America's First Integrated Cellulosic and Starch Ethanol Refinery to Open Next Week

[AZEqualizer]

This according to a report on Green Car Advisor. (http://blogs.edmunds.com/greencaradvisor/2008/08/americas-first-integrated-cellulosic-and-starch-ethanol-refinery-to-open-next-week.html)

"AE Biofuels Inc., a Silicon Valley energy-crops startup, announced today that it will open the nation's first integrated cellulose and starch ethanol demonstration refinery on Monday (Aug 11,2008).

The Butte, Montana, refinery is expected to produce up to 150,000 gallons of cellulosic ethanol annually from local wheat straw, corn stover and other agricultural waste materials, said Rory Mackin, a spokesman for the Cupertino, California-based company.

The refinery will use a patent-pending enzymatic process (see graphics) to break down tough cellulosic materials into fermentable stands of sugar, Mackin said. If the technologies work as expected, AE Biofuels will likely expand the plant to produce 1.2 million gallons of ethanol annually, he said."

http://blogs.edmunds.com/greencaradvisor/IntegratedProcess575x220.jpg

[danbucks]

That process looks suspiciously like beer. mmmmm, beeer!

[Miracleman89]

you ever made grain alcohol???? 2thumb:up :Beer: che:ers:1

[Charles]

Hi all,

I briefly read the link and it sounds great that the ethanol will be produced from waste material. All the other bio-fuel technology that I've read about requires crops to be grown specifically for ethanol production which takes land away from producing food crops. This has got to be a winner. Using stuff that would be burnt, a win win solution!!! Where's the catch???

[Mark Tomlinson]

Actually, Charles, biofuels from micro-algae (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algae_fuel) is the hottest new trend. Algae can be grown on sewage and consumes CO2.

[AZEqualizer]

7 Next-Gen Biofuels to Drive Beyond Gasoline
http://media.popularmechanics.com/images/car-beeker-470-0908.jpg
With gas prices soaring, next-gen biofuels, electricity and hydrogen have never looked better.

Forget food crops. Future fuels will come from more practical feedstocks. Plus, each generation will use fewer resources and pack more energy than the last. PM crunches the numbers on alternative fuels for the real world.

According to Popular Mechanics (http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/earth/4277305.html)
http://media.popularmechanics.com/images/cellulosic-ethanol-bio-0908.jpg
http://media.popularmechanics.com/images/cellulosic-ethanol-gas-0908.jpghttp://media.popularmechanics.com/images/algal-biodiesel-b0908.jpghttp://media.popularmechanics.com/images/green-gasoline-c-0908.jpghttp://media.popularmechanics.com/images/biobutanol-0908.jpghttp://media.popularmechanics.com/images/designer-hydrocarbons-0908.jpghttp://media.popularmechanics.com/images/fourth-gen-fuel-0908.jpg

[Miracleman89]

My only thing is most alternative fuels being developed today are either a form of diesel or require a flex fuel capability. At least that is my understanding of them anyway. I just want to see an all natural method of producing a fuel so similar regular gas that it could be used in just about every vehicle. My fear about future fuel sources comes from the fact that I wonder if we don't have an alternative designed to replace regular gas then all of those beautiful antique cars will be no more. Or they will have to be altered taking away their originality. I know sounds dumb doesn't it! But I am a car guy!

[rogwild]

No, there will still be $25/gal 'gasoline' but antique car guys will only be able to drive once a year, in the 4th of July parade!

[AZEqualizer]

http://media.popularmechanics.com/images/designer-hydrocarbons-0908.jpg
Process*: By swapping out natural genes for synthetic ones, scientists trick microorganisms such as E. coli and yeast into converting simple sugars to diesel, gasoline and jet fuel instead of into fats or alcohols. As in traditional ethanol production, microbes ferment the sugars (in this case, from sugar cane) in a slurry, but since finished fuels don’t mix with water, the hydrocarbons are easily separated by centrifuge without expensive distillation.
Bottom Line: Designer fuels are ready to drop into engines, but unless they’re made in a closed-loop system, they’re water-intensive. The first commercial plant will be located in Brazil and is expected to start producing diesel in 2010.
Innovators: LS9, Amyris
Freshwater Usage:** 3 gallons
Energy Yield***: 106%
http://media.popularmechanics.com/images/fourth-gen-fuel-0908.jpg
Process*: Scientists have genetically engineered algae not just to turn CO2 into oil, but to continuously excrete that oil directly into the surrounding water. Since oil floats, harvesting it becomes simple work compared with the energy-intensive drying and extraction traditionally used for typical algae, which store oil within their cell walls. As with second-generation methods, the oil can then be processed into biodiesel.
Bottom Line: If they can perform at scale, these mutant algae may well be game changers. Synthetic Genomics hopes to have commercial amounts of biodiesel on the market within five years, though no plants have been built yet.
Innovators: Synthetic Genomics
Freshwater Usage:** None
Energy Yield***: 103%

* May vary slightly from company to company.
** Gallons per gallon of fuel, based on early projections; amount may vary depending on final production process.
*** Compared to a gallon of gasoline.

I also read in another article (not the PM one) that the Forth-Gen Fuel method can produce oil or the algae can be modified to make gasoline directly. So, here are just a couple of ways scientists are working to produce gasoline synthetically.

[AZEqualizer]

The best replacement for Petroleum is Petroleum (renewable petroleum technology)

LS9 Inc. says it has created synthetic "industrial microbes" that can digest sugar in plant-based food and excrete it as hydrocarbon-based "petroleum replacement products."
http://blogs.edmunds.com/greencaradvisor/LS9-400.jpg
But that's not all. The South San Francisco, Calif., company says it can genetically tweak the bacteria to produce a variety of "DesignerBiofuels" that are essentially indistinguishable from gasoline, diesel and even jet fuel.
LS9 says the fuel its proprietary microbes produce can go straight into a car's gas tank or sent to a refinery for further preparation.
What's more, the fuels are nearly carbon-neutral, LS9 reports, meaning that about the same amount of carbon dioxide is generated by the combustion of fuels as is consumed by the plant-based foods eaten by the bacteria.
The company suggests that its bacteria's efficient use of biomass or sugar cane addresses the food-versus-fuel issue plaguing corn-based ethanol and other alternative fuels.
LS9 says it is "rapidly commercializing and scaling up" production so that the company can produce fuel by the barrel full within a few years.


This according to an article on Green Car Advisor
LS9Inc (http://ls9.com/technology/)

[AZEqualizer]

http://blogs.edmunds.com/greencaradvisor/ByogyRenewablesIncLOGO.gif

A two-year-old California startup, Byogy Renewables Inc. (http://www.byogy.com/), said today that it has licensed a process developed by researchers at Texas A&M University that turns waste (sewage sludge and garbage and plant waste) into high octane gasoline.

Production of the alternative fuel could begin within two years (could being the operative wiggle word), said Daniel Rudnick, chief executive of the Bakersfield-based company.

The idea of using waste - human, animal, food and other - to make fuel isn't a new one. There's a major venture in Sweden that makes methane (aka natural gas) from cow manure, and the Orange County Sanitation District, in Southern California, recently announced (http://blogs.edmunds.com/greencaradvisor/2008/06/hydrogen-from-sewage-to-power-fuel-cell-vehicles.html) a deal to extract hydrogen from sewage sludge for use in a test fleet of fuel-cell electric vehicles.

This according to the Green Car Advisor (http://blogs.edmunds.com/greencaradvisor/2008/08/from-dump-to-pump-company-aims-to-produce-high-ocane-gasoline-from-waste.html)

[RAN]

I can't help but wonder how expensive this gas is going to be. Then there's the health issues that have always stemmed from polluting the air with car exhaust.

I like the idea of being able to turn sewage and garbage into something useful... I just don't know if gasoline is the thing to be turning it into.

[AZEqualizer]

Solazyme Produces World’s First Algal-Based Jet Fuel - Fuel Passes All Tested Specifications including the Most Critical ASTM D1655 Specifications



http://blogs.edmunds.com/greencaradvisor/solazyme-logo.jpg



South San Francisco, Calif. – September 9, 2008 – Solazyme Inc. announced that it has produced the world’s first microbial-derived jet fuel. Solazyme’s algal-derived aviation fuel as analyzed by the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), one of the nations leading fuel analytical laboratories, passed the eleven “most challenging specifications needed to meet the ASTM D1655 standard for Aviation Turbine Fuel. The tested areas included the key measurements for density, thermal oxidative stability, flashpoint, freezing point, distillation and viscosity among others. Of the eleven tested parameters, the Solazyme aviation fuel passed the ASTM D1655 requirements for every measurement. Therefore, the Solazyme algae-based aviation kerosene has passed the biggest hurdles needed to successfully develop a commercial and military jet fuel fully consistent with existing engines and infrastructure” as stated in the SwRI report.



An interesting read with other future potential: Solazyme News (http://www.solazyme.com/news090908.shtml)

[AZEqualizer]

http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.autobloggreen.com/media/2008/09/ceres-home-page-logob.jpg

Using switchgrass and sorghum, the bio-energy company Ceres will on day make cellulosic ethanol at a plant that is currently being built near Soperton, Georgia.
This according to autobloggreen (http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/09/12/ceres-range-fuel-testing-switchgrass-and-sorghum-to-make-ethano/) and a Sep 9th press release by Ceres

[AZEqualizer]

Ottawa, Canada – 25 September 2008 (http://www.iogen.ca/news_events/press_releases/2008_10_25.html) – Following last July’s announcement of an extended commercial alliance with Royal Dutch Shell plc (“Shell”), Iogen today announced it has shipped the first 100,000 litres (26,417 gallons) of an initial 180,000 litre (47,550 gallons) cellulosic ethanol order from Shell.
http://www.iogen.ca/images/press_2008_08_15.JPG

[westonlgray]

Does anyone know if this type of ethanol produces more energy than it takes to make it? I am all for alternative energy... at least alternative energy that is a net gain and not a net loss. If it costs me 1.0000025 gallons of diesel to make 1 gallon of ethanol, is it worth it?

Yes, I realize that it doesn't take that much diesel in the tractors, but looking through the whole supply chain, ethanol appears to take more energy to make it than it puts out.

[AZEqualizer]

http://blogs.edmunds.com/greencaradvisor/mascomaplant.jpg

Greencaradvisor posted this info:
Cellulosic ethanol developer Mascoma Corp. (http://www.mascoma.com/) says it has achieved a breakthrough in enzyme development that moves the industry "years, or even decades" closer to low-cost, high-volume processing of biofuels from non-food feedstocks.

Mascoma said in an announcement today that its "major research advances" will permit the production of both the so-called cellulase enzymes and the resulting ethanol in a single step.

The process is "a true breakthrough that takes us much, much closer to billions of gallons of low cost cellulosic biofuels, Michigan State University chemical engineering professor Bruce Dale said in a statement issued by Mascoma. Dale is a fuels researcher and editor of the journal Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefineries.

Mascoma Chief Technology Officer Mike Ladisch described the company's research developments as advances in bacteria that grow at high temperatures and in "recombinant cellulolytic yeasts."

The bacteria can reduce unwanted acid byproducts in the ethanol fermentation process and break down cellulose in some applications without requiring addition of the costly cellulase enzymes.

The yeast, according to company claims, can work in applications that do need cellulase to significantly reduce the amount required and increase the amount produced naturally in the refining process, eliminating the need to add purchased enzymes.