biofuels Recovery Processes for Energy Efficiency and Sustainability

Science.gov (United States)

Biofuels are made from living or recently living organisms. For example, ethanol can be made from fermented plant materials. Biofuels have a number of important benefits when compared to fossil fuels. Biofuels are produced from renewable energy sources such as agricultural resou...

Policies for second generation biofuels: current status and future challenges

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Egger, Haakan; Greaker, Mads; Potter, Emily

2011-07-01

Current state-of-the-art knowledge concludes that green house gas (GHG) emissions must be controlled and reduced within the next 30-40 years. The transport sector contributes almost a fifth of the current global emissions, and its share is likely to increase in the future. The US and a number of European countries have therefore introduced various support schemes for research and development (RandD) of low emission fuels that can potentially replace the current fossil fuels. One such alternative is biofuels. The advantage of biofuels are that it is easy to introduce into the transport sector. On the other hand, recent research papers question whether the supply of feedstock is sufficient, and to what extent biofuels lead to GHG emission reductions. This report reviews the current status of second generation biofuels. Second generation biofuels are made from cellulose, which according to our survey of the literature, is in more abundant supply than the first generation biofuels feedstocks. Furthermore, it seems to have the potential to reduce GHG emissions from the transport sector without leading to devastating land use changes, which recent critique has held against first generation biofuels. Given that governments have decided to support RandD of low emission fuels, we ask the following questions: Should second generation biofuels receive RandD support to the same extent as other low emission fuels like hydrogen? How should support schemes for second generation biofuels be designed? Second generation biofuels can be divided according to the production process into thermo-chemical and bio-chemical. With respect to the thermo-chemical process the potential for cost reductions seems to be low. On the other hand, ethanol made from cellulose using the biochemical conversion process is far from a ripe technology. Expert reports point to several potential technological breakthroughs which may reduce costs substantially. Hence, cellulosic ethanol, should receive direct

Rice straw as a feedstock for biofuels: Availability, recalcitrance, and chemical properties: Rice straw as a feedstock for biofuels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Satlewal, Alok [Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Joint Inst. for Biological Sciences, Biosciences Division; Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, Faridabad (India), Dept. of Bioenergy, DBT-IOC Centre for Advanced Bioenergy Research, Research and Development Centre; Agrawal, Ruchi [Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, Faridabad (India), Dept. of Bioenergy, DBT-IOC Centre for Advanced Bioenergy Research, Research and Development Centre; Bhagia, Samarthya [Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; Das, Parthapratim [Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; Ragauskas, Arthur J. [Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

2017-10-17

The surplus availability of rice straw, its limited usage and environment pollution caused by inefficient burning has fostered research for its valorization to biofuels. This review elucidates the current status of rice straw potential around the globe along with recent advances in revealing the critical factors responsible for its recalcitrance and chemical properties. The role and accumulation of high silica content in rice straw has been elucidated with its impact on enzymatic hydrolysis in a biorefinery environment. The correlation of different pretreatment approaches in modifying the physiochemical properties of rice straw and improving the enzymatic accessibility has also been discussed. This study highlights new challenges, resolutions and opportunities for rice straw based biorefineries.

Biofuels for automobiles - an overview

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schaub, G. [Universitaet Karlsruhe, Engler-Bunte-Institut, Karlsruhe (Germany); Vetter, A. [Thueringer Landesanstalt fuer Landwirtschaft, Dornburg (Germany)

2008-05-15

Due to increasing oil prices and climate change concerns, biofuels have become more important as potential alternative energy sources. It is an open question as to which types of biofuels have the best yield potentials, characteristic properties and environmental consequences for providing the largest contribution to future energy requirements. Apart from the quality aspects, the question of quantity is very important, i.e., yields of biomass raw materials from agriculture and forestry as well as the conversion efficiencies/yields of the conversion process to automotive fuels. The most widely used biofuel forms today are fatty acid methyl esters and ethanol. However, in the future it is possible that synthetic hydrocarbons and hydrogen, produced via biotechnological or chemical processes may become feasible as fuel sources. Limitations in quantity are caused by net productivities of photosynthesis, which are limited by several factors, e.g., by the supply of water, limited availability of land, and conversion losses. As a consequence, biofuels as they exist can only contribute to a limited extent to securing raw material supplies for energy requirements in the future. Efficiency improvements in processing technologies and changes in consumer behavior and attitude will also be required. (Abstract Copyright [2008], Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Cadmium in the biofuel system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aabyhammar, T.; Fahlin, M.; Holmroos, S.

1993-12-01

Removal of biofuel depletes the soil of important nutrients. Investigations are being made of possibilities to return most of these nutrients by spreading the ashes remaining after combustion in the forest or on field. Return of ashes implies that both beneficial and harmful substances are returned. This study has been conducted to illustrate that the return of cadmium implies the greatest risk for negative influences. The occurrence, utilization, emissions and effects of cadmium are discussed. The behaviour of cadmium in soil is discussed in detail. Flows and quantities of cadmium in Swedish society are reviewed. Flows and quantities of both total and plant available cadmium in the entire forest and arable areas of Sweden are given. A scenario for a bioenergy system of max 100 TWh is discussed. The cadmium flow in different biofuels and forest raw products, and anticipated amounts of ashes and cadmium concentrations, are calculated. Power production from biofuels is surveyed. Possibilities to clean ashes have been examined in laboratory experiments. Ashes and trace elements occurring as a result of the gasification of biofuels are reviewed. Strategies for handling ashes are discussed. Proposals on continued inputs in both the biological and technical sciences are made. 146 refs, 23 figs, 38 tabs

Towards a sustainably certifiable futures contract for biofuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mathews, John A.

2008-01-01

How are biofuels to be certified as produced in a sustainable and responsible fashion? In the global debate over this issue, one party to the proceedings seems rarely to be mentioned-namely the commodities exchanges through which a global biofuels market is being created. In this contribution, I propose a solution to the problem of sustainability certification through a biofuels futures contract equipped with 'proof of origin' documentation. The proposal does not call for any radical break with current practice, extending existing certification procedures with a requirement for the vendor to provide documentation, probably in barcoded form, of the history of the biofuel offered for sale, including plantation and biorefinery where the biofuel was produced and subsequent blendings it may have undergone. The proposal is thus compatible with the blending practices of large global traders, whose activities are the source of the difficulties of other approaches to certification. It is argued that if such a sustainable futures contract for bioethanol (in the first instance) were to be introduced, then it would likely trade at a premium and become the primary vehicle for North-South trade in biofuels

Biofuel and Food-Commodity Prices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Zilberman

2012-09-01

Full Text Available The paper summarizes key findings of alternative lines of research on the relationship between food and fuel markets, and identifies gaps between two bodies of literature: one that investigates the relationship between food and fuel prices, and another that investigates the impact of the introduction of biofuels on commodity-food prices. The former body of literature suggests that biofuel prices do not affect food-commodity prices, but the latter suggests it does. We try to explain this gap, and then show that although biofuel was an important contributor to the recent food-price inflation of 2001–2008, its effect on food-commodity prices declined after the recession of 2008/09. We also show that the introduction of cross-price elasticity is important when explaining soybean price, but less so when explaining corn prices.

Solid and liquid biofuels markets in Finland. A study on international biofuels trade. IEA bioenergy task 40 and EUROBIONET II. Country report of Finland

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heinimoe, J.; Alakangas, E.

2006-01-01

This study considered the current situation of solid and liquid biofuels markets and international biofuels trade in Finland and identified the challenges of the emerging international biofuels markets for Finland. The fact that industry consumes more than half of the total primary energy, widely applied combined heat and power production (CHP) and a high share of biofuels in the total energy consumption are specific to the Finnish energy system. One third of the electricity is generated in CHP plants. As much as 27% of the total energy consumption is met by using wood and peat, which makes Finland the leading country in the use of biofuels. Finland has made a commitment to maintain greenhouse gas emissions at the 1990 level at the highest during the period 2008-2012. The Finnish energy policy aims to achieve the target, and a variety of measures are taken to promote the use of renewable energy sources and especially wood fuels. In this study, the wooden raw material streams of the forest industry were included the international biofuels trade in addition to biomass streams that are traded for energy production. In 2004, as much as 45% of the raw wood imported into Finland ended up in energy production. The total international trading of biofuels was evaluated at 72 PJ, of which the majority, 58 PJ, was raw wood. About 22% of wood based energy in Finland originated from imported raw wood. Tall oil and wood pellets composed the largest export streams of biofuels. The annual turnover of international biofuels trade was estimated at about euro 90 million for direct trade and at about euro 190 million for indirect trade. The forest industry as the biggest user of wood, and the producer and user of wood fuels has a central position in biomass and biofuels markets in Finland. Lately, the international aspects of Finnish biofuels markets have been emphasised as the import of raw wood and the export of wood pellets have increased. Expanding the use of biofuels in the road

Ensuring sustainability in developing world biofuel productoin

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Von Maltitz, Graham P

2009-06-01

Full Text Available el N at io n al an d in te rn at io n al liq u id fu el s bl en ds Type 1 projects E.g. Mali Folkecentre Ghana Dumpong Biofuels See text box A and B Type 4 projects E.g. Large scale commercial plantations... approach Mali farmer growing jatropha as a fuel source to fuel 3 X 100 KW generators that will provide power to his village Brazilian ethanol production from large scale mechanised sugar cane fields Is certification and setting...

Ultrasonic waste activated sludge disintegration for recovering multiple nutrients for biofuel production.

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Guo-Jun; Liu, Bing-Feng; Wang, Qilin; Ding, Jie; Ren, Nan-Qi

2016-04-15

Waste activated sludge is a valuable resource containing multiple nutrients, but is currently treated and disposed of as an important source of pollution. In this work, waste activated sludge after ultrasound pretreatment was reused as multiple nutrients for biofuel production. The nutrients trapped in sludge floc were transferred into liquid medium by ultrasonic disintegration during first 30 min, while further increase of pretreatment time only resulted in slight increase of nutrients release. Hydrogen production by Ethanoligenens harbinense B49 from glucose significantly increased with the concentration of ultrasonic sludge, and reached maximum yield of 1.97 mol H2/mol glucose at sludge concentration of 7.75 g volatile suspended solids/l. Without addition of any other chemicals, waste molasses rich in carbohydrate was efficiently turned into hydrogen with yield of 189.34 ml H2/g total sugar by E. harbinense B49 using ultrasonic sludge as nutrients. The results also showed that hydrogen production using pretreated sludge as multiple nutrients was higher than those using standard nutrients. Acetic acid produced by E. harbinense B49 together with the residual nutrients in the liquid medium were further converted into hydrogen (271.36 ml H2/g total sugar) by Rhodopseudomonas faecalis RLD-53 through photo fermentation, while ethanol was the sole end product with yield of 220.26 mg/g total sugar. Thus, pretreated sludge was an efficient nutrients source for biofuel production, which could replace the standard nutrients. This research provided a novel strategy to achieve environmental friendly sludge disposal and simultaneous efficient biofuel recovery from organic waste. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Editorial perspective--advances in B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hagenbeek, A.; Bischof Delaloye, A.

2003-01-01

Radioimmunotherapy (RIT) represents an exciting new therapeutic option for the treatment of B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), emerging at a time when significant advances have been made in NHL classification, molecular genetics and treatment. Despite recent treatment advances, including the use

Potential for Electrified Vehicles to Contribute to U.S. Petroleum and Climate Goals and Implications for Advanced Biofuels.

Science.gov (United States)

Meier, Paul J; Cronin, Keith R; Frost, Ethan A; Runge, Troy M; Dale, Bruce E; Reinemann, Douglas J; Detlor, Jennifer

2015-07-21

To examine the national fuel and emissions impacts from increasingly electrified light-duty transportation, we reconstructed the vehicle technology portfolios from two national vehicle studies. Using these vehicle portfolios, we normalized assumptions and examined sensitivity around the rates of electrified vehicle penetration, travel demand growth, and electricity decarbonization. We further examined the impact of substituting low-carbon advanced cellulosic biofuels in place of petroleum. Twenty-seven scenarios were benchmarked against a 50% petroleum-reduction target and an 80% GHG-reduction target. We found that with high rates of electrification (40% of miles traveled) the petroleum-reduction benchmark could be satisfied, even with high travel demand growth. The same highly electrified scenarios, however, could not satisfy 80% GHG-reduction targets, even assuming 80% decarbonized electricity and no growth in travel demand. Regardless of precise consumer vehicle preferences, emissions are a function of the total reliance on electricity versus liquid fuels and the corresponding greenhouse gas intensities of both. We found that at a relatively high rate of electrification (40% of miles and 26% by fuel), an 80% GHG reduction could only be achieved with significant quantities of low-carbon liquid fuel in cases with low or moderate travel demand growth.

The water-land-food nexus of first-generation biofuels

Science.gov (United States)

Rulli, Maria Cristina; Bellomi, Davide; Cazzoli, Andrea; de Carolis, Giulia; D'Odorico, Paolo

2016-03-01

Recent energy security strategies, investment opportunities and energy policies have led to an escalation in biofuel consumption at the expenses of food crops and pastureland. To evaluate the important impacts of biofuels on food security, the food-energy nexus needs to be investigated in the context of its linkages with the overall human appropriation of land and water resources. Here we provide a global assessment of biofuel crop production, reconstruct global patterns of biofuel crop/oil trade and determine the associated displacement of water and land use. We find that bioethanol is mostly produced with domestic crops while 36% of biodiesel consumption relies on international trade, mainly from Southeast Asia. Altogether, biofuels rely on about 2-3% of the global water and land used for agriculture, which could feed about 30% of the malnourished population. We evaluate the food-energy tradeoff and the impact an increased reliance on biofuel would have on the number of people the planet can feed.

Session 8: biofuels; Session 8: Les biocarburants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Botte, J.M.

2006-01-15

Here are given the summaries of the speeches of Mr Daniel Le Breton (Total): the transports of the future: the role of biofuels; of Mr Pierre Rouveirolles (Renault): the future expectations and needs; of Mr Frederic Monot (IFP): the developments of new generations of biofuels from biomass; of Mr Willem Jan Laan (Unilever): the use of bio resources for food and fuel: a fair competition? All these speeches have been presented at the AFTP yearly days (12-13 october 2005) on the session 8 concerning the biofuels. (O.M.)

Improving EU biofuels policy?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Swinbank, Alan; Daugbjerg, Carsten

2013-01-01

to be 'like' a compliant biofuel. A more economically rational way to reduce GHG emissions, and one that might attract greater public support, would be for the RED to reward emission reductions along the lines of the FQD. Moreover, this modification would probably make the provisions more acceptable...... in the WTO, as there would be a clearer link between policy measures and the objective of reductions in GHG emissions; and the combination of the revised RED and the FQD would lessen the commercial incentive to import biofuels with modest GHG emission savings, and thus reduce the risk of trade tension....

Biofuels, poverty, and growth

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Arndt, Channing; Benfica, Rui; Tarp, Finn

2010-01-01

and accrual of land rents to smallholders, compared with the more capital-intensive plantation approach. Moreover, the benefits of outgrower schemes are enhanced if they result in technology spillovers to other crops. These results should not be taken as a green light for unrestrained biofuels development...... Mozambique's annual economic growth by 0.6 percentage points and reduces the incidence of poverty by about 6 percentage points over a 12-year phase-in period. Benefits depend on production technology. An outgrower approach to producing biofuels is more pro-poor, due to the greater use of unskilled labor...

Biofuels. Is the curse worse than the disease?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doornbosch, R.; Steenblik, R.

2007-09-01

Biofuels have been championed as an energy source that can increase security of supply, reduce vehicle emissions and provide a new income stream for farmers. These claims are contested, however. Critics assert that biofuels will increase energy-price volatility, food prices and even life-cycle emissions of greenhouse gases. This paper presents salient facts and figures to shed light on these controversial issues and asks whether biofuels offer a cure that is worse than the disease they seek to heal. The information gathered in this paper gives rise to two fundamental questions: (1) Do the technical means exist to produce biofuels in ways that enable the world to meet demand for transportation energy in more secure and less harmful ways, on a meaningful scale and without compromising the ability to feed a growing population?; and (2) Do current national and international policies that promote the production of biofuels represent the most cost-effective means of using biomass and the best way forward for the transport sector?

Supply Chain Sustainability Analysis of Three Biofuel Pathways

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jacob J. Jacobson; Erin Searcy; Kara Cafferty; Jennifer B. Dunn; Michael Johnson; Zhichao Wang; Michael Wang; Mary Biddy; Abhijit Dutta; Daniel Inman; Eric Tan; Sue Jones; Lesley Snowden-Swan

2013-11-01

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) collaborates with industrial, agricultural, and non-profit partners to develop and deploy biofuels and other biologically-derived products. As part of this effort, BETO and its national laboratory teams conduct in-depth techno-economic assessments (TEA) of technologies to produce biofuels as part state of technology (SOT) analyses. An SOT assesses progress within and across relevant technology areas based on actual experimental results relative to technical targets and cost goals from design cases and includes technical, economic, and environmental criteria as available. Overall assessments of biofuel pathways begin with feedstock production and the logistics of transporting the feedstock from the farm or plantation to the conversion facility or biorefinery. The conversion process itself is modeled in detail as part of the SOT analysis. The teams then develop an estimate of the biofuel minimum selling price (MSP) and assess the cost competitiveness of the biofuel with conventional fuels such as gasoline.

Will EU Biofuel Policies affect Global Agricultural Markets?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Banse, M.; Vvan Meijl, H.; Tabeau, A.; Woltjer, G.

2008-04-01

This paper assesses the global and sectoral implications of the European Union Biofuels Directive (BFD) in a multi-region computable general equilibrium framework with endogenous determination of land supply. The results show that, without mandatory blending policies or subsidies to stimulate the use of biofuel crops in the petroleum sector, the targets of the BFD will not be met in 2010 and 2020. With a mandatory blending policy, the enhanced demand for biofuel crops has a strong impact on agriculture at the global and European levels. The additional demand from the energy sector leads to an increase in global land use and, ultimately, a decrease in biodiversity. The development, on the other hand, might slow or reverse the long-term process of declining real agricultural prices. Moreover, assuming a further liberalization of the European agricultural market imports of biofuels are expected to increase to more than 50% of the total biofuel demand in Europe

Assessment of environmental stresses for enhanced microalgal biofuel production-an overview

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dan eCheng

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Microalgal biofuels are currently considered to be the most promising alternative to future renewable energy source. Microalgae have great potential to produce various biofuels, including biodiesel, bioethanol, biomethane, and biohydrogen. Cultivation of biofuel-producing microalgae demands favorable environmental conditions, such as suitable light, temperature, nutrients, salinity, and pH. However, these conditions are not always compatible with the conditions beneficial to biofuel production, because biofuel-related compounds (such as lipids and carbohydrates tend to accumulate under environmental-stress conditions of light, temperature, nutrient, and salt. This paper presents a brief overview of the effects of environmental conditions on production of microalgal biomass and biofuel, with specific emphasis on how to utilize environmental stresses to improve biofuel productivity. The potential avenues of reaping the benefits of enhanced biofuel production by environmental stresses while maintaining high yields of biomass production have been discussed.

Current status: biomass valorisation and biofuels in Singapore

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guermont, C.; Barbi, A.P.

2010-05-01

After having briefly presented the main types of biofuels (bio-ethanol, bio-diesel) and their first, second and third generation technologies to produce them (from food crops, from non food crops, and from algae), this report presents Singapore public R and D centres working in the field of biofuels development, and their activities. It also presents actors belonging to the private sector, and various realized and announced projects on biofuels

Carbon and environmental footprinting of global biofuel production

OpenAIRE

Hammond, Geoff P.; Seth, S.M.

2013-01-01

The carbon and environmental footprints associated with the global production of biofuels have been computed from a baseline of 2007-2009 out until 2019. Estimates of future global biofuel production were adopted from OECD-FAO and related projections. In order to determine the footprints associated with these (essentially 'first generation') biofuel resources, the overall environmental footprint was disaggregated into bioproductive land, built land, carbon, embodied energy, materials and wast...

Streamflow impacts of biofuel policy-driven landscape change.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sami Khanal

Full Text Available Likely changes in precipitation (P and potential evapotranspiration (PET resulting from policy-driven expansion of bioenergy crops in the United States are shown to create significant changes in streamflow volumes and increase water stress in the High Plains. Regional climate simulations for current and biofuel cropping system scenarios are evaluated using the same atmospheric forcing data over the period 1979-2004 using the Weather Research Forecast (WRF model coupled to the NOAH land surface model. PET is projected to increase under the biofuel crop production scenario. The magnitude of the mean annual increase in PET is larger than the inter-annual variability of change in PET, indicating that PET increase is a forced response to the biofuel cropping system land use. Across the conterminous U.S., the change in mean streamflow volume under the biofuel scenario is estimated to range from negative 56% to positive 20% relative to a business-as-usual baseline scenario. In Kansas and Oklahoma, annual streamflow volume is reduced by an average of 20%, and this reduction in streamflow volume is due primarily to increased PET. Predicted increase in mean annual P under the biofuel crop production scenario is lower than its inter-annual variability, indicating that additional simulations would be necessary to determine conclusively whether predicted change in P is a response to biofuel crop production. Although estimated changes in streamflow volume include the influence of P change, sensitivity results show that PET change is the significantly dominant factor causing streamflow change. Higher PET and lower streamflow due to biofuel feedstock production are likely to increase water stress in the High Plains. When pursuing sustainable biofuels policy, decision-makers should consider the impacts of feedstock production on water scarcity.

Biofuels for transport in Europe: lessons from Germany and the UK

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bomb, C.; McCormick, K.; Kaaberger, T.; Lund University, Lund

2007-01-01

The utilisation of biofuels is attracting growing support from the European Union and member states as a strategy to tackle climate change, enhance energy security, and contribute to regional development. This paper describes, compares, and analyses the markets for biofuels in Germany and the UK. The introduction of biofuels for transport in these member states provides contrasting pictures, and the success or failure of biofuels here is pertinent to the development and diffusion of biofuels across Europe. This paper concentrates on the socio-political context for the biofuels industry in Germany and the UK, discusses the lessons learned from the German and British experiences, and presents general conclusions for policy-makers that are predominantly relevant for the early stages of a biofuels industry. (author)

The Biofuels Revolution: Understanding the Social, Cultural and Economic Impacts of Biofuels Development on Rural Communities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Selfa, Theresa L; Goe, Richard; Kulcsar, Laszlo; Middendorf, Gerad; Bain, Carmen

2013-02-11

The aim of this research was an in-depth analysis of the impacts of biofuels industry and ethanol plants on six rural communities in the Midwestern states of Kansas and Iowa. The goal was to provide a better understanding of the social, cultural, and economic implications of biofuels development, and to contribute to more informed policy development regarding bioenergy.Specific project objectives were: 1. To understand how the growth of biofuel production has affected and will affect Midwestern farmers and rural communities in terms of economic, demographic, and socio-cultural impacts; 2. To determine how state agencies, groundwater management districts, local governments and policy makers evaluate or manage bioenergy development in relation to competing demands for economic growth, diminishing water resources, and social considerations; 3. To determine the factors that influence the water management practices of agricultural producers in Kansas and Iowa (e.g. geographic setting, water management institutions, competing water-use demands as well as producers attitudes, beliefs, and values) and how these influences relate to bioenergy feedstock production and biofuel processing; 4. To determine the relative importance of social-cultural, environmental and/or economic factors in the promotion of biofuels development and expansion in rural communities; The research objectives were met through the completion of six detailed case studies of rural communities that are current or planned locations for ethanol biorefineries. Of the six case studies, two will be conducted on rural communities in Iowa and four will be conducted on rural communities in Kansas. A multi-method or mixed method research methodology was employed for each case study.

Algae biofuels: versatility for the future of bioenergy.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Carla S; Mayfield, Stephen P

2012-06-01

The world continues to increase its energy use, brought about by an expanding population and a desire for a greater standard of living. This energy use coupled with the realization of the impact of carbon dioxide on the climate, has led us to reanalyze the potential of plant-based biofuels. Of the potential sources of biofuels the most efficient producers of biomass are the photosynthetic microalgae and cyanobacteria. These versatile organisms can be used for the production of bioethanol, biodiesel, biohydrogen, and biogas. In fact, one of the most economic methods for algal biofuels production may be the combined biorefinery approach where multiple biofuels are produced from one biomass source. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Forecast for biofuel trade in Europe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hektor, B.; Vinterbaeck, J.; Toro, A.de; Nilsson, Daniel

1993-01-01

One principal general conclusion is that the European biofuel market for the period up to the year 2000 will be competitive, dynamic and affected by technical development and innovations. That leads to the conclusion that prices will go down, which will increase the ability of biofuels to compete in the market. Still, biofuels will generally not be able to compete at the price level of fossil fuels in the world market, but will need support or protection to reach a competitive position. There are several reasons for support, e.g. offsetting the green-house effect and acid rain, conservation of the limited fossil fuel deposits, utilisation of local and domestic energy resources, etc. As energy crops in Europe are at an introductory stage, no large international trade can be expected within the next ten years. In this study it is assumed that some limited protective measures are imposed, which is a possible result of the energy and environmental policy currently discussed for the European Community, EC. The study implies that in the year 2000 it is possible to transport large quantities of biofuels to large energy consumers if taxes and other incentives now under discussion in the EC and national governments are introduced. The study also implies that in the year 2000 it is possible to utilise biofuels primarily in local and national markets. In the latter case, international trade will be reduced to minor spot quantities

Recent advances in engineering propionyl-CoA metabolism for microbial production of value-added chemicals and biofuels.

Science.gov (United States)

Srirangan, Kajan; Bruder, Mark; Akawi, Lamees; Miscevic, Dragan; Kilpatrick, Shane; Moo-Young, Murray; Chou, C Perry

2017-09-01

Diminishing fossil fuel reserves and mounting environmental concerns associated with petrochemical manufacturing practices have generated significant interests in developing whole-cell biocatalytic systems for the production of value-added chemicals and biofuels. Although acetyl-CoA is a common natural biogenic precursor for the biosynthesis of numerous metabolites, propionyl-CoA is unpopular and non-native to most organisms. Nevertheless, with its C3-acyl moiety as a discrete building block, propionyl-CoA can serve as another key biogenic precursor to several biological products of industrial importance. As a result, engineering propionyl-CoA metabolism, particularly in genetically tractable hosts with the use of inexpensive feedstocks, has paved an avenue for novel biomanufacturing. Herein, we present a systematic review on manipulation of propionyl-CoA metabolism as well as relevant genetic and metabolic engineering strategies for microbial production of value-added chemicals and biofuels, including odd-chain alcohols and organic acids, bio(co)polymers and polyketides. [Formula: see text].

[Progress in synthesis technologies and application of aviation biofuels].

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Xiaoying; Liu, Xiang; Zhao, Xuebing; Yang, Ming; Liu, Dehua

2013-03-01

Development of aviation biofuels has attracted great attention worldwide because that the shortage of fossil resources has become more and more serious. In the present paper, the development background, synthesis technologies, current application status and existing problems of aviation biofuels were reviewed. Several preparation routes of aviation biofuels were described, including Fischer-Tropsch process, catalytic hydrogenation and catalytic cracking of bio-oil. The status of flight tests and commercial operation were also introduced. Finally the problems for development and application of aviation biofuels were stated, and some accommodation were proposed.

Livelihood implications of biofuel crop production: Implications for governance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hunsberger, Carol; Bolwig, Simon; Corbera, Esteve

2014-01-01

While much attention has focused on the climate change mitigation potential of biofuels, research from the social sciences increasingly highlights the social and livelihood impacts of their expanded production. Policy and governance measures aimed at improving the social effects of biofuels have...... by their cultivation in the global South – income, food security, access to land-based resources, and social assets – revealing that distributional effects are crucial to evaluating the outcomes of biofuel production across these dimensions. Second, we ask how well selected biofuel governance mechanisms address...

Biofuel Sustainability and the Formation of Transnational Hybrid Governance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ponte, Stefano; Daugbjerg, Carsten

2015-01-01

We examine the transnational governance of biofuel sustainability and its coexistence with the WTO trade regime. The way in which the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED) is shaping transnational biofuel governance shows deep and mutual dependence between public and private. The EU relies on a pri......We examine the transnational governance of biofuel sustainability and its coexistence with the WTO trade regime. The way in which the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED) is shaping transnational biofuel governance shows deep and mutual dependence between public and private. The EU relies...

Current Challenges in Commercially Producing Biofuels from Lignocellulosic Biomass

Science.gov (United States)

Balan, Venkatesh

2014-01-01

Biofuels that are produced from biobased materials are a good alternative to petroleum based fuels. They offer several benefits to society and the environment. Producing second generation biofuels is even more challenging than producing first generation biofuels due the complexity of the biomass and issues related to producing, harvesting, and transporting less dense biomass to centralized biorefineries. In addition to this logistic challenge, other challenges with respect to processing steps in converting biomass to liquid transportation fuel like pretreatment, hydrolysis, microbial fermentation, and fuel separation still exist and are discussed in this review. The possible coproducts that could be produced in the biorefinery and their importance to reduce the processing cost of biofuel are discussed. About $1 billion was spent in the year 2012 by the government agencies in US to meet the mandate to replace 30% existing liquid transportation fuels by 2022 which is 36 billion gallons/year. Other countries in the world have set their own targets to replace petroleum fuel by biofuels. Because of the challenges listed in this review and lack of government policies to create the demand for biofuels, it may take more time for the lignocellulosic biofuels to hit the market place than previously projected. PMID:25937989

Environmental effect of constructed wetland as biofuel production system

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Dong

2017-04-01

Being as a renewable energy, biofuel has attracted worldwide attention. Clean biofuel production is an effective way to mitigate global climate change and energy crisis. Biofuel may offer a promising alternative to fossil fuels, but serious concerns arise about the adverse greenhouse gas consequences from using nitrogen fertilizers. Waste-nitrogen recycling is an attractive idea. Here we advocate a win-win approach to biofuel production which takes advantage of excessive nitrogen in domestic wastewater treated via constructed wetland (CW) in China. This study will carry on environmental effect analysis of CW as a biomass generation system through field surveys and controllable simulated experiments. This study intends to evaluate net energy balance, net greenhouse effect potential and ecosystem service of CW as biomass generation system, and make comparation with traditional wastewater treatment plant and other biofuel production systems. This study can provide a innovation mode in order to solve the dilemma between energy crops competed crops on production land and excessive nitrogen fertilizer of our traditional energy plant production. Data both from our experimental CWs in China and other researches on comparable CWs worldwide showed that the biomass energy yield of CWs can reach 182.3 GJ ha-1 yr-1, which was two to eight times higher than current biofuel-production systems. Energy output from CW was ˜137% greater than energy input for biofuel production. If CWs are designed with specific goal of biofuel production, biofuel production can be greatly enhanced through the optimization of N supply, hydraulic structures, and species selection in CWs. Assuming that 2.0 Tg (1 Tg = 1012 g) waste nitrogen contained in domestic wastewater is treated by CWs, biofuel production can account for 1.2% of national gasoline consumption in China. The proportion would increase to 6.7% if extra nitrogen (9.5 Tg) from industrial wastewater and agricultural runoff was included

Technical solutions to make biofuels more competitive

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

2006-01-01

With the present day environmental and economical stakes, the French government has announced in 2005 a plan for the accelerated development of biofuels. In France, two traditional ways of biofuel generation exist: the bio-ethanol way and the bio-diesel way (methyl esters of vegetable oils). Two problems limit today the development of biofuels: the available cultivation surfaces and the production costs. The challenge of the next generation of biofuels concerns the better use of the available biomass, with no competition with the food productions, and in particular the development of ethyl esters of vegetable oils or the hydrogen processing of vegetable oils. Other processes are making their way, like the biomass to liquid (BTL) process, based on the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, which allows to convert any type of biomass source into liquid fuels with a high production rate (about 5000 l/Ha). Short paper. (J.S.)

Draft forecast of the final report for the comparison to 40 CFR Part 191, Subpart B, for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bertram-Howery, S.G.; Marietta, M.G.; Anderson, D.R.; Gomez, L.S.; Rechard, R.P. (Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (USA)); Brinster, K.F.; Guzowski, R.V. (Science Applications International Corp., Albuquerque, NM (USA))

1989-12-01

The United States Department of Energy is planning to dispose of transuranic wastes, which have been generated by defense programs, at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. The WIPP Project will assess compliance with the requirements of the United States Environmental Protection Agency. This report forecasts the planned 1992 document, Comparison to 40 CFR, Part 191, Subpart B, for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). 130 refs., 36 figs., 11 tabs.

48 CFR 1426.7000 - Scope of subpart.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... policies and procedures for implementation of Section 7(b) of the Indian Self-Determination and Education... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Scope of subpart. 1426.7000 Section 1426.7000 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR SOCIOECONOMIC...

Determination of calorific values of some renewable biofuels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kumar, Jothi V.; Pratt, Benjamin C. [Department of Chemistry, North Carolina A and T State University, Greensboro, North Carolina (United States)

1996-06-01

Thermal methods such as differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and elemental analysis (EA) were employed to determine the calorific values of some renewable biofuels either directly or indirectly. The biofuels tested were the common milkweed, dogbane, kudzu, and eucalyptus tree. The purpose of this work was to optimize the experimental conditions for DSC analysis of biofuels, improve the calorific values by adding metal oxides as catalysts, and compare the heat values between DSC and EA analyses

Wind versus Biofuels for Addressing Climate, Health, and Energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jacobson, Mark Z.

2007-01-01

The favored approach today for addressing global warming is to promote a variety of options: biofuels, wind, solar thermal, solar photovoltaic, geothermal, hydroelectric, and nuclear energy and to improve efficiency. However, by far, most emphasis has been on biofuels. It is shown here, though, that current-technology biofuels cannot address global warming and may slightly increase death and illness due to ozone-related air pollution. Future biofuels may theoretically slow global warming, but only temporarily and with the cost of increased air pollution mortality. In both cases, the land required renders biofuels an impractical solution. Recent measurements and statistical analyses of U.S. and world wind power carried out at Stanford University suggest that wind combined with other options can substantially address global warming, air pollution mortality, and energy needs simultaneously.

Microalgae: biofuel production

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Babita Kumari

2013-04-01

Full Text Available In the present day, microalgae feedstocks are gaining interest in energy scenario due to their fast growth potential coupled with relatively high lipid, carbohydrate and nutrients contents. All of these properties render them an excellent source for biofuels such as biodiesel, bioethanol and biomethane; as well as a number of other valuable pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products. The present review is a critical appraisal of the commercialization potential of microalgae biofuels. The available literature on various aspects of microalgae for e.g. its cultivation, life cycle assessment, and conceptualization of an algal biorefinery, has been done. The evaluation of available information suggests the operational and maintenance cost along with maximization of oil-rich microalgae production is the key factor for successful commercialization of microalgae-based fuels.

Bio-fuels of the first generation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2012-04-01

After having briefly recalled the objective of use of renewable energies and the role bio-fuels may play, this publication briefly presents various bio-fuels: bio-diesel (from colza, soybean or sunflower oil), and ethanol (from beet, sugar cane, wheat or corn). Some key data regarding bio-fuel production and use in France are briefly commented. The publication outlines strengths (a positive energy assessment, a decreased dependency on imported fossil fuels and a higher supply safety, a diversification of agriculture revenues and prospects, a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions) and weaknesses (uncertainty regarding the evolution of soil use, an environmental impact related to farming methods) of this sector. Actions undertaken by the ADEME in collaboration with other agencies and institutions are briefly overviewed

Global nitrogen requirement for increased biofuel production

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Flapper, Joris

2008-01-01

Biofuels are thought to be one of the options to substitute fossil fuels and prevent global warming by the greenhouse gas (GHG) effect as they are seen as a renewable form of energy. However, biofuels are almost solely subjected to criticism from an energ

A model for improving microbial biofuel production using a synthetic feedback loop

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dunlop, Mary; Keasling, Jay; Mukhopadhyay, Aindrila

2011-07-14

Cells use feedback to implement a diverse range of regulatory functions. Building synthetic feedback control systems may yield insight into the roles that feedback can play in regulation since it can be introduced independently of native regulation, and alternative control architectures can be compared. We propose a model for microbial biofuel production where a synthetic control system is used to increase cell viability and biofuel yields. Although microbes can be engineered to produce biofuels, the fuels are often toxic to cell growth, creating a negative feedback loop that limits biofuel production. These toxic effects may be mitigated by expressing efflux pumps that export biofuel from the cell. We developed a model for cell growth and biofuel production and used it to compare several genetic control strategies for their ability to improve biofuel yields. We show that controlling efflux pump expression directly with a biofuel-responsive promoter is a straight forward way of improving biofuel production. In addition, a feed forward loop controller is shown to be versatile at dealing with uncertainty in biofuel production rates.

40 CFR Table 2 to Subpart Dd of... - Applicability of Paragraphs in Subpart A of This Part 63-General Provisions to Subpart DD

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... A of This Part 63-General Provisions to Subpart DD 2 Table 2 to Subpart DD of Part 63 Protection of... Hazardous Air Pollutants from Off-Site Waste and Recovery Operations Pt. 63, Subpt. DD, Table 2 Table 2 to Subpart DD of Part 63—Applicability of Paragraphs in Subpart A of This Part 63—General Provisions to...

Liquid biofuels in the aeroderivative gas turbine

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

DiCampli, James; Schornick, Joe; Farr, Rachel

2010-09-15

While there are regional economic and political incentives for using liquid biofuels for renewable power generation, several challenges must be addressed. Given the fuel volumes required, base-load operation with renewable fuels such as biodiesel and ethanol are not likely sustainable with today's infrastructure. However, blending of biofuels with fossil fuels is a more economic option to provide renewable power. In turn, this lays the foundation to increase to more power generation in the future as new generation biofuels come on line. And, much like the automotive industry, the power industry will need to institute design changes to accommodate these fuels.

Biofuel implementation in East Europe: Current status and future prospects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kondili, E.M.; Kaldellis, J.K.

2007-01-01

There is a continuously increasing interest concerning the biofuel implementation in Europe, mainly because of environmental protection and energy supply security reasons. In this context, the European Union (EU) strongly encourages the use of biofuels through a number of Directives. To that effect, EU members follow the Directives implementing various political, fiscal and technical measures and incentives. In the light of the potential created by the recently joined Eastern European countries, an increasing interest is shown in the whole biofuel supply chain within the EU. In parallel, the status of the Eastern European countries domestic market, as far as biofuels are concerned, is an interesting issue, since most of these countries present a significant potential, however still lagging in biofuel implementation. In the above context, the objective of the present work is to give a concise and up-to-date picture of the present status of biofuel implementation in East Europe. The work also aims at identifying the prospects of these countries as far as biofuels are concerned and their role in the EU framework as potential suppliers of a wider market. (author)

Public opinion about biofuels: The interplay between party identification and risk/benefit perception

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fung, Timothy K.F.; Choi, Doo Hun; Scheufele, Dietram A.; Shaw, Bret R.

2014-01-01

Using an experiment embedded within a representative survey, this study examined the interactive effect of party identification and risk/benefit perception on public opinion about biofuels. Democrats tended to be more supportive of biofuels than Republicans. However, the effect of party identification on opinion about biofuels varied when individuals considered the risk/benefit of biofuels in different domains. Individuals who reported greater affiliation with the Democratic Party were likely to support funding biofuels research when primed with the economic risks or the social/ethical benefits of biofuels. For those who considered the social/ethical benefits of biofuels, more self-identified Democrats were likely to support biofuels production and use. However, more self-identified Democrats were less supportive of biofuels production and use when they considered the political risks of biofuels. Implications are discussed. - Highlights: • We examined public opinion about biofuels policies. • Effect of risk/benefit perception varied across respondents' party identification. • Democrats favored more research when considering economic risks or social benefits. • Democrats favored biofuels more when considering social benefits. • Democrats favored biofuels less when considering political risks

2016 National Algal Biofuels Technology Review Fact Sheet

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

2016-06-01

Algae-based biofuels and bioproducts offer great promise in contributing to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office’s (BETO’s) vision of a thriving and sustainable bioeconomy fueled by innovative technologies. The state of technology for producing algal biofuels continues to mature with ongoing investment by DOE and the private sector, but additional research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) is needed to achieve widespread deployment of affordable, scalable, and sustainable algal biofuels.

20 CFR 1001.100 - Purpose and scope of subpart.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... system established pursuant to the Wagner-Peyser Act, as amended. (b) This subpart describes the roles... performance standards for determining compliance of State agencies in carrying out the provisions of 38 U.S.C...

Fuelling expectations: A policy-promise lock-in of UK biofuel policy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berti, Pietro; Levidow, Les

2014-01-01

Controversy over EU-wide biofuel policy resonated within the UK, fuelling policy disagreements among UK public authorities. They disagreed over how to protect a space for future second-generation biofuels, which were expected to overcome harm from first-generation biofuels. The UK government defended rising targets for available biofuels as a necessary stimulus for industry to help fulfil the UK's EU obligations and eventually develop second-generation biofuels. By contrast, Parliamentary Select Committees opposed biofuel targets on grounds that these would instead lock-in first-generation biofuels, thus delaying or pre-empting second-generation biofuels. Those disagreements can be explained by different institutional responsibilities and reputational stakes towards ‘promise-requirement cycles’, whereby techno-optimistic promises generate future requirements for the actors involved. The UK government's stance illustrates a ‘policy-promise lock-in’, a dilemma whereby promised support is a requirement for credibility towards technology innovators and thus technoscientific development – but may delay the redirection of support from incumbent to preferable emerging technologies. Thus the sociology of expectations – previously applied to technological expectations from technology innovators – can be extended to analyse public authorities. - Highlights: • Controversy over EU-wide biofuel policy resonated within the UK. • At issue was how to stimulate future 2nd-generation biofuels. • The government defended targets for 1st-generation as necessary to stimulate industry. • Parliamentary Committees opposed biofuel targets as locking in 1st-generation. • The UK government′s stance illustrates a ‘policy-promise lock-in’

Positive and negative impacts of agricultural production of liquid biofuels

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Reijnders, L.; Hester, R.E.; Harrison, R.M.

2012-01-01

Agricultural production of liquid biofuels can have positive effects. It can decrease dependence on fossil fuels and increase farmers’ incomes. Agricultural production of mixed perennial biofuel crops may increase pollinator and avian richness. Most types of agricultural crop-based liquid biofuel

Energy properties of solid fossil fuels and solid biofuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holubcik, Michal; Jandacka, Jozef; Kolkova, Zuzana

2016-01-01

The paper deals about the problematic of energy properties of solid biofuels in comparison with solid fossil fuels. Biofuels are alternative to fossil fuels and their properties are very similar. During the experiments were done in detail experiments to obtain various properties of spruce wood pellets and wheat straw pellets like biofuels in comparison with brown coal and black coal like fossil fuels. There were tested moisture content, volatile content, fixed carbon content, ash content, elementary analysis (C, H, N, S content) and ash fusion temperatures. The results show that biofuels have some advantages and also disadvantages in comparison with solid fossil fuels.

Energy properties of solid fossil fuels and solid biofuels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Holubcik, Michal, E-mail: michal.holubcik@fstroj.uniza.sk; Jandacka, Jozef, E-mail: jozef.jandacka@fstroj.uniza.sk [University of Žilina, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Power Engineering, Univerzitná 8215/1, 010 26 Žilina (Slovakia); Kolkova, Zuzana, E-mail: zuzana.kolkova@rc.uniza.sk [Research centre, University of Žilina, Univerzitna 8215/1, 010 26 Žilina (Slovakia)

2016-06-30

The paper deals about the problematic of energy properties of solid biofuels in comparison with solid fossil fuels. Biofuels are alternative to fossil fuels and their properties are very similar. During the experiments were done in detail experiments to obtain various properties of spruce wood pellets and wheat straw pellets like biofuels in comparison with brown coal and black coal like fossil fuels. There were tested moisture content, volatile content, fixed carbon content, ash content, elementary analysis (C, H, N, S content) and ash fusion temperatures. The results show that biofuels have some advantages and also disadvantages in comparison with solid fossil fuels.

Transport biofuels - a life-cycle assessment approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Reijnders, L.

2008-01-01

Life-cycle studies of the currently dominant transport biofuels (bioethanol made from starch or sugar and biodiesel made from vegetable oil) show that solar energy conversion efficiency is relatively poor if compared with solar cells and that such biofuels tend to do worse than conventional fossil

Next-generation biofuels: a new challenge for yeast.

Science.gov (United States)

Petrovič, Uroš

2015-09-01

Economic growth depends strongly on the availability and price of fuels. There are various reasons in different parts of the world for efforts to decrease the consumption of fossil fuels, but biofuels are one of the main solutions considered towards achieving this aim globally. As the major bioethanol producer, the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has a central position among biofuel-producing organisms. However, unprecedented challenges for yeast biotechnology lie ahead, as future biofuels will have to be produced on a large scale from sustainable feedstocks that do not interfere with food production, and which are generally not the traditional carbon source for S. cerevisiae. Additionally, the current trend in the development of biofuels is to synthesize molecules that can be used as drop-in fuels for existing engines. Their properties should therefore be more similar to those of oil-derived fuels than those of ethanol. Recent developments and challenges lying ahead for cost-effective production of such designed biofuels, using S. cerevisiae-based cell factories, are presented in this review. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

From biomass to advanced bio-fuel by catalytic pyrolysis/hydro-processing: hydrodeoxygenation of bio-oil derived from biomass catalytic pyrolysis.