Scientists have discovered that olive stones can be turned into bio-ethanol, a renewable fuel that can be used as an alternative to petrol or diesel. The development gives the olive processing industry an opportunity to make profitable use of the four million tonnes of olive stones it generates every year. The process was developed by scientists from the Spanish Universities of Jan and Granada.

The low cost of transporting and transforming olives stones make them attractive for biofuels, said researcher Mr. Sebastin Snchez. The olive stone, expelled in the processing of olive oil and table olives, makes up around a quarter of the total fruit. It is rich in polysaccharides that can be broken down into sugar and then fermented to yield ethanol.

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

In the United States, Schroeder Biofuels has released a new biodiesel purifying solution, which is capable of purifying biodiesel generated from any feedstock in a single pass process. Eco2Pure is described by the company as a unique cellulose-based, natural and sustainable composition of adsorbents. It has the powerful dry-washing capability of Magnesol, but has the applicability of a column-based treatment, said Mr. Jonathan Dugan, Schroeders biofuels product specialist.

Eco2Pure system works by passing unwashed biodiesel through a fixed bed of purification media. The media clean the fuel by removing the residues, fuel contaminants and soaps. Each kilogram of the product is capable of purifying between 350 to 700 litres of biodiesel, keeping the frequency of media replacement to a minimum, Mr. Dugan said.

Source: www.biodieselmagazine.com

Prof. Amir Sharon, from the Plant Sciences Department of Tel Aviv University in Israel has genetically modified some fungi to yield large biomass, which can then be converted into a first-rate biofuel.

Prof. Sharon and his colleagues developed a transformation-based approach to cultivating Aspergillus niger that is, the fungus has been genetically engineered to be less sensitive to external conditions and environmental stresses, have improved sustainability in fermentation culture, and have both enhanced growth rate and spore production. As a result, the fungal cultures exhibit a dramatic increase in fresh and dry biomass production, enhanced spore production and extended viability.

Scientists at University of Warwick, the United Kingdom, are co-ordinating a global effort to sequence the genome of the mushroom Agaricus bisporus also known as the table or button mushroom. A better understanding of the mushrooms genome could assist in the creation of biofuels and help remove heavy metals from contaminated soils, the scientists feel. Button mushrooms are highly efficient secondary decomposers of plant material, such as leaves and litter, breaking down the material that is too tough for other fungi and bacteria to handle.

Mushroom research has reached a higher stage with scientists saying that the Chinese mushroom that is growing in Novozymes A/S laboratories may hold a solution to the global energy problems. Scientists in the Danish company are testing mushrooms and lichen to find one that will turn corn cobs and sugarcane stalks into biofuel. An affordable alternative to petrol made from plant waste will end concerns that global hunger for energy is driving up food prices worldwide.

Fungi like mushrooms and lichen make enzymes to eat rotting logs and decaying leaves. Biofuel producers use these enzymes to break down the complex carbohydrates in plant cells into a soup-like mixture of simple sugars that yeast can eat. In a process much similar to making beer, yeast ferments the mixture, producing ethanol. Enzymes now on the market cant break down the tougher parts of plants effectively enough to be affordable.

Source: www.commodityonline.com

Helbio S.A. of Greece, a subsidiary of Morphic Technologies AB in Sweden, has been converting biogas from sewage to electricity and heat. Following a four-month trial with Patras Municipal Corporation for Water Supply and Waste Water Management starting in June 2008, the company has decided to launch a range of these energy systems in Europe. The trial system produces 20 kW of electrical energy and 25 kW of heat energy.

The first part of the system is a purification filter for the biogas that filters out sulphur, malodorous substances and other impurities. The biogas is then converted into hydrogen using Helbios reformer before being fed into a fuel cell manufactured by the Italian subsidiary of Morphic, Exergy Fuel Cells.

The trial has demonstrated that the generated hydrogen is pure enough to run a fuel cell without contaminating the membranes and catalyst. The carbon monoxide (CO) content of the hydrogen must be less than 50 ppm. Helbios biogas reformer has been shown to achieve a purity of 1.5 ppm CO, which is considered exceptionally good. The next step will be to offer products with higher outputs 125 kW and 250 kW fuel cells in partnership with Exergy Fuel Cells.

Source: www.fuelcelltoday.com

Mr. Chuck Flynn, a research chemist at the Eastern Ag Research Centre of Montana State University (MSU), the United States, is studying the potential of biodiesel from locally grown oilseeds. SunBio Systems, based in California, set up a small, farm-style biorefinery and reactor at the MSU site. Mr. Flynn is making biodiesel in the hope of refining some that will measure up to ASTM standards. If it doesnt meet ASTM standards, the biodiesel wont burn clean in the engine.

Mr. Steve Austin, SunBio Systems President, said the company has set up a couple of these small refineries in the country. The goal is to find several producers who want to pool together to buy a refinery, set it up in a shop, grow their own oilseeds, crush them and make biodiesel to run their farm equipment.

Mr. Flynn said he will be using all different kinds of oilseeds including canola, sunflower, camelina and flax. After crushing both oleic and linoleic types of these oilseeds, they will use the oil to create the biodiesel. Then they test the product to measure its horsepower. Mr. Flynn said the research involves looking at how biodiesel developed from the crops compares in terms of storage, combustion, gelling properties and energy levels.

In the biodiesel process, Mr. Flynn uses methanol, catalyst and the oil. He combines those in the reactor, and heats and mixes the ingredients until a reaction takes place. Biodiesel and glycerol are formed, and 95 per cent of the glycerine settles out in a half hour. Excess methanol is then removed. After some time, the biodiesel is washed to remove some of the impurities. Thereafter, the substance is passed through a resin column to remove as much impurities as possible and all of the methanol. Mr. Flynn said researchers have developed hybrid oilseeds that can be used to make biodiesel. Since biodiesel freezes, the oilseeds need to make the type of biodiesel that can pass the cold point test.

Source: www.farmandranchguide.com

In the United States, Sustainable Energy Research Centre (SERC) of the Mississippi State University (MSU) is combating rising energy demands with focused research in bio-oil and bio-crude fuel sources. SERC co-director Dr. Gleen Steel said SERC research has moved from small-scale testing to near-commercial development and usage of bio-oil.

Currently, MSU researchers can produce an estimated litre of bio-oil per day, Dr. Steele said. SERCs research into bio-oil utilizes trees, one of Mississippis largest resources. SERC research has developed a process that stabilizes the bio-oil and allows the oil to be refined into a product comparable to petrol and diesel. These processes have the potential to create new industries in the state. SERC bio-crude research focuses on microbes that decompose waste by targeting the colonies that efficiently turn waste into oil, and extracting glyceride material from the decomposition process.

Source: media.www.reflector-online.com

In the United Kingdom, the University of Oxford chemists have developed a process for converting glycerol an unwanted by-product in the production of biodiesel into methanol, another potential biofuel. The process offers an alternative production route for methanol, the vast majority of which is currently produced from natural gas. Prof. Edman Tsang, an inorganic chemist at Oxford and lead researcher on the project, says the glycerol-to-methanol process essentially creates methanol for free. Converting the unwanted glycerol to methanol can help make biofuel businesses more financially viable, he says.

The conversion process is attractive because it is relatively simple and inexpensive, as it operates at relatively mild conditions and low temperatures a pressure of 20 bar and a temperature of 100C sufficient, Prof. Tsang says. The process uses an unspecified precious metal catalyst that, according to Prof. Tsang, is extremely selective, producing almost no by-products such as methane or carbon dioxide. The new process has been patented.

Source: www.tcetoday.com

In Japan, a team of researchers at Shizuoka University has succeeded in developing a new technology to efficiently produce bio-ethanol from bamboo. The woody grass grows faster than trees and using it for biofuel production will not impact any food sources, unlike like sugar cane or corn. This makes bamboo an attractive alternative for producing the fuel.

Led by Dr. Kiyohiko Nakasaki, a biochemical engineering professor, the team has developed a method of rendering bamboo into an ultra-fine powder, which, at 50 m, is 10 times finer than that produced by previous methods. To produce ethanol from bamboo, its cellulose, the largest component of its plant cells, needs to be broken down into a simple sugar, glucose, before fermentation. However, cellulose is hard to break down, and previous efficiency rates only reached 2 per cent.

With the new method, cellulose can be converted into glucose at an efficiency of 75 per cent. The method is a combination of various techniques, including removing lignin the second-largest component of plant cells using lasers, and a more efficient biodegrading process. The team is aiming to raise that figure to 80 per cent in three years, and lower production costs to around 100 yen (US$1) per litre.

Source: mdn.mainichi.jp

Renewable Energy Group of Ames, the United States, says it has developed a process that takes the oil from algae and converts it into biodiesel fuel. Algae oil would give us a third option as a biodiesel feedstock after soy bean oil and animal fats, states Mr. Daniel Oh, Chief Operating Officer of Renewable Energy Group.

The soy bean oil that has been the basic oil feedstock for biodiesel has doubled in price in the recent past, robbing operating biodiesel plants of their profitability and forcing shutdowns or delays at other facilities.

People who have made fun of green slime and pond scum will not do it in the future, when they find out not only how valuable the oil is but also the by-products, states Mr. Jimmy Simpson, an algae researcher at Maharishi University of Management. Mr. Simpson had won a US $2 million grant from the Iowa Power Fund for an algae experiment that will grow different types of algae cultures in Iowas varying climate conditions and separate the oil. Mr. Simpsons group will work with a process that he says can take a by-product of algae after the oil is extracted, and convert it into a high-protein human food additive. A third Iowa algae project is planned for Green Plains Renewable Energys ethanol plant, where the company plans to build a greenhouse close to the plant to extract oil that can be a feedstock for ethanol production.

Source: www.desmoinesregister.com