Multi-rotor Wind: More Torque, More Power

Multiple rotors on the same shaft can provide higher torque. Torque and power are related by the equation:

hp = (torque * RPM) / 5250

Inventor Doug Selsam has devised a way to put multiple turbines on the same shaft, without having the turbines interfere with each other's wind.

Of course, more rotors also means more-complicated physics. The key to increasing efficiency is to make sure each rotor catches its own fresh flow of wind and not just the wake from the one next to it, as previous multi-rotor turbines have done. That requires figuring out the optimal angle for the shaft in relation to the wind and the ideal spacing between the rotors. The payoff is machines that use one tenth the blade material of today’s megaturbines yet produce the same wattage. __PS_via__NextEnergyNews

Selsam is the type of inventor who is not afraid to go up against conventional wisdom. Even better, his ideas make a lot of sense.

The image at top is just an artist's conception. The shaft would not actually bend in Selsam's device.

A flexible shaft loses a great deal of power by flexing. If a shaft could be made that is both strong enough and light enough in weight to double as a "tether" and a multi-turbine shaft, you may see attempts at multi-turbine "kite" configurations, or multi-turbine lighter than air configurations, as suggested by the image at top.

Solid Waste to Ethanol Conversion by CleanTech

Clean Tech Biofuels Inc. (OTCBB:CLTH) is looking for a prime site for its first commercial solid waste to ethanol production facility. It is looking for municipal areas that will pay them well to pick up the garbage. Then, taking this economical feedstock, it will convert the cellulosic solid waste (paper and cardboard) to ethanol using a thermochemical process. This process can reduce landfill waste by as much as 90%.

Municipal biorefineries developed using our technology have the potential to:

* Reduce the costs of transporting waste long distances for disposal.
* Dramatically reduce pollution released into the environment by the disposal of municipal solid waste.
* Reduce the amount of material going into landfills by as much as eighty five percent.
* Increase the amount of recyclable materials that can be recovered from municipal solid waste.
* Generate biofuels and other usable energy products at competitive prices.
__BusinessWire

Clean Tech has developed special separator technologies to remove the cellulosic waste from other materials in curbside garbage.

We have licensed and developed a group of technologies that used together can process municipal garbage into usable energy products. We use the cellulosic material in municipal garbage to make ethanol by first converting it into a sugar and water mixture. Our ethanol production technology uses a two-stage dilute acid hydrolysis process that recycles heat and acid from each stage of the process to efficiently make C5 and C6 sugars from cellulosic material. The resulting sugars are fermented and distilled into a fuel grade ethanol. __CleanTechBiofuels

Other non-cellulosic materials in the garbage can also be processed to hydrocarbons which could be converted to oil for fuels.

Sweet Sorghum Ethanol Instead of Maize or Cane

Sweet sorghum requires half the water and fertilizer of corn, and uses less electricity. Compared to sugar cane, sorghum uses only 1/3 the amount of water, and grows in a wider range of climates.

The timing may be right for sweet sorghum. The United States is reaching its limits on using corn for ethanol, and global concerns are rising about using grains to make fuel while food prices soar. At the same time, researchers are looking for ways to make biofuels that would do more to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Sweet sorghum gets good marks on all counts.

In India, where researchers have made ethanol from sweet sorghum recently, it’s known as a smart crop, because farmers can grow it for grain for food or for the stalks for animal feed or ethanol. It will grow in hot and dry conditions, and it tolerates salty land and waterlogging.

Sweet sorghum is harvested for its juice before the mature plant forms clusters of grain. The stalks are pressed, and the juice is fermented and distilled to make ethanol. The process is simpler and requires less electricity than making ethanol from corn.

Growing sweet sorghum requires only about half the water needed for corn and about half the nitrogen fertilizer. And unlike sugarcane, which grows best in tropical conditions, fast-growing sweet sorghum can be grown in much of the country during the summer. __Source

Sorghum is bulky, and requires local and regional processing and/or pre-processing. This encourages the growth of local industry, which is beneficial for small to medium sized communities.

"Its water requirement is one-third that of sugarcane, and its growing period is short enough to allow harvesting twice a year. While sugarcane is propagated from stem cuttings, sweet sorghum is sown with seed - just 4.5 kg is enough for a hectare of land, compared to 4,500-6,000 kg of sugarcane cuttings." Sweet sorghum's potential as an energy crop - it produces up to 7,000 litres of ethanol per hectare - makes it highly attractive for countries like China [and the US], which is expected to exhaust its economically recoverable petroleum reserves by 2016. __Source

Sugar cane is particular about its growing climate, and likes moist tropical areas the best. In the US, cane grows well in Hawaii, Florida, Louisiana, and parts of Texas. But sweet sorghum grows well across much of the traditional US farm belt, in a much wider growing region than cane. Given its advantages as an ethanol crop over both cane and corn, sweet sorghum should see more acreage soon.

Sorghum should be seen as a "bridge" crop. Currently, its sugar-producing properties are most valued in ethanol production. Eventually, the sheer biomass capacity of sorghum may become its most valued property.

US High Resolution Wind Map

If you want to know how much wind to expect in a particular area of the US, the new high-resolution windmap from AWS Truewind LLC should give you a good idea.

The 200 meter grid cell resolution map was completed using AWS Truewind’s proprietary MesoMap® system, one of the most advanced wind mapping systems in use today. To date, MesoMaps have been utilized as a prospecting tool for wind farm siting in over 60 countries on behalf of public and private entities.

The new national map is scheduled for widespread release June 1, 2008 when it will be launched with AWS Truewind’s web-based wind prospecting application windNavigator. One of many next-generation powerful solutions scheduled for release this year, AWS Truewind’s windNavigator application will provide unprecedented access to high resolution wind resource maps and data through a fast and easy to use online tool.

Jim Adams, AWS Truewind’s Director of Business Development, expects the US will continue to be a significant factor in the global wind industry going forward. “With more than an order of magnitude growth potential and an expansion in wind capacity of 45% in 2007 alone (16,818 MW installed currently), the US represents one of the largest markets for wind energy development worldwide. The market is maturing, which means being the first developer on the ground at an attractive site prospect is mission critical for many. The new national wind map from AWS Truewind is by far the most accurate wind resource map available. Coupled with the ease and convenience of the windNavigator, our clients will truly have a competitive advantage.” __AWS__via__CleanTechnica

Wind energy company Noble Environmental Power has filed for an IPO worth US $375 million on NASDAQ as NEPI.

The company says it currently operates 282 megawatts of wind power capacity across three wind parks in New York and plans to have 465 megawatts of capacity come online by the end of the year. With another 1,205 megawatts in development, the company says it will have nearly 2 gigawatts of capacity by 2010. All of this is part of America’s booming wind energy market, which grew 45 percent last year and is on track to set a new record this year with 1,400 megawatts of capacity installed in the first quarter, according to new figures from the American Wind Energy Association.

Headquartered in Essex, Conn., Noble will have its IPO underwritten by its majority owner JP Morgan, as well as Lehman Brothers and Credit Suisse. Founded in 2004, Noble hasn’t set an IPO date but intends to debut sometime later this year.

...About half of the installed turbines in the U.S. are owned by foreign energy firms and Spanish utility Iberdrola is the largest wind operator in the U.S. with nearly 7 gigawatts of capacity. Today, Iberdrola’s subsidiary Iberdrola Renovables (formerly PPM Energy) ordered 200 1.5 megawatt turbines from GE for $659 million. __Earth2Tech

In the near to intermediate term, wind energy appears to outshine solar in the renewable energy field. Farther in, expect bio-energy, solar (both solar thermal and PV), and enhanced geothermal to take the lead and all greatly out-distance wind. Why? Because the total energy available in bio-energy, solar, and enhanced geothermal--each-- significantly dwarfs the energy used by all humans on Earth. Of course, technically bio-energy is just another form of solar--one that contains its own built-in storage.

AirCooled Solar Tower: No Cooling Water Needed

One of the big problems of desert solar thermal is the need for cooling water to maintain the heat cycle efficiencies of steam turbines. This "solar tower" approach from Bright Source utilises air cooling instead of water cooling. Advantage Bright Source.

The stated advantages of power tower technology seem to make a lot of sense. The solar field of mirrors require no plumbing going to each mirror, containing a thermal transfer fluid, because the two-axis tracking mirrors point to a central boiler. This saves considerable expense to install and maintain plumbing throughout the solar field.

Also, because each mirror sits atop a single independently placed post, the ground underneath the solar field can be left relatively irregular and uneven. With parabolic trough technology, for example, the ground beneath the troughs must be almost perfectly smoothed, meaning far more site preparation is required.

Less obvious but also significant are the costs saved by utilizing super heated steam coming from one central boiler atop a tower, because this design allows the water to be air cooled instead of water cooled. In order for solar thermal power to require minimal input of water, the water needs to be continuously recirculated - it heats up in the boiler, drives the turbine, then must be cooled and condensed before returning to the boiler for heating. If this isn’t done, in a closed loop the back pressure of the steam after passing through the turbine would largely counteract the pressure of the incoming steam, ruining the efficiency of the device.

...Not only is Bright Source Energy using what could emerge as the most cost effective solar thermal design, but they are well on their way to implementing their technology. Their pilot plant in Israel, with a 60 meter tower and 1,600 mirrors, is in testing currently and will go active in mid-June. The plant will generate 5.0 megawatts of thermal energy, which with a boiler efficiency of 74% and a turbine efficiency of 45% will output 1.5 megawatts of electricity. That is just the beginning. __Read the rest at EcoWorld

It looks as if Bright Source may have solved some of the main problems of implementing solar thermal on a large scale. The modular nature of solar towers (from 1.5 MW upwards) allows each plant to match the needs of the community and region. Without heavy water demands for cooling, this approach is far more applicable to extremely arid regions.

Bright Source is applying for a permit to build a 400 MW facility in the Mojave desert near the California/Nevada border. If California doesn't grant the permit, Nevada is likely to do so.

Full Spectrum Quantum Dot PV: Indium Nitride

Indium nitride is being studied to determine whether it can be made into a high efficiency photovoltaic material yielding a near full spectrum response under very harsh environmental conditions. NASA has awarded a contract to Magnolia Optical Technologies for this purpose.

"The goal of this STTR program is to develop high-efficiency solar cells that are resistant to extreme conditions while achieving high solar electric power conversion efficiency," said Dr. Roger Welser, Kopin's Director of Technology and New Product Development.

"The advanced solar cell structure incorporating InN-based nanostructures can harness a very large fraction of the solar spectrum while minimizing the effects of high temperatures and high-energy radiation. This technology will enable photovoltaic power systems of future NASA space exploration missions." __EnergyDaily

A full spectrum PV cell incorporating Indium would likely also include gallium, in a double layered, multi-spectrum cell.

The maximum efficiency a solar cell made from a single material can achieve in converting light to electrical power is about 30 percent; the best efficiency actually achieved is about 25 percent. To do better, researchers and manufacturers stack different band gap materials in multijunction cells.

Dozens of different layers could be stacked to catch photons at all energies, reaching efficiencies better than 70 percent, but too many problems intervene. When crystal lattices differ too much, for example, strain damages the crystals. The most efficient multijunction solar cell yet made -- 30 percent, out of a possible 50 percent efficiency -- has just two layers.

Indium gallium nitride's advantages are many. It has tremendous heat capacity and, like other group III nitrides, is extremely resist to radiation. These properties are ideal for the solar arrays that power communications satellites and other spacecraft. But what about cost?

"If it works, the cost should be on the same order of magnitude as traffic lights," Walukiewicz says. "Maybe less." Solar cells so efficient and so relatively cheap could revolutionize the use of solar power not just in space but on Earth. __Source

The race is on to capture the most solar spectrum at the highest electrical efficiency and lowest cost. Durability under extreme conditions is a must. Given the move to concentrating PV, resistance to heating and cooling stresses are extremely important.

Green Star Algal Biodiesel Plans to Begin Production in 2008 to 2009 Timeframe

Green Star(OTC:GSPI) has released its technical report on its 40,000 liter demonstration facility in Montana. The results demonstrate that Green Star's algal biodiesel process can outproduce soy and other popular biodiesel crops by 100 to 1, and can simultaneously produce large quantities of protein rich food.

Green Star Products, Inc. (OTC:GSPI) today announced that it has publicly released the entire chronological technical report on its 2007-2008 algae (40,000 liter) demonstration facility....

* Algae produce 100 times more oil per acre than traditional food oilseed crops such as soy, etc. (Note: Algae produces 4,000 gallons of oil per acre per year versus 50 gallons per acre for soy.)
* Algae eat CO2, the major Global Warming Gas, and produce oxygen.
* Algae require only sunshine and non-drinkable (salt or brackish) water.
* Algae do not compete with food crops for either agricultural land or fresh water.
* Algae can reproduce themselves and their oil every 6 hours, while it takes Mother Nature millions of years to produce crude oil in the ground.
* Algae oil byproduct is a highly nutritious protein-rich food (30-50%), which will someday help feed the world
* Algae can produce high protein food at the rate of over 50 times (5,000%) faster than traditional food crops such as corn, soybeans and wheat.

Green Star’s business plan includes commercial production in the 2008-2009 timeframe.

The bottom line for algal biodiesel is high production costs, and the continuing need to solve lingering technical problems while holding production costs down. Each of the main competitors has developed its own proprietary approach to solving these problems, which are necessarily held close to the vest.

Venture capitalists seem to have largely fallen asleep at the wheel regarding bio-energy. The Earth appears custom-built to produce life. Lots of life. A smart business person learns to make the most of his assets.

Biomass on the Rise in N. America, Europe, UK

New projects for biomass gasification to generate power and CHP (combined heat and power) are being installed in the US, Europe, and the UK, as the possibilities of this technology are growing more clear to municipalities, utilities, power co-ops, and independent entrepreneurs. Biomass gasification can be used to drive steam turbines for power generation, or it can be used to create bio-oils, synthetic gasoline/diesel, and bio-alcohols--as well as synthetic chemicals for the chemical, plastics, and cosmetic industries. The versatility of this process combined with the near-ubiquitous nature of feedstock, makes it a logical approach to power, CHP, bio-fuels, and bio-chemicals over large parts of the Earth.

While biomass can be treated by the torrefaction process to create bio-coal--replacing coal in power plants--biomass can also be used for remediation at the sites of former coal mines.

Todd's proposal outlines four stages of recovery and development. In the first, healing is the primary focus. Drawing on his extensive experience with "living machines"—biological technologies that echo natural systems to produce clean water and environmental clean-up—Todd foresees plant-based systems that will detoxify the vast lagoons of coal slurry in the region, build new healthy soils, and yield raw products for economic purposes.

"Coal miners and some of their machinery could be employed in the process," he notes.

In the second stage, reforestation begins. Some reclaimed land will be dedicated to short-rotation fast-growing woody crops to be harvested for biomass. Other long-standing forests will capture carbon from the atmosphere, slowing global warming.

In the third stage, the economic benefits of the biomass emerge. "Already suitable Appalachian wind sites have been discovered that can provide competitive sources of energy," Todd writes, "paired with another renewable energy source like woody biomass from willows and poplars, a viable energy system can be developed."

And this biomass can be used not just for electricity but for "refining fuels, and manufacturing a wide range of products ranging from plastics to polymers and adhesives," he says.

In the fourth stage, succession is at work not just in the land but in human communities and management of the land. Initially, philanthropic organizations would purchase damaged sites and shepherd their recovery. These restored lands would be passed along to new capitalized corporations that would develop forestry and other businesses there. ___Source

There are many approaches to biomass and bioenergy that have yet to be explored. Some of these unexplored approaches will probably work well for your locality or region.

The greatest promise of bioenergy is the economic and eco-regenerative promise to small localities and regions. By keeping economic control of their own energy economy, local regions in both the third world and the developed world can create more of their own destinies. A movement from central control of energy and bio-resources to a local control of those resources is a movement of political and economic power from the big to the small.

A Promising Indian Oil Seed Tree

Pongamia pinnata is an Indian oilseed tree with some interesting characteristics.

“Pongamia can grow on marginal land, waste land not suitable for other crop production,” Mr Gould said. “It’s a sustainable biofuel that does not compete with food crops and enhances rather than detracts from biodiversity.”

Pongamia is a perennial tree whose seed pods are harvested and crushed for the oil, which can then be refined for feedstock for biodiesel. Mr Gould said pongamia can grow in a wide variety of environments, including arid areas and also in estuaries. __CheckBiotech

Pongamia is also a nitrogen fixer, growing without fertilizers. Oil yields are comparable to Jatropha, when planted in plantations.

Some typical yields in US gallons of biodiesel per acre are:

* Algae: 1800 gpa or more (est.- see soy figures and DOE quote below)
* Palm oil: 508 gpa[38]
* Coconut: 230 gpa[38]
* Rapeseed: 102 gpa[38]
* Soy: 59.2-98.6 gpa in Indiana[39] (Soy is used in 80% of USA biodiesel[40])
* Peanut: 90 gpa[38]
* Sunflower: 82 gpa[38]

Algae fuel yields have not yet been accurately determined, but DOE is reported as saying that algae yield 30 times more energy per acre than land crops such as soybeans.[41], and some estimate even higher yields up to 15000 gpa .[42]

The Jatropha plant has been cited as a high-yield source of biodiesel but such claims have also been exaggerated. The more realistic estimates put the yield at about 200 gpa (1.5-2 tonnes per hectare).[43] It is grown in the Philippines, Mali and India, is drought-resistant, and can share space with other cash crops such as coffee, sugar, fruits and vegetables.[44] __WikiBiodiesel

Pongamia yields approximately 2.5 tonnes per hectare, slightly more than Jatropha. Both Jatropha and Pongamia achieve far better oil yields than soy, rape, and maize. Pongamia may be slightly more frost-tolerant than Jatropha, although both shrubs require a tropical or semi-tropical growing environment.

While Europe and North America will not be able to grow Pongamia or Jatropha on a large scale, the poorer regions in the tropical and semi-tropical South should benefit greatly from both the local use of these oilseed trees for energy and for the ability to export the crop for cash. Already, a large jatropha burning energy plant is being built in Belgium, which will need a steady supply of jatropha seed from the tropics.

Of course, greenhouse farming of the tropical oilseed trees is possible in colder climates, but that will be more expensive than importing the seeds from the tropics, as a general rule.

Bio-Energy Future Promising On Several Fronts

It will take time for a world energy infrastructure based on fossil fuels to convert to renewable fuels. We must develop a medley of renewable approaches, including bio-energy, solar thermal/PV, wind, ocean, geothermal, hydro, etc. Bio-energy is one of the most widely applicable baseload renewables.

A Washington, D.C.-based company is in the preliminary stages of developing a $250 million plant in California to make jet fuel out of garbage, manure and tree bark. Solena Group hopes to build the plant in Gilroy, Calif., and will use raw material from municipal, agricultural and forestry waste supplied by Norcal Waste Systems, one of California’s largest municipal waste and biomass collectors.

Solena's process uses 6-8 plasma torches at 5000 degrees C in a large reactor that they call the "gasification island". The company also says it can then use the syngas to power a combined-cycle gas turbine to produce electricity or feed it into a Fischer Tropsch reactor to produce aviation-grade liquid diesel fuel. Solena claims that this process converts biomass to gas at up to 90% efficiency. __NextEnergy

Solena's process is interesting, and may be feasible in California by wrapping itself up in green laurel. On a more immediate front, Range Fuels expanded its funding from $100 million to $166 million for a plant in Georgia converting cellulosic waste to ethanol via gasification.

The money will be used to build the first phase of its ethanol plant in Soperton, Ga., which will use forestry waste as a feedstock. The plan is to complete a 20 million gallon-per-year plant next year that uses a gasification process. __Cnet

My preferred bioenergy approaches include gasification of bio-waste, and cellulosic electricity--burning processed biowaste in place of coal. European companies Sud-Chemie and Linde are collaborating to create 2nd and 3rd generation bio-energy plants using waste and cellulosic feedstock in place of food. No doubt the collaboration will be incorporating gasification along with advanced catalytics.

This newsrelease looks at efforts in British Columbia to improve algal biodiesel yields along with creating more economic production methods. While algal biodiesel is capable of producing oil yields far above other oil crops, the production costs are still far too high to support a commercial market for algal biodiesel.

Merrill Lynch together with the Renewable Fuels Association have stated that a US EPA waiver of the Renewable fuel standard would lead to immediate US gasoline price hikes of between $0.45 and $1.10.

While the clueless Senators in this article may believe they are helping reduce food prices by their frantic hysteria, they would actually be causing higher gasoline prices--and thus higher food prices--if their grandstanding were to actually have any effect.

The bottom line dictates the action. And the basic truth is that politicians are by nature corrupt. And you know what we at Al Fin Energy propose (only half-jokingly) to do with corrupt politicians? Pyrolysis.

Watch your step, politicians. We have our eyes on you.

World Energy Reality Check

The set of tables below comes from a very useful Ecoworld article. They place the reality of the world's energy situation--in terms of the hope for replacing fossil fuels by renewable energy sources--in perspective. We will accomplish the task of converting to renewables. But it will not be done all at once, and it will not be done everywhere at once.

In terms of choosing between fossil fuel development and alternative energy development, [a] point which should be put to rest is the notion we are running out of fossil fuel. The next three charts show the potential reserves of the primary fossil fuels - oil, coal, and gas. In order to develop estimates for unconventional sources of these fuels, we have taken the midpoint between the high and low estimates. __quoted from Ecoworld

These are the world oil reserves, which alone would sustain the world at twice present energy usage for 59 years on known reserves alone. This is the oil we know we have. Over time, we will discover more--probably a lot more.
These are the world coal reserves, which alone would sustain the world at twice present energy usage for 218 years on known reserves alone. This is the coal we know we have. Over the next decades we will discover more--probably much more.
These are the world gas reserves, which alone would sustain the world at twice present energy usage for 45 years on known reserves alone, without depending upon methane hydrates.

So when you add it all up, at twice the current energy consumption overall, oil, gas and coal could potentially supply all the energy we need in the world for the next 300 years - not including gas hydrates.

If you add the estimated methane hydrates there are enough gas reserves to last almost 800 years, and enough fossil fuels together to last over 1,000 years, at twice overall current energy consumption.
This table looks at the cost in trillions of dollars to replace 500 quad BTUs of fossil fuels with various alternative energy sources. To replace fossil fuels entirely would require replacing twice that much, or 1,000 quad BTUs (or about 1,000 Exajoules) For example, to replace 500 quad BTUs of fossil fuels with rooftop PV would cost approx. US $626 trillion. For a full 1000 quad BTU fossil fuel replacement by rooftop PV, expect to spend US $1252 trillion.

You can see that:

1. The world is not close to running out of fossil fuels
2. Replacing fossil fuels at once with alternatives will cost many hundreds of trillions of dollars

The replacement of fossil fuels with alternatives and renewables will not be done all at once nor everywhere at once. Richer nations will likely convert to solar, wind, nuclear, and bio-energy much sooner than most poorer nations. But as more rich nations find their energy situations relatively secure, they will spend more time assisting poorer nations in that regard.

Those hundreds of trillions of dollars in investment will be spread out over time and place. The return on that investment will be long-term energy security. We have the time as long as we can avoid the type of panic that "peak oil" and "global warming" doom-seekers are trying to create--with the assistance of much of the news and entertainment media, and many politicians and bureaucrats.

It may be time to begin the thermochemical processing of some of the more panic-prone politicians, bureaucrats, and media personalities, into energy. In that way they could be of service in two ways: by their silence and by their BTUs. ;-)

Problems to Solve: Solar Thermal, and Algae

Solar thermal and algal biofuels are both promising approaches for replacing fossil fuels. Solar thermal can supply large quantities of electricity for cleaner air, and better utilisation of an electrical ground transportation fleet. Algal biofuels can provide non-fossil liquid fuels for aviation, ground, sea, and rail transport that keep the commercial infrastructure of modern societies functioning.

First, a list of problems solar thermal needs to solve to meet its enormous promise:

1. Supply of high tech turbines
2. Cooling the heat engines
3. Keeping mirrors and panels clean
4. Protecting against eco-saboteurs
5. Transmission lines
6. Endangered species laws
7. Indigenous peoples concerns

And there will always be other unexpected problems cropping up all the time.

See here for more.

Next, algae biofuels production currently have costs running over US $20 per gallon. That is not at all competitive with petro-fuels. What needs to be done?

In Florida, PetroAlgae said that it hoped to reach its commercial production stage next year, as algae producers begin to differentiate over varying methods of getting past the algae “shade wall” and other issues in achieving commercial scale. The shade wall refers to algae’s tendency to bloom so rapidly in large scale deployments that it blocks its own sunlight, while ventures such as GreenFuels have worked on excessive algae bloom problems in a pilot test with Arizona Public Service.

...# The University of New Hampshire Biodiesel Group said it would cost $308 billion to build enough algae farms to replace gasoline with algae-based biodiesel, and $47 billion per year to run the production system for 140 billion gallons, or $0.34 per gallon before transportation and retail costs. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory said it would take an algae field of up to 15,000 square miles. Producers and researchers are disagreeing over the wisdom of closed bioreactors versus open algae ponds. Proponents of reactors point to the control of the process, while companies such as Aquaflow Bionomic point to the affordability of open ponds.
# In California, tests on Soladiesel from Solazyme were conducted by the Southwest Research Institute concluded that algae-based biodiesel has superior performance under cold weather conditions than biodiesel derived from other feedstocks.
# The National Algae Association held its first meeting, which sold out as hundreds of algae investors and producers convened in Texas in April to discuss new ventures, and paths to profitability.
# In the Netherlands, AlgaeLink announced a new process for extracting algae oil without using chemicals, drying or an oil press. The company said that its patent-pending technique uses 26 kilowatts of power to produce 12,000 gallons of algae oil per hour, with a yield of 50 percent from the initial algae paste. __Much more at BiofuelsDigest

It will not be quick and easy. Replacing a petro-fuels infrastructure that took a century to build will take time and enormous capital expenditure. The innovations and inventions necessary to solve all the problems we know about now will require a lot of time and mental energy. The problems we don't yet know about will require even more.

We should always work from the local and regional scale first. This scale is easier to visualize and innovate on than the national and global scales.

We need to have an idea of what it would mean to solve the national and international scale of problems. But only as a point of reference. The local and regional scales should always come first.

Cellulose vs. Maize vs. Algae: Race to Bioenergy

Image Source

It is easy to see that no matter how much maize the US chooses to grow, China will be happy to buy it all to use as livestock feed. Corn ethanol will be abandoned not because of food shortages--which have little to do with corn ethanol--but because cheaper feedstocks for producing ethanol (and butanol) are being developed. Chief among these cheaper feedstocks is cellulose from waste biomass. Some parts of the world are particularly prolific in growing cellulosic biomass, and in their own way these regions may one day be considered the "Saudi Arabias of Cellulose."

“I heard recently that the Southeast will eventually be known as the Saudi Arabia of cellulose,” Tiller said of the region’s ease in growing native switchgrass and other potential supplies of biomass that could be used for cellulosic alcohol production.

In 20 years of research, UT has found that switchgrass — a biennial crop that takes two or three years to reach maximum potential with minimal fertilizer even on marginal soils — in one year can produce six to 10 tons an acre compared to hay, which produces one or two tons an acre and requires substantially more fertilizer.

New research may bring that to 12 to 15 tons an acre in the next few years, Tiller said. Research also is looking at ways to more densely pack switchgrass in bales, convert it to pellets, or even alter it genetically to start breaking down soon after harvest....

Tiller explained that the process under study uses a “steam explosion” — forcing heat and steam into the biomass and then drastically relieving the pressure — to coax the sugars out of switchgrass and other biomass, making the biomass “explode like popcorn.”

A lignin byproduct can be used to make biodiesel, other oils, carbon fibers and plastics, depending on the most efficient use and market demand.

And the cellulose and hemicellulose — aside from going to the fermentation and distillation process to make ethanol — also can be used to make biodiesel and other products, depending on economics and demands. __Source

The US consumes 400 million gallons of gasoline a day. Current US ethanol production would only provide about two weeks worth of fuel for the US. Clearly the US needs to rapidly scale up biofuels production--but not using corn. China would clearly outbid ethanol producers for any amount of corn US growers want to grow.

Until cellulosic biomass can be more cheaply converted to alcohols, the US will need to look to Brazilian cane ethanol, and other cheaper feedstocks such as sweet sorghum. Eventually, algae and other monocellular organisms are likely to provide better and cheaper feedstocks for biodiesel and bio-alcohol fuels. But algae still has a number of problems that need ironing out.

H/T NextEnergyNews

Bakken Shale Deposits

The Bakken Shale oil deposits in North Dakota alone may contain almost 200 billion barrels of oil, according to estimates by the USGS and the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources. Of that, about two and a half billion barrels are currently recoverable.

The U.S. Geological Survey estimated that up to 4.3 billion barrels of oil could be recovered from the Bakken shale formation in North Dakota and Montana, using current technology.

That report was done independently of the state study, Murphy said.

"Their numbers also include Montana, ours only includes North Dakota," he said.

The federal report found up to 2.6 billion barrels could be recovered in North Dakota, compared with the state's estimate of 2.1 billion barrels, Murphy said.

"We were quite surprised the numbers were so close," he said.

...The most recent federal study does not estimate how much oil may be in the formation - only what the agency believes can be recovered using current technology.
__Bismarck Tribune__via__NextBigFuture

As better technologies are developed for recovering the oil in place, more of the several hundred billions of barrels of oil in the Bakken Formation will become recoverable. The Bakken Formation alone (North Dakota, Montana, Saskatchewan) is thought to contain more oil than is in Saudi Arabia.

More at NextBigFuture

XCPV Cheap Photovoltaics at 5c per KWH?

Start-up SUNRGI claims that its new highly concentrated photovoltaic system will be able to generate power at 5 cents per KWH. If it is able to deliver on its promise, it would boost photovoltaic power generation back into the limelight. By concentrating sunlight in a much more intense fashion, SUNRGI claims to be able to generate more energy from the same amount of costly silicon.

A new patents pending solar energy system will soon make it possible to produce electricity at a wholesale cost of 5 cents per kWh (kilowatt hour). This price is competitive with the wholesale cost of producing electricity using fossil fuels and a fraction of the current cost of solar energy.

XCPV (Xtreme Concentrated Photovoltaics), a system that concentrates the equivalent of more than 1,600 times the sun's energy onto the world's most efficient solar cells, was announced today by SUNRGI, a solar energy system designer and developer, at the National Energy Marketers Association's 11th Annual Global Energy Forum in Washington, DC. The technology will enable power companies, businesses, and residents to produce electricity from solar energy at a lower cost than ever before. ___Source

More on the origin of SURGI:

Sunrgi, based in Hollywood with a research office in Silicon Valley, says it can produce devices that magnify sunlight and produce electricity at 5 cents a kilowatt-hour, or about the cost of coal-generated electricity.

At the National Energy Marketers Association conference in Washington, D.C., today, Sunrgi will make its presence known with an announcement that it plans to start selling its Xtreme Concentrated Photovoltaics, or XCPV, product in 2009.

The system generates heat and requires cooling, but will fit in a smaller amount of land or roof space than rival technologies, said Robert Block, Sunrgi's co-founder. Executives of the self-funded company include Thomas Forrester, Allen Amaro and KRS Murthy, all Silicon Valley veterans. __Source

The product appears geared for both commercial and residential customers, and should be applicable for a CHP (combined heat and power) role. As such, it might provide competition for residential and small commercial fuel cell CHP.

Besides the proprietary concentrating system, the actual breakthrough may be the proprietary cooling design to allow the silicon to function properly under such intense light.

Stay tuned for followup announcements.
H/T NextEnergyNews

Developing Local Solutions to Local Problems

The push is on to develop non-edible feedstock for biofuels. The most popular approaches are cellulosic bio-alcohols and algal biodiesel. But there are other non-edible feedstocks for biodiesel, including Jatropha Curcus. The shrub does not tolerate frost well, but that only means that jatropha is more appropriate for tropical climates than temperate ones. Mexico is one example of a country well sited for growing jatropha.

Global Clean Energy Holdings, Inc. (OTCBB: GCEH) announced today that it has formed a 50-50 joint venture with Los Angeles Businessmen Stewart A. Resnick and Selim K. Zilkha, both highly accomplished entrepreneurs who have developed successful agricultural & alternative energy companies. The joint venture’s mission is to acquire and develop non-food based land in Mexico to grow Jatropha curcas and commercialize oil and biomass derived from its fruit and seeds. Global Clean Energy Holdings and the joint venture partners have created a wholly-owned Mexican corporation to pursue these acquisition and development activities. Global Clean Energy Holdings, Inc. will manage the operations of the corporation and expects to consolidate the results for financial reporting purposes.

Under the terms of the joint venture, the investors will provide the capital to acquire the raw land and fund operations. The land the joint venture will plant and grow Jatropha on is non-productive land that has never been used for food production or for other agricultural purposes. __Source

Mexico's petroleum production has been dropping steadily, and the country is in need of other cash crops for export.

Meanwhile, north of the US, Canadian researchers are learning how to adapt algae for biodiesel production in conjunction with energy plants fired by coal and tar sands.

Backed by oil companies and utilities, Canadian researchers are plowing ahead with plans to develop algae farms that will convert carbon dioxide from oil sands projects and coal-fired power plants into biofuels, chemicals and fertilizers.

Algae ponds that use photosynthesis to feed on CO{-2} are common in warmer climes, but until recently, few thought they would be productive in Canada's harsh conditions. Now a consortium led by the Alberta Research Council has completed research that suggests the algae would thrive under northern light and temperatures, with an appropriate covering for winter months.

"What we are doing is transferring [the algae systems] into more temperate climes, which is a big step and something that no one ever believed would be viable; but we have demonstrated that that's not true," John McDougall, chairman of the Alberta Research Council, said in a telephone interview after presenting results of the first phase of the project to research partners. __Source

The journalistic spin on the story suggests that CO2 sequestration is the primary motive behind the Canadian project. In reality, the high prices for oil present justification enough to attempt to recycle precious CO2 emissions as bio-fuel.

The latest climate data are not reassuring to CAGW true believers. Rather than an imminent global warming, the threat is for global cooling instead. Global cooling presents far greater dangers of food shortages, reduced length of growing seasons for crops, more droughts, and a generally less hospitable environment for humans.

Al Gore is building a huge empire based upon the public's gullibility regarding climate. He has been aided by the wild-eyed Professor Hansen, the one you see on all the news and talk shows in spite of being so heavily censored by political opponents.;-) But how long can this disingenuous duo continue to dupe the media and the public?

Biofuels is not about reducing CO2. It is about providing abundant and renewable energy sources as part of an overall energy portfolio. The idea is to match local resource solutions with local problems.

All The World's Power From These Little Dots

Image Source

Can you see the black dots on the map? The dots cover the land area necessary to provide the current energy needs of the human world, given only 8% energy efficiency of the solar to electricity process used. Solar thermal gets about 30% efficiency, and most photovoltaics get close to 10% or more.
Solar thermal energy is an abundant resource most constant and plentiful in the near-equatorial desert regions of the world--such as North Africa. Europeans hungry for more energy are looking south to the African desert for electricity that may allow Europe to limp forward despite a suicidal Kyoto gesture being pushed forward by EU bureaucrats.

A small modular solar thermal plant such as this could produce 25 MW of electrical power. If you could also utilise the waste heat from the plant, your total energy production would at least double. A large power grid spanning huge distances of North Africa, the Arabian peninsula, and parts of Europe, would allow the abundant solar resource of the Sahara to be exploited by wealthier and more productive Europeans to the north. The image above depicts such a large grid that also includes other renewable energy sources available in different parts of the grid.
H/T Treehugger (from Spiegel) via Peswiki

Biomass Energy at Work: Baseload 24/7

The world produces abundant waste biomass which humans could be using as fuel, instead of coal, oil, and gas. Forward-thinking engineers and entrepreneurs are beginning to act on this promise, without waiting for corrupt bureaucrats and politicians to give them the go-ahead.

Renegy Holdings, Inc. (Renegy) (Nasdaq:RNGY) announced today that it has successfully synchronized its 24 megawatt (MW) biomass power plant located in Snowflake, Arizona, to the electric utility grid. As of April 24, Renegy has been generating electricity from its Snowflake facility and is currently selling test power in advance of commencing full commercial operations.

...The plant is located adjacent to a recycled newsprint mill owned and operated by Catalyst Paper Corp. Fuel for the plant will be derived from wood-waste material from local green waste sites and the surrounding forests and from waste recycled paper fibers generated by the newsprint mill. The current fuel inventory at the plant site includes approximately 200,000 tons of wood waste fuel, approximately equivalent to a two-year supply. The Snowflake plant will sell its entire power output through long-term power purchase agreements in place with Arizona Public Service and Salt River Project, Arizona's two largest electric utility companies. __Money.CNN

An earlier Al Fin posting recommended Renegy as a stock prospect to watch. Andritz, an Austrian company, is involved in similar biomass to electricity projects in Europe.

Biomass to electricity is a baseload, 24/7 renewable power generation approach, unlike current wind and solar energy schemes. Until battery storage is able to effectively scale up to utility needs, we are likely to see more plants that combine solar thermal with biomass to electricity, to provide 24 hour energy needs. Using biomass in place of coal or gas should provide significant energy savings--once the infrastructure for collecting and densitizing biomass is more mature.

Biomass: Pellets

Image Source

The widespread efficient utilisation of biomass to energy requires methods for increasing the energy density of the biomass. Turning loose biomass into compressed pellets is one promising approach to making biomass easier to handle. Read more here about a fascinating machine capable of making fine powders out of virtually any form of biomass, which can bagged and shipped, or processed into pellets, briquettes, or other convenient bulk form.

An entire industry is expected to grow around the pre-processing of biomass for later processing to pellets, biofuels, and electricity. In the near term, if you are using corn stover as biomass fuel to run a 50 mgy maize ethanol plant, how much area do you need to supply the necessary stover?

Lets say the plant is surrounded by corn fields. The corn yield is 150 bushels/acre, half the above ground weight of the corn plant represents grain, the other half is corn stover. If the farmer is willing to take off 50% of the corn stover each year you would have about 2.1 tons per acre available. The plant needs 132,000 tons per year. So you need about 63,000 acres to draw from. If the area is pure corn ground the radius would be 5.6 miles. __QiBioenergy

So to supply feedstock and biomass fuel to run a 50 million gallon a year maize ethanol facility, you would need a 5.6 mile radius crop circle.

Getting from here to there will require local and regional planning. Different regions grow different biomass. Logging regions obviously grow woody biomass, and produce woody bio-waste. Agricultural areas grow crop biomass such as corn stover. Marginal lands can grow switchgrass and other perennial wildgrasses adapted to biomass.

The growing, harvesting, pre-processing (pellets, bales, etc), and final processing should all be planned and controlled on a regional and local level, in reponse to local and regional needs.

12 Largest Biofuel Plants in World (For Now)

Image Source

It is difficult to pin down the largest biofuel plants at this time, since so many are in the planning and early construction phases, and some of the production claims for this list may not be quite true. Even so, this is a good starting point. The main point I would like to make is that while 1st generation plants are based upon food crops as feedstock, the 2nd and 3rd generation plants are following close on their heels--and the 2nd and 3rd generation plants will be based upon non-food feedstocks such as cellulosic biomass, algal oil, and non-edible seed oils.

1. Dynoil LLC is developing a new biodiesel refinery near Houston, Texas, USA - and it might be the world’s largest. Though the development timeline is not clear, once completed the refinery will process roughly 100,000 barrels of vegetable oil each day. It is estimated it will produce 1.5 billion gallons of biodiesel fuel each year.

2. SE Energy’s proposed plant in Chesapeake, Virginia, USA. Projected production capacity: 320 million gallons per year.

3. Dominion Energy Services, LLC has broken ground for a $400-million integrated biodiesel and ethanol refinery in Innisfail, Alberta, Canada, it will consist of a combined 300 million gallon per year production facility (100 million gallon ethanol, a 100 million gallon canola crush facility and a 100 million gallon biodiesel) on commencement in the third quarter of 2008, and will use about 1 million tonnes of wheat and 900,000 tonnes of canola a year for raw residue.

4. Brasil Eco Energia, associated with David DeWind, alongside other Brazilian and US investors, plans to build the largest biodiesel plant in the world, in Brazil, using soybeans as raw residue to create 220.5 million gallons of biodiesel a year.

5. Energen Development Limited (EDL), a Jamaican firm, plans to put up a 120 million gallon per year ethanol plant in Kingston, Jamaica by end 2008.

6. Agri-Source Fuels plant in Dade City, Florida, USA. Current production: 40 million gallons of B100 biodiesel per year, and has a production capacity of 120 million gallons per year. Agri-Source Fuels will open another 18 million/gallons per year plant in Pensacola, Florida, by end of 2008.

7. Imperium Renewables plant in Grays Harbor, Washington, USA. Production capacity: 100 million gallons per year, opened on August 15, 2007, with raw product mostly oil derived from canola grown in USA and Canada.

8. Louis Dreyfus plant near Claypool, Indiana, USA. Production capacity: 250,000 gallons of biodiesel per day, which adds up to more than 80 million gallons per year.

9. Canadian Green Fuels Inc. last week announced plans to put up a new plant and upgrade its existing plant in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Proposed production capacity: 63.4 million gallons of biofuel products a year, and will run on energy it creates and is expected to produce biodiesel, biofuels, bio-oil, and bio-additives.

10. Oilsource Holding, LLC and Greenline Industries, LLC, in a joint venture, will in the first quarter of 2009, commission a 60 million gallon per year biodiesel plant in Miami, Florida, USA with production commencing in early 2010.

11. North Prairie Productions broke ground last spring on a site in Evansville, Wisconsin, USA for a biodiesel plant that will produce 45 million gallons of fuel per year on completion later in 2008.

12. Cargill plant in Iowa Falls, Iowa, USA. Current production: 37.5 million gallons a year. Built in 2006. If there is less soybeans on Iowa supermarket shelves, most of it is going to the plant courtesy of Iowa Soybean Association. __Source

While biofuels makers will move away from food crops as feedstocks--for economic reasons if for no others--for the time being the higher costs going to farmers for maize, soybeans, canola oil, and other crops will certainly help the local economies of the farm regions involved.

If farmers are smart enough to find ways to stay in the biofuels market even after it moves into more cellulosic crops and non-food oils, the current transient benefit to North American farmers could become a more permanent benefit.

Reports from Australia including this and this, suggest that Australian bioresearchers and farmers plan to get in on the bio-refinery and bio-energy world market in a significant way.

Bio-energy is one more form of solar energy, along with solar, wind, and wave energy. The biorefinery concept will simply extend the theme to include other petro-substitute chemical besides merely fuel.

Big Algal Biodiesel and Backyard Ethanol

Some algal biodiesel researchers are claiming the potential to produce 100,000 gallons of algal biodiesel per 1 acre of land area.

Valcent Products, claims they can grow algae to produce oil yields of 100,000 gallons per acre. That’s the upper range of estimates I’ve seen for algae production—an absolutely phenomenal amount of oil—which Valcent attributes to their ‘high density vertical bioreactor’ system. __gas2.org

That certainly sounds ambitious, and good luck to Vertigro!

Just as interesting, perhaps, is the potential to make your own fuel ethanol in your backyard, using a home ethanol processor.

Mr. Butterfield thinks that the MicroFueler is as much a game changer as the personal computer. He says that working with Mr. Quinn’s microelectronics experts — E-Fuel now employs 15 people — has led to breakthroughs that have cut the energy requirements of making ethanol in half. One such advance is a membrane distiller, which, Mr. Quinn says, uses extremely fine filters to separate water from alcohol at lower heat and in fewer steps than in conventional ethanol refining. Using sugar as a feedstock means that there is virtually no smell, and its water byproduct will be drinkable.

...Mr. Quinn says that as of January this year, under the North American Free Trade Agreement, he can buy inedible sugar from Mexico for as little as 2.5 cents a pound, which puts the math in his favor. While this type of sugar has not been sold to consumers, E-Fuel says it is developing a distribution network for it. __NYT__via_Earth2tech

The main obstacle to energy solutions is the government. Politicians and regulators appear determined to keep the US mired in "political peak oil."

Occasionally, I only half-jokingly suggest that we should use politicians (and trial lawyers) as feedstock for unlimited thermochemical production of energy. It is difficult to see how most of them would ever make a beneficial contribution to humanity any other way.
;-)

North Americans Learn Waste to Energy Recycling

The schematic above shows an Indiana municipal waste to ethanol production plant due to begin construction this year and be completed within two years. The idea of turning garbage and waste into energy is catching on--even in the urban environment.

The gravity pressure vessel uses high transient pressure to work at higher transient temperatures in a fast reaction chamber. Higher transient temperatures enable the use of less acid to induce short interval very weak acid hydrolysis.

The first stage of the reaction chamber at the bottom of the gravity pressure vessel is wet oxidation providing only sufficient oxygen to react with organic debris dissolved in water which will use some of the lignin and other dissolved materials to provide exothermic heat to help sustain the process. It has been observed that slightly alkaline conditions also aid in dissolving portions of the lignin from the cell walls. Cellulose fibers are known to be refractory to short duration wet oxidation at these temperatures.

The second stage of the reaction zone reduces the pH condition to initiate de-polymerization of the cellulose using carbonic acid derived from later process fermentation steps, and supplemented using sulfuric acid or maleic acid in proportions at the operator’s discretion.

The reaction time is determined by the flow rate and distance between the point of acid injection and alkali quench, which is nominally engineered to be between one and ten seconds. The de-polymerized cellulosic materials are then cooled and depressurized by returning the fluids to the surface, and then cleaned and fermented to produce ethanol. __GCC

Several other current waste to energy projects are being implemented in Austin, Greenwood South Carolina, and Vancouber BC. Even Iraq is trying to get in on the act.

Moronic Attacks Against Biofuels Are Only Driving the Price of Oil Ever Higher

Biomass to liquid fuels (BTL) is a promising approach to weaning modern societies off of petroleum. As we learn to make transportation fuels from biomass and other non-food feedstocks, it is important not to kill the infant market while it is still in the cradle. Don't be stuck on stupid. 2nd and 3rd generation biofuels and biomass offers one way out of our petroleum trap.

Biofuels already make up about 50 per cent of the extra fuel coming to the market from sources outside the Opec’s oil cartel this year. This explains why fears of a retreat from biofuels this week helped drive oil prices to record levels.

William Ramsey, deputy executive director at the IEA, said: “If we didn’t have those barrels, I am not sure where we would be getting those half a million barrels [from],” adding that Opec has said it would not raise supply.

The warning comes as the backlash from rocketing food prices has increased pressure on the European Union and the US to review their support of fuel made from crops.

The views of the IEA carry significant weight in Europe and the US and policymakers have warned that the debate about biofuels should take into account its implications for energy markets and climate change. The issue has been put on the agenda for the next G8 summit in July. __FT

Advanced biofuels are the nearest term solution to ever higher energy prices. If you kill that chance, you have doomed yourself foolishly well.

Coskata Aims for $1 a Gallon Et-OH Using Plasma

Coskata's gasification process uses a plasma "torch" to gasify biomass to syngas. The syngas is then converted to ethanol using proprietary micro-organisms.

Coskata leverages proprietary microorganisms and efficient bioreactor designs in a three-step conversion process that can turn virtually any carbon-based feedstock into ethanol, from anywhere in the world. The three steps are:

1. Gasification. Carbon-based feedstock is converted into syngas using well-established gasification technologies. In the Madison demo plant, plasma torches will super heat feedstock to 1,600°F (871°C), which creates a synthesis gas consisting of carbon dioxide and hydrogen.

At its commercial scale plants, Coskata intends to use WPC Marc-11 plasma torches, which have been proven in metallurgical and waste-to-energy commercial applications throughout the world. The Marc-11 torches have more than 500,000 hours of operation in industrial settings, including a GM foundry in Defiance, Ohio.

A smaller version, the Marc-3, will be used in Coskata’s Madison facility. A WPC Marc-3 has been used in Japan to gasify municipal solid waste for more than five years.

2. Fermentation. The syngas is cooled to about 100°F (38°C). Coskata’s proprietary microorganisms convert the cooled syngas into ethanol by consuming the carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen (H2) in the gas stream.


3. Separation. Pervaporation technology separates and recovers the ethanol.

Plasma is the term given to a gas that has become ionized—i.e., one where the atoms of the gas have lost one or more electrons and have become electrically charged. Man-made plasma is formed by passing an electrical discharge though a gas such as air or oxygen. The interaction of the electric discharge and the process gas causes the temperature of the gas to increase significantly often exceeding 5,500°C (10,000°F).

WPC’s plasma torches can be fed with process gases of widely varying chemical composition including air, oxygen, nitrogen, argon and others. WPC’s plasma technology can increase the energy of the process gas to between two to ten times higher than conventional combustion. __GCC

A wide variety of gasification approaches are being taken by various biomass to liquid fuels (BTL) processors. As they compete in the marketplace, we will eventually discover how cheaply liquid biofuels can be made from cellulose and other non-food feedstocks.

Steam Explosions in Toledo

Cauffiel Technologies of Toledo, Ohio, manufactures heavy metalworking machinery. They also think they have a good solution for making fuels from cellulose--cheaply. It involves something they call a "steam explosion", which unlocks the sugars in cellulose for conversion into alcohols such as ethanol and butanol.

“Super bugs can be dangerous and must be confined,” said Cauffiel, who has developed a method known as steam explosion. The steam explosion will speed up the process of breaking down cellulosic material by helping super bugs digest material faster.

Heating the material up to 500 degrees at 500 pounds per square inch on a continuous basis causes the material to explode out of the machine and into a flash tank. The exploded material consisting of C5 and C6 sugars and lignin will be ready for the super bugs to digest easier.

“Once you have a good steam explosion, you can convert the C5 and C6 sugars into ethanol or butanol,” Cauffiel said. “Many scientists and universities around the country have heard about us, and we have received many phone calls about it.”

Because all plant life and wood products burn, the remains from the steam-explosion process can fuel the boiler to make steam and heat the tanks for super bugs with little or no additional energy required. That is a big problem when making ethanol from corn, Cauffiel said.

The challenge is to design and build machinery that will withstand the continuous high pressure and temperatures required for the process. With 55 years of experience designing and manufacturing steel-making processes and machinery, Cauffiel said he is confident his company has the solution. __ToledoFreePress __via_Check

Here is some more information on the world maize market. It seems that the consumption of meat in China has literally exploded recently. In fact Chinese meat consumption has more to do with the price of corn than biofuels.

The change in Chinese meat consumption habits since 1995 is diverting 8.0 billion bushels of grain to livestock feed — more than the entire 2.3 billion bushel harvest used to make US ethanol...China is consuming four times as much additional grain, since 1995, as the US ethanol industry, and demand is increasing by 615 million bushels per year. Even if the US ethanol industry were to go away overnight, in less than 4 years, China’s rising grain demand would wipe out the savings.
Policymakers have also cited to food riots in Mexico over rising tortilla prices as evidence of a distortion in the markets caused by ethanol’s demand for corn. __BiofuelsDigest

Maize ethanol is already obsolete. But with corn prices rising due to increasing meat consumption in the third world, maize ethanol is being priced out of the market ever more quickly.

Oil Is Still Not As Expensive as In 1981

By some measures, oil is nowhere near record price levels. According to The Economist, the pain of energy costs is still not intense enough to force the reduction in demand that would impact suppliers.

A CASUAL observer might be forgiven for thinking that the oil price reached a new record, of $115.07 a barrel, on April 16th. And so it did, in nominal terms. But by other measures, oil is not quite as expensive as it seems. That, in turn, may go some way towards explaining why demand for oil continues to rise in many countries, despite prices that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago.

...an adjustment for inflation, however it is measured, takes no account of the growth in Western consumers' incomes over the years. Back in 1981, the annual average income within the Group of Seven countries would have been enough to buy only 318 barrels of oil. To set back Western consumers by the equivalent today, Deutsche Bank calculates, the price of oil would have to rise to $134 a barrel.

By the same token, the American government reckons that energy ate up its biggest share of Americans' disposable income in 1980: 8% compared with about 6.6% now. To drive spending on energy to the same level again, says Deutsche, the price of crude would have to rise to $145.

Spending on oil as a share of global output, which is about 3.5%, also peaked in 1980, at 5.9%. Other things being equal, oil will not swallow as big a share of the world's GDP unless the price reaches $150 a barrel. Economist

Okay, so by some gauges, oil needs to go above $150 a barrel to inflict record levels of pain on the US and global economies. I do not expect that to happen within the next year or two, although I have been known to be wrong once in the past.

As long as people believe that the US is in a deep depression, and that oil costs have never been higher, the people who control the gateway of information--and the people who could actually make things worse if they wanted--will probably be satisfied.

H/T Technology Review

Methane Clathrates (Hydrates) and More on BTL

Image Source

Up to 2500 gigatonnes of methane clathrates exist frozen in deep sea sedimentary rock. That is roughly ten times more than known global reserves of natural gas. It may take some time to develop the safest and most efficient ways of mining this methane ice.

One problem with extracting this methane is that you have to melt the ice to bring the gas to the surface. In 2002, a team of geologists from Canada and Japan tried injecting hot water into the ice beneath the delta of the McKenzie river in northern Canada. While this released some hydrates, it used a lot of energy.

Now the same group has extracted methane much more efficiently, and without hot water, by pumping air out of drill holes in the frozen structures. This reduced the pressure, and so raised the melting temperature of the ice so the methane could be removed.

The state-owned Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation, which announced the test results, wants to extract the 7 trillion tonnes of methane thought to be trapped in hydrates in Japanese coastal waters. It hopes this will be the answer to Japan's century-long search for an indigenous source of fuel. Last month, the government approved a plan to commercialise the extraction of the fuel within a decade. __NS

And here is more about the University of Massachussetts' George Huber, and his campaign to make biomass to liquid fuels (BTL) a major player in the energy industry.

Using a catalyst commonly employed in the petroleum industry, Huber and his colleagues heated small amounts of cellulose very quickly for a matter of seconds before cooling it, producing a high-octane liquid similar to gasoline. “The temperature window is very critical,” Huber says. If you heat too slowly, you produce mainly coke—elemental carbon residue. If you heat too fast, you make mainly vapors. The sweet spot, about 1000 degrees per second, transfers roughly half the cellulose’s energy into hydrocarbons. “If we can get 100 percent yield, we estimate the cost to be about a dollar per gallon,” Huber says. “Right now we’re at 50 percent. Can we get 100 percent? I don’t know. Hopefully we’ll bump those numbers up.”
___PopMech

Finding better ways to exploit the plentiful energy sources around us, is a potentially lucrative challenge for industry--and a test for western governments. If the US Congress cannot break its fixation on the idea of returning the superpower to the stone age through idiotic energy policy, the US government will certainly fail the test.