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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