"Those who defend the idea of promoting the production of biofuel as an alternative to hydrocarbons say that ethanol is a clean fuel, less damaging to those used to date. Laboratory analysis of the product confirms that in the combustion process, the percentage of the CO2 emissions and other contaminating elements is less than those emitted from burning fossil fuels. Its renewable character is obvious. These are two true factors relating to ethanol, but unfortunately this is not the whole truth. According to a study of the production process associated with this alcohol derivative, there are significant polluting effects related to the necessary use of fossil fuels for field preparation, planting, crop management, harvesting, transferring of raw materials to the factory and its industrial processing. But there's more. The large amounts of agricultural produce needed for this new type of energy would require the conversion of millions of acres of forest in different regions of the planet, mainly in the Third World, which would be the greatest supplier of corn, soy, sunflowers and other crops. To understand the magnitude of the problem: Argentina, with a high percentage of its rural areas already devoted to agricultural production, is said to be prepared to produce 100 million tons of soy. Where would they find the land to reach their goal?
It is not difficult to imagine the negative effects on the climate caused by the elimination of areas that play an important role in the necessary and weak ecological balance. As it is already known, forests are highly beneficial, as they absorb large amounts of rain and contribute in avoiding frequent flooding.
They constitute natural barriers that stop soil erosion and store large amounts of nutrients, which protect the earth's core. They are important providers of the atmosphere's oxygen, indispensable for enriching and cleaning the air.
Add to this the fact that soy and corn are planted in rows, thereby provoking erosion of the land and requiring enormous amounts of fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides, whose residues are generally washed away by rain into rivers, lakes and the sea. There is also the idea of looking for more yields, the production of trans-genetic agricultural products which are not eatable and are turn into substances dangerous for human consumption. And all this is being planned for the developed nations to the North --basically the United States and Europe-- for a regular supply of "clean fuel" for their voracious automobiles. Just calculate how much ethanol the US would need with its 940 cars for every 1,000 inhabitants, approximately 280,000,000 cars. We are not anticipating anything. This is a process underway, maybe at a faster pace than expected and with visible consequences for the reduction of forest areas in the Amazon, the principal lungs of the planet. This bolds the contamination of a portion of the Gulf of Mexico, with so little oxygen that it barely allows the existence of life. After all this, can we really say that ethanol is a "clean fuel"?"
Oriģināls
2007-05-28
2007-05-22
Nedaudz informācijas par patreizējo stāvokli Lielbritānijā saistībā ar energokultūru ierīkošanas atbalsta mehānismu nākotni
"Aimed at farmers who may be looking for new ideas, as well as at educating the general public, the idea for the area came from Robin Twizell. He is keen to use the opportunity to expel some of the myths surrounding energy crops.
“There are many alternative crops that end users – including the general public – should be looking at as sustainable energy sources, and farmers also need to be aware of all the possible energy markets that are available to them, which is not just the market for road transport fuels,” said Mr Twizell, who manages the North East Renewable Energy Producers group in Teeside, which is just one of the organisations exhibiting in the new area.
A producer group for growers of short rotation coppice, based near Middlesbrough, NEREP currently has six members producing 200 hectares of coppice for the 30 megawatt Wilton Ten power station on Teeside.
Having been converted from a coal-burning plant, for the past three weeks it has been burning wood and is now taking in short rotation coppice, trees, recycled wood and forest co-products.
“Our target is to have 3,000 hectares of coppice in the ground in the area and we are actively looking for growers within a 50-mile radius of Wilton,” added Mr Twizell.
“The advantage of coppice over cereals is that it’s only established once every 20 years, so you do not have the input costs associated with normal arable crop production.”
Planted using specialist planters, 20cm cuttings are inserted into a prepared seedbed in the spring, with only general post-emergence weed control required within five days of planting.
The crop is then cut back after year one to encourage coppicing and then harvested every two to three years after that using a conventional forage harvester with a modified header.
“The forage harvester ‘chips’ the crop and it is left in the field in heaps to naturally die down to approximately 25 to 30 per cent moisture before being delivered to the power station.”
Growing around 10 oven-dried tonnes per hectare per year, growers receive around £20 to £25 per oven-dried tonne of wood produced, depending on how far they farm from the power plant, with growers producing the coppice on a 10-year contract with Wilton Ten.
The crop is also eligible for an establishment grant under the Energy Crops Scheme.
“The grant was £1,000/ hectare, but that scheme has now come to an end and is under review by the Government, so we are currently eagerly awaiting a new replacement scheme to be introduced,” said Mr Twizell, adding that the delay of the new scheme’s introduction was proving demoralising for the industry.
“There is a real place in the UK for this type of crop because of its significantly higher energy balance compared to cereals and at the summer shows such as the Great Yorkshire we want face to face contact with farmers to talk about crops such as coppice so they are not just dismissed.
“They are potentially a serious business and should be considered as part of a farmer’s cropping scheme.”
He added that the Wilton Ten power station had commanded an investment of £60 million, while around £90 million had gone into a plant at Lockerbie.
“That’s two purpose-built biomass power stations that just want to use wood, and on top of that there is also demand from the coal fired power stations such as Drax in North Yorkshire who want to use wood for co-firing along with coal, so there is plenty of demand for renewable energy.”
Along with land-based crops, the new area at the show will focus on all aspects of renewable energy including ground source heat pumps, transport fuels and solar and wind power, which all go towards reducing the carbon footprint.
“Farmers could look at solar energy or at installing their own biomass plants or ground source heat pumps on farms to generate their own heat to reduce energy bills,” said Mr Twizell.
“To set up a ground source heat pump for instance, all that is required is to lay a relatively small area of pipes around one to two metres under the ground surface where soils are constantly around 12degC and then to pump water through the system.”
A heat pump is used to accumulate the temperature rise between when the water enters and exits the system.
“Dairy farmers wanting to increase the water temperature for washing out a parlour, for example, could use a ground source heat pump to help heat water and reduce energy costs,” he said."
Oriģināls
“There are many alternative crops that end users – including the general public – should be looking at as sustainable energy sources, and farmers also need to be aware of all the possible energy markets that are available to them, which is not just the market for road transport fuels,” said Mr Twizell, who manages the North East Renewable Energy Producers group in Teeside, which is just one of the organisations exhibiting in the new area.
A producer group for growers of short rotation coppice, based near Middlesbrough, NEREP currently has six members producing 200 hectares of coppice for the 30 megawatt Wilton Ten power station on Teeside.
Having been converted from a coal-burning plant, for the past three weeks it has been burning wood and is now taking in short rotation coppice, trees, recycled wood and forest co-products.
“Our target is to have 3,000 hectares of coppice in the ground in the area and we are actively looking for growers within a 50-mile radius of Wilton,” added Mr Twizell.
“The advantage of coppice over cereals is that it’s only established once every 20 years, so you do not have the input costs associated with normal arable crop production.”
Planted using specialist planters, 20cm cuttings are inserted into a prepared seedbed in the spring, with only general post-emergence weed control required within five days of planting.
The crop is then cut back after year one to encourage coppicing and then harvested every two to three years after that using a conventional forage harvester with a modified header.
“The forage harvester ‘chips’ the crop and it is left in the field in heaps to naturally die down to approximately 25 to 30 per cent moisture before being delivered to the power station.”
Growing around 10 oven-dried tonnes per hectare per year, growers receive around £20 to £25 per oven-dried tonne of wood produced, depending on how far they farm from the power plant, with growers producing the coppice on a 10-year contract with Wilton Ten.
The crop is also eligible for an establishment grant under the Energy Crops Scheme.
“The grant was £1,000/ hectare, but that scheme has now come to an end and is under review by the Government, so we are currently eagerly awaiting a new replacement scheme to be introduced,” said Mr Twizell, adding that the delay of the new scheme’s introduction was proving demoralising for the industry.
“There is a real place in the UK for this type of crop because of its significantly higher energy balance compared to cereals and at the summer shows such as the Great Yorkshire we want face to face contact with farmers to talk about crops such as coppice so they are not just dismissed.
“They are potentially a serious business and should be considered as part of a farmer’s cropping scheme.”
He added that the Wilton Ten power station had commanded an investment of £60 million, while around £90 million had gone into a plant at Lockerbie.
“That’s two purpose-built biomass power stations that just want to use wood, and on top of that there is also demand from the coal fired power stations such as Drax in North Yorkshire who want to use wood for co-firing along with coal, so there is plenty of demand for renewable energy.”
Along with land-based crops, the new area at the show will focus on all aspects of renewable energy including ground source heat pumps, transport fuels and solar and wind power, which all go towards reducing the carbon footprint.
“Farmers could look at solar energy or at installing their own biomass plants or ground source heat pumps on farms to generate their own heat to reduce energy bills,” said Mr Twizell.
“To set up a ground source heat pump for instance, all that is required is to lay a relatively small area of pipes around one to two metres under the ground surface where soils are constantly around 12degC and then to pump water through the system.”
A heat pump is used to accumulate the temperature rise between when the water enters and exits the system.
“Dairy farmers wanting to increase the water temperature for washing out a parlour, for example, could use a ground source heat pump to help heat water and reduce energy costs,” he said."
Oriģināls
Vēl viens raksts par etanola ražošanu no celulozes, šoreiz Brazīlija
"Rio de Janeiro - The production of biofuel from cellulose may be attained before estimated by specialists. Embrapa Agroindústria de Alimentos, the food agroindustry unit of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), based in the southeastern Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro, is carrying out studies for ethanol production from enzymes extracted from sugar cane bagasse and other agricultural and forest residues, such as wood.
Researcher Sonia Couri, who is in charge of the Laboratory for Fermentative Processes at Embrapa Agroindústria de Alimentos, told Agência Brasil that some of the cane bagasse is currently burned in boilers. Nevertheless, she said that a large share of the residues might be used, through bioconversion using specific enzymes, namely cellulose, for ethanol production.
The researcher acknowledges that the process for obtaining the enzyme is not very simple. "Some biorefineries are already producing it, but costs are very high compared with alcohol production from cane or starch, which have a much lower price than this material, because it entails coupling with another process, the hydrolysis of cellulose," she explained.
Sonia Curi estimates that, in order to be viable, the cost of the process would have to be reduced 50-fold. Nevertheless, the aim of Embrapa is to produce an enzyme that is both effective and much cheaper than it is today. The production of such an enzyme in Brazil will allow the country to reduce its dependence on imports and bring down the operational costs, since most of these raw materials are purchased abroad, and arrive at Brazil at a price three times higher than charged in their countries of origin, said Sonia Couri.
The cost reduction would be linked, according to her, to production incentives for those enzymes by national industries, especially the industry that will produce ethanol. "It depends very much on incentive policies and investment," according to the assessment of the researcher at Embrapa Agroindústria de Alimentos. In the United States, scheduled investments in the biofuels sector total approximately US$ 1 billion.
The state-owned organisation, linked to the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, decided to carry out this study after an experiment, running since 1986, in production of cell lytic enzymes (rich in cellulose) for the food industry. Various fruits, oleaginous plants, and seeds were studied, and oil was extracted from them through an aqueous system, using enzymes instead of an organic solvent, which is highly toxic. Sonia Couri also highlighted the fact that the ethanol production process using cellulose enzyme involves cleaner technology, which does not harm the environment. "Any type of residue is less pollutant, as long as it is of vegetable origin," said Couri.
In order to enable the production of the microorganisms that produce the enzymes, the researcher said that Embrapa is also launching a large project to plant energy forests. A study will be conducted on the use of eucalyptus and pine forest residue for biofuels production, as well as other more conventional uses, she said.
Couri also announced that other research institutes, such as the University of Campinas (Unicamp), and the Chemistry Institute at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro are also conducting research on biofuels production in Brazil, backed by the Studies and Projects Funding Body (Finep), the Brazilian Ministry of Science and Technology, and Petrobras."
Oriģināls
Researcher Sonia Couri, who is in charge of the Laboratory for Fermentative Processes at Embrapa Agroindústria de Alimentos, told Agência Brasil that some of the cane bagasse is currently burned in boilers. Nevertheless, she said that a large share of the residues might be used, through bioconversion using specific enzymes, namely cellulose, for ethanol production.
The researcher acknowledges that the process for obtaining the enzyme is not very simple. "Some biorefineries are already producing it, but costs are very high compared with alcohol production from cane or starch, which have a much lower price than this material, because it entails coupling with another process, the hydrolysis of cellulose," she explained.
Sonia Curi estimates that, in order to be viable, the cost of the process would have to be reduced 50-fold. Nevertheless, the aim of Embrapa is to produce an enzyme that is both effective and much cheaper than it is today. The production of such an enzyme in Brazil will allow the country to reduce its dependence on imports and bring down the operational costs, since most of these raw materials are purchased abroad, and arrive at Brazil at a price three times higher than charged in their countries of origin, said Sonia Couri.
The cost reduction would be linked, according to her, to production incentives for those enzymes by national industries, especially the industry that will produce ethanol. "It depends very much on incentive policies and investment," according to the assessment of the researcher at Embrapa Agroindústria de Alimentos. In the United States, scheduled investments in the biofuels sector total approximately US$ 1 billion.
The state-owned organisation, linked to the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, decided to carry out this study after an experiment, running since 1986, in production of cell lytic enzymes (rich in cellulose) for the food industry. Various fruits, oleaginous plants, and seeds were studied, and oil was extracted from them through an aqueous system, using enzymes instead of an organic solvent, which is highly toxic. Sonia Couri also highlighted the fact that the ethanol production process using cellulose enzyme involves cleaner technology, which does not harm the environment. "Any type of residue is less pollutant, as long as it is of vegetable origin," said Couri.
In order to enable the production of the microorganisms that produce the enzymes, the researcher said that Embrapa is also launching a large project to plant energy forests. A study will be conducted on the use of eucalyptus and pine forest residue for biofuels production, as well as other more conventional uses, she said.
Couri also announced that other research institutes, such as the University of Campinas (Unicamp), and the Chemistry Institute at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro are also conducting research on biofuels production in Brazil, backed by the Studies and Projects Funding Body (Finep), the Brazilian Ministry of Science and Technology, and Petrobras."
Oriģināls
2007-05-15
Skotijas zemniekiem nepieciešams motivējošs un finansiāls valdības atbalsts īscirtmeta kārklu plantāciju ierīkošanai
"Scottish Biofuels (SBF), part of the Scottish Resources Group that produces more than 3.5 million tonnes of coal annually, is failing to recruit farmers to grow willow as short rotation coppice.
SBF is investing in excess of £100m in a processing plant at Westfield in Fife adjacent to a proposed power station to be fuelled by wood.
The new plant will process willow and forestry waste for that power station as well as producing wood pellets for the domestic heating markets and is planned to be in production by 2010.
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The market is being driven by legislation that makes it a requirement that 25% of any wood fuel must come from an energy crop by 2009 in order to get a renewable obligation certificate for coal fired electricity generators. That requirement rises to 75% by 2011.
According to consultant Brian Simpson, who is attempting to drive the enterprise forward: "There is a clear market failure in the recruitment of farms to biomass production despite the best efforts of SBF to promote the advantages through demonstration plots, advertising, PR and direct meetings with farmers."
He reckons the government needs to make a significant investment to encourage farmers to play their part in the delivery of our renewable targets.
Notwithstanding the considerable fiscal incentives for this embryonic industry and a planting grant of £1000 per hectare, Simpson believes there should be additional assistance through the rural development programme that is still being finalised. He wants the Scottish Executive's Environment and Rural Affairs Department to declare a policy of establishing short rotation coppice on arable and grassland with an initial target planting area of 10,000 hectares per year for the next five years.
To reduce transport costs for the processor, he wants to limit the area to be assisted initially to within 90 miles of a processing facility. In addition, he wants to introduce a conversion scheme, similar to the existing organic aid scheme that acknowledges that income is lower during the conversion, or establishment period.
Simpson reckons the appropriate figure for such an energy crop establishment scheme should be based on the figures indicated in an SAC/Cambridge report at a flat rate of £193 per hectare for four years and the same amount paid to both arable and grassland. That could utilise nearly £10m of the new rural development programme budget.
Such a plea looks set to fall on deaf ears. The reality is that farmers have yet to be convinced there are adequate returns from this new crop that requires a long-term commitment and can damage expensive land drainage systems."
Oriģināls
SBF is investing in excess of £100m in a processing plant at Westfield in Fife adjacent to a proposed power station to be fuelled by wood.
The new plant will process willow and forestry waste for that power station as well as producing wood pellets for the domestic heating markets and is planned to be in production by 2010.
advertisement.
The market is being driven by legislation that makes it a requirement that 25% of any wood fuel must come from an energy crop by 2009 in order to get a renewable obligation certificate for coal fired electricity generators. That requirement rises to 75% by 2011.
According to consultant Brian Simpson, who is attempting to drive the enterprise forward: "There is a clear market failure in the recruitment of farms to biomass production despite the best efforts of SBF to promote the advantages through demonstration plots, advertising, PR and direct meetings with farmers."
He reckons the government needs to make a significant investment to encourage farmers to play their part in the delivery of our renewable targets.
Notwithstanding the considerable fiscal incentives for this embryonic industry and a planting grant of £1000 per hectare, Simpson believes there should be additional assistance through the rural development programme that is still being finalised. He wants the Scottish Executive's Environment and Rural Affairs Department to declare a policy of establishing short rotation coppice on arable and grassland with an initial target planting area of 10,000 hectares per year for the next five years.
To reduce transport costs for the processor, he wants to limit the area to be assisted initially to within 90 miles of a processing facility. In addition, he wants to introduce a conversion scheme, similar to the existing organic aid scheme that acknowledges that income is lower during the conversion, or establishment period.
Simpson reckons the appropriate figure for such an energy crop establishment scheme should be based on the figures indicated in an SAC/Cambridge report at a flat rate of £193 per hectare for four years and the same amount paid to both arable and grassland. That could utilise nearly £10m of the new rural development programme budget.
Such a plea looks set to fall on deaf ears. The reality is that farmers have yet to be convinced there are adequate returns from this new crop that requires a long-term commitment and can damage expensive land drainage systems."
Oriģināls
2007-05-12
Bioenergy comes with both benefits and risks: UN report
"The rapid growth of modern bioenergy worldwide presents many opportunities, but it also entails economic, environmental and social risks, according to a new UN report released Tuesday.
The report from UN-Energy, an inter-agency body established to coordinate the world body's work in the realm of energy, is entitled "Sustainable Energy: A Framework for Decision Makers" and was funded by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.
The report underscores the many benefits that bioenergy provides in reducing poverty, improving access to energy and promoting rural development.
Bioenergy provides more choices for energy diversification and can help bring the oil market into balance and greatly reduce oil prices, it said.
Modern bioenergy can also help meet the needs of the 1.6 billion people worldwide who lack access to electricity in their homes, and the 2.4 billion who rely on straw, dung, and other traditional biomass fuels to meet their energy needs.
Bioenergy is produced from biofuels - solid fuels, biogas, liquid fuels such as bioethanol and biodiesel - which come from crops such as sugar cane and beet, maize and energy grass or from fuel wood, charcoal, agricultural wastes and by-products, forestry residues, livestock manure and others.
However, it warns that "unless new policies are enacted to protect threatened lands, secure socially acceptable land use, and steer bioenergy development in a sustainable direction overall, the environmental and social damage could in some cases outweigh the benefits."
The rapid growth of biofuel will raise agricultural commodity prices such as sugar, palm oil and soybean and could have negative economic and social effects, particularly on the poor who spend a large share of their income on food.
Rapid growth in liquid biofuel production will make substantial demands on the world's land and water resources at a time when demand for both food and forest products is also rising rapidly, it warned.
It noted that the prices of the world's two leading agricultural feedstock - maize and sugar - have already begun rising and soaring palm oil demand may be leading industrialists in Southeast Asia to clear tropical forests for new plantations.
On its implications for climate change, it pointed out that the ability of various bioenergy types to reduce greenhouse gas emissions varies widely, and where forests are cleared to make way for new energy crops, the emissions can be even higher than those from fossil fuels.
"Thus, the economic, environmental and social impacts of bioenergy development must be assessed carefully before deciding if and how rapidly to develop the industry and what technologies, policies, and investment strategies to pursue," it said."
Oriģināls
The report from UN-Energy, an inter-agency body established to coordinate the world body's work in the realm of energy, is entitled "Sustainable Energy: A Framework for Decision Makers" and was funded by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.
The report underscores the many benefits that bioenergy provides in reducing poverty, improving access to energy and promoting rural development.
Bioenergy provides more choices for energy diversification and can help bring the oil market into balance and greatly reduce oil prices, it said.
Modern bioenergy can also help meet the needs of the 1.6 billion people worldwide who lack access to electricity in their homes, and the 2.4 billion who rely on straw, dung, and other traditional biomass fuels to meet their energy needs.
Bioenergy is produced from biofuels - solid fuels, biogas, liquid fuels such as bioethanol and biodiesel - which come from crops such as sugar cane and beet, maize and energy grass or from fuel wood, charcoal, agricultural wastes and by-products, forestry residues, livestock manure and others.
However, it warns that "unless new policies are enacted to protect threatened lands, secure socially acceptable land use, and steer bioenergy development in a sustainable direction overall, the environmental and social damage could in some cases outweigh the benefits."
The rapid growth of biofuel will raise agricultural commodity prices such as sugar, palm oil and soybean and could have negative economic and social effects, particularly on the poor who spend a large share of their income on food.
Rapid growth in liquid biofuel production will make substantial demands on the world's land and water resources at a time when demand for both food and forest products is also rising rapidly, it warned.
It noted that the prices of the world's two leading agricultural feedstock - maize and sugar - have already begun rising and soaring palm oil demand may be leading industrialists in Southeast Asia to clear tropical forests for new plantations.
On its implications for climate change, it pointed out that the ability of various bioenergy types to reduce greenhouse gas emissions varies widely, and where forests are cleared to make way for new energy crops, the emissions can be even higher than those from fossil fuels.
"Thus, the economic, environmental and social impacts of bioenergy development must be assessed carefully before deciding if and how rapidly to develop the industry and what technologies, policies, and investment strategies to pursue," it said."
Oriģināls
Dynamotive and Argentine Province of Corrientes in ‘Environmental’ Project for up to Six Biofuel Plants
"Dynamotive Energy Systems Corporation (OTCBB: DYMTF), a leader in biomass-to-biofuel technology, and its subsidiary Dynamotive Latinoamericana S.A., have signed an agreement with the Provincial Government of Corrientes in Argentina, and the engineering firm TECNA to develop up to six biofuel plants.
The joint focus of the four-party agreement is to tackle environmental issues arising from vast stockpiles of decomposing wood waste and substantially increase electricity generating capacity in this forested region of Argentina.
The agreement is subject to further negotiation and execution of definitive and binding agreements, as well as the conclusion of suitable financial arrangements which are currently under discussion.
It is proposed the first two facilities will produce ‘green’ electricity using BioOil for fuel and will be in Virasoro and Santa Rosa, about 500 miles north of Buenos Aires. They will each provide a minimum of six to eight megawatts (MW) of export capacity. The remaining four plants would be for BioOil production only.
The entire six-plant project cost is projected to be between US $120 and $140 million. Funding is anticipated to be provided by a group of banks and other private sources.
The joint announcement was made at the First Biofuels Congress of the Americas being held in the Argentinian capital, Buenos Aires, and attended by world political leaders and industrialists. Those present at the signing were: Governor Arturo Alejandro Colombi, Regional Secretary Major Developments (Subsecretario Regional De Grandes Emprendimientos); Dr. Sergio Cangiani, Minister for Public Works; Dr. Marcello Valcioni, representatives of the municipalities of Governor Virasoro; Dynamotive President and CEO, Andrew Kingston; Raul Parisi, Vice President, Dynamotive Latinoamericana, and directors of Dynamotive’s partner, TECNA, Carlos Grimaldi, and Eduardo Carrone.
Governor Colombi stated, “For us, the agreement signed with Dynamotive signifies another step along the path of economic growth and environmental husbandry that our administration is engaged upon.
“We are very pleased that Dynamotive has chosen our province to establish the first plants in the country and it reflects well on the legal and economic framework that we have established to facilitate investment and encourage economic activity in our province.”
Dynamotive President and CEO, Andrew Kingston, said, “This has the potential to be our biggest project to date and one we feel could pave the way for additional such projects in South America which is becoming keenly aware of its biomass assets and the opportunities they afford for producing renewable, clean energy and reducing dependency on fossil fuel imports used in industry.
“The project in Corrientes has major potential environmental benefits, starting with the reduction of the enormous stockpiles of aging sawdust waste. This waste is also burned without deriving any energy benefit and emits large quantities of carbon dioxide. As this biomass waste deteriorates, it also releases toxic compounds into water, land and the air, including cetanol, which poses a risk to local water resources, and methane, a major greenhouse gas.”
Kingston said the BioOil plants, which are carbon and greenhouse gas neutral, are planned for forestry communities where little or no electricity is available at present. “BioOil is an excellent gas turbine fuel as we have demonstrated with our 2.5 MW plant in West Lorne, Ontario, where BioOil is produced from sawdust.
“Producing power cost-effectively and cleanly is one of the keys to economic prosperity and security whether in Argentina or any other country. Argentina is blessed with considerable forest resources and now it will be able to derive considerable benefit from these forest residues.”
Kingston concluded: “Our fast-pyrolysis technology, based on a throughput of about 200 tonnes of biomass daily, is a proven and highly cost effective method of turning agricultural and forest residues into power and renewable industrial fuel. Furthermore, we have pioneered the technology as a readily-transportable series of modules that can be installed virtually anywhere in the world.”"
The joint focus of the four-party agreement is to tackle environmental issues arising from vast stockpiles of decomposing wood waste and substantially increase electricity generating capacity in this forested region of Argentina.
The agreement is subject to further negotiation and execution of definitive and binding agreements, as well as the conclusion of suitable financial arrangements which are currently under discussion.
It is proposed the first two facilities will produce ‘green’ electricity using BioOil for fuel and will be in Virasoro and Santa Rosa, about 500 miles north of Buenos Aires. They will each provide a minimum of six to eight megawatts (MW) of export capacity. The remaining four plants would be for BioOil production only.
The entire six-plant project cost is projected to be between US $120 and $140 million. Funding is anticipated to be provided by a group of banks and other private sources.
The joint announcement was made at the First Biofuels Congress of the Americas being held in the Argentinian capital, Buenos Aires, and attended by world political leaders and industrialists. Those present at the signing were: Governor Arturo Alejandro Colombi, Regional Secretary Major Developments (Subsecretario Regional De Grandes Emprendimientos); Dr. Sergio Cangiani, Minister for Public Works; Dr. Marcello Valcioni, representatives of the municipalities of Governor Virasoro; Dynamotive President and CEO, Andrew Kingston; Raul Parisi, Vice President, Dynamotive Latinoamericana, and directors of Dynamotive’s partner, TECNA, Carlos Grimaldi, and Eduardo Carrone.
Governor Colombi stated, “For us, the agreement signed with Dynamotive signifies another step along the path of economic growth and environmental husbandry that our administration is engaged upon.
“We are very pleased that Dynamotive has chosen our province to establish the first plants in the country and it reflects well on the legal and economic framework that we have established to facilitate investment and encourage economic activity in our province.”
Dynamotive President and CEO, Andrew Kingston, said, “This has the potential to be our biggest project to date and one we feel could pave the way for additional such projects in South America which is becoming keenly aware of its biomass assets and the opportunities they afford for producing renewable, clean energy and reducing dependency on fossil fuel imports used in industry.
“The project in Corrientes has major potential environmental benefits, starting with the reduction of the enormous stockpiles of aging sawdust waste. This waste is also burned without deriving any energy benefit and emits large quantities of carbon dioxide. As this biomass waste deteriorates, it also releases toxic compounds into water, land and the air, including cetanol, which poses a risk to local water resources, and methane, a major greenhouse gas.”
Kingston said the BioOil plants, which are carbon and greenhouse gas neutral, are planned for forestry communities where little or no electricity is available at present. “BioOil is an excellent gas turbine fuel as we have demonstrated with our 2.5 MW plant in West Lorne, Ontario, where BioOil is produced from sawdust.
“Producing power cost-effectively and cleanly is one of the keys to economic prosperity and security whether in Argentina or any other country. Argentina is blessed with considerable forest resources and now it will be able to derive considerable benefit from these forest residues.”
Kingston concluded: “Our fast-pyrolysis technology, based on a throughput of about 200 tonnes of biomass daily, is a proven and highly cost effective method of turning agricultural and forest residues into power and renewable industrial fuel. Furthermore, we have pioneered the technology as a readily-transportable series of modules that can be installed virtually anywhere in the world.”"
Simpler Way To Counter Global Warming Explained: Lock Up Carbon In Soil And Use Bioenergy Exhaust Gases For Energy
"Science Daily — Writing in the journal Nature, a Cornell biogeochemist describes an economical and efficient way to help offset global warming: Pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere by charring, or partially burning, trees, grasses or crop residues without the use of oxygen.
When bioenergy is produced by pyrolysis (low-temperature burning without oxygen), it produces biochar, which has twice as much carbon in its residue than that from other sources. This makes bioenergy carbon-negative and improves soil health. (Credit: Image courtesy of Cornell University)
When bioenergy is produced by pyrolysis (low-temperature burning without oxygen), it produces biochar, which has twice as much carbon in its residue than that from other sources. This makes bioenergy carbon-negative and improves soil health.
This process, he writes, would double the carbon concentration in the residue, which could be returned to the soil as a carbon sink. The exhaust gases from this process and other biofuel production could then be converted into energy.
This so-called biochar sequestration could offset about 10 percent of the annual U.S. fossil-fuel emissions in any of several scenarios, says Johannes Lehmann, associate professor of soil biogeochemistry in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences at Cornell.
"Biochar sequestration, combined with bioenergy production, does not require a fundamental scientific advance, and the underlying production technology is robust, clean and simple, making it appropriate for many regions of the world," said Lehmann. "It not only reduces emissions but also sequesters carbon, making it an attractive target for energy subsidies and for inclusion in the global carbon market."
Most plants pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and lock it up in their biomass or in soil organic matter. But taking this a step further, Lehmann recommends heating the plant biomass without oxygen in a process known as low-temperature pyrolysis. When returned to the soil, biochar creates a stable, long-term carbon sink.
"Biochar also has been shown to improve the structure and fertility of soils, to enhance the retention and efficiency of fertilizers as well as to improve the productivity of soil," said Lehmann.
Capturing the exhaust gases from the pyrolysis process produces energy in such forms as heat, electricity, bio-oil or hydrogen. By adding the biochar to soil rather than burning it as an energy source (which most companies do), bioenergy can be turned into a carbon-negative industry. Biochar returned to soil not only secures soil health on bioenergy plantations but also reduces greenhouse gas emissions by an additional 12 to 84 percent.
Compared with ethanol production, pyrolysis that produces biochar and bioenergy from its exhaust gases is much less expensive, Lehmann said, when the feedstock is animal waste, clean municipal waste or forest residues collected for fire prevention.
Lehmann said that as the value of carbon dioxide increases on carbon markets, "we calculate that biochar sequestration in conjunction with bioenergy from pyrolysis becomes economically attractive when the value of avoided carbon dioxide emissions reaches $37 per ton." Currently, the Chicago Climate Exchange is trading carbon dioxide at $4 a ton; it is projected that that the price will rise to $25-$85 a ton in the coming years."
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When bioenergy is produced by pyrolysis (low-temperature burning without oxygen), it produces biochar, which has twice as much carbon in its residue than that from other sources. This makes bioenergy carbon-negative and improves soil health. (Credit: Image courtesy of Cornell University)
When bioenergy is produced by pyrolysis (low-temperature burning without oxygen), it produces biochar, which has twice as much carbon in its residue than that from other sources. This makes bioenergy carbon-negative and improves soil health.
This process, he writes, would double the carbon concentration in the residue, which could be returned to the soil as a carbon sink. The exhaust gases from this process and other biofuel production could then be converted into energy.
This so-called biochar sequestration could offset about 10 percent of the annual U.S. fossil-fuel emissions in any of several scenarios, says Johannes Lehmann, associate professor of soil biogeochemistry in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences at Cornell.
"Biochar sequestration, combined with bioenergy production, does not require a fundamental scientific advance, and the underlying production technology is robust, clean and simple, making it appropriate for many regions of the world," said Lehmann. "It not only reduces emissions but also sequesters carbon, making it an attractive target for energy subsidies and for inclusion in the global carbon market."
Most plants pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and lock it up in their biomass or in soil organic matter. But taking this a step further, Lehmann recommends heating the plant biomass without oxygen in a process known as low-temperature pyrolysis. When returned to the soil, biochar creates a stable, long-term carbon sink.
"Biochar also has been shown to improve the structure and fertility of soils, to enhance the retention and efficiency of fertilizers as well as to improve the productivity of soil," said Lehmann.
Capturing the exhaust gases from the pyrolysis process produces energy in such forms as heat, electricity, bio-oil or hydrogen. By adding the biochar to soil rather than burning it as an energy source (which most companies do), bioenergy can be turned into a carbon-negative industry. Biochar returned to soil not only secures soil health on bioenergy plantations but also reduces greenhouse gas emissions by an additional 12 to 84 percent.
Compared with ethanol production, pyrolysis that produces biochar and bioenergy from its exhaust gases is much less expensive, Lehmann said, when the feedstock is animal waste, clean municipal waste or forest residues collected for fire prevention.
Lehmann said that as the value of carbon dioxide increases on carbon markets, "we calculate that biochar sequestration in conjunction with bioenergy from pyrolysis becomes economically attractive when the value of avoided carbon dioxide emissions reaches $37 per ton." Currently, the Chicago Climate Exchange is trading carbon dioxide at $4 a ton; it is projected that that the price will rise to $25-$85 a ton in the coming years."
Oriģināls
2007-05-07
Šogad sāks darbu Skotijas lielākā biomasas spēkstacija
"A new biomass plant which will burn virgin and recycled wood to make energy is to start firing in September.
Power company E.ON UK has revealed that construction on its £90 million facility at Steven's Croft near Lockerbie in Scotland has reached an "advanced stage" and will begin commissioning this year.
Work on EON's biomass boiler at Steven's Croft is almost complete.
The firm will burn 48,000 tonnes of wood a year and around a fifth of the material will come from recycled sources. This will be provided by E.ON's main fuel supplier and waste wood reprocessor, A W Jenkinson Ltd.
An E.ON spokesman told letsrecycle.com: "The boiler is almost complete and we are at an advanced stage and looking to fire things up in August or September, with commissioning starting around December."
Keith Plowman, E.ON UK's director of development and construction, said: "Getting Steven's Croft up and running will be one of the cornerstones in our renewables strategy moving forward. We're looking to build on past successes in new renewables and will continue to work towards meeting the Government's renewable energy targets."
At the Steven's Croft site, AW Jenkinson Woodwaste has invested in a fuel processing plant where recycled and virgin wood will be delivered from sites throughout the UK. This will be mixed with short rotation coppice, sawmill co-products and small roundwood.
Material will then be screened and put through a magnetic separator to reach the right specification for the biomass burner. It will be burnt at 850 degrees Celsius in a boiler that is compliant with the Waste Incineration Directive. This will generate 44 megawatts of renewable energy a year."
Oriģināls
Power company E.ON UK has revealed that construction on its £90 million facility at Steven's Croft near Lockerbie in Scotland has reached an "advanced stage" and will begin commissioning this year.
Work on EON's biomass boiler at Steven's Croft is almost complete.
The firm will burn 48,000 tonnes of wood a year and around a fifth of the material will come from recycled sources. This will be provided by E.ON's main fuel supplier and waste wood reprocessor, A W Jenkinson Ltd.
An E.ON spokesman told letsrecycle.com: "The boiler is almost complete and we are at an advanced stage and looking to fire things up in August or September, with commissioning starting around December."
Keith Plowman, E.ON UK's director of development and construction, said: "Getting Steven's Croft up and running will be one of the cornerstones in our renewables strategy moving forward. We're looking to build on past successes in new renewables and will continue to work towards meeting the Government's renewable energy targets."
At the Steven's Croft site, AW Jenkinson Woodwaste has invested in a fuel processing plant where recycled and virgin wood will be delivered from sites throughout the UK. This will be mixed with short rotation coppice, sawmill co-products and small roundwood.
Material will then be screened and put through a magnetic separator to reach the right specification for the biomass burner. It will be burnt at 850 degrees Celsius in a boiler that is compliant with the Waste Incineration Directive. This will generate 44 megawatts of renewable energy a year."
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