New Frontiers in Biofuel Production

Fernando RobeloDaniel Bowser

Contents

Basics of BiofuelsImportance of Biofuels

Production of BiodieselProduction of Ethanol

Conclusions

Basics of Biofuels

What is a biofuel?

a type of fuel that stores energy from biological carbon fixation

Categories include bioalcohols biodiesel green diesel from vegetable oil

History of Biofuels

1900: Rudolf Diesel unveils a vegetable oil powered engine

1970: Clean Air Act promotes cleaner burning fuels

1973-9: international events cause oil prices to begin a long climb

1990 on: EPA continuously fights to increase the use of alternative fuels

Importance and Benefits

Why is Biofuel Important?

Demand for fuel is always on the rise Biofuels can offset our demand for other non-

renewable sources Large scale production would decrease all fuel

prices Biofuels could one day be a significant source of

our energy and fuel for homes and cars

Current Demands for Fuel

http://worldenergystatistics.blogspot.com/2010/09/global-energy-use-statistics.html

The Benefits of Biofuels

• Completely renewable sources; it will always be there!

• Biofuels "fit" our current infrastructureo behave similarly to the combustible fuels we

already rely on

http://www.supplychaindigital.com/global_logistics/biofuel-research-could-benefit-green-supply-chain

World Production of BiofuelSince 2000 biofuel production has been climbing rapidly

In order to keep up with this increasing demand research must be done to continually improve production processes

Production of Biodieselfrom soybean oil

http://www.biofuels-platform.ch/en/infos/biodiesel.php

http://www.biofuels-platform.ch/en/infos/biodiesel.php

Chemical Details

Reactants:Long chain fatty acids

oil from a renewable source

Alcoholmethanol is the most commonly used

Catalyststrong base is most commonly used

enzymatic catalysts are currently being developed

Chemical Details

Reaction:lipid transesterification- replaces the ester R group with that of an alcohol

Products

Fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) Main component of biodiesels

Glycerol This was once a valuable byproduct, but the market

has now been flooded and disposal can be an issue

Production of Ethanolfrom sugarcane

Output-Input Energy Ratio for Ethanol Process

Sugar Cane is currently one of the most promising feedstocks for ethanol

Sugarcane to Ethanol

-Cultivation-Harvest-Refining-Improvement in Process

http://whyfiles.org/2010/biofuel-advance/

Cultivation

Highly efficient in converting water, sunlight and CO2 into stored energy

Harvest

Semi-perennial cropHand harvestedMechanical harvesting (Austoft 7000 series)

Refining

Self sufficient IndustrySugarcane is crushed and refined to make table

sugar or fuel ethanol

Improvement in Process

Plant BreedingHydrolysis of 300 mg dried and ground stover with

6 filter paper units of a cocktail of commercially available cellulolytic enzymes

Incubated at a temperature of 50CQuantification of Glucose Yield with Urine Analyzer

Conclusions

Clean, Renewable Fuel

Compared to gasoline, biofuels cuts greenhouse gases by more than 60%

EPA-"Advanced Renewable Fuel"Economic Growth in over 100 countriesDiversification and Expansion

Barriers involving production of biofuels

Ethanol supply is constrained by arable land availability

Barriers involving production of biofuels

Competition with food sources

Assessment of the Work

Promote production of ethanol as energy source, but taking into account the food market and the environment

Search for more efficient sources of energy

Further Research

Catalysts for pretreatment of ethanol that allow less desireable feedstocks to be used

Catalysts to assist the transesterification in biodiesels

Genetic modifications to source crops Home production tehniques to allow production

on a grassroots scale

References

http://gradworks.umi.com/34/98/3498820.htmlhttp://www.iea.org/techno/essentials2.pdfhttp://insideclimatenews.org/news/20090608/sugarcane-miracle-biofuelhttp://sweeteralternative.com/about-sugarcane-ethanol/sugarcane-ethanol-productionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugarcanehttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960852499000255http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378382004001924http://www.springerlink.com/content/r1552355771656v0/http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0196890408000770