Cellulosic Ethanol through the Thermochemical Route may serve to be the best way to derive Cellulose based Biofuels..

posted by Sumukee @ 5:38 AM | Tuesday, September 29, 2009 0 Comments

This post throws light one of the research efforts on the thermochemical route to derive celluose based ethanol. Scientists at the Concordia University after having worked on for many years have discovered a thermo-catalytic process, which can convert cellulosic biomass into ethanol .

The researchers there believe that this is a one-step process and this method is extremely energy efficient. The researchers are waiting to get this method patented and who knows? This might be the best method to derive cellulosic ethanol from cellulosic biomass such as waste.

Researchers from the University also claim that the ethanol they produce through this thermochemical route can directly be fed into the vehicle avoiding the step of any biorefining.

For those interested – Full article

About the Thermochemical process to derive cellulose based ethanol .
The thermo chemical route is the best way to produce cellulosic ethanol claims different scientists. Thermo chemical conversion of biomass into fuels is the solution that will be able to allow countries to meet the ethanol demand while not placing stress on food resources or land use.

Thermo chemical conversion process involves three main steps:

Gasification, wherein the biomass is dried, reduced in particle size and mechanically fed into a gasifier. . It then heated to a high temperature in an oxygen-limited steam environment to produce synthesis gas which is then scrubbed to remove trace elements. The use of gasification allows many types of waste biomass to be used as a feedstock since it is reduced to its basic components. Waste biomasses such as forestry residues, mill residues, agricultural waste, MSW, etc. are considered to be ideal feedstocks since essentially the same syngas is produced from all of them.

Catalysis wherein the cleaned syngas is passed over a catalyst in a fixed bed reactor; the catalyst converts syngas into an alcohols mixture of methanol, ethanol, propanol, butanol, and water.

Purification wherein the alcohol mixture is dehydrated, and the water is recycled. The alcohols are then separated to specification purity for different uses, including liquid fuels.

The bioethanol thus produced from the thermochemical route helps in reducing the GHG as discussed in the previous post. Apparently, it also solves the problem of carbon dioxide sequestration.

More about the thermochemical route to produce Cellulosic Ethanol

Labels: biofuel, cellulosic ethanol, energy, Thermochemical route

Cellulosic Sugar to Cellulosic Ethanol has been made much easier by the London Company...

posted by Sumukee @ 4:37 AM | Monday, September 28, 2009 0 Comments

Comet Biorefining, a London company, is a leader in the field of biomass conversion and biomass pretreatment. Comet's knowledge and experience in the pretreatment of biomass spans numerous raw materials and many end use applications. This sustainability company has announced a new sugar technology to digest a wide range of cellulosic biomass and convert it into ethanol fuels.

This cellulosic ethanol technology employs cellulosic ethanol feedstock such as wood chips, switch grass and corn cobs to produce cellulosic sugars and then convert it into fuels. For the production of these cheap pre-treatment methods were used and these sugars were shipped to the biorefineries wherein they are converted into ethanol.

The greatest advantage with this cellulosic sugar is the fact that if remains stable for a long-time even after pre-treatment due to its high –density. Hence, this advantage makes it possible to be shipped or transported to biorefineries in farther places as well.

This breakthrough will definitely reduce the capital and operating costs of the biofuel companies , whooonly processes the cellulosic sugar for bioethanol . This will further help them to focus more on developing better enzyme technology to carry out the steps to make biofuel from the broken down sugar.
Comet Biorefining has demonstrated this unique technology at pilot scale and estimates that cellulosic sugar can be produced for as low as 7 cents per pound based on laboratory testing. Comet Biorefining plans to build a demonstration facility in 2010 and partner with biofuels technology developers to provide them with cellulosic sugar for their processes. Comet Biorefining's goal is to license its Cellulosic Sugar Technology worldwide.

Pilot and demonstration plants have shown promising results, and the London company believes that even small pretreatment plants can provide cellulosic sugars for large biofuel industries thereby making their biofuel production economically viable.

See more

Labels: bioenergy, biofuel, cellulosic ethanol, wood-chips, woody biomass

Cellulosic Ethanol Industry Recognizes Another Potential Feedstock..

posted by Sumukee @ 3:00 AM | 0 Comments

There are loads and loads of feedstock containing cellulose as a biomass to derive ethanol fuel. Recent studies show that alfalfa can be used as a cellulosic biomass. Alfaalfa, commonly known as the Lucerne grass is by far the most popular legume and research studies have revealed that it can serve as one of the best feedstock for cellulosic ethanol production.

I actually listened to Dave Miller, a biotech researcher interview about the potential os cellulosic ethanol and here is an outline of what he said: He feels that this crop has great potential than other cellulosic biomass due to the fact that it is environmentally very friendly. Moreover, it is a very good crop for crop-rotation and most importantly, it fixes nitrogen and prevents soil erosion as well.

However, efforts are on the way to “redesign” the crop to reduce the lignin content. The problem the cellulosic ethanol industry is facing is the high-lignin which poses the problem of pre-processing. That s the reason why Dave Miller and his team are planning to genetically modify the alfalfa and redesign the crop it for easy biomass digestion.

Preliminary efforts by Dave Millers group revealed that alfalfa has greater potential as a cellulosic biomass feedstock, when compared to other cellulosic biomass. In addition, Miller says preliminary work shows alfalfa is competitive with other feedstock for its ability to convert to cellulosic ethanol and that a corn/alfalfa rotation creates a very favorable carbon footprint for ethanol production.

Why alfalfa?

1. Great potential as a cellulosic biomass.
2. Can be used as a rotation crop.
3. Prevents soil erosion
4. It being a legume fixes nitrogen to the soil.
5. Preliminary tests show that alfalfa is better than many other cellulosic biomasses.

For the large-scale production of cellulosic ethanol, many feedstocks which are cellulosic in nature can be considered as a feedstock and identification of crops such as alfalfa is indeed a major breakthrough in the development of the cellulosic ethanol industry.

Check out the Full Article

Labels: biofuel, Biomass, cellulosic ethanol, energy, Ethanol

Cellulose based Ethanol has a Great Potential.

posted by Sumukee @ 1:28 AM | 0 Comments

As discussed in my earlier posts, cellulosic ethanol is the most abundant biological material present on earth and deriving oil from it is indeed an excellent idea. There are a number of economic, social and sustainability issues faced by this industry. Research is underway to curb these bottlenecks so as to start using a sustainable biofuel such as Cellulosic Ethanol.

The major advantage offered by the cellulose based ethanol fuel is the fact that the feedstock is very cheap. However, purification of the feedstock seems to pose a problem when economic barriers are taken into consideration. These impurities, if not properly removed even damage the equipments.

Using cellulosic ethanol might not interfere with the food chain, as only non- food crops are being used as a biomass. The problem, here again, is the complexity of the cellulosic molecule; it is extremely hard to digest (or) hydrolyze the cellulosic material, which requires lot of expensive enzymes to break – up them unlike the starchy y materials. I think the solution of using the wonder bacteria would solve the problem of digesting the cellulosic biomass and has gained a lot of popularity among the ethanol researchers.

U.S is one of the top-leaders in cellulosic ethanol research and considerable research is being taken by the researchers there to gain some energy independence. The ethanol from cellulose (that is the way they term the name), also known as EFC employs cost effective methods such as acid-hydrolysis. Generally, there are three methods to digest the cellulosic biomass (a) Acid-hydrolysis (b) enzymatic-hydrolysis (c) thermo chemical processes. However, most popularly used method is the acid –hydrolysis due to the cheapness of sulfuric acid.

Acid-hydrolysis can be either dilute or concentrated; dilute-acid hydrolysis is usually performed at high temperatures and pressure. The barrier we face here is that the fact that, when high temperatures and pressure is applied it sometimes damages the equipment. Hence, specialized equipment having the ability to withstand high temperature and pressure must be brought into use. These specialized equipments are available only in exorbitant prices. Yet another issue is the efficiency of this method is only 50% thereby yielding less sugar. The biggest advantage of dilute acid processes is their fast rate of reaction, which facilitates continuous processing. However, the feedstocks must be reduced in size in order to make it a continuous process.

Research efforts in various places have brought in a solution for this problem; the cellulosic biomass consists of the C5 and the C6 sugars. As I said earlier, the problem we are facing at the moment is lesser yield of sugar during hydrolysis. This can be very much increased by first performing a mild process, wherein, only the five-carbon sugars get broken up and then a harsher process, to extract the six-carbon sugars. This solution is still not being widely employed. Research is underway.

The concentrated acid hydrolysis uses comparatively milder temperature and pressure. When compared against the acid-hydrolysis, it yields higher quantities of sugar. The problem here is, the process is extremely slow and research is still underway to find a cost-effective acid-recovery system.

The potential of enzymatic hydrolysis, thermochemical proceses and their bottlenecks faced by them can be obtained from this link. Thus, producing ethanol from cellulosic has a great potential due to the vast availability of the biomass feedstock. However, the routes to cellulosic ethanol are still not techno-economically feasible.

Labels: Acid hydrolysis, biofuel, cellulosic ethanol, energy, Ethanol

Cellulosic Ethanol Showstoppers...

posted by Sumukee @ 8:08 AM | Sunday, September 27, 2009 0 Comments

As discussed in the previous posts, cellulose based ethanol have great prospects, however, there are many bottlenecks witnessed to commercialize the production of cellulosic ethanol.

DOE has identified the various barriers witnessed by the cellulosic ethanol industry. These include the economic, sustainability, storage barriers, which have been briefly explained in the preceding paragraphs.

Provided below are the highlights of the bottlenecks faced by the cellulosic ethanol industry:

Summary of the bottlenecks faced by the Cellulosic Ethanol Industry:

1) The enzymes used in cellulosic biomass production are too expensive. The solution for those was produced by certain thermophilic baceteria, but research is still underway to find if they are the best choice for the biomass breakdown.
2) Efforts are still on the way to find robust organisms which can utilise all the sugars even in impure environments.
3) Research is underway to find microorganisms which can aerobically ferment to produce cellulosic ethanol. This will help a great deal in reducing fermentation costs.
4) Removing the impurities generated by fermentation is very expensive.

Bottlenecks related to Cost:

1) Efforts are still underway to commercialize the cellulosic ethanol production and make is economically viable. The pretreatment methods are still expensive and the industry is still in its nascence.
2) Biotechnological research which includes genetic modification makes the investors worry about the risk they might create to the native population.
3) Cellulosic biomass is still expensive due to issues such as transportation, as discussed in my previous post. Also, the biomass feedstock are changeable. For example, unknown quantities of the biomass might be lost to extreme weather.
4) High capital costs are still a big problem faced by the cellulosic ethanol industry.
5) There is yet another problem with ethanol; it costs more than and still gives about 34% lesser energy than gasoline.

Bottlenecks related to Storage:

1) Even if pretreatment is made cheaper, there are some harvesting issues which have to be overcome to enable the large-scale production of cellulosic ethanol. There are still no harvesting machines to harvest the cellulosic biomass.
2) The harvesting machines which are currently available will not be able to handle tons of biomass.
3) There are still issues for storing the wet biomass, which if not properly stored might result in rotting and lead to spoilage, making it unusable.

Bottlenecks related to Preprocessing:

1) To find the best methods or organisms for preprocessing, properties of the biomass must be researched extensively.
2) Apparently, the issues in removing the impurities present in the biomass is posing problems for large-scale production of cellulosic ethanol.
3) These impurities present are removed by employing methods such as grinding, compacting and blending.
4) If these preprocessing steps are not done properly, it might damage the equipment.
5) The harvest season of each cellulosic biomass is different because of which it is a bit difficult to harvest the cellulosic biomass to pre-process them and store them.
6) A multi-step process is required for a enzymatic break-down and this is really expensive. Though many cellulosic ethanol companies are coming up with innovative pre-treatment ideas, no pretreatment method as been confirmed to be entirely economically viable.
7) When these microorganisms or enzymes are added to the fermenter , sterilization is required so as to maintain a sterile environment and to prevent contamination and the issue here is , when batch sterilization is done it might pollute the waterways if the impurities from the equipment is improperly disposed.

For those of the scientific bent - Full article

Labels: biofuel, cellulosic ethanol, energy, Ethanol

Cellulose Based Ethanol - Biofuel of the future!

posted by Sumukee @ 5:40 AM | 0 Comments

This post will prove extremely useful for people who stronlgy believe in the prospects of cellulosic ethanol.

We all realise the fact that the carbon- dioxide released by the fossil-fuels are mixing up with the atmosphere, increasing the levels of this noxious substances leading to global warming in the planet and this is the reason why I believe people should go in for biofuels such as cellulosic ethanol.

It is also beleived that the cellulosic ethanol can reduce about 85% of the emissions when compared to gasoline. Further sequesteration of the carbon- dioxide will lessen the emissions of poisonous susbstances like carbon-monoxide, sulfur and other dangerous gases.

Global availability of biomass feedstocks also would provide an international alternative to dependence on an increasingly strained oil-distribution system as well as a ready market for biofuel-production technologies.

Many people have been arising questions as to how much energy is required to produce ethanol? It requires very less energy to produce ethanol from cellulsic biomass and this is the reason why research is going on in different universities and various companies to produce cellulosic ethanol.

For those who believe in the future of the Cellulosic Ethanol Industry-Full Article

This article also provides further links showcasing the prospects of the cellulosic ethanol and its developments in the US.

Labels: biofuel, cellulosic ethanol, energy, Ethanol

2G biofuels from non- food crops will replace fossil fuels

posted by Sumukee @ 12:19 AM | Saturday, September 26, 2009 0 Comments

2G biofuel sources includes almost all the non- food crops available on earth. Yup! I am talking about the cellulosic biomass, which is considered to be the most abundant biological material present in the planet. Cellulosic biomass is anything and everything such as waste, woody biomass, weeds such as Miscanthus. Many people believe the idea of cellulose based ethanol due to the fact that it used inedible waste products to produce Ethanol and this will even the solve the problems of waste disposal.

Producing cellulosic ethanol is still in its nascency, due to the fact that pretreatment procedures have still not been made economically viable. With the help of Synthetic Biology, 15 new fungal enzyme catalysts have been identified. These enzymes are considered to be stable and can easily digest the cellulosic biomass into sugars at high temperatures. Efforts are on the way to identify more organisms to easily break-down the cellulosic biomass, mostly derived from the waste.


Reference to this link will give you additional details about the recent discovery of a new fungus which which produces myco-diesel from waste. Improvements in Biotechnology, plant genetics and recombinant engineering technology are sure to exploit the biofuel potential from cellulosic biomass in the near future.

Labels: bioenergy, biofuel, cellulosic ethanol, energy, Ethanol

Companies Investing in Cellulosic Ethanol

posted by Sumukee @ 2:04 PM | Thursday, September 24, 2009 0 Comments

Here is a list of companies who have invested in Cellulosic Ethanol.

1. Iogen

Iogen requires a special mention as they are the world leaders in the field of cellulosic ethanol. Operates a demonstration scale facility to convert biomass to cellulose ethanol using enzymatic hydrolysis technology. Full scale commercial facilities are being planned.

2. Mascoma

Mascoma is developing bio and process technology for cost-effective conversion of cellulosic biomass.

3. TMO renewables

Yet another leader in the field of cellulosic ethanol is TMO renewables. They celebrated milestone in their UK facility a few days back.

For those interested - List of the top companies investing in Cellulosic Ethanol.

Labels: bioenergy, biofuel, Biomass, cellulosic ethanol

UK's First Cellulosic Biomass Plant Acclaims Success

posted by Sumukee @ 1:48 PM | 0 Comments

This post highlights the efforts of TMO renewables, a developer of cellulosic biomass into ethanol fuel.

The UK's first cellulosic ethanol plant has successfully completed the first year of trial operation and is now commercially viable. TMO Renewables, a developer of biomass into fuel ethanol has succeeded in its efforts to produce biofuels from the cellulosic biomass in their facility. TMO’s plant is located at Dunsfold Park, near Guildford in Surrey. It has been running successfully for 24 hours a day, seven days a week to process a wide range of cellulosic feedstocks on an industrial scale.

This facility uses specific strains of bacteria obtained from agricultural wastes such as compost heaps to produce ethanol to be employed in fuel grade applications.

TMO renewables, like the Iogen, have developed their own pre-treatment process and fermentation technology wherein they produce cellulose enzymes on their own and work on producing cellulosic ethanol.

This company uses feedstocks like grasses, wheat straw, municipal waste to produce bioethanol . These raw materials are first converted into beer and further distilled to form fuel ethanol. It is proved that TMO’s process is ideal for retro-fit to existing corn ethanol plants, typically improving their yields by up to 15 percent, as well as being suited for new-build ethanol applications.

TMO have been funded by about £11 million, which they have planned to utilize completely to modify their process to commercialize cellulosic ethanol production. TMO strongly believes and works on Sustainability, and it expects ethanol fuel to be commercialized soon.

See more

Labels: biofuel, Biomass, cellulosic ethanol, energy

Cellulosic Ethanol - Biofuel of the near future !

posted by Sumukee @ 6:20 AM | 0 Comments

This post showcases facts about why cellulosic ethanol is believed to be the biofuel of choice in the near future.

Experts in this field claim that fuel derived from waste products like cellulosic ethanol is the best long term solution as it is made from non food crops. The main advantage of using ethanol is that the existing car can just run with 10 percent ethanol blended with gasoline. We believe chances are good that (conventional) ethanol and cellulosic ethanol will become a more widely accepted fuel, especially in light of global energy issues.

The toughest hurdle to hoe for this fuel alternative, what scientists in this field believe, is that the capacity of a given cellulosic ethanol production facility must be sized and located correctly to minimize transportation costs related to both the feedstock and the finished product.

Companies such as Iogen have been producing cellulosic ethanol and many Canadians vehicles were filled by the 10 percent ethanol produced by the Iogen facility. As E10 is an alcohol based fuel it might damage the engine if excess blend of ethanol is fed into it. Hence, the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association include a stainless steel fuel tank and Teflon fuel hoses which will prevent the parts of the engine being damaged.

Another advantage of cellulosic ethanol is its non-grain content could fuel a wider field of acceptance than conventional ethanol because it lessens the likelihood of food riots such as those that broke out last year in Africa, Mexico and Haiti over surging corn prices.

Additionally, the cellulosic ethanol has a kernel-free makeup and is, hence, beleived to overcome the maze of issues surrounding maize and other world's crop allotments.

As discussed in my previous posts, Cellulosic ethanol can also be from discarded corn stalks, barley straw, wood chips and sawdust, switch grass, algae and municipal solid wastes such as newsprint, table scraps and landscaping debris among other renewable organic materials which makes it the best feedstock to derive energy to run vehicles.

See more

Labels: bioenergy, biofuel, cellulosic ethanol, energy

Cellulosic Ethanol Vs Corn

posted by Sumukee @ 3:16 AM | 0 Comments

Ethanol production is different when cellulosic biomass is used as the raw material. For ethanol production, fossil energy inputs into the production cycle represent about 2/3 of the energy content of the ethanol produced, and greenhouse gas emissions on a per mile basis are about 2/3 of a gasoline base case, representing an approximately 33% reduction. Ethanol from Cellulosic biomass shows a better energy balance and is sustainable as well.

The reasons why I think cellulosic ethanol can be used against corn

1. Corn is easier, and currently less expensive, to process into ethanol than is cellulosic biomass. However, cellulosic biomass is less expensive to produce than corn by a factor of roughly 2 on a per ton basis, and the amount of ethanol that can be produced per acre of land.

2. For ethanol produced from cellulosic biomass, the energy balance and greenhouse gas emissions are more favorable when compared to corn

3. Relative to corn, production of a perennial cellulosic biomass crop such as switch grass requires lower inputs of energy, fertilizer, pesticide, and herbicide, and is accompanied by less erosion and improved soil fertility.

4. Finally, cellulosic biomass differs from corn kernels in that it contains substantial amounts of non-fermentable, energy-rich components that can be used to provide energy for the conversion process as well as to produce electricity.

Labels: bioenergy, biofuel, cellulosic ethanol, energy

D1 Oils, Abundant Biofuels Report Progress in Jatropha Development

posted by Mak @ 4:10 AM | Friday, August 28, 2009 1 Comments

Labels: bioenergy, biofuel, energy, Jatropha

Jatropha Cultivation in Ethiopia - Emami Biotech

posted by Sumukee @ 3:57 AM | Tuesday, August 25, 2009 0 Comments

Emami Biotech, is planning to invest Rs. 400 crore within about 6 years time for the development of plantations in Ethiopia. This Emami group company has obtained land on a 45 year lease from the Ethopia government for the cultivation of this promising biofuel crop.

This company plans to extract 100,000 tonnes of crude- biofuel p.a which will be transported to West Bengal, India for the production of biodiesel in the company’s biodiesel plant. So far Jatropha has been cultivated in a 30,000 acres of land .

The initial investment of Emami Biotech will be around 120 crores. The majority of the funding would be through debt, the balance 30% would be funded by the company itself.

For those interested

Labels: biofuel, energy, Jatropha, sustainability

Cellulosic Ethanol - The only hope

posted by Sumukee @ 10:32 PM | Monday, August 24, 2009 0 Comments

Here is an article where in the Ethanol producers have started keeping an eye on the algal blooms as these feedstock turn out to be way to cheaper than corn stover and other similar feedstock.

These algae based feedstock, unlike the corn based feedstock don't use much water, do not occupy land and are definetely less expensive to cultivate.

Experts in this domain claim that the biomass derived hydrocarbons produced from these feedstock such as cornstalks, algae and others are identical to petroleum- derived hydrocarbon are similar or identical to petroleum-derived hydrocarbons and might be used in existing energy infrastructure.

Matt Hartwig, a spokesman for the Renewable Fuels Association, feels that Ethanol is the only alternative to petroleum.He strongly believes none of the technology developments would have been possible without the strides from the ethanol industry that we have today.And while none of the parties want to be shut out of the future biofuels sector, all imagine a future that includes both biomass-derived hydrocarbons and cellulosic ethanol.

To read the full article

Labels: algae, biofuel, energy, Ethanol, fuel, sustainable

How will you store Camelina ?

posted by Sumukee @ 12:12 AM | Thursday, July 16, 2009 0 Comments

This article is very informative.This paper explains about that the storage stabilities of fuel grade Camelina, sunflower and rapeseed methyl esters were evaluated in airtight and open containers.

Commercial amounts (200 litres) of the methyl esters were stored in airtight drums and sampled regularly, and the effects of air exposure were evaluated from sixteen days laboratory-scale accelerated storage tests at 65oC.

None of the methyl esters in airtight drums deteriorated during eighteen months of storage; composition, viscosity and free fatty acid levels remained unchanged. The accelerated storage test in open containers, however, indicated that exposure to air can cause rapid oxidation of each of the three methyl esters.

However, oxidation can be delayed by the presence of tocopherols (natural antioxidants) in the methyl ester, and it can be further delayed by the presence of an unidentified carotenoid. The exceptional stability of rapeseed methyl ester seems to be due to a combination of relatively high levels of (-tocopherol and the unidentified carotenoid.

see more

Labels: biofuel, camelina, energy

Arunda.donax in Rajasthan.

posted by Sumukee @ 9:43 PM | Wednesday, July 15, 2009 0 Comments

The dry matter production, nutrient concentration and allelopathic effects of A. donax were studied in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. A. donax preferred to grow along the marginal upland areas of natural wetlands flooded temporarily during rainy season.

Its woody rhizome formed a close network in the soil at a depth of approximately 25-30 cm, while its thick tough roots penetrated at a depth of >1.0 m into the soil. It was a highly productive species.

Annual cutting after flowering improved plant growth and organic matter production. Studies on nutrient dynamics revealed slight internal cycling. A. donax stand soil markedly inhibited the growth of Typha angustata (an important obnoxious weed) seedlings, whereas its leaf and litter leachates retarded the growth of selected free floating and submerged hydrophytes. The applications of these findings in the management of freshwater ecosystems are discussed.

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Labels: Arundo donax, biofuel, energy

Cultivation of Perennial grasses better than Corn.

posted by Sumukee @ 8:39 PM | 0 Comments

Land currently used to grow row crops would provide one source of land for perennial grass production. The primary concern associated with this conversion is that less cropland would be available for food production, leading to diminished food supplies and increased food prices (Carey 2005).

However, this competition could be mitigated if switchgrass is grown on land currently used to grow corn for ethanol. It is estimated that about 20% of harvested corn goes into ethanol production (Yates, 2008).

Based on this percentage and the amount of corn acreage grown in 2008, approximately 16.5 million acres would open up for switch grass production if corn ethanol were replaced.

Labels: biofuel

Miscanthus in a Nutshell

posted by Sumukee @ 6:21 AM | 0 Comments

As discussed earlier, Miscanthus is a promising non-food crop yielding high quality lignocellulosic material which can be used in a number of ways, including energy and fibre production, thatching, and industrial use.

A recent report published by Earthscan publications explains in detail 'Miscanthus -- For Energy and Fibre', encompasses the results and recommendations arising from extensive trials and experiments carried out by the leading European research organizations and institutions in the field.

Much of the research was performed under the auspices of the Miscanthus Productivity Network, established under European Union's Directorate General for Agriculture (DG VI)

.This book is believed to present expert guidance to growth conditions and breeding of Miscanthus, potential productivity and economics, environmental aspects, and harvesting, storage and utilization.

For all the sustainable minds - Miscanthus bioenergy

Labels: bioenergy, biofuel, Miscanthus

Use of Saline And Wastewater for Growing Arundo donax

posted by Mak @ 2:38 AM | 0 Comments

Labels: Arundo donax, b, biofuel, Biomass, Electricity

Why only Camelina fuel in aviaition industry?

posted by Sumukee @ 12:00 AM | Friday, July 10, 2009 1 Comments

Labels: Biodiesel, biofuel, camelina

Camelina- Why cannot I use you as a fuel ?

posted by Sumukee @ 8:20 PM | Wednesday, July 8, 2009 0 Comments

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.

see more

Labels: Biodiesel, biofuel, camelina

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

posted by Sumukee @ 7:24 PM | 0 Comments

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.

Labels: Biodiesel, biofuel, camelina

Why Fossil Fuels Why not Camelina Fuel??

posted by Sumukee @ 5:39 AM | 0 Comments

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.....

Labels: biofuel, camelina

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

posted by Sumukee @ 5:19 AM | 0 Comments

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.

Labels: biofuel, Miscanthus

Miscanthus:Overview of the research efforts in Europe.

posted by Sumukee @ 8:43 PM | Monday, July 6, 2009 0 Comments

Miscanthus. a tall perennial grass can be extensively cultivated for using it as a biofuel. This biofuel crop as discussed in the previous posts has got a great capability to get accustomed to any kind of climate. This scientific paper claims that M. x giganteus a very important species of Miscanthus has been propagated to yield large quantities of plant-oi in Europe. Tests reveal that this crop requires very less fertilizer inputs like the Camelina and therefore can be widely cultivated. As previously discusses, this crop doesn’t require too much of pesticides and can benefit the societies working on sustainability.

However, as you all know there are a few bottlenecks we are facing to commercialize this fuel crop. Well, some places have already started using Miscanthus fuel. However, it is not as widely used as we want it to be. The main limitations to produce oil are the high initial costs, over winter at some sites and lack of sufficient water in certain areas of Europe for cultivating this oil crop,extraction, harvesting costs and so on.

New agronomic techniques and new genotypes with improved characteristics are being developed and screened over the wide range of ecological conditions in Europe. Efforts are underway to commercialize this oil crop.

For those with the scientific bent of mind, please refer to the full article.

Note: This research article explains the situation of Miscanthus production only in Europe. Apparently, they have tried utilize their experience in Europe to North America as well.

Labels: biofuel, camelina, Miscanthus

A Mobile Press for Camelina Extraction in Wyoming.

posted by Sumukee @ 8:31 PM | Tuesday, June 23, 2009 0 Comments

Labels: biofuel, camelina, carbon emissions

Will the cabbage fuel be the future biofuel ?

posted by Sumukee @ 4:39 AM | Monday, June 22, 2009 0 Comments

Camelina, considered the cousin of Cabbage could reduce the carbon emission in the jet fuels to about 84 percent. Interestingly, it is one of the plant-fuels, which exhibits the lowest carbon emission when compared to the other plant derived biofuels. Even in my previous posts, I have mentioned the fact that, Camelina requires very little attention, it being a lowly weed does not require much use of fertilizers, water or nutrients.

Yet another unique attribute of this crop is that it has a capacity of converting oil to a hydrocarbon jet fuel that meets or exceeds almost all the petroleum and jet specifications. The most exciting fact about this crop is that, it is almost an exact replacement of fossil fuels. The cultivation of Camelina is quite easy, it can be cultivated on marginal agricultural lands as well. Camelina will not compete with the food-crops such as corn or soy.

The bottlenecks we face in using this great weed is it's price, the feedstock availability and it will be a bit difficult to convince farmers to grow this crop as well. Apparently, a recent news from Albany claimed that farmers were shocked when they came to know the potential of this Camelina oil crop. The Albany farmers were actually eradicating this weed for many years. Similarly, there are so many ignorant farmers in many parts of the world not knowing that this oil crop can do wonders.

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Related blog posts:

Camelina-Derived Renewable Jet Fuel Reduces 84% Carbon Emissions
Albany farmers plan to grow plant biofuel crops.

Labels: biofuel, camelina, energy

Will the "second -generation biofuel feedstock" rule the aviation industry by 2015?

posted by Sumukee @ 7:32 PM | Tuesday, June 16, 2009 0 Comments

Labels: biofuel, camelina, sustainability

Miscanthus cultivation to commercialize in Georgia

posted by Sumukee @ 10:33 PM | Thursday, June 11, 2009 1 Comments

Labels: biofuel, Miscanthus

Acreage Increase for Camelina Production

posted by Mak @ 9:59 PM | Wednesday, June 10, 2009 0 Comments

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Related blogs:
Montana Legislature Addresses Camelina Biodiesel
Camelina As An Efficient Biofuel Source
Camelina - An Oil-Seed Crop For Different Bio-fuels

Labels: biofuel, camelina

Miscanthus : Fuel for the Future ?

posted by Mak @ 3:38 AM | Friday, May 15, 2009 0 Comments

Labels: biofuel, Co2, Companies, Electricity, Miscanthus

Agrosil Energy to Grow Commercial-Scale Miscanthus

posted by Mak @ 3:16 AM | Friday, May 8, 2009 0 Comments

Labels: biofuel, Co2, Companies, Miscanthus

Camelina-Derived Renewable Jet Fuel Reduces 84% Carbon Emissions

posted by Mak @ 11:10 PM | Tuesday, May 5, 2009 0 Comments

Labels: biofuel, camelina, Co2, Jetfuel

FedEx Aims for 30 Percent Biofuels by 2030

posted by Mak @ 12:10 AM | Friday, May 1, 2009 0 Comments

Labels: biofuel, camelina

Eco-Sustainable City Plants Eco-Sustainable Feedstock

posted by Mak @ 1:02 AM | Friday, April 24, 2009 0 Comments

Labels: Arundo donax, biofuel, camelina

Miscanthus Could Offer Long-term Source of Carbon-Neutral Energy ?

posted by Mak @ 10:46 PM | Tuesday, March 31, 2009 0 Comments

Labels: biofuel, energy, Miscanthus

Miscanthus, Switchgrass & Restored Prairie Tested As Potential Energy Crops

posted by Mak @ 10:37 PM | 0 Comments

Labels: biofuel, energy, Miscanthus

Camelina - An Oil-Seed Crop For Different Bio-fuels

posted by Mak @ 1:43 AM | Friday, February 27, 2009 0 Comments

Labels: biofuel, camelina

Camelina As An Efficient Biofuel Source

posted by Mak @ 9:20 PM | Wednesday, February 18, 2009 0 Comments

Great Plain, the “world’s largest Camelina producer” claim that it’s ‘virtually’ 100% efficient and a sustainable, low-input, biofuel feedstock that can help to combat rising emissions while also adding to food production and crop yields. It seems that the crop may boast a number of key advantages as a biofuel source since:

* It doesn’t interfere with food production because it can be harvested and processed for fuel production and any remainder can be used as high quality animal feed, as well as fiberboard and glycerin;

* It can be grown on marginal land, needing very little water, even in cold northerly states like Montana and even Canada;

* It is an excellent rotational crop that has been shown to boost the yield of subsequent crops such as wheat by up to 15%.

Camelina is already widely grown throughout the U.S. and Canada for fuel and cattle feed. To date, several crushing partners have already teamed up with Great Plains to produce more than 10 million road miles of camelina biodiesel. Moreover, by 2012, the company plans to raise production to 100 million gallons a year.

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Labels: biofuel, camelina

Biofuel From Forestry Waste is Close

posted by Mak @ 7:50 PM | 0 Comments

Labels: biofuel, Waste

Chinese Tallow At Biodiesel Show

posted by Mak @ 12:09 AM | 0 Comments

At the biodiesel confab in San Francisco, experts discuss ways to grow fuel in the desert and Ben Franklin's contribution to alt fuels.

According to Dick Auld from Texas Tech, the castor plant is drought tolerant, salt tolerant, grows on marginal land, probably amenable to genetic modification and is quite oily. The plant could yield 63 to 210 gallons of oil an acre-that's low compared to some crops but it would grown on marginal lands, thereby dropping the cost of production.

It's also not a food crop. The plant, originally from the tropics, produces the highly toxic ricin.But if there's a feedstock on everyone's lips, it's the Chinese Tallow tree, according to Courtney McColgan, an associate at Draper, Fisher Jurvetson.

Ben Franklin is credited with bringing the tree to the continent when the U.S. was still a set of colonies owned by Britain. Since then, it's become a pesky, invasive species in the South. Some experts say it could produce several hundred gallons of feedstock per acre.

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Labels: biofuel, Chinese Tallow

Montana Legislature Addresses Camelina Biodiesel

posted by Mak @ 11:27 PM | Tuesday, February 17, 2009 0 Comments

A new bill in the Montana Legislature aims to make it easier for Montana farmers and ranchers to produce biodiesel fuel from oil-seed crops like camelina and canola.House Bill 415 would provide regulation for special fuel users who produce biodiesel fuel.

At a press conference on Monday, farmers spoke in favor of the bill. MT State Representative Margaret McDonald (D-Billings), the sponsor of the bill, says producing biodiesel will increase energy efficiency and income in the state: "We need to go in and work on our Montana law and amend it so that people can begin to do this in their communities and really make a difference."

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Labels: biofuel, camelina

USAF Launches New Biofuel Testing Programme With Camelina Oil

posted by Mak @ 10:29 PM | 0 Comments

The US Air Force (USAF) is launching a new synthetic fuels programme to fly its fleet on a jet fuel mix that contains biofuel.The service is working toward an ultimate goal of certifying its fleet to use "hydro-treated renewable jet fuel" (HRJ) by about 2013.HRJs are biofuels derived from oils and fats, which can come from products such as animal fat, jatropha and camelina oil and algae.

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Labels: biofuel, camelina

Colorado Grants Assist Farm-scale Biodiesel Projects

posted by Mak @ 11:27 PM | Sunday, February 15, 2009 0 Comments

Labels: biofuel, camelina

World's First Camelina Biofuel Test Flight

posted by Mak @ 8:06 PM | Friday, February 13, 2009 0 Comments

Labels: biofuel, camelina