On the Prospects of Butanol from Syngas

Here's a nice post on butanol and specifically on the prospects of making butanol using the gasification-syngas-catalytic synthesis route.

To put it rather simply, the author doesn't think it is worth trying to make butanol using the gasification route. Why?

"The challenge is that syngas (produced from gasification) doesn't like to form butanol. You can form a little bit directly, but CO (carbon monoxide) likes to do lots of things besides form a C4 alcohol like butanol.

Methanol is not a problem. You can also produce ethanol, which is what Range Fuels is planning on doing (although you almost always have methanol to deal with as well). But the selectivity falls off sharply as you go to higher alcohols. By the time you get to butanol, you are lucky if 5% of the product is butanol. More typical is 1-2%." (an NREL post is also provided as reference by author)

Let's get this straight. The author isn't saying butanol is a bad biofuel, in fact he professes a love for it. He is highly skeptical about the viability of butanol using the gasification and syngas route, that's all!

Genifuel Chooses Gasification Route for Algae Fuels

I'm a great fan of algae to fuels via gasification - specifically, macroalgae to fuels via gasification. Hence, the following news item kind of made me glad:

"Genifuel wants to turn the pond scum into something different: natural gas. The company, which has obtained a license from Pacific Northwest National Labs for its technology, is using catalytic hydrothermal gasification to create natural gas out of algae in a quick and efficient manner.

...The algae gasification process works by putting algae in ponds and placing it in gasifiers while it's still wet. A chemical catalyst allows the algae to cook at low temperatures and pressures. A synthetic gas (65% methane, 35% CO2) is produced and the carbon dioxide is pumped back into the algae for food."

Now, I checked out Genifuel's site to see with the fond hope that they are using macroalgae. Nopes! They use microalgae.

I still am wondering why folks aren't using macroalgae and gasification together - to me, these appear to be a winning combination. I think I will get to know why very soon, as I have asked my team to dig up on all aspects of macroalgae to fuels during this week.

Camelina Bio-Diesel for District's School Buses ?

A science project of Students at Stanley-Boyd High School, Stanley, Wisconsin could help a local school district to make it's own bio-fuel. The project will be run entirely by the students and the FFA (Future Farmers of America).

Last spring the district bought 80 acres next to the School for Agriculture Education. Instead of growing corn or beans, district officials decided to try something different.The Camelina seeds have barely broken through the soil and the Canola seeds haven't even sprouted yet.

The students say they expect to produce about 450 gallons of bio-diesel next year. That's only a drop in the bucket considering the district spends about $80,000 a year to fuel its buses.They plan to start small, get through the process, learn the procedure, get the kinks out,if things go well next year they might do more.They also say they plan to blend the bio-diesel with ethanol which will be donated by Ace Ethanol in Stanley.

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Miscanthus : Fuel for the Future ?

Gov. Steve Beshear and several other dignitaries planted four rows of miscanthus seedlings at a dedication ceremony for a new biofuels operation in Kentucky, United States.In a few months, those seedlings will grow into a grass that will be harvested and turned into energy pellets by Midwestern Biofuels LLC.

Midwestern Biofuels is planting about 300 acres of miscanthus at that location and is leasing another 500 acres of property off the Northeastern Kentucky Industrial Parkway for that same purpose. The company also plans to enlist farmers within a 50-mile radius of the facility to grow miscanthus, paying them a per-acre rate for doing so and also purchasing their yields at harvest time.

The pellets produced by Midwestern Biofuels will be used by coal-fired electricity generating plants as a source of low-emissions fuel. Carbon emissions from burning miscanthus are equal to the amount of CO2 the plant uses from the atmosphere, which means the entire process is carbon-neutral. The facility will be producing pellets in less than two weeks. When it reaches peak capacity, plans call for the operation to employ 200 to 300.

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About Miscanthus:

Miscanthus is a perennial grass native to parts of Asia and Africa. Once planted, it grows back yearly for 20 years. It's considered a desirable choice for a biofuel because of its rapid growth, low mineral content and high biomass yield. ( more from here)

Agrosil Energy to Grow Commercial-Scale Miscanthus

Colorado-based Agrosil Energy LLC has begun large-scale growing operations of Miscanthus x giganteus for use in producing heat and power or liquid biofuels. The energy crop has been used for years in the U.K. and Europe, and Agrosil is in the lead position for commercial production in the U.S.

As the sterile hybrid produces no seeds, growing miscanthus involves propagating rhizomes on a smaller scale and transplanting them to large commercial acreage. Custom harvesting crews and machines will harvest the cane and then transport it to a central facility for upgrading according to customer requirements, which could include turning it into pellets, condensed bales or cubes.Miscanthus lowers carbon dioxide by sequestering carbon in the rhizomes and by reducing combustion emissions. Agrosil expects the crops will yield about 15 tons per acre, with the first harvest in the spring of 2012. Long-term contracts for fuel delivery will begin in 2013.

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Camelina-Derived Renewable Jet Fuel Reduces 84% Carbon Emissions

Renewable fuels company Sustainable Oils shared the results of a life-cycle analysis of jet fuel created from proprietary Camelina seeds. According to the study, renewable jet-fuel made from Camelina reduces carbon emissions by 84% percent compared to the petroleum-based counterpart.Next generation biofuels are true hydrocarbons and in the molecular aspect are indistinguishable from fossil fuels, which makes Camelina oil a good candidate to quickly reduce carbon emissions produced by aviation.

A team at Michigan Tech University based their research on Camelina grown in Montana and then processed into bio-jet fuel using “UOP hydroprocessing technology”. Researchers estimate that the state of Montana alone can support millions of acres of Camelina, generating the equivalent of 200 to 300 million gallons of bio jet fuel a year.The plant-based jet-fuel has shown in tests that it performs just as well if not better than traditional jet fuel and exhibits one of the largest greenhouse gas emission reductions of any renewable feedstock.

About Camelina:

Camelina is well suited to be a sustainable biofuel crop, because it naturally contains high oil content and its oils are low in saturated fat. Camelina needs little water and requires less fertilizer and herbicides than most plants, and it’s is also a great rotation crop with wheat (meaning it does not displace food (crops).

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FedEx Aims for 30 Percent Biofuels by 2030

FedEx, a cargo airline based in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, wants a third of its jet fuel to come from biofuels by 2030, the company’s chief executive said in a speech delivered during a U.S. Chamber of Commerce Aviation Summit.The target aims to take advantage of second-generation, non-food-based biofuels, such as jatropha, algae, switchgrass and camelina.Its goal is 30 percent alternative fuel use for aviation by 2030.There have been four successful biofuel demonstration flights during the last year using blends of petroleum and jatropha, algae and camelina.

Some Interesting facts of this article are:

• FedExhas set a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from its worldwide air operations by 20 percent by 2020, per available ton mile. Since 2005, it has reduced aircraft emissions by 3.7 percent by pound per available ton mile.
• The company is trading in the MD-11s it uses on long-range international routes for new 777Fs, as well as old 727s for new 757s, which are 47 percent more fuel-efficient.
• FedEx and rival United Parcel Service are already saving money and fuel using continuous descents in Memphis and Louisville, while flights in Atlanta were able to shave 2.5 minutes from each flight, generating savings of about $105 million since 2006.

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