The Energy Blog

Are Biofuels Sustainable?

Robert Anex, left, an Iowa State associate professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering, is leading several studies to determine whether a bioeconomy that produces fuel and chemicals from biorenewable resources will be sustainable. One study found an integrated process for producing ethanol from plant fiber could recycle plant nutrients back to the soil.

Innovative bioconversion processes configured to recover key plant nutrients from biomass will allow recycling nutrients to crop fields, thereby closing nutrient cycles and reducing the energetic and economic costs of fertilization. Such advanced bioconversion matched with complementary biomass production may promote the development of highly productive agricultural–industrial systems that protect environmental quality.

"It may well be that the development of biomass-based crops production systems can have as profound an impact on agriculture and its environmental footprint as it does on energy security and the global climate," Anex and co-authors Andrew Heggenstaller and Matt Liebman of Iowa State's agronomy department and Lee Lynd and Mark Laser of Dartmouth College wrote in a recent paper. "Whether this is a positive impact or a negative impact will depend largely on how biomass feedstocks are produced and converted, and the extent to which these two activities are integrated."

GM's First True Hybrid: GMC Yukon

The 8/24 San Jose Mercury News reported on their test drive of the GMC Yukon 2-mode hybrid, a full-size sport-utility with as many as eight seats, the capability to tow a boat, that delivers a fuel-economy gain and can run on pure electricity.

The Yukon is claimed to get 25% greater overall fuel economy and 40% greater in city driving than the standard 2008 Yukon with a 5.3-liter V-8, that is rated at 14 mpg in the city and 20 mpg on the highway (new EPA MPG rating system, which lower MPG estimates for most vehicles). The hybrid is equipped with a 6.0 liter V-8 for better low-end torque.

The gas engine stops when you come to a stop. If you don't gun the engine, you can accelerate to about 30 mph before the gas engine kicks in.

Penn State: Black liquor to DME as Alternative Fuel

Penn State press release:

Adding a little coal and processing the papermaking industry's black liquor waste into synthesis gas is a better choice than burning it for heat, improves the carbon footprint of coal-to-liquid processes, and can produce a fuel versatile enough to run a cooking stove or a truck, according to a team of Penn state engineers.

"Black liquor is routinely burned in a recovery boiler," said Andre Boehman, professor of fuel science. "But it has more energy value as a synthesis gas, which is then used to create other fuels."

Black liquor is a combination of lignin from the wood, the chemicals used in papermaking and water. Normally, after burning, mills extract the inorganic chemicals and recycle them. Synthesis gas or syngas can be made from a variety of organic wastes and is a combination of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. The final product looked at by the researchers is DME or dimethyl ether.  . . .

DME is building new markets in both heat producing fuel applications and transportation. In Japan and China, some demonstration diesel trucks and buses already run on DME. Volvo has a third-generation experimental truck that runs on DME, and other companies are also testing vehicles.

(Penn State) students looked at the efficiency of using black liquor as the feedstock for manufacturing synthesis gas and then DME, and realized that they needed the economy of scale for the process to be really efficient and economical. The capacity of paper mills for fuel production could be expanded by co-processing coal with the black liquor.

Growth in Biofuels Production Remains Strong

Growth in the biofuel industry remains strong for both ethanol and biodiesel, according to a presss release for the Soyatech's Biofuels Index, newly updated for Q2 2007. However, the data also shows signs that the corn-based ethanol build out may be leveling off.

Soyatech's Biofuels Index, which tracks planned and actual build-out of biofuels production capacity, reports dramatic growth in planned capacity for ethanol plants over the past year, from 6.761 billion gallons per year (BGY) as of July 1, 2006, to 13.03 BGY as of July 1, 2007 - an increase of 93%. During this same period, growth in ethanol capacity under construction increased 199%, from 2.417 BGY to 7.226 BGY.

During Q2 2007, total online capacity for ethanol increased by 564 million gallons per year (MGY), or 10.7%, from 5.289 BGY to 5.853 BGY. Capacity in planning rose by approximately 6% during the quarter.

However, the Index also points to a slight leveling off in construction of ethanol plants during Q2 2007 - the first time since the Index began tracking these numbers. According to the Index, capacity under construction decreased slightly by 1.7%.

"While the percent change is too small and the time frame too short to identify this as a definitive trend, we understand from industry sources that it is more difficult to secure debt financing for new refineries due largely to increased equity requirements on the part of banks providing this funding. We suspect that an additional cause may be constraints on the amount of corn available as a feedstock to produce ethanol," said Jacob Golbitz, director of research for Soyatech and its parent company, HighQuest Partners.

Sprinter Plug-in to Get JCS Li-ion Batteries

Milwaukee-based Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI) and Dodge have announced that a fleet of Dodge Sprinter plug-in hybrid delivery vans soon will be operating within the United States powered by Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries.

The vans will be powered by Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries developed by Johnson Controls-Saft Advanced Power Solutions (JCS). The Dodge Sprinter plug-in hybrids will be placed in multiple locations within the U.S., exposing the technology to different drive cycles and to aquire information that can be used to develop the next generation of Lithium-ion batteries.

"Advanced battery technology is the single most important enabler in making all types of electric vehicles practical," said Mary Ann Wright, who leads the JCS joint venture and is vice president and general manager of Johnson Controls' hybrid battery business. "Plug-in hybrids, conventional hybrids, electric vehicles (EVs) and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles will benefit from Lithium-ion technology. Johnson Controls-Saft is determined to deliver state-of-the-art batteries to power advanced, environmentally friendly vehicles,"

According to Wright, the Dodge Sprinter is an ideal vehicle to carry a large battery pack and still have ample room readily accessible for use as a delivery vehicle. Fleets of Sprinter plug-in hybrids were put into service in Los Angeles, New York and Kansas City in 2006 during the first phase of Chrysler and Daimler's plug-in hybrid development program. Powered by Johnson Controls-Saft nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) and Li-ion battery packs, the Sprinter vans have provided valuable data to accelerate the development of future battery technology.

Toray Develops Carbon Fiber Plastics for Auto Platforms

Toray Industries Inc. has developed a technology with Nissan Motor Co. and others that will enable automakers to slash vehicle weight by using a lighter material to build car platforms, The Nikkei learned Thursday.

The technology speeds up the resin molding process, enabling carbon fiber to be mass-produced for automotive use. Unlike conventional steel platforms that can weigh about 300kg for a luxury passenger car, carbon fiber plastics, which combine carbon fiber and resins, will help cut platform weight to roughly 150kg.

This will allow automakers to reduce the overall weight of their vehicles , which average around 1.5 tons, by 10 per cent, resulting in a 4-5 per cent improvement in fuel efficiency.  . . .

Because carbon fiber would still be somewhat costly, Toray plans to initially market its technology for use in luxury vehicles. It predicts that the cost will eventually fall to a level similar to conventional steel platforms.

GM May Make 60,000 `Volt' Electric Cars in First Year

Jeff Green of Bloomberg reported that General Motors Corp. may build as many as 60,000 of its Volt electric cars for their inaugural year on the market, four times the sales of Toyota Motor Corp.'s hybrid Prius on its U.S. debut, people with knowledge of GM's plans said.

Production at that level may allow GM to sell the plug-in Volt for less than $30,000, said the people, who didn't want to be identified because the plans are confidential.

GM product chief Bob Lutz has said he wants to sell the first Volt by late 2010, and expects to have prototypes ready for testing early next year.

Read complete Bloomberg article

See previous post on Volt.

University of New Hampshire to get 80-85% of its Energy from Landfill Gas

The University of New Hampshire president Mark Huddleston recently announced that the UNH, in cooperation with Waste Management of New Hampshire, Inc., has launched EcoLine, a landfill gas project that will pipe enriched and purified gas from Waste Management’s landfill in Rochester to the Durham campus.

UNH is the first university in the nation to undertake a project of this magnitude; it will not only stabilize the university’s fluctuating energy costs but significantly reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, which have doubled in the last five years and grown at an annual rate of 18.9 percent.

The renewable, carbon-neutral landfill gas, from Waste Management’s Turnkey Recycling and Environmental Enterprise (TREE) facility in Rochester, N.H., will replace commercial natural gas as the primary fuel in UNH’s cogeneration plant, enabling UNH to receive 80-85 percent of its energy from a renewable source.

“By reducing the university’s dependence on fossil fuels and reducing our greenhouse gas emissions, EcoLine is an environmentally and fiscally responsible initiative,” said Huddleston. “UNH is proud to lead the nation and our peer institutions in this landmark step toward sustainability.”

Construction is set to begin immediately on a landfill gas processing plant in Rochester which will purify the gas, and the 12.7 mile underground pipeline which will transport the gas from the plant to the university’s Durham campus. UNH is expected to fuel its cogeneration plant with landfill gas by the fall of 2008. Estimated cost of the project, including the construction of a second generator at UNH, is $45 million.

Thin-Film solar Market Soaring

According to a new report from NanoMarkets LC the global market for thin-film photovoltaics (TFPV) is forecast to reach $7.2 billion by 2015, compared to just over $1.0 billion today.

The report states that the market is being driven by the inherent advantages of TFPV. . . . most manufacturers are ramping up production capacity and several -- including First Solar, Fuji Electric, Nanosolar, Sanyo, Uni-Solar and G24i -- are building plants with more than 100 MW in capacity.

Some of the findings of the report include:

• PV could eventually account for as much as 20 percent of the U.S. market's energy needs.
• TFPV was only five percent of the entire PV market recently , but it is expected to account for 35 percent of the photovoltaics market by 2015.
• TFPV can be manufactured using simple printing or other R2R machines.  Printing TFPV has the potential for lowering capital costs by as much as 75 percent, reducing waste and increasing throughput.

Powerspan Ammonia Based CO2 Capture to be Tested at Burger Plant

Powerspan Corp. and BP Alternative Energy have announced a collaborative agreement to develop and commercialize Powerspan's carbon dioxide (CO2) capture technology, called "ECO2(TM)" for power plants. The scope of the agreement includes financial and technical support for pilot demonstration and commercial scale-up activities, which may include joint development of large-scale demonstration projects that would capture CO2 from power station flue gas. The captured CO2 would be sent for secure, long-term storage deep underground. Use of ECO2 for large scale capture and storage of CO2 from power plants represents a major option for reducing greenhouse gases. It is expected that pilot plant testing will take place at FirstEnergy Corp.'s R.E. Burger plant in Shadyside, Ohio in early 2008.

The ECO2 process is a post-combustion CO2 capture process for conventional power plants. The technology is suitable for retrofit to the existing coal- fired, electric generating fleet as well as for new coal-fired plants. The regenerative process is readily integrated with Powerspan's patented Electro- Catalytic Oxidation, or ECO(R), process for multi-pollutant control of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, mercury, and fine particulate matter from power plants.

Who said Nuclear Plants Aren't Good for Us?

Florida Power & Light's (FPL's) Turkey Point nuclear power plant has played a crucial role in saving the endangered American crocodile ( crocodylus acutus). The plant, thanks to its cooling system, has become the main breeding ground for the crocodiles, which were on the brink of extinction 30 years ago. The plant's cooling system, consisting of over 100 km of canals, has created the ideal breeding environment for the animals, which can grow up to 14 feet (4.25 m) long and live for 50-60 years. The reptiles prefer the plant's cooling water canals because the constant water level within the system eliminates the problem of nest flooding and protects the nest from predators. Turkey Point has become home to one-quarter of the USA's entire population of American crocodiles.

I thought this was a desperate attempt by the nuclear industry to get some good press, but crocodile supporters will find it encouraging. As my regular readers should know, I am a supporter of nuclear power, because it is the cleanest (fuel disposal aside & that is manageable) method we have for producing power and is needed for the next 50 years (yes 50 or more) until our renewable energy supplies can take over.  We need to build demonstration plants using the latest technology and also clean coal plants with sequestration so we can realistically compare these technologies.

Artifical Muscle Produces Ocean Power

SRI International has announced the deployment of a prototype buoy-mounted, ocean wave-powered generator off the coast of Florida in the Tampa Bay. The electroactive polymer artificial muscle (EPAM™) technology is used to produce electricity as they bob up and down attached to buoys. The deployment is part of a program sponsored by HYPER DRIVE Corporation, Ltd., a Japanese company focused on development and deployment of wave-powered generators around the world.

The wave-powered generators can be deployed on existing ocean buoys that use batteries as their energy source. The new generator utilizes patented electroactive polymer artificial muscle (EPAM™) technology, and offers a renewable method to continually power ocean buoys. The bouys will be equipped with instrumentation that allows remote monitoring of the generator’s output energy as well as wave height and buoy motion.  SRI is working with Artificial Muscle, Inc., an SRI spin-off company and the exclusive licensee of EPAM, in the development of the EPAM components for the wave-powered generators.

The generator, initially deployed on a navigation buoy for ports and harbors, is capable of generating 20 joules of energy per stroke, which corresponds to an average output power of more than 5 watts under typical ocean wave conditions. The current development program aims at developing generators that can produce 25 watts of average output power. This is sufficient to supply all the power required by navigational buoys. Future efforts will address the design, development, and deployment of wave-powered generators capable of generating power in the kilowatts range for large-scale clean energy production.

Ships Becoming Largest Source of Emissions

According to Europa, in the EU ships are fast becoming the biggest source of air pollution.  Unless more action is taken they are set to emit more than all land sources combined by 2020.

A 2003 study found that large ships generate 30 percent of global nitrogen emissions and 16 percent of sulfur emissions from all petroleum sources. Despite the fact that ships are more energy efficient than other forms of commercial transportation, marine engines operate on extremely dirty fuels. Most large ships use the dirtiest and least expensive diesel available, bunker oil.

Shipping is a small contributor to the world total CO2 emissions (1.8% of world total CO2 emissions in 1996)

LSCF Tubes Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions

LSCF tubes, tiny tubes made from an advanced ceramic material, have the remarkable property of being able to filter oxygen out of the air. If air were to be blown around the outside of an assembly of a large number of the tubes located in a gas fired power station, oxygen would pass through the wall of the tube to the inside, where it would combusts with methane gas that is being pumped through the of the tubes. By burning fuel in pure oxygen, it is possible to produce a stream of almost pure carbon dioxide, which has commercial potential for reprocessing into useful chemicals.

Engineers at Newcastle University in northern England, in collaboration with Imperial College London, have developed LSCF for potential use in reducing emissions for gas-fired power stations and possibly coal and oil-fired electricity generation as well. Conventional gas-fired power stations burn methane, the primary component of natural gas, in a stream of air, producing a mixture of nitrogen and greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides, which are emitted into the atmosphere. Separating the gases is not practical because of the high cost and large amount of energy needed to do so.

However, the LSCF tubes  would allow only the oxygen component of air to reach the methane gas, resulting in the production of almost pure carbon dioxide and steam, which can easily be separated by condensing out the steam as water.

Group IV Semiconductor Accelerates Development Of Energy-Efficient Solid State Lighting

News release -- Group IV Semiconductor, Inc., a developer of energy efficient, solid-state lighting technology, on August 1 announced that it received a substantial new round of investment led by Garage Technology Ventures Canada with Applied Ventures, LLC, a subsidiary of Applied Materials Inc., and with existing investors including Khosla Ventures and BDC Venture Capital. These investments will further expand Group IV's aggressive program to use its revolutionary silicon-based nanofilm technology to dramatically reduce the cost of solid-state lighting and enable its widespread global adoption.

"The race is on to create energy-efficient lighting alternatives as awareness grows of the enormous waste of energy caused by conventional technologies," said Stephen Naor, CEO of Group IV. "Our vision is to create silicon-based light engines - many times more efficient than conventional bulbs and much more economical than today's LED alternatives - to provide the world with a brighter, more sustainable future. We are delighted that Garage Canada, Applied Ventures and our existing investors share this vision and recognize this unique opportunity to transform a $12 billion market."

Group IV will also collaborate with Applied Materials to develop a low cost manufacturing process that will enable Group IV to accelerate its technology towards product commercialization and production.

Group IV's solid-state light engines use a single-chip, AC-powered, silicon-based process that can deliver dramatic cost savings relative to conventional LED technologies. Since production cost is generally considered to be the last remaining hurdle for mass adoption of solid-state lighting, Group IV projects that its unique materials system will provide a crucial competitive advantage in creating high efficiency, long-life lighting products that outperform incandescent, compact fluorescent and fluorescent lighting.

Low-Swirl Combustion Cleans the Air

A unique type of clean-burning combustion technology called, low-swirl injection (LSI), for fuel-flexible near-zero-emission gas turbines, developed by Robert Cheng and David Littlejohn of Berkeley Lab’s Environmental Energy Technologies Division, along with scientists from San Diego-based Solar Turbines. The technology is now entering the marketplace after years of research and development.

LSI  technology, recently won a 2007 R&D 100 award for 2007 from R&D magazine as one of the top 100 new technologies of the year.

LSI is a technology that significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions and pollution from gas turbines used to produce electricity, or from any stationary combustion system in which it is incorporated.  Burners using this technology produce 10 to 100 times lower emissions of nitrogen oxides than conventional burners, making it easier and more economical for industries to meet clean air requirement.

In the 1980s, new combustion technologies reduced nitrogen oxides (NOx) from more than 100 parts per million (ppm) to the current standard of less than 25 ppm. Now, the low swirl Injector emits less than 2 ppm. It is the only technology that can affordably reduce NOx emissions to this near-zero level.

Natural Gas Civic Beats Prius

(HealthNewsDigest.com) - Honda’s natural gas Civic GX, which debuted in 2006 in California but is now becoming available in other parts of the country, just may be the cleanest mainstream car on the road. At least the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) thinks so. The nonprofit group . . . put the Civic GX at the top of its 2007 environmentally friendly car list, edging out Toyota’s hybrid Prius.

The natural gas-fueled Civic scored slightly better than the Prius on fuel economy and reduced emissions in ACEEE’s battery of tests. It also scored better in terms of the pollution generated in the manufacturing processes. . . . continued

The lack of fueling stations and limited range (220 miles) are the main disadvantages of the Civic.

Focus Aquires Inspira, a Spanish Solar Tracker Company

PR Newswire - SolFocus, Inc., manufacturer of concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) systems, announced today that it has acquired Inspira, S.L., a privately owned solar tracker company based in Madrid,. Inspira will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of SolFocus and will continue to market products under its own name. With established global supply chain management and low-cost manufacturing facilities, SolFocus will enable Inspira to drive down the cost of solar trackers.  . . . continued

This acquisition is another sign that consolidation and vertical integration is starting to take place in the solar industry which will enable prices to be reduced due to the lower margins and manufacturing efficiencies made possible by consolidation.

Bodman Speaks on Transportation Fuels

In an interview on CNBC a few minutes ago, U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman responding to a question about what he saw for the future supply of power for the transportation market said that he saw solar power, wind power, plug-in hybrids using solar and wind power, and biofuels such as ethanol and butanol as being the future power sources.

I view this response remarkable in two respects 1) the mention of plug-ins with such importance and without (the apparent need for) any attempt to explain what they were and 2) the mention of butanol as an important biofuel.  This represents a change in the administrations attitude over the past couple of years as plug-ins and butanol were not in their vocabulary before that.  This points out the success of the efforts of CalCars (California Cars Initiative) and Plug in Partners in promoting plug-in hybrid vehicles as well as the efforts of the various biofuel advocate groups.