Mobile Wood Torrefiers for Carolina Bio - Coal

North Carolina doesn't have significant coal deposits. But it does have large amounts of forest, with massive concomitant wood waste. This wood waste can be converted into "Bio-coal" using mobile wood torrefiers that can be transported to processing points within the forest itself. Torrefied wood weighs only 1/3 the full weight of wood waste, but still contains 80% of the energy. This densification of biomass energy allows for less expensive transport to coal-firing power plants, where the torrefied wood can be co-fired along with coal to provide vital electric power and heat energies.

Woodchips are abundant in North Carolina while coal is all imported from other states. More importantly, woodchips are a carbon neutral source of energy. For a state that spends more than $4 billion a year importing coal, use of torrefied wood could result in an economic windfall.

Hopkins explains that nearly half of the state's forests are not adequately thinned because landowners lack a market for small diameter trees, rotten or unusable trees and logging residue. That land could be producing more valuable wood products if it was managed more effectively, he says.

If woodchips were collected and sold to help fire North Carolina's energy generating plants, the state's tax base could be increased by nearly $400 million a year, Hopkins estimates. Since the torrefier machine is small enough to transport, it could be set up close to forest-clearing operations, making the process even more efficient. _NCSUNews

The same economics applies to any region that contains appreciable forest area. Massive quantities of wood ends up rotting in forests around the world, releasing large amounts of carbon without providing any useful service. By densifying and transporting waste biomass to power plants -- preferably IGCC plants with CHP -- the inevitable release of carbon will be accompanied by significant productive use, and displacement of the use of more polluting coal.

Serious-minded persons understand that modern humans must use fossil fuels in order to bridge into a more sustainable energy future. But the sooner we can begin shifting the burden onto biomass and other renewables, the sooner our energy future can be placed on a firmer foundation.

Jatropha Aims to be King of Biodiesel

The future of biodiesel may belong to algae, but the present belongs to palm oil. Palm has the highest yield for all oilseeds, but unfortunately palm requires intensive cultivation and leads to the destruction of rainforest habitat.

Jatropha is a shrub native to Central America that grows in dry harsh conditions, and requires very little cultivation. It thrives across the entire tropical swath of the planet, requiring only generally warm conditions to prosper. The Mexican government is beginning to promote jatropha for small farmers, perhaps hoping to eventually balance shortfalls in petroleum production with growth in bio-"crude".

Now it turns out the weed, jatropha, could be used to fuel jet planes and the Mexican government wants farmers to grow entire fields of it to turn into biodiesel.

Known locally as "pinon," jatropha is a hearty shrub that grows with no special care. Its oil-rich seeds are being eyed as an attractive feed stock for biofuel since the poisonous plant does not compete with food crops.

...Jatropha is native to Mexico and Central America but was likely transported to India and Africa in the 1500s by Portuguese sailors convinced it had medicinal uses.

Now India is planting the bush en masse, converting it into a green energy source used to power trains and buses with less pollution than crude oil. Mexico hopes to follow suit.

President Felipe Calderon signed an agreement with the president of Colombia in January to build a 14.5 million peso ($936,000) experimental biodiesel plant in southern Mexico with a production capacity of 12,000 liters (3,170 gallons) of biofuel a day.

Mexico passed a law last year to push developing biofuels that don't threaten food security and the agriculture ministry has since identified some 2.6 million hectares (6.4 million acres) of land with a high potential to produce jatropha. _Bioenergy

Both jatropha and pongamia have a lot of potential to replace palm oil, thereby saving a large portion of rainforest habitat. Eventually desert-grown algae may well replace the oilseed plants for biofuel production. That will take at least 30 years. In the meantime, jatropha is a very good bet for the tropics.

All Electric Cars? Not a Good Bet

Electric storage batteries cannot store enough energy to transport an electric powered automobile very far. This is a serious drawback, and one of the reasons that some people are predicting that it may be more than 50 years before electric cars are taken seriously by most of the buying public.

Brian Westenhaus takes a look at new competition for EESTOR, the maker of a mysterious hybrid battery : supercapacitor. He discusses a "Reticle Carbon", a new electrode material for ultracapacitors that may give electric cars a big boost. As described by Brian, the technology looks fascinating. They may have to wait for financing, however, in this extreme economic slowdown of 2009.

One California startup plans to boost the range of electric cars by placing charging machines at convenient locations. They call them "vending machines for charging electric cars." An important development for California, where daily commutes can be far and long.

For those wondering, Elon Musk's Tesla electric car is still out there working, planning to make a big splash soon.

Hybrids are a necessary link in the development chain, combining internal combustion engines with electric motors. Here is an interesting look at the hybric car, going back to the 1800s.

Some electric car enthusiasts are promoting a "battery swapping" approach to extending range, but executives at Mercedes are giving that idea a thumbs down. Mercedes is promoting permanent lithium ion batteries with a driving range of just over 100 miles.

The bottom line is that traditional internal combustion engine automobiles are in no immediate danger of being replaced by all-electric cars. So far, hybrids have not lived up to their promise, and are more expensive in both short and long term calculations, when taking into account battery replacement.

Al Fin's prediction? Fuel cells that run on all types of hydrocarbon including ethanol and methanol will begin to replace the ICE within 10 years. The new power plants may very well also incorporate newer, lighter hybrid ultracapacitor : battery storage packs for extended boosting power when passing or accelerating onto a turnpike. Fuel cells are on a rapid developmental trajectory, as are ultracapacitors and batteries. But all electric autos are an impractical solution looking for a cause. Only carbon hysteria delusions underlie the persistent demands for all-electric cars.

Genetic Re-Shuffling For Abundant Energy

Codexis develops novel industrial biocatalysts, including enzymes and microbes, for use in the energy and pharmaceutical industries. The Codexis directed evolution platform (“MolecularBreeding”) uses DNA shuffling to generate a library of novel genes or genomes via recombination of selected starting or parental genes or genomes.

Codexis then screens the encoded library of novel enzymes or strains for those possessing desirable and improved properties and repeats the process until the resulting enzymes or strains meet or exceed the desired efficiency benchmark. _GCC

Royal Dutch Shell is working with Codexis and Iogen Energy Corporation to move beyond mere cellulosic ethanol to cellulosic hydrocarbons such as diesel, jet fuel, and gasoline. New catalysts hold the potential to greatly reduce the energy costs of such processing -- thus improving profitability and viability in tough economic times. More at the link above.

Iowa State University is taking the thermochemical route to cellulosic ethanol, concentrating on a new burner and new catalysts:

The burner....Gasifying biomass releases the fixed nitrogen as ammonia in the generated gases. Improperly burning gases containing ammonia could produce nitrogen oxide emissions. Kong’s goal is to develop a burner that will minimize the emission of such pollutants while maximizing combustion efficiency.

A conventional gas burner now at the Iowa Energy Center’s Biomass Energy Conversion Facility in Nevada will provide baseline data to develop computer models of the burner’s performance. Those models will test new designs that optimize the combustion of producer gas from biomass, and lead to the construction and testing of a prototype.

The catalyst. Victor Lin, a professor of chemistry, director of Iowa State’s Center for Catalysis, director of Chemical and Biological Sciences for the US Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory and founder of Catilin Inc., an Ames-based company that produces catalysts for biodiesel production is leading the development of a new catalyst for ethanol production. Lin says it may be possible to efficiently produce liquid fuel directly from synthesis gas.

The key will be carbon-based nanoparticles just a few billionths of a meter wide. The particles are made from graphite and carry a transition metal that produces a chemical reaction. That reaction converts synthesis gas to ethanol.

Lin said there is an existing chemical catalyst that can convert synthesis gas to ethanol. But that catalyst has a very low yield of ethanol, produces greenhouse gases such as methane, needs heat up to 540 °F (282 ° C) and requires high pressures.

Lin said the new catalyst should work at lower temperatures and pressures while delivering a higher yield of ethanol. _GCC

These are just two of the many dozen well-financed approaches to producing cellulosic fuels. If you add in the efforts to develop biomass fuel cells, biomass gasification (IGCC, CHP) power plants, boost the growth of biomass, and synthesise high value chemicals from biomass, you begin to see that this is not your grandfather's botany or chemistry. To say nothing of DNA shuffling.

More on Explosive Biomass Energy Report

Brian Westenhaus first pointed to this story last week. Now Green Car Congress is taking a look at this important review of 14 biomass energy technologies (PDF).

The RBAEF involves experts from 12 institutions, and is jointly led by Dartmouth College and the Natural Resources Defense Council and sponsored by the US Department of Energy, the Energy Foundation and the National Commission on Energy Policy.

Professor Lynd, from Dartmouth College’s Thayer School of Engineering, and a co-founder of Mascoma Corp., a company commercializing a cellulosic ethanol production process, is co-author of five of the eight papers in the special issue. Three of these papers are open access, including a paper in which Mark Laser and his colleagues carry out the comparative analysis.

...The researchers also found that the mature cellulosic biofuel technologies analysed:

*

Have the potential to realize efficiencies on par with petroleum-based fuels.
*

Require modest volumes of process water.
*

Achieve production costs consistent with gasoline when oil prices are at about $30 a barrel. _GCC

More excerpts and links at the GCC link above.

Remember, the free download of the report will be available only until 31May09.

This report (PDF) is must reading for anyone who wonders where the liquid fuels of the future are going to come from.

Biomass Energy Report Promising

From New Energy and Fuel comes a link to this free download PDF report on comparative efficiencies of 14 biomass bioenergy approaches.

This valuable study provides an excellent starting point for evaluating the important approaches to biomass energy, and it is a free download until May 31, 2009. The report is a must read for anyone wanting to understand the current and near future trends of bioenergy. Excerpt:

...the best performing scenarios involve both biological and thermochemical processing such that the carbohydrate fraction is converted biologically, and the lignin-rich residue converted thermochemically. Th is integrated confi guration enables waste heat from the thermochemical process to
power the biological process, resulting in higher overall process effi ciencies than would otherwise be realized. Standalone thermochemical processing should also not be
dismissed. Although the focus of this study has been on conversion of large-scale cellulosic energy crops, such as switchgrass, thermochemical processing holds a unique advantage in handling carbonaceous feedstocks that cannot be easily converted biologically. Examples include low-carbohydrate materials, such as sewage or slaughterhouse waste, mixed materials like municipal garbage, and exceptionally recalcitrant feedstocks such as certain soft - woods. _Comparative Biomass Bioenergy PDF

This report is full of excellent summary graphics and charts. Anyone navigating the treacherous financial waters of energy investment without understanding the potential of bioenergy, is sailing blind.

Algal Fuel Research and Development Continues

Algae can potentially produce ten times more oil per acre than any of the common oil seed crops such as soy, rape, maize, or sunflower. And it will be able to do that in the desert, using salt water, municipal wastewater, and/or agricultural wastewater as its growth medium. Energy will come from the sun, and fertiliser from CO2 -- sometimes sequestered CO2 pumped directly from fossil fuel power plants.

“Making biodiesel from algae removes the issue of competing land use because the facilities would not be established on land that might otherwise be used to grow food and the algal farm has a very low environmental impact in comparison to crops that are grown for biodiesel,” Dr Beer said.

“Our study also found that the establishment of a 500 hectare algal biodiesel plant in a rural area might create up to 45 jobs and provide opportunities to diversify in the agricultural sector.” _ScienceAlert.au

Local and regional algal biofuels facilities can produce fuels at the local level for local use, and provide employment in the growth, harvesting, extraction, and refining of the oils. Solid high-protein residue can be used as part of an integrated fish farming operation for further employment and local revenues -- as well as food production.

Aurora Biofuels is using a combination of biotechnology and engineering techniques to bring the cost down, said Walsh.

Although it is not genetically modifying algae, it is breeding salt water algae strains optimized for yielding large amounts of oil. It has also developed a method, derived from the waste water treatment industry, for harvesting the algae without having to fully dry it out, a method that is more energy efficient, Walsh said.

The drop in oil prices--now below $50 a barrel--has also made it more difficult for biofuels. Walsh said that the company expects that it can produce a commercially viable product with the price of oil at $50 a barrel and some regulations that put a price on carbon dioxide pollution. _cnet

Lower oil prices have discouraged the more timid investors away from the bioenergy field, but smarter investors understand that when energy prices begin to rise again that it is those who are pre-positioned to take advantage who will be able to grab market share the quickest.

Nanotubes Riding to the Rescue

Nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes are set to replace costly platinum in fuel cell applications.

Carbon nanotubes are also destined to play a strong role in the next generation of supercapacitors and superbatteries.

Nitrogen-doped titania nanotubes are slated to convert large quantities of CO2 captured from fossil fuels power plants into methane and other useful fuels and chemicals.

Carbon, silicon, and titanium nanotubes figure to drive the next generation of photovoltaics and production of hydrogen using solar radiation. More efficient electronics, faster computers with much larger memories, and self-cleaning, bulletproof clothing are other coming applications using nanotubes.

Nanotubes will likely help form scaffolding for human tissue and lab-grown organ replacements, and will play a large role in the coming age of brain-machine interfacing. Nanotubes will probably aid in healing from brain injury and disease, and figure prominently in brain augmentation procedures in the not-too-distant future.

When combined with information technology and biotechnology, nanotechnology will certainly transform our world. Unless the age of zombies brought on by the new US Dear Leader tears it down so much that the vast momentum of current research is depleted, and cannot be re-started. That would be a pity.

Update: Brian Wang highlights the use of carbon nanotubes as "nano-stitching" for sewing layers of advanced composites together in the construction of aircraft skins and other high-tech applications.

Synthetic Fuel Receives Commitment from USAF

The United States Airforce has committed itself to certify its entire fleet of aircraft for synthetic fuels by 2011. It intends to use synthetic jet fuel for at least one half its jet fuel consumption by 2016. Synthetic fuel is made from biomass, oils from plants or animals, and from fossil fuels such as natural gas and coal.

"We have completely certified the B-52 and B-1" bombers and C-17 cargo planes to fly on synthetic fuel, Strasburg said. In addition, the Air Force has flown F-22 and F-16 fighters, B-2 bombers, KC-135 refueling tankers, C-5 cargo planes and T-38 trainers using a 50-50 mixture of synthetic fuel and standard JP8 military jet fuel.

For testing and certification purposes, the Pentagon's Defense Energy Support Center has been buying synthetic fuel from South African synfuel producer Sasol.

Ultimately, though, the Air Force wants domestic sources, Strasburg said. The intent is to boost national security by reducing dependence on imported oil.

...In January, the Air Force began buying fuel from Rentech, a Los Angeles-based synfuel company that claims to have the only working Fischer-Tropsch fuel plant in the United States.

For now, Rentech turns natural gas into jet fuel at a rate of 10 barrels - 420 gallons - a day at a plant in Colorado. But the company plans to build a plant in Mississippi that will eventually produce 30,000 barrels of synfuel a day from coal, petroleum coke and biomass. Rentech also plans to produce jet fuel from purely renewable feedstocks.

Rentech makes synfuel using the Fischer-Tropsch process. That involves heating the feedstock - coal, petroleum coke, wood, corn stalks or other biomass - to about 1600 degrees Fahrenheit until it turns to gas.

Various unwanted products in the gas, such as mercury, sulfur and others, are removed, leaving carbon monoxide and hydrogen. The [carbon monoxide (CO)] and hydrogen are fed into a reactor where a catalyst of iron particles suspended in liquid wax converts them into a form of synthetic fuel called wax.

The synthetic wax is then refined into jet fuel, diesel fuel and similar products using essentially the same process used for turning petroleum into those products. _DefenseNews

Notice that the process depends upon gasification of carbon sources to syngas (H2, CO, etc), then catalytic conversion of syngas to wax, then to jet fuel. The CO2 byproduct can be captured for productive uses such as oil well recovery and algal biofuels production.

Using biomass as the gasification feedstock results in a more "carbon neutral" process, although as the science and technology improve, the production of CO2 will be seen as a valuable by-product.

Molten Fuel Thorium Reactors

The human brain is a pattern recognition engine. And thanks to evolution, humans are made to recognise problems and to find ways to solve them. The prosperity of human society depends upon their ability to creatively and skilfully use energy in large amounts. The summer of 2008 was a clear example of the blow to human economies when energy is priced too high, creating artificial energy scarcity. Unfortunately, the governments of Europe, Australia, and the United States are united in the scheme to make energy permanently scarce. This philosophy is unsustainable -- incompatible with a prosperous human future or any concept of a singularity.

Brian Westenhaus has posted an excellent treatment of the molten fuel thorium reactor, and its many safety features. The video above comes from Brian's article, as are many useful pointers to more information. Go check it out.

Speaking of nuclear energy, be sure and visit Brian Wang's website to learn more about affordable nuclear space launch. If we can live through the age of the Obama zombie, we may just make it to the age of limitless possibilities on the other side.

Cross-posted to Al Fin

Update 6 March 09: Brian Wang has a recent posting on the movement to mass produce liquid fuel thorium reactors that is worth a look

Gasification of Biomass, Coal, Waste

I admire a fine piece of machinery when I see it. The ceramic heat exchanger / gasification device can take any organic matter and turn it into syngas to run the gas turbine.

When fired up in August, it will be the world's first biomass-powered turbine engine designed to produce electricity. And the research, design and manufacture of the system will be provided by Heat Transfer International, a Kentwood company formed three years ago, based on 30 years of experience. _Source

Ze-gen is another company specialising in gasification of waste streams.

Ze-gen, Inc. is a renewable energy company that is emerging as a leader in the development of advanced gasification technology for converting wood debris and other solid waste streams into a synthesis gas (syngas) mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen gas. This syngas is a renewable fuel which can be used to offset consumption of fossil fuels in conventional power and industrial facilities. Ze-gen recently secured $20 million in Series B financing, and is poised to be the market leader in the environmentally friendly re-purposing of waste streams into renewable energy. For more information and to watch a Ze-gen feature on the Science Channel, visit www.ze-gen.com. _BW

Several companies are working on gasification technologies for coal, since that is the best way of capturing CO2 for compliance with costly new Milli Vanilli energy regulations. But coal gasification (as IGCC) is worthwhile in its own right, with or without CO2 capture. Particularly when combining IGCC (for example) with CHP, coal gasification makes perfect sense for a clean energy bridge toward a sustainable energy future in the US. Now, another clean coal technology is making claims for superiority over IGCC. Is it true?

Based on high pressure oxy-fuel chemistry, TIPS combines the combustion of carbonaceous fuels, including coal, oil, natural gas, municipal waste and biomass, into energy with near-zero air emissions and no smoke stack. In addition, it effectively captures carbon dioxide ("CO2") in clean, pressurized liquid form ready for sequestration or beneficial reuse, such as enhanced oil recovery. The TIPS technology promises to achieve greater fossil-fuel power plant thermal efficiency due to its novel and patented process design. Coupled with the recovery of pipeline quality liquid CO2, TIPS is expected to have an economic and environmental edge over competing carbon capture technologies. _Source

TIPS is referred to as a combustion process, but it takes place under pressure with recovery of CO2 as a liquid under pressure. Until I see more substantial information, TIPS looks a bit too much like an overhyped gimmick resting firmly upon carbon hysteria and global climate scam. IGCC is a proven technology, and can be used with or without CO2 capture. Wait and see.

Let There Be Light In the Dark Algal Bloom

Algae can grow very quickly in a high nutrient environment, and shut out most light penetration to any depth. This restricts the rapid growth areas to near the surface. Some algal biofuels researchers are experimenting with ways to penetrate the murk, bringing light to deeper layers so that a thicker bloom of algae may grow. Bionavitas is the latest algal biofuels company to take this approach.

....as algae grow, they become so dense they block the light needed for continued growth.

This “self-shading” phenomenon results in a layer that limits the amount of algae per acre that can be grown and harvested. The Light Immersion Technology developed by Bionavitas fundamentally changes this equation by enabling the algae growth layer in open ponds to be up to a meter deep. This represents a 10 to 12 time increase in yield over previous methods that produced only 3-5 centimeters of growth.

... At the core of Light Immersion Technology is an innovative approach at bringing light to the algae culture in both open ponds and closed bioreactors through a system of light rods which extend deep into the algae culture. By distributing light below the surface “shade” layer and releasing the light in controlled locations, algae cultures can grow denser. In external canal systems, the rods distribute light from the sun into the culture. This abundant and free energy source is ideal for generating large amounts of algae for use as biofuels.

In closed bioreactors, the rods evenly distribute more readily absorbed red and blue spectrum light from high efficiency LEDs. While the LEDs increase the cost of production, algae grown in these systems are used for higher value markets such as nutraceuticals. _BusWire

In other news, Genomatica has developed a process of producing methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) from biomaterials. This new process may allow several previously closed bio-ethanol plants to re-start, producing the more highly lucrative MEK using the same industrial equipment previously used to produce maize ethanol.

Who Says Biodiesel Doesn't Work in the Cold?

A recent renewable diesel demonstration in Alberta shows that biodiesel blends can function quite well in cold weather climates. The form of biodiesel that performs the closest to petro-diesel is HDRD -- hydrogenated derived renewable diesel.

Finland's Neste Oil has pioneered the HDRD process (NExBTL) and refined it to the point that in the Helsinki area, 100% Neste biodiesel is used widely in city buses. Neste utilises both vegetable oils and animal fats in the production of its NExBTL hydrogenated biodiesel product, which provides for mor flexible feedstock supply.

More links on the Neste NExBTL process here.

Big Oil In Bed With Biofuels: The Future is Near

Most biofuels naysayers haven't taken the trouble to look at all the different ways that biological organisms can create energy and energy feedstocks. Brian Wang discussed Sandia National Lab's recent study predicting the production of 90 billion gallons a year of biofuels in the not-so-distant-future. Now Brian Westenhaus takes a good look at the involvement of big petroleum in the research and development of biofuels.

Big Oil is helping the biofuel industry move past the persistent perception that cellulosic-based fuel is five years from reality. “That would have been accurate five years ago,” Riva said. “It’s not accurate today.”

Meanwhile Exxon Mobil is in the media openly talking about its interest in biofuels. With an industry reputation of strong research and high powered engineering skills, Exxon Mobil getting into the business would mark a turning point for biofuels and for the long term viability of oil being an economy dominating club for the market manipulators.

...the news is that BP is in the biofuels business. Big Oil, with all the baggage the industry has to cope with in people’s perceptions has more incentive, capital, skill and management than any other segment of the economy. What the press and media overlook is that for over one hundred years the oil industry drove to lower fuel prices, expanded markets and a higher standard of living. Check your history till 1972 when the first embargo from OPEC began the market distortions. The oil industry had been a boom and bust business before OPEC, even more so since. No one craves a low priced, high volume, steadily profitable business more than Big Oil. Nearly two generations of oil industry people have endured a torrent of troubles. _NewEnergyandFuel

British Petroleum, Shell, Exxon, Valero, Chevron, and other big oil companies are researching, developing, and / or investing in production of biofuels. All of this at a time when oil prices are stuck in the doldrums. This tells you that at least most of these companies can see a time when producing biofuels will be competitive with producing petro-fuels. Sometime very soon.

Most people expect oil prices to rise sharply as soon as the global economic situation begins to revive. But as biofuels production becomes more economical, and scales upward in volume, petro-fuels will have a strong competitor. And competition generally helps constrain prices. I supppose the oil companies wanted to get in on the ground floor.

Nissan's Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Runs on Gasoline and Light Oil, Not Hydrogen

The new doughnut shaped SOFC developed by Nissan for the automobile, will run on hydrocarbons rather than hydrogen. This is an advantage, due to available infrastructure for those fuels. Modifications to allow using variable length alcohols should be relatively easy, if required.

Unlike an SOFC for cogeneration, the new SOFC does not recover waste heat. Still, high-temperature steam generated from the fuel cell is used for reforming.

The SOFC itself has an efficiency of 65 to 70%, and the efficiency as a charger is 50%, including other energy losses. Considering that the efficiency of the EV is 80%, the total efficiency is 40%.

When compared with gasoline vehicles, a 1t EV and 2t EV will have 1.8 and 2.5 times higher fuel economies, respectively, under the JC08 test mode. These are much higher than the fuel economies that can be realized by PEFCs.

Therefore, the SOFC, which has problems starting up, is more suited for commercial vehicles that run for a long time without interruption. _techon

As SOFC's evolve, faster starting times and a wider range of fuels should give this type of power supply much wider use. SOFCs that run on biomass carbon, for example, would allow persons to travel far off the beaten path while still being able to locate fuel fairly easily.

The key to wider acceptance of fuel cell vehicles has always been the ability of the FCs to use available liquid fuels, as well as natural gas and propane / butane. As bio - alcohols and bio - hydrocarbons become more widely available, biofuel powered fuel cells will provide a strong boost to renewable energy's proportion of total energy supply.

Revolutionary Home Fuel Cell Efficiencies Claimed by Melbourne Company

Managing Director Brendan Dow said, “We have now achieved 60% efficiency in a fully integrated fuel cell and heating system, while exporting 1.5 kilowatts of electricity to the grid. This is not a laboratory test but a unit that has all the functions of a commercial unit for homes. Our company’s products will be located in the home, so 60% efficiency is at the power point, with no transmission or electricity distribution losses.”

...After transmission and distribution losses, the average electrical efficiency of conventional power stations in the European Union is less than 35%. A 2007 study of other microgeneration technologies by the UK Carbon Trust, based on a trial of 70 units (including Stirling engines and internal combustion engine) found average electrical efficiencies to be less than 10%. A Japanese Government-sponsored trial of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) fuel cell home units showed average electrical efficiency of about 30%. _FuelCellToday

If these 60% efficiency results from the Melbourne company Ceramic Fuel Cells Ltd. hold up, home based fuel cells will likely receive a huge boost. Home fuel cells can supply a home's power and heating / hot water needs independent of the power grid. If they can also export (sell) power back to the utility, they should pay for themselves over a reasonable time period.

Ceramic Fuel Cells’ technology uses fuel cells made from ceramic materials to generate highly efficient and low emission electricity and heat from natural gas and renewable fuels. The technology began at CSIRO in 1992 and has cost $220 million to develop. Today the company employs 100 people in Melbourne, including 60 scientists and engineers.

Ceramic Fuel Cells’ units also recover heat from the electricity production process and use it to heat home hot water, increasing the units’ efficiency to 85%. “We are able to trap the heat from our units and use it to heat a household’s water, taking our efficiency to 85%”, said Mr Dow. “Compare this to average efficiency of the current power grid in Victoria of less than 30% and it represents a huge advantage.” _FuelCellWorks

Converting CO2 to Methane With Nanotubes

Penn State U. researchers have devised arrays of titania nanotubes to convert atmospheric CO2 to CH4 and other hydrocarbons using sunlight.

The rate of carbon dioxide (CO2) conversion using this method is 20 times higher than that of previously published research. The work is described in the January 27, 2009, online edition of Nano Letters.

....This type of solar-based conversion process only works if a photocatalyst—a material that reacts with light—is used to convert the CO2 into hydrocarbons. A photocatalyst that utilizes the most solar energy possible is the best option.

One popular photocatalyst candidate for the job has been titanium dioxide, also called titania, because it can powerfully react with oxygen. But so far, researchers haven't been able to make titania perform adequately despite experimenting with a variety of forms, such as nanoparticles, pellets, and multi-layer films.

Grimes and his colleagues used arrays of titania nanotubes. They created the nanotubes using a technique that incorporates nitrogen into the nanotubes' structures, which the researchers initially thought would help increase the conversion rate (this turned out to be true only in a very limited capacity).

The process also yields a high total surface area compared to other forms of the material, a property that aids in the conversion. To further boost the process, the group scattered an ultra-thin layer of platinum and/or copper "cocatalyst" nanoparticles on the surface of the array. _PO

Not only will this method produce useful hydrocarbon fuels, but if the global climate cools much further, such nano-arrays could be distributed across the globe to boost atmospheric methane levels -- to trap more of the suns heat, and stave off excessive global cooling. We would need to be careful not to allow methane concentrations to reach explosive levels, however. ;-)

Milli Vanilli Energy Planning Wreaks Havoc

Image Source

The US gets 48% of its electricity from coal, and less than 3% from wind and solar. So naturally, President "Milli-Vanilli" Obama, wants to put coal mines and coal power plants out of business, and force the country to rely on wind and solar. Makes sense. When all a man knows how to do is to fake it, it is all he can do.Not only are wind and solar very unreliable forms of power, but they are also quite expensive. Even in the best of times, scaling up these intermittent forms of power generation to replace reliable, baseload coal power would be problematic. In a recession-cum-neofascist-revolution, fugidaboudit.

In 20 years, enhanced geothermal and bioenergy will probably provide well over 10% of the US electrical supply. But unless a combination strategy of advanced nuclear plus clean coal (IGCC) is also pursued, times in the neofascist USA will be very difficult.

Hydrogen Argues for A Role In Future Energy

Hydrogen is the simplest and most prevalent element in the universe. The chemical combination of hydrogen with oxygen yields energy and water. But on Earth, free hydrogen is rare and must be manufactured, which costs energy, time, and money.

A country such as Iceland, with abundant hydroelectric and geothermal energy resources, might devote a portion of its electrical power to the electrolytic production of hydrogen from water. The hydrogen can then be used as gaseous fuel for fishing boats and long-haul ground vehicles. Such an approach may work for Iceland, since Iceland has abundant natural potential to generate electricity.

Other nations may have less natural electrical generation potential, but more biomass. The generation of hydrogen from biomass recently received a boost by a team from Virginia Tech, U. Georgia, and Oak Ridge.

Researchers at Virginia Tech, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), and the University of Georgia have produced hydrogen gas pure enough to power a fuel cell by mixing 14 enzymes, one coenzyme, cellulosic materials from nonfood sources, and water heated to about 90 degrees (32 C).

The group announced three advances from their "one pot" process: 1) a novel combination of enzymes, 2) an increased hydrogen generation rate--to as fast as natural hydrogen fermentation, and 3) a chemical energy output greater than the chemical energy stored in sugars--the highest hydrogen yield reported from cellulosic materials. _SB

Hydrogen can also be produced from biomass by the production of syngas via biomass gasification. Gasification requires large amounts of energy, however. If the catalytic process above is a more energy-efficient way of producing hydrogen, it is worth pursuing.

Efficiency is at the heart of the decision. There is always an efficiency loss whenever energy is converted from one form to another. Using electricity to produce hydrogen which is later used to produce electricity involves inevitable energy losses with each conversion. Even the most efficient method of converting biomass to electricity will involve energy losses as well. Is hydrogen worth the trouble?

Hydrogen advocates point to the clean effluent of hydrogen fuel cells or hydrogen combustion: steam. What could be cleaner? But if you burn coal to produce the hydrogen in the first place, you are leaving out a big part of the picture.

Al Fin has advocated the use of solar energy to produce hydrogen to power fuel cells for when the sun is not shining, for off-the-grid 24 hour loads. But then, if electricity is what you want, better battery storage makes more sense. Another thing: it takes a lot of energy to produce photovoltaic cells, batteries, fuel cells, and other solar to electricity conversion equipment. Much of that energy will come from fossil fuels. So nothing is completely clean.

Nuclear energy could produce abundant hydrogen. But hydrogen is not the easiest material to store and transport safely. Rather than using hydrogen as the fuel, it might be smarter to use the hydrogen as a chemical reactant for manufacturing other fuels that store and travel more safely, and contain better energy densities than hydrogen. Which is what will probably happen long-term, once the giddy "hydrogen euphoria" wears off and the realities of safety, economics, and energy efficiencies begin to dawn on policy makers.

How About Another 3 Billion Tons of Coal?

Roughly 3 billion tons of ultrafine coal sits unused and unusable in both abandoned and active tailing ponds around the US. Finding a way to use those ultrafines would be almost the equivalent to creating 3 billion tons of coal from thin air.

The success of the hyperbaric centrifuge is significant in that the high moisture content of fine coal waste forces coal producers to discard the waste in storage areas called waste impoundments. Estimates indicate that these impoundments nationwide hold about 2 billion tons of fine coal in abandoned ponds and an additional 500 million to 800 million tons in active ponds.

Removing moisture from very fine coal particles left over from the coal preparation process has been difficult in the past. Conventional methods such as thermal dryers or mechanical dewatering have either been too costly or have been unable to dewater ultrafine coal particles (0.1 millimeters or less). The hyperbaric centrifuge addresses those issues.

Yoon and Luttrell have also received $1 million in funding from the US Department of State to also help the Indian coal industry produce a cleaner product. And the Virginia Tech researchers anticipate another project to be funded by Coal India Limited (CIL), the largest coal company in India, with the same a similar objective. The US Department of Energy has been negotiating with CIL for this project on behalf of Virginia Tech. _GCC

Current low costs of coal, oil, and gas may delay this technology for a while. But it is important to develop the ability to use energy resources that are currently unusable. Eventually, energy costs will again rise, and parts of the world will likely experience transient energy shortages. It is best to maintain access to the largest array of energy technologies
that we can.

Bioenergy Momentum

Although the cost of oil is currently low, it will eventually rise again. It is important to develop bioenergy sources such as ligno-cellulosic fuels and algal fuels before oil rises again into the "demand destruction" levels of summer 2008. Fortunately, research into several forms of bioenergy continues due to momentum built over the past few years.

UW Madison researchers have developed an interesting two-step process to produce furans from lignocellulose.

The key to the new process is the first step, in which a novel solvent system converts cellulose into the renewable platform chemical 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), from which a variety of valuable commodity chemicals and fuels can be made. A paper describing the process was published in the 11 Feb issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Professor Ronald Raines and graduate student Joseph Binder, a doctoral candidate in the chemistry department, developed the unique solvent system—N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMA) containing lithium chloride (LiCl)—that enables the single-step synthesis of HMF with “unprecedented yield” from untreated lignocellulosic biomass, as well as from purified cellulose, glucose, and fructose.

...In step two, Raines and Binder convert HMF into DMF. Starting by applying the solvent to corn stover, the team then removed the chloride ions from the resulting crude HMF by ion-exclusion chromatography in water. This separation step prevented the chloride from poisoning the copper hydrogenolysis catalyst. They then subjected the crude HMF from corn stover to hydrogenolysis in 1-butanol with a carbon-supported copper-ruthenium catalyst and obtained a 49% molar yield of DMF, similar to that obtained by Dumesic and his colleagues using HMF that contained trace chloride. _GCC

Until now, cellulose has been resistant to breaking down into its constituent sugars. This quick one step method for cellulose to HMF, then the quick second step from HMF to DMF -- a potentially useful biofuel -- may bring about an important shift in the treatment of cellulosic waste from forests, cities, and farms.

The process of converting the "black liquor" waste product from pulp/paper works into useful energy is being expedited by a Swedish company with a US subsidiary.

Chemrec’s black liquor gasification (BLG) technology converts the black liquor waste stream from the paper pulping process into synthesis gas. The synthesis gas can then be processed into a variety of fuels—likely dimethyl ether (DME) and methanol (MeOH), although fuels such as Fischer-Tropsch diesel (FTD), Synthetic Natural Gas (SNG), or hydrogen are also possible. _GCC

And don't forget the promise of algal biofuels. Plans to incorporate algal bioreactors into the overall energy scheme of Scottish distilleries may give algal fuels the push they need to break through into the mainstream.

The bioreactors are glass panels that contain water and algae. When carbon dioxide is percolated through the panels, the algae strips out the carbon atoms, which are made into biodiesel.

The process also produces proteins that could be used to enrich spent grain from the distillery so that it is suitable for sale to fish farmers. _Bioenergy

Notice that the distillers are trying to maximise the utility of byproducts of the main processes. Combining spent distillers grains with the protein from spent algae would make a more valuable fish and animal feed. Even more elaboration in the use of waste byproducts is coming, to increase efficiencies and profits.

Fuel Cells Grow Appetite for More Fuels Than H2

Most people think of H2 fuel cells, if they think of fuel cells at all. Hydrogen-centric thinking is one reason fuel cells have been so slow to take off. We are learning that fuel cells can be taught to eat methanol, ethanol, natural gas, syngas from municipal waste, carbon, and more.

Another reason fuel cells have been slow to emerge is the high cost of catalysts. Recent research in finding inexpensive replacement catalysts for fuel cells should help to broaden the application outlook for fuel cells.

Fuel cells can play a big role in dealing with the "landfill crisis" more efficiently.

...with improved energy conversion efficiency, fuel-cell power plants can sell more electricity converted from each ton of waste, Waste2Tricity says. As municipal refuse becomes valuable for waste-to-energy processes, less waste will be sent to landfills. AFC and Waste2Tricity also say the fuel-cell powered plants would receive Renewable Obligation Certificates, the UK's renewable energy trading credit.

“It has the potential to play a major role in the reduction of waste going to landfill, reduction in CO2 emissions, provide local authorities with a revenue stream, as well as being a commercially viable proposition,” said Peter Jones of the Waste2Tricity board in a news release. _CT

Fuel cells have been used as backup power plants for several years in industry. Homes in Japan will pioneer the use of fuel cells for primary power and heat provision (CHP). If the experiment is successful, expect the trend to spread to North America, Europe, and A/NZ.

Fuel cell powered automobiles should start appearing within 5 years, as costs are reduced, and fuel demands are made less stringent. Hydrogen gas is not a good fuel for mobile fuel cell applications. Liquid fuels are superior in terms of handling ease, energy density, and safety.

To replace an internal combustion engine (ICE) in automobiles, one needs a powerplant that provides high energy density and high power density. Fuel cells provide a high energy density. The addition of super-ultracapacitors provides high power density for necessary power surges. Intermediate chemical cell batteries may also be used to provide a smooth, steady cruising current.

The exact architecture of the ICE-less hybrid automobile remains to be worked out. Fuel cells are more efficient than ICEs, so a fuel cell serial hybrid might allow the use of less expensive and sophisticated fuel cells, with the load matching provided largely by batteries and capacitors. (perhaps a hybrid battery-capacitor)

Green Energy Gets the Blues

Many people have had high hopes for "green energy" technologies such as wind and solar power. But honestly, when all the PV energy in the world amounts to only 1/200th (5 MW) of what a single nuclear reactor or coal power plant might produce with a much higher capacity factor, what kind of person puts his hopes in such over-hyped, under-substantiated technologies?

Because of their need for space to accommodate giant wind turbines, wind farms are especially reliant on bank financing for as much as 50 percent of a project’s costs. For example, JPMorgan Chase, which analysts say is the most active bank remaining in the renewable energy sector, has invested in 54 wind farms and one solar plant since 2003, according to John Eber, the firm’s managing director for energy investments.

In the solar industry, the ripple effects of the crisis extend all the way to the panels that homeowners put on their roofs. The price of solar panels has fallen by 25 percent in six months, according to Rhone Resch, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association, who said he expected a further drop of 10 percent by midsummer. _NYT

The wind does not blow everywhere, nor all the time. The sun only provides perhaps 6 hours of useful energy a day, at best. The capacity factors of these technologies is abysmal. That is why for baseline energy you get far more bang for the buck from geothermal, nuclear, coal, oil sands, gas, and soon from biomass and biofuels.

Doing More With Less in Fuel Cells

The replacement of expensive and relatively rare materials with cheap and common materials, is the hallmark of "doing more with less." That was the motto of Buchminster Fuller, and other modern revolutionaries such as Julian Simon and Herman Kahn. In the field of fuel cells, the idea is being proven using doped carbon nanotubes as replacement for expensive platinum, for catalysts.

Researchers in the US have developed a novel catalyst based on carbon nanotubes for the electrochemical reduction of oxygen. The new material, they say, could be an effective and cheaper substitute for platinum in certain types of fuel cell.

The team, led by Liming Dai of the University of Dayton, created tightly packed, vertically aligned carbon nanotubes that were doped with nitrogen atoms. When these nanotube arrays were used as cathodes in highly alkaline solution, they were able to catalyse the reduction of oxygen more efficiently than platinum.

The researchers suggest that the nanotubes could be useful in alkaline fuel cells, which were developed decades ago but for a number of reasons have remained commercially unviable. One reason, Dai suggests, is the high cost of platinum which is used as a catalyst in the fuel cells' electrodes. _RSC

This is just one example of the materials revolution that is being enabled by new nanotech methods. And it is only the beginning. Fuel cells have been the promise of the future for far too long. With the help of the materials revolution, fuel cells will soon occupy a prominent place on the energy Acropolis.

Farther Reaches of Energy

I have always seen "hydrino energy" and "zero point energy" as being highly imaginative scams to bilk investors of their money. But both Brian Westenhaus and Brian Wang have posted multiple times on these topics, and are beginning to introduce small seeds of doubt in my naturally skeptical mind.

The concept of a hydrino, a hydrogen atom with a reduced orbiting electron is something that Randell Mills at Blacklight Power has managed to engineer such that researchers and customers are beginning to quietly line up especially now that Rowan University has confirmed that the device yields energy output.

Cal Tech’s Bernard Haisch and Colorado University’s Garret Moddel are in receipt of a U.S. Patent for another device that is said to extract (Zero Point) energy. In this design the patent states in effect that disruption of the balance between Larmor radiation vs. absorption of radiative energy from the electromagnetic quantum vacuum will yield a release of energy. _NewEnergyFuel

Mr. Westenhaus goes on to describe the patented device. Brian's post was inspired by an earlier post by Brian Wang:

A system is disclosed for converting energy from the electromagnetic quantum vacuum available at any point in the universe to usable energy in the form of heat, electricity, mechanical energy or other forms of power. By suppressing electromagnetic quantum vacuum energy at appropriate frequencies a change may be effected in the electron energy levels which will result in the emission or release of energy. _NextBigFutre

Both Brian's have earlier posts dealing with hydrino energy, with links to more meaty information. When faced with an apparent scam that simply refuses to go away no matter what is thrown at it, one might spare at least a few moments.

The mark of a successful investor is knowing when to doubt and knowing when to act on a doubt. Belief has little to do with successful investing, just as it has little to do with science. Rather, it is useful to replace belief with "expectation," understanding that expectations must be supported by subsequent events, or will be discarded.

So it is my "expectations" of these "outer limits" approaches to energy that have shifted slightly. Belief has got nothing to do with it, pal.

Nuclear Energy for Many Thousands of Years from Depleted Uranium, Thorium, More

Brian Westenhaus describes a new approach to long-term nuclear reactor fueling, using depleted and unenriched uranium.

The idea is that with un-enriched fuel, the reactors could be loaded up with fuel and sealed for 30 to 60 years primarily because the stockpile of uranium would go further. Not using enriched fuel reduces the risks associated with nuclear proliferation and transportation as well as reducing the amount of radioactive nuclear waste. Depleted uranium is also a waste product in the enrichment process. But TerraPower’s reactor needs some enriched uranium, at the beginning to initiate the reaction.

Intellectual Ventures thinks the switch could also mean that the available supplies of uranium could be exploited to provide power for centuries or even thousands of years, far longer than the projections using enriched uranium. _More at NewEnergyandFuel

Brian Wang has an update on Thorium reactor plans, and other ways of extending nuclear fuel.

From Resource Investor: I am personally aware of the fact that, even as I write, major American, Canadian, French and British nuclear engineering companies are forming strategic alliances to seek funding under Hatch-Reid to go forward with the development of thorium-based nuclear power reactors for the production of electricity for civilian use. _Much More at NextBigFuture

Brian further describes a laser uranium enrichment plant being considered for North Carolina. The process is reportedly up to 10 times more efficient than other enrichment methods.

Many clever ways of extending nuclear power into the future are being developed. Sometime, between 10 and 1000 years from now, humans will perfect nuclear fusion as an energy source and hopefully also as a space propulsion method. Until then, we will need to use the energy sources that are available.

Gas to Liquids to Tap into Huge Gas Reserves

It is estimated that 3,000 tcf, approximately half of all worldwide natural gas resources, are considered remote or stranded in so called abandoned wells or wells with reserves that are not economically accessible to markets by either pipelines or LNG. Energix believes that much of this gas could be utilized if there were an economical or easily moveable GTL production facility such as the one it is currently developing. NanoNow

Natural gas, primarily methane, is both a fossil fuel and a sustainable biofuel. While the production of fossil fuel methane is a relatively slow process, the production of bio-methane is beginning to bloom. By utilising agricultural, forestry, and municipal wastes, biogas production can be ramped up without affecting cropland productivity. The gas can then be converted into liquid fuels, electricity, or used in conventional combustors.

Converting gas in abandoned gas fields into liquid fuels to be piped out, allows access to large quantities of gas otherwise essentially inaccessible.

Algae vs. Yeast vs. Jatropha vs. Biomass

Algae biodiesel costs about $10 a gallon to produce, at best. So algae isn't ready for prime time. But given time, algae will be the most productive producer of biodiesel currently known.

Fungal fuel, or fuel from yeast, has a long history -- and will only get longer. Genetically altered yeast are now capable of producing complex hydrocarbons. Researchers are tweaking the genes of these yeast to make ever more valuable carbon based chemicals and fuels.

The company performed scores of genetic manipulations, inserting genes from land plants into yeast cells and targeting a dozen or so steps in the Acetyl CoA glycolitic pathway to polymerize hydrocarbons into chains of optimal lengths for fuels. Then, about two years ago, Amyris scientists peered into their first test tube filled with yeast-produced diesel. FungalFuel

So it looks like algae holds the greatest promise for biodiesel, but fungal fuels have a better start and may beat algae to the finish line. What about Jatropha? It takes longer to tweak the genetics of plants than for micro-organisms, but Jatropha produces high quality oil on marginal land at yields well above soy, rape, and maize. Unlike algae, Jatropha is already a player in the marketplace.

Jatropha curcas is a non-edible shrub that is native to Central America. Its seeds contain high amounts of oil that can be used for a variety of bio-based materials including biodiesel and feedstock substitutes for the petrochemical and aviation fuel industries. It can be effectively grown on abandoned lands that are unsuitable for other crops.

Jatropha oil produced by SG Biofuels has been independently evaluated for its biodiesel qualities and verified to be a clean, stable source of fuel for biodiesel that meets or exceeds European specifications. The company’s Latin American Jatropha recently outperformed palm, soy and Jatropha from India on two differentiating criteria: low temperature performance and long-term storage stability. _GCC

Biomass is another "ready for the market" energy technology that can only get better with time. Growing biomass on marginal soils, on saline soils along coasts, and in salt water, greatly expands the planet's capacity to produce human-useful energy. The limits for growth of biomass will not be reached before humans begin colonising the outer solar system and beyond. Biomass will benefit from the blooming biotechnology industry, with tweakable genetics. And while biomass is currently less energy-dense than fossil fuels, it is sustainable into the distant future. It can be made into electricity, liquid and gaseous fuels, plastics, industrial chemicals, structural material, and -- once nanotechnology comes of age -- we will truly begin to learn what biomass can create.

Bioliq Biofuels

Image Source

Biofuels cannot replace fossil fuels currently. But as the infrastructure for biomass and bioenergy grows, and the economics of bioenergy improves, biofuels will gradually displace fossil fuels. One promising approach comes from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany, called bioliq, described previously at AFE. Bioliq involves pyrolysis of biomass, then gasification to syngas, then synthesis of fuels from syngas.

Bioliq is now taking its first steps towards commercialisation. In conjunction with the German process engineering company Lurgi, KIT is starting to construct a pilot plant based on the bioliq technology, which should be fully completed in 2012. Providing the technology works at this scale, the question then will be how best to implement bioliq at a larger scale, so that it can effectively compete with fossil fuels.....

.....Dahmen and his colleagues quickly realised that incorporating both the pyrolysis and gasification steps at this central plant wouldn't work, because of the problems and expense involved in transporting sufficient quantities of bulky straw and wood to the plant. They estimated that if sufficient plant material was transported on trucks, it would quickly bring the road network around the plant to a halt.

So they came up with an alternative set-up. "Biomass is pre-treated in around 50 regionally distributed pyrolysis plants to produce the biosyncrude," explains Dahmen. "This can then be transported economically over long distances to supply a central fuel production plant with a high capacity."

The advantage of this set-up is that it is much cheaper and more convenient to transport liquid biosyncrude than bulky wood and straw. This is especially the case if the biosyncrude is transported by rail, which is the most cost effective way to transport material over long distances. _Bioenergy

It is rather fascinating that the KIT researchers arrived at the same conclusions as Al Fin in regard to the integration of local/regional pyrolisis plants with more centrally located gasification/synthesis plants. It certainly makes sense to pre-process biomass near the harvest site, and compact it. Then ship compacted biomass to a nearby regional pyrolysis plant. Finally, at a more centrally located gasification/synthesis plant, the final synthetic fuels and chemicals are produced. I am pleased that tenured and well-paid scientists and engineers were able to re-create Al Fin's reasoning on this point. ;-) Perhaps they will eventually catch up on the topic of biomass torrefaction.

On the topic of feedstock, eucalyptus appears to be one promising type of tree -- besides the poplar -- that combines growth in marginal soil with rapid biomass production. Eucalyptus is more energy-dense than most woods, so the economics may work out better than for poplar, as long as growth is equivalent. I would like to see research done on the torrefaction of eucalyptus. I suspect the energy density of torrefied eucalyptus to be remarkably close to that of coal.

More information and links here.

Transmuting Waste to Fuels With Neutrons

Ancient and medieval alchemists dreamed of transmuting lead to gold. But modern alchemists can use neutron transmutation to turn nuclear waste into useful energy -- a far more useful transmutation. Recently, both Brian Wang and Brian Westenhaus have discussed a new approach to nuclear transmutation from the University of Texas, Austin.

The Texas group plans to use a combination of a tokamak fusion neutron source along with a "Super X Neutron Divertor" to transform a blanket of nuclear waste into productive nuclear fuel -- producing heat from fission to make steam and generate electrical power.

Is the Tokamak fusor the best source of neutrons for this project? Perhaps, perhaps not. I suspect not. But until Focus Fusion or the Polywell group can begin generating neutrons in the quantities required for converting nuclear waste into fissile fuel, we may be stuck with the Tokamak.

Nuclear fission has been growing safer and more reliable over the past few decades, and the fission power industry has been planning a significant expansion worldwide. An injection of new fuel supplies from this hybrid fusion:fission approach would be an important boost to the long-term sustainability and safety of fission power.

No need to store nuclear waste, just keep re-using it until it is no longer dangerous (or potential fuel). Environmentalist Luddites hate the idea of nuclear energy, and since they dominate the Obama administration, it is unlikely that this important development will receive much support from Luddite DC.

But science continues, even when the dominant reich is made up of fools and nihilists. University labs, National Labs, and private labs have an amazing amount of research momentum going. It will take some time for the Luddites in DC to gain total control. By that time, we can always hope that voters will come to their senses.

Jatropha Catching On As Biodiesel Oilseed

Jatropha has many things in its favour as a biodiesel feedstock: It's a hardy tree that requires little cultivation, and can be co-cultivated with other crops. Its oil yield per hectare is second only to palm oil, but is much less expensive and far less environmentally destructive than palm oil. Read on:

The drought-resistant jatropha plant and its biofuel potential have presented an exciting opportunity for investment in low-cost land that is not currently arable for most crops or suitable for other agricultural development. Interestingly, since the jatropha fruit is non-edible, using it to produce biodiesel would not affect or be affected by demand for food, a major problem that is constantly faced by the palm oil-based biodiesel and corn “ethanol” industries.

The upshot is that jatropha oil should be a cheaper alternative than the popular “edible” fuels made from rapeseed, corn and palm oil. Jatropha offers a new source of income for smallholders.

To date, the big corporations that lead large-scale production globally include BP and D1 Oils, which announced a US$160mil joint venture with a target to plant an estimated total of 405,000ha in India, South-East Asia, southern Africa, and Central and South America.

Others include Vietnam-based GreenEnergy Ltd with over US$20mil of successful placements, both private and public, for jatropha-specific ventures; Australia-based Mission Biofuels which owns about 8,903ha of jatropha plantations in Malaysia, and South Korea-based Eco Solutions with plantations in the Philippines. _Bioenergy

Gasify Garbage On-Site to Make Electricity

Image via Ecoworld

Converting municipal waste / garbage to syngas and electricity is preferable in many ways to landfills and simple combustion disposal. But collecting the garbage and shipping it to a central gasification plant costs time and money. Why not gasify the waste on-site, then use CHP to maximise efficiencies? Preferably using combined cycle turbine electrical generation. Ecoworld took a look at one such on-site gasifier by IST Energy.

...campuses, military bases, hospitals, and other institutions or commercial complexes can install a waste-to-energy solution from IST Energy, available in modules so it can be scaled to whatever waste processing requirement may apply.

During an interview last week with Stu Haber, CEO of IST Energy, he said the unit they are developing is 30′ by 8.5′ by 8′ high, able to fit in a standard shipping container for intermodal delivery anywhere. Into this volume, the system IST Energy has designed includes space for 3 tons of MSW storage at the front end (so it only has to be fed once per day), with a shredder, dryer, pelletizer, zero-emission gasifier, and internal combustion engine electricity generator that runs on the syngas extracted from the MSW.

...IST Energy intends to sell these units for about $850,000 each, meaning for that price you could process about 1,100 tons of waste each year, generating about 1.3 million kilowatt-hours, along with co-gen heat. At $.15 per kilowatt-hour, you would recover $200K per year just in electricity, plus you would harvest the heat, and presumably, save money on garbage collection fees (only about 5% of the volume of the waste material input remains as ash). If IST Energy can deliver this unit in large quantities according to these specifications, they have a very disruptive technology. _Ecoworld

IST will market this technology to "campuses, military bases, hospitals, and other institutions or commercial complexes". A similar system has been in use at a US base in Iraq since summer of 2008. These systems are relatively small, and shippable via standard shipping container.

But for the big garbage producers -- cities and towns -- a larger facility located at the garbage disposal site should incorporate IGCC technology for CHP production. Pretreatment is key to efficient gasification, and the jury is still out in regard to optimal pre-treatment for municipal waste. Stay tuned.

Myth of the Oil Crisis

Ari at Peak Oil Debunked has written a review of a recent book by Robin Mills, "Myth of the Oil Crisis." It looks like a good addition to the library of oil realism along with works by Leonardo Maugeri and Daniel Yergin. Read on:

Mills' book's greatest strength is its ability to deconstruct the most frightening of the peak prophecies and show how they are either incorrect, or at the very least, misguided. He is thorough in demonstrating, through both data, and clear, well-sourced arguments, how the extreme pessimists of the energy commentary community are generally incorrect in their arguments and assumptions. He even demonstrates how Hubbert, commonly hailed as a sort of “peak oil prophet” (words mine), was hardly as accurate as he is shown to be. In fact, Mills scrutinizes Hubbert in the fourth chapter, entitled “Half-Full or Half-Empty?”

...Another strength of Mills' book is the credence he pays toward economic factors. He shows, throughout the book, that economic factors play a significant role in energy production. One of the often ignored (or derided) factors in energy is the capital needed to keep it running smoothly. The Geologists see geography as the ultimate factor in deciding energy availability, but they are far too willing to ignore the fact that even assuming you have a powerful physical limitation in place, you cannot drill oil if you lack rigs and manpower. Unfortunately, we live in a world today where the physical and human capital needed to run the oil industry has become significantly scarcer than in decades past-- this is largely a consequence of the previous decades of incredibly cheap oil. These same low prices drove OPEC to reduce production as well, which allowed oil commentators (Simmons, for example) to say that Saudi Arabia is in a state of decline. Unfortunately for Simmons, KSA was merely responding rationally to low prices by reducing production. The reader will see a lot of this kind of debunking throughout the book. For some, it will be interesting to see the shriller voices of energy commentary dismantled. _POD

Go to POD and read the entire review. It is likely to make you curious enough to pick up the book and look it over, the next time you are in the book store or a good library.

Doom-seekers tend to gravitate around "peak oil" and "climate catastrophe" scenarios, as a matter of nihilist chic. But pretending to believe in a catastrophic fantasy does nothing to help anyone, and solves no problems in the real world. It is a way of getting cheap kicks.

Everything runs down eventually. Wise people learn to bridge between fading technologies and technologies of the future. Scarcity only becomes acute and punishing when not taken into account ahead of time. For all the excitement at TOD and other peak oil sites, there seems precious little planning and preparation for bridging the old and new technologies. Mainly fantasies of doom.

Maize Ethanol Gains Efficiencies With Time

While cellulosic alcohols offer far more promise, maize ethanol researchers and engineers are improving the marginal efficiencies of the overall process of ethanol from maize. From using plant waste to substitute for natural gas in the distillation, to finding better markets for co-products of distillation, maize ethanol grows more efficient with experience.

The results presented in this paper show that current corn-ethanol systems are much more energy efficient and have a much greater potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions than previously published studies. The reason for this discrepancy is that, compared to the earlier studies, UNL's research team utilized more recent data that better represent how the corn ethanol industry is currently performing. In particular, updated values were used for: (1) yields and inputs required for corn production, (2) energy requirements in the ethanol plant, and (3) a more accurate representation of how co-products are used in livestock diets. _Bioenergy

More information here.

Obama Energy Policy is "Wishful Thinking"

Obama wants to move the US away from coal (almost 50% of electric power generation) to renewables such as solar and wind (less than 3% of electric power generation). This is extremely bad news for the US economy, since neither wind nor solar are anywhere close to being able to take over for coal. More bad news for solar comes from a recent National Science Foundation poll of energy experts on the potential of 26 new solar technologies:

“The main point we’re trying to raise is that PV technology may not become economically attractive for large-scale electricity supply in the near term,” says Curtright. “Many low-carbon technologies will likely be cheaper than PV. If we’ve got limited funds – is PV the way to go?” asks Curtright.

But solar power is riding on a wave of enthusiasm for clean energy technologies. Around the globe, governments are introducing legislation that incentivises investment in and deployment of renewables, including PVs.

“This is a cautionary tale for policymakers,” says Curtright. “We all want PVs to work and we’ve certainly come a long way since the 1980s, but we haven’t thought through the cost implications.” _EnergyEfficiencyNews

Obama has said he will flush many billions of dollars down the wind and solar rat-hole, many years before the technology and infrastructure will be prepared to deal with large scale power from those technologies. It is, simply, wishful thinking. But then, very little solid, real world communication is coming out of this pie in the sky administration.

Perhaps we will need to wait for all the political scandals to die down, for the Obama administration to show that it is thinking in real world terms, and for some of the worst anti-energy offenders of the Pelosi / Boxer congress to get a good slap-down. Perhaps that is what the Obama administration needs to see. There is always Oynklent Green [OTC:OYNK] if all else fails.

New Oil Sands Technique Holds Promise for Future Development of Vast Canadian Oilsands

A technological revolution is brewing in the Canadian oilsands which promises to make the vast fossil fuel resources both more economical and of higher quality. A partnership between Nexen Inc. and OPTI Canada has developed a way of substituting syngas from low quality bitumen in place of expensive natural gas, which is used to generate steam to soften bitumen so that it will flow to the surface. The bitumen is then upgraded and hydrocracked to a light synthetic crude oil.

Briefly, bitumen is steamed out of the earth, then processed to separate out the sand and water, as other steam assisted gravity drainage projects, then the water gets recycled back into steam.

Where Long Lake gets interesting is that the diluted bitumen then gets partially upgraded, and those products get further upgraded through a hydrocracker into light synthetic crude with low sulphur content, with the asphalt-like bits turned into synthetic gas. The gas is subsequently burned to produce the steam to produce the bitumen, and as a source of hydrogen for the hydrocracker that produces the synthetic crude. _CalgaryHerald

Combining the substitution of syngas-from-trash-bitumen for expensive natural gas plus the upgrading to low sulfur light synthetic crude, will vastly improve the economics of the entire oilsands venture.

Until Hyperion and other companies can provide small nuclear reactors to provide the steam and energy for harvesting oilsands and upgrading in situ, this new gasification process will probably be the frontrunner for oil sands development.

It is too bad that BP and Husky weren't in on the project. They will either have to play catch-up or get out of the game.

Obama EPA Moves Quickly to Choke US Energy

The Obama administration EPA is moving quickly to halt the building of critically needed new energy generation plants. Influenced by radical environmental lobbies, the Obama administration is putting leftist ideology first, over the needs of US residents and the economy. Given Obama's boasts to wealthy environmentalist backers that he would "put the coal industry out of business", these moves are not surprising.

Taylor said the EPA decision could be "a real killer" for the planned coal-fired plant and that it gives opponents time to consider it more seriously.

"I just can't help but believe that the change in the administration had something to do with this," she said.

In November, the EPA was blocked from issuing a permit for a proposed coal-burning power plant in Utah without addressing global warming, a ruling that meant the Obama administration likely would determine the fate of other similar plants. _Examiner

This is just the beginning. So far, "Dear Fuhrer's" anti-energy pogrom is flying mostly below the radar. As this leftist Luddism begins to bite deeper into an already depressed economy, more people will start to notice. The corrupt special interests at fault here include some of the oldest environmental organisations in the US -- recently becoming much more radical since the popularisation of the global warming crusade -- including the Sierra Club.

Microbes and Gene Engineering at the Heart of Future Fuels Production

Scientists are slowly learning to produce in hours and days what took nature millions of years to produce. Ancient deposits of fossil fuels have been useful in jump starting the industrial age of Earth, but eventually humans will need to learn how to make their own fuels on a "pay as you go" basis.

A recent publication in Springer's Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology provides a review of microbial approaches to the production of new fuels, by Professor Arnold Demain.

Demain reviews how microbes can help solve the energy problem, and focuses on the organisms that ferment lignocellulosic biomass to produce bioethanol, biobutanol, biodiesel and biohydrocarbons in particular. His review also highlights how the use of these biofuels would help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The plants that produce the biomass remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as part of their growth and normal metabolism.

Demain also highlights a number of important commercial developments, including the establishment of biotechnology companies in the biofuel sector since 2006, either alone or with companies of the petroleum and chemical industries. In addition, there have been a number of U.S. Government initiatives pushing for and backing the development of biofuels.

Demain concludes that: "What remains is a major effort and challenge to biochemical engineering at the many new plants being built for biofuel production. The new processes have to be scaled up and carried out in cost-effective way. The future of biofuels looks very bright...the best is yet to come." _AtoZMaterials _ via _Biotechnology

In other publications, Demain has written:

Life on earth is not possible without microorganisms. Microbes have contributed to industrial science for over 100 years. They have given us diversity in enzymatic content and metabolic pathways. The advent of recombinant DNA brought many changes to industrial microbiology. New expression systems have been developed, biosynthetic pathways have been modified by metabolic engineering to give new metabolites, and directed evolution has provided enzymes with modified selectability, improved catalytic activity and stability. More and more genomes of industrial microorganisms are being sequenced giving valuable information about the genetic and enzymatic makeup of these valuable forms of life. _MolecularBiotechnology

and further:

In order for a natural product to become a commercial reality, laboratory improvement of its production process is a necessity since titers produced by wild strains could never compete with the power of synthetic chemistry. Strain improvement by mutagenesis has been a major success. It has mainly been carried out by ‘‘brute force’’ screening or selection, but modern genetic technologies have entered the scene in recent years. For every new strain developed genetically, there is further opportunity to raise titers by medium modifications. _JInd.MicrobiologyBiotech

Beyond using microbes such as algae, yeast, and bacteria, the possibilities of modifying the genomes of multicellular organisms such as plants and animals to produce fuels and useful chemicals / catalysts / pharmaceuticals are growing more realistic.

Despite a significant economic downturn plus a new US administration that aims to make the economy far worse than it is at present, universities continue to train new researchers who must do experiments and publish the results. The momentum of scientific discovery is immense -- despite the massive waste of resources being shunted to unscientific endeavours like catastrophic greenhouse warming.

New scientific discoveries contain the seeds of entire new industries and support structures, the building of which will pull a recalcitrant economy out of its doldrums. Obama, Pelosi, Boxer, Schumer and the other Luddites and Paleo-Socialists who currently hold unprecedented political power will try to keep the economy mired in their new Dark Ages of feudalist fascism. It is unlikely that the restless forces of human nature and evolution will allow them to take their repressive reich beyond a certain point.

New Approach to Cellulosic Bio-fuels Should Make Biofuels from Biomass Easier

The main obstacle to wide-scale use of biomass to biofuels fermentation is the difficult and expensive task of breaking down cellulose to fermentable sugars. Michigan State University researchers have invented a new approach which promises to make the entire process significantly more economic and affordable.

A patented Michigan State University process to pretreat corn-crop waste before conversion into ethanol means extra nutrients don't have to be added, cutting the cost of making biofuels from cellulose.

The AFEX (ammonia fiber expansion) pretreatment process, developed by Bruce Dale, University Distinguished Professor of chemical engineering and materials science, uses ammonia to make the breakdown of cellulose and hemicellulose in plants 75 percent more efficient than when conventional enzymes alone are used. Cellulose in plants must be broken down into fermentable sugars before they can be turned into biofuel.

"Doctoral student Ming Lau and I have shown that it's possible to use AFEX to pretreat corn stover (cobs, stalks and leaves) and then hydrolyze and ferment it to commercially relevant levels of ethanol without adding nutrients to the stover," Dale said. "It's always been assumed that agricultural residues such as corn stover didn't have enough nutrients to support fermentation. We have shown this isn't so." _NewsMSU

If this new process can reduce the expense of the conversion of cellulose to fermentable sugars by 75% or more, the entire economic equation has just been shifted to favour biomass to biofuels fermentation.

The current best way of creating fuels from cellulosic biomass is via gasification or pyrolysis, plus thermochemical conversion. An inexpensive chemical conversion plus fermentation would save considerable energy involved in either gasification or pyrolysis. The final step of separation of fermented biofuels from the "mash" would likely require distillation, although various methods of membrane separation have been developed to increase fuel concentrations and reduce the energy required in separation.

There is much cellulosic biomass that goes to waste every year in forests, agricultural fields, and municipal landfills. And as we have seen here at AFE, the planet Earth itself is capable of growing many multiples of its current biomass crop if given the opportunity.