TRI Launches Gasification R&D Demonstration Unit in Durham N.C.

ThermoChem Recovery International Inc. (site), headquartered in Baltimore, USA recently launched a large-scale, state-of-the-art biomass gasification demonstration facility in Durham, N.C.

The plant will be used for research and development of the company’s commercial projects to produce power, biofuels and other biobased chemicals.

The 1-MW-thermal demonstration unit will run on four tons of dry biomass per day. TRI’s gasification technology is capable of processing all types of biomass feedstocks. The technology can handle any kind of carbonaceous feedstock. The company’s commercial plant in Norampac-Trenton, Ontario, a container-board producer, uses black liquor and has been in operation since 2003. Black liquor, a byproduct of the pulp and paper mills, is “particularly nasty” and considered to be waste. The gasification technology can turn this "nasty waste" in useful biofuels.

Source credit: Biomass Magazine

Camelina- Why cannot I use you as a fuel ?

I think by now most of you would have realized Camelina is indeed a miracle crop. However, as I said there are quite a few bottlenecks we are facing to commercialize Camelina fuel. Here are the of bottlenecks we are facing to make Camelina a biodiesel plant.The most critical is the price and availability of commercial-scale quantities of second generation feedstock.” Additionally, more farmers need to be convinced to grow a new crop, and refiners must want to process it.And again there are many farmers who are really not very confident on investing in such a crop because as far as they are concerned this is a kinda weed not a crop. In my opinion,there are a few steps which should be taken to commercialize this oleaginous crop:

* The farmers should be given enough education about the long-term benefits of this miracle crop.
* Camelina can accustom to any sort of weather conditions, so why not try growing it wherever possible.I am totally ignorant if any issue will arise by doing so .
* Profits made by the grower in the long-run.
* Awareness should be created to people that these oleaginous plants can yield more than the oil yielded by rapeseed, corn or soy.
* Investment opportunities should be brought into light.

If all the above points are kept in mind, we can at least make an attempt to commercialize this crop. Hey guys!1 I would very much appreciate any inputs from your side in this context.

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Why Fossil Fuel? Why not Camelina Fuel ?? contd...

As promised, here are some more evidences as to why Camelina can be used as a biofuel crop. As I mentioned in my previous post, Camelina can be used as a rotation crop with wheat and some farmers report that the yield of the wheat crop also increases to about 15% after the Camelina rotation.

Apparently, it is even expected that this miracle crop can yield about two times motre than the soy crops. Moreover, this mustard family crop contains high quantities which make it a excellent source of food for livestock.

In my opinion, if someone could use Camelina to get oil as well as use it as a livestock feed, why not use it. Actually I think I know why?? There are quite a few bottlenecks we are facing and I am pretty much sure that all those bottlenecks can be removed if one is serious about Camelia.

Coming up next are the bottlenecks faced by the Camelina biofuel crop and a few suggestions as to how these BIG bottlenecks can be overcome.

Why Fossil Fuels Why not Camelina Fuel??

Camelina will indeed, turn out to be a great fuel crop for biodiesel production like Miscanthus for ethanol production. Whenever, I read some news that Camelina is used as a jet fuel in several aviation vehicles, I sit and dream thinking that my favorite Camelina is gonna rule the aviation industry. Infact, I was extremely delighted when I heard someone saying that Camelina will definitely be a commercial jet fuel in 2015.

It's amazing to note that not only does Camelina require very less amount of fertilizer but also can be used as a rotation crop for wheat.The researchers from various parts of the world also report that this crop burns very cleanly and doesn't produce noxious emissions either. They thus reduce the green house emissions to a very large extent and is hence, considered to be one of the most promising biofuel crops.

Well, I think there are many people who are still ignorant of the fact that these cool crops such as Camelina can turn out to be assets.On the other hand I also appreciate that there are loads and loads of researchers,one being me toiling hard everyday trying to decipher the potential of the cabbage cousin-Camelina.

More about Camelina coming up.....

Is Miscanthus the Miracle Crop ???????

I am just thinking about the prospects if Miscanthus , if commercialized. Oh man !! its great. Do you know what ! A species of Miscanthus called M.giganteus ( discussed in my previous posts) can yield about two and a half times more ethanol per acre against corn and sorghum.This doesn't even require much fertilizer inputs like the corn and sorghum, nor its gonna cause the food vs fuel problem.

Yet another fascinating thing about this crop is that it is a perennial plant and it can adapt to any sort of weather.Recently I came across an article which said that a handful of scientists were trying to commercialize the production of Miscanthus in North America due to the fact hat it can accustom any kind of climate. Good isn't? Many research studies revealed that they even grow to great heights which enables them to receive plenty of sumlight and like I said earlier this porcupine weed can grow even in poor soils with less or no pesticide requirements. It will be great if people can make use of such crops as fuel. .

However,as the saying goes the devils is in the details: planting Miscanthus crops can be a bit challenging. They are grown by planting root-like stems called rhizomes. The scientists working on sustainability that the Miscanthus commercialization is still in its nascence.However,they are pretty confident that they will find better ways of planting it soon as possible.

Lets wait and watch . May be in ten- years time , I will look at this post and feel joyful that my dream of Miscanthus biofuel have come true.

Camelina Seems to Be One of The Best Crop for Desert Land

Here is a promising attempt of a camelina grower. Mark Wiest, of Sams Valley, Oregon, United States, just completed harvesting about three acres of camelina on a piece of ground that has been otherwise unproductive. His first planting of camelina was last year when he and Dalton Straus planted 26 acres in the Sams Valley area. Wiest is contracting with BioMass Processors out of Rickreall. Once the camelina has been harvested and dried, it is sent north. There the harvested camelina is crushed and the camelina oil is extracted. This oil can be used in making fuel. Wiest is working with others from Beatty to Murphy to turn their bare land into productive land.

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Miscanthus - Highly cellulosic !!

I was just wondering where I could gather information about the composition of Miscanthus for my research studies till my eyes landed upon this article. I have only focused only the composition of a specific species of Miscanthus. Apparently, this article also produces many other interesting details of this emerging energy crop.

Interestingly, studies reveal that 0.4 kg of oil can be extracted from 1 kg of Miscanthus dry matter. A species of interest here is the Miscanthus.sinensisis is known to consist of a large quantities of Cellulose, which shows that it can be considered a great bio ethanol producer. Additionally it also contains negligible amounts of hemicellulose, lignin and ash which is clearly illustrated in the pie-chart below:



For those interested : Full article.