The Bio-SPK fuel blends used in the test flights have all either met or exceeded the performance specifications for jet fuel.
Unlike much of what passes for biofuel in general, they have produced something that is actually superior to the petrol based traditional fuel. In particular, airlines will be impressed with this:
Bio-SPK fuel blends demonstrated higher energy density per unit mass than typical jet fuel, enabling airplanes to travel farther using less fuel.
So even if the fuel is a little more expensive, it will still makes sense. As always the conversation comes back to the availability of cheap raw materials. When that one is solved, all the rest will fall into place.
Refining is a heavy user of energy, and a big emitter of carbon dioxide. Anything that reduces the fuel usage creates a big benefit for both the environment and the bottom line. Valero is smart enough to know this.
Valero Energy Co., the largest U.S. oil refiner in terms of production capacity, recently erected 33 wind turbines to power its Texas refinery.
As oil prices drift upwards again, and with the passing of the Cap & Trade law through congress, renewable energy looks like a good long term bet. Valero gets a long term guaranteed price for some of its electricity, plus reduces its emissions, thus its future carbon costs.
Natural gas is the cleanest of the fossil fuels. Yet methane, is itself a potent greenhouse gas if it is released without burning. There is a huge amount of methane released each year, by the oil & gas industry, by waste disposal and by agriculture. There are many people addressing this issue, but apparently there is also a body that is trying to coordinate global efforts.
The Methane to Markets Partnership is an international initiative that advances cost-effective, near-term methane recovery and use as a clean energy source. The goal of the Partnership is to reduce global methane emissions in order to enhance economic growth, strengthen energy security, improve air quality, improve industrial safety, and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.
Their website has some startling statistics. For example
Oil and natural gas is the second largest anthropogenic (human-induced) methane source worldwide, releasing as much as 88 billion cubic meters (BCM)
Globally, livestock manure management contributes more than 230 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCO2E) of methane emissions, roughly 4 percent of total anthropogenic (human-induced) methane emissions.
In China, methane emissions from livestock manure contribute 10.4 percent of the country’s total human-induced greenhouse gas emissions.
In Mexico, methane emissions from landfills contribute to 10 percent of the total human-induced greenhouse gas emissions.
Globally, Coal Mine Methane accounts for 6 percent of total methane emissions resulting from human activities.
You can see that these are not insignificant problems. By trying to utilise this waste methane, you reduce methane emissions and generate an effectively carbon free source of energy.
When we first heard of biodiesel, it was all about using waste. The reality has been that waste oil is a poor raw material, and most of what we consume comes from energy crops. Thanks to Seeking Alpha, I learned of a company trying to change that. Biofuelbox.
They take any fatty waste:
Be it wastewater scum, municipal FOG (fats, oils and greases), animal fats and tallow, brown grease, used cooking oil, or waste fish oil.
By using a modular system, they are able to better match capacity with raw material availability. As raw materials will be local and small scale, so are the production facilities, starting at just 1 million gallons per year.
As usual, a feasibility study is not possible as prices and costs are not published, but they have one facility in production and have big plans for more.
The first trances of the cash for better fuel efficiency vehicles have been announced.
U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu recieved a standing ovation today when he announced that the Dearborn automaker would receive $5.9 billion in loans for the development of fuel efficient cars. It also includes $1.6 billion to Nissan and $465 million to Tesla Motors.
This green partnership between Ford and the U.S. government will help accelerate the development of advanced technologies for even better fuel efficiency and emissions. Ford is absolutely committed to fuel economy leadership with every new model we introduce. In fact, we plan to invest nearly $14 billion in advanced technology vehicles in the next seven years.
The money is especially valuable for Tesla, a start up with a wish to broaden their product range, but not enough cash to do so. Now that has changed.
Tesla Motors will receive $465 million that will also advance electric vehicles. The first loan will finance a manufacturing facility for the Tesla Model S sedan. This vehicle demonstrates how the emerging electric car is becoming more affordable
Nissan meanwhile is planning to retool a factory to make zero emission vehicles.
it has been conditionally approved by the U.S. Department of Energy for a $1.6 billion loan to modify its Smyrna, Tenn., manufacturing plant to produce zero-emissions vehicles and state-of-the-art lithium-ion battery packs to power them.
So this could be the start of a complete overhaul of the US automotive sector. What comes out of the other side will look very different to what we have today.
The offer would involve the sale of about 13% of Energy Developments’ total worldwide installed power generation capacity of about 600 MW. These assets include its wholly-owned UK LFG interest, comprising 57 MW of power generation projects across 10 sites; its 50% interest in the Gastec Packington joint venture which owns and operates a 9 MW LFG project at Packington in the UK; and its 50% interest in the Gastec JV which owns and operates 29 MW of power generation across 20 LFG projects in France.
The purchaser is a financial investor, who obviously believes that there is a good future in this business. After all, it solves two problems at once.
Landfill gas generation, takes place on a relatively small scale, unlike its fossil fuel equivalent. As such it takes a change of mentality to understand it properly. Its that small scale mentality that is key to most of the alternatives.
The best form of raw material is waste. It avoids the problems inherent in producing other raw materials, that have led to deforestation and rising food prices due to biofuels, and the economic problems that occur when surging demand for something, drives the prices well above that which was expected.
Now waste is never going to meet all of our needs, but prioritising it would never the less make sense. A company called Chemrec, has developed a process to manufacture fuels and chemicals from pulp and paper waste. They claim that the USA could produce 5 billion gallons of ethanol from this resource. In Sweden, a country with a large paper industry, the potential is even bigger:
Full implementation of the Chemrec technology in all Swedish pulp mills would yield about 6 000 000 tons of CO2 reduction per year or roughly 10 % of current Swedish CO2 emissions while supplying 25 % of current Swedish automotive fuel consumption.
As the process is a gasification one, I guess the capital cost is relatively high. However, the fact that it can produce a range of products, and it solves a waste problem at the same time, probably makes it a better alternative than many competitors. Definitely one to watch.
Ethanol is a controversial subject. There are so many interests wrapped up in it that it generates a fierce debate. This report is likely to fuel that argument. Hat tip Energy Outlook
the rise in the price of corn resulting from expanded production of ethanol contributed between 0.5 and 0.8 percentage points of the 5.1 percent increase in food prices
Not quite the scare stories we have read elsewhere, but none the less important.
ethanol will create about 20 percent fewer greenhousegas emissions than the equivalent processes for gasoline.
Good but not quite up to what its boosters claim. Nor is it clear that we will actually get these benefits.
In the long run, the result is less clear. If increases in the production of ethanol led to a large amount of forests or grasslands being converted into new cropland, those changes in land use could more than offset any reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions
It looks like a reasonable attempt to get to the truth. This report on the other hand seems to be nothing more than lobby fodder. Hat tip: Biofuel War
the unreasonable expectations placed on biofuels are an attempt to understate and ignore the environmental damage of petroleum.
No doubt the oil sector is keen to rubbish alternatives, but the fact remains that ethanol is very much more expensive than gasoline, and it need to pay for itself in terms of environmental or other benefits.
Unfortunately, many of the studies challenging the environmental benefits of ethanol production are based on first-generation technology.
I wonder why? Cellulosic ethanol may well be the answer to all our prayers. However, it cannot be used to defend the existing production, which is, guess what? First generation.
The report contains some useful information concerning water and land usage, but in the end it does not achieve its aim. Ethanol, in its current state, has very little potential for growth. It is only through new technology that it might be able to contribute a larger amount to fuel needs.
From today, customers at a Shell service station will become the first in the world to fill their tanks with gasoline containing advanced biofuel made from wheat straw.
So we have cellulosic ethanol in the market place at last.
This is the result of a partnership between Shell and Iogen, a company whose expertise is in enzymes. The ethanol is produced by breaking down the cellulose into sugars, followed by a classical fermentation process.
Whilst we have no way of knowing what the economics look like currently, there is no doubt that in time they will be able to squeeze costs out of the process. Whether it will be enough to compete on equal terms with other fuels, only time will tell. In the meantime, a whole host of competitors are breathing down their necks.
On Monday, June 15, the first-ever Global Wind Day will be celebrated in 30 countries. Organized by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), the campaign promotes awareness of wind energy worldwide, inviting the public to celebrate wind power as a near-term solution to global climate change and a driver for economic growth in their communities.
So if its blowing a breeze where you are today, enjoy it. Don’t let that fact that the wind industry has turned it into a massive lobbying opportunity ruin it.
