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An online "tv network" of sorts hosting video presentations on green energy and related topics.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Storing wind power for a calm day
One common critique of wind power is it's only available when the wind is blowing. Often hot days have no wind, hence the power isn't available when it's most needed. And wind is gusty, the strongest winds might be happening at times other than when the power is needed. While this point is thrown out to say that wind power is no good, what it means is to use wind power means finding a way to store electricity generated when the wind is strong and releasing it when its needed later.
A strategy that's used in California, that could be used for electricity from wind power, is to pump water uphill. Since electricity rates are low at night there's an economic argument to make that one can use night-time electricity to pump water to an uphill reservoir, and then release that water through hydroelectric facilities during the day when electricity rates are higher. Indeed this does happen in California and probably elsewhere.
Another strategy might be to use excess electricity to electrolyze water and extract hydrogen. Store the hydrogen in a tank, then release it later to generate electricity. This can be done either with fuel cells or by burning in a turbine.
Utility will use batteries to store wind power covers storing the electricity in batteries. American Electric Power is an electric utility operating in Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, Oklohoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas.
AEP to deploy additional large-scale batteries on distribution grid is their press release. The battery technology uses a sodium sulfur chemistry and goes under the trademark NAS ®. The press release seems to be saying the batteries will be used similarly to a peaker plant, which is a strategy where a "small" natural gas power plant can be fired up during the day, during peak demand times, to handle peak loads, hence the name "peaker". They are also including wind power in their generating network and due to the gusty effects of wind will also see peak generating times. They describe the size of these installations as "1 megawatt" or "11 megawatts" but that is a nonsensical measure for battery packs. "Megawatt" is a measure of current at a given moment, what's important here is how long can the plant sustain that power delivery. Can it only provide 11 megawatts for 1 second? Or over an hour? Or for a full day? Inquiring minds want to know.
The reasoning in the article goes like so:
They can charge at night, when the wind is strong but prices are low, and give the electricity back the next afternoon, when there is hardly any wind but power prices are many times higher, company officials said. That strategy would reduce the amount of power generated from inefficient peak-demand units.
The batteries can also insert energy into the grid during brief voltage drops, reducing the chance of a blackout and stabilizing the grid for all users. They may also delay or eliminate the need for transmission upgrades in some areas, the company said.
This appears to me to match the reasoning of peaker power plants, not wind power. But as I said earlier wind generation has its own peak times which don't necessarily match peak times of customer demand, so this gives the utility some extra flexibility to adopt wind power.
AEP Commissions First U.S. Demonstration of the NAS Battery describes the battery technology, but again does not describe the actual size of the systems they are installing. The page has a picture looking like a relatively small installation you could see on a concrete pad in a parking lot. The battery technology is said to come from Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) and NGK Insulators, Ltd., (NGK) and elsewhere it says Ford Motors originally discovered the battery chemistry, which makes this yet another example of an American company skipping over developing some technology only to allow foreign companies to exploit it.
Saving wind power for later is another technique developed by General Compression to use a wind turbine to compress air, and release the compressed air through another turbine when electricity is required. They sell these as combined units.
It seems the critical item in all the different strategies for storing wind power, is the cost of the storage system. We're facing the same issue in electric vehicles where the best batteries to store electricity are also expensive.
General Compression
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Dedicated to making wind energy available on demand. Dispatchable wind energy can be sold when prices are high, and stored when prices are low. This vision is powered by our Dispatchable Wind Turbine system, which has three components: a compressed air wind turbine, a pipeline network that collects and stores compressed air, and a power plant of expanders and generators. Our expanders are rated at four times the power output of our compressors, greatly increasing the nameplate capacity of our windplants, and enabling us to offer the lowest installed cost per kW of any wind technology in the world.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Mariah Power
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Windspire is a low-cost, easy-to-install wind power appliance that provides a safe and attractive method for harnessing power from the wind. At only 30 feet tall and 2 feet wide, Windspire is safe for birds and people, and is distinguished by its sleek propeller-free design, silent operation, rugged construction, simple installation and affordable pricing. Designed for operation where we live and work, it comes complete with the inverter, poles, and an installation kit.
Friday, September 7, 2007
SunEthanol
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SunEthanol is commercializing a breakthrough discovery with the potential to enable ethanol manufacturers to produce ethanol from biomass (plant life) in a simple and cost-effective manner, thereby reducing our nation's dependence on fossil fuels while helping to address the problem of global warming. Our "Q Microbe" was discovered in New England soil by a woman who has been researching cellulose degrading microbes for decades.
Aquaflow Bionomic Corporation
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Has the objective to be the first company in the world to economically produce biofuel from wild algae harvested from open-air environments, to market it, and meet the challenge of increasing demand. ABC harvests algae directly from the settling ponds of standard Effluent Management (EM) Systems and other nutrient-rich water. The process can be used in many industries that produce a waste stream, including the transport, dairy, meat and paper industries. The two-step process firstly optimises the ponds' productive capacity, and secondly, determines the most efficient and economic way of harvesting the pond algae. Algae are provided with full opportunity to exploit the nutrients available in the settling ponds, thereby cleaning up the water. The algae are then harvested to remove the remaining contaminant. A last stage of bio-remediation, still in development, will ensure that the water discharge from the process exceeds acceptable quality standards.
Zeachem
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ZeaChem's innovative process was designed for high yield. The company is pioneering biorefinery technology using combinations of biochemical and thermochemical processing steps. The biochemical processing step converts fermentable sugars in the cellulosic biomass into acetate, which is then recovered from the broth as an ester. The thermochemical processing step converts lignin and other non-fermentable materials in the cellulosic biomass into hydrogen. By combining these two streams in a hydrogenolysis reaction, ZeaChem produces ethanol. Unlike other processes, the Zeachem process uses all fractions of the plant - cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, giving it much higher yield.
Diversified Energy Corporation
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Company specializing in the advancement of alternative and renewable energy technologies and projects. The company is maturing a series of promising new technologies such as advanced coal gasification techniques, biomass to transportation fuel approaches, advanced solar concentrator platforms, terrestrial carbon dioxide sequestration methods, and in-situ shale oil recovery processes to name just a few. In parallel, the company is working on projects (and providing services to others) to bring commercially available technologies to market now.
Saturday, September 1, 2007
GoBiodiesel Cooperative
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The GoBiodiesel Cooperative collects and converts waste vegetable oil (WVO) into usable fuel. Our current processor is in Portland, Oregon.
Our Mission: To bring about the environmental, economic, and public health benefits of biodiesel through education, production and use.
GoBiodiesel is a working members cooperative. The cost is $100 for a lifetime membership. Each month members work a minimum of 4 hours on one of our committees and in exchange they can buy a monthly allotment of fuel at member prices.
Biodiesel: A New Way of Turning Plants into Fuel
Ethanol, the most popular and commercial biofuel, has long been refined out of plant matter, but it requires the costly, energy-intensive step of distilling every molecule of water out of the solution.
...If the process can be scaled up to industrial levels, it could be a major step toward the creation of a transportation fuel that is relatively clean burning, doesn't contribute to global warming, and provides U.S. farmers with billions of dollars of new income.
...He points out that the Brazilian petroleum industry also resisted government attempts to promote biofuels, but it is now a big supporter -- more than half of Brazil's oil imports have been replaced with biofuels (see the Technology Review April cover story on world-changing ideas).
...Charles Wyman, a distinguished professor at Dartmouth College in Hanover NH, whose specialty is the biological conversion of cellulosic biomass to ethanol and other products, says this new methodology could give biodiesel a fighting chance to succeed in the commercial marketplace by allowing manufacturers to make either ethanol or biodiesel fuel.
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Biodiesel WWW Encyclopedia
Description:
Provides comprehensive info & WWW resources for bio-diesel. It provides inputs and info on various aspects of biodiesel, and over a thousand relevant web links on biodiesel related topics. It is intended to be a one-stop biodiesel resource, both for information and for WWW links, and is expected to be of use to beginners and experts alike.
World Energy Alternatives
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The most recognized and respected biodiesel brand. A leading global supplier, World Energy is the preeminent source of quality fuel to large volume customers worldwide. With the largest supply infrastructure in the industry, the company’s network of BQ-9000 accredited production facilities and diversified partnerships ensures reliable supply of quality product across the nation and around the world.
The National Biodiesel Accreditation Program
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A cooperative and voluntary program for the accreditation of producers and marketers of biodiesel fuel called BQ-9000. The program is a unique combination of the ASTM standard for biodiesel, ASTM D 6751, and a quality systems program that includes storage, sampling, testing, blending, shipping, distribution, and fuel management practices.
BQ-9000 is open to any biodiesel manufacturer, marketer or distributor of biodiesel and biodiesel blends in the United States and Canada.
The Centre for Jatropha Promotion
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A group of progressive farmers, scientists, botanists, agronomist, economist and industrialist dedicated to the development of rural INDIA in accordance with GHANDHIJI'S vision of making RURAL INDIA self-reliant.
EZBiodiesel
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A division of Summit Enterprises LLC, a company founded by Guy Purcella and is located in Grand Junction Colorado in the United States. We are on the western slope of Colorado off I-70. I got into biodiesel in 2005 when I first learned that you could make biodiesel at home. The idea appealed to me not only because of the superior fuel quality of biodiesel, but also because it I was really sick of knowing that we were sending so many of our dollars overseas to already wealthy foreign oil companies. And as a military veteran I was tired of all the wars we were fighting to 'protect our oil interests'. Of course the fact that I could make it for under $1.00 a gallon appealed to me also.
Solix Biofuels
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A company developing algal biodiesel production methods. They are a direct intellectual descendant of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Aquatic Species Program started in 1978 to explore ways to produce biodiesel from algae.
Evolution Biodiesel
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Makers of a line of kits for producing biodiesel. Their kits cover production levels from 13 gallons per day through 800 gallons per day.
Greenline Industries
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Greenline Industries develops cutting-edge processing technologies for the Biodiesel community Greenline manufactures a full range of Biodiesel processing systems employing the very latest waterless technology. We serve a broad range of customers that include farm co-ops, small businesses, larger scale municipal interests, and full scale commercial plants delivering up to 100+ million gallons of biodiesel per year.
Awake at the Wheel
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A blog written by the principals at Propel Biofuels. Propel is a retail alternative fuel company founded by passionate alt-fuel drivers. Awake at the Wheel will also feature guest commentary from biodiesel pundits, industry insiders, and regular old folks who have spent a lot of time behind the wheel of diesel vehicles running biodiesel.
Biodiesel Reality Check
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A long list of facts meant to help the reader have a second thought on the value of biodiesel.
Biodiesel from Algae and the Biofuels Discussion in Argentina
This is the latest of a series of announcements related to biofuels that have been taking place in the country in the last year, and specially after the launch of a biodiesel law by Argentine government and the US president George Bush’s visit to the region (in which he signed an agreement to promote a market for ethanol with Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva).
...Leaving the most radical speeches behind, we thought worth mentioning some excerpts from a document by Engineer Enrique Mario Martinez, president of the Argentine National Institute for Industrial Technology (a well known investigation institution), who highlights issues like the low yield of corn-based biodiesel, the different impacts in the environment between biodiesel and bioethanol, and the big oil companies interests in biodiesel mixed with petrol.
One of the drawbacks Martinez -and many professionals- questions is corn biodiesel, since the amount of energy required to plant, fertilize, harvest and process the grains until their final fuel form is almost the same or less than the energy obtained in biodiesel.
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Corn Ethanol And Biodiesel Net Energy Losers
Patzek, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Berkeley, conducted a detailed analysis of the energy input-yield ratios of producing ethanol from corn, switch grass and wood biomass as well as for producing biodiesel from soybean and sunflower plants.
...In assessing inputs, the researchers considered such factors as the energy used in producing the crop (including production of pesticides and fertilizer, running farm machinery and irrigating, grinding and transporting the crop) and in fermenting/distilling the ethanol from the water mix.
...A new study of the carbon dioxide emissions, cropland area requirements, and other environmental consequences of growing corn and sugarcane to produce fuel ethanol indicates that the "direct and indirect environmental impacts of growing, harvesting, and converting biomass to ethanol far exceed any value in developing this energy resource on a large scale."
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BioPro 190 Biodiesel Processor
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Easy to use, fully automated, industrial grade biodiesel fuel producer for individual, commercial and agricultural users.
Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance
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A non-profit organization dedicated to promoting sustainable biodiesel practices through outreach and education. Our goal is to create best practice standards for verifying that all points in biodiesel production are sustainable including the harvesting, production and distribution of biodiesel. In weeks to come we will be updating our site with more informative materials about sustainable biodiesel and the SBA.
Growth in Biofuels Production Remains Strong
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%.
..."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.
...The Index summary also discusses issues surrounding feedstock availability, noting a movement away from reliance only on soybean oil and towards the use of alternative feedstocks in the capacity build-out of biodiesel plants.
..."Given the development of trends that we have observed over the last six months, we expect convergence in the price of all commodity fats and oils over the next 6 to 12 months that will leave little to no additional margin for biodiesel producers that use alternative sources," Golbitz noted.
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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.
...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.
..."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.
..."The possibility of recycling nutrients from the biorefinery to the agricultural system that produces the feedstock may allow substantial improvements in both sustainability and production efficiency," the researchers wrote.
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Using Biomass for Biodiesel
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin (my alma mater) are working on a process to produce diesel fuel directly from the cellulose and hemicellulose (carbohydrates) that make up 70-75% of a plants dry weight, rather than from just the seeds. They have developed a reforming process, Aqueous Phase Dehydratiocn/Hydrogenation (APD/H), to convert the cellulosic materials to the long-chain hydrocarbons that constitute diesel fuel.
...First, a stream of processed biomass consisting of water and sugars is fed over a nickel-tin catalyst to strip off some of its hydrogen atoms.
...The UW process, if research proceeds as planned, would be of as much or more significance than the recently developed enzymes that can convert the cellulosic materials in biomass to sugars, allowing production of ethanol from virtually any plant material.... I disagree with the UW in the amount of energy created in the ethanol process, the NEV is more like 1.3 to 1.4 in a modern ethanol plant, with even higher values expected using enzymes.
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Biodiesel Logic
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Biodiesel Logic is based on the vision that small to medium scale biodiesel production is not only logical but profitable. Also that small to medium scale processing equipment can be improved by applying industrial engineering criteria that has not been normally available to the small biodiesel producer. If properly used our biodiesel processing equipment will give the user, consistent quality with a high conversion rate at an affordable price. Simultaneously we are developing ancillary equipment for use in small to medium scale biodiesel production, such as biodiesel filter systems, W.V.O. dewatering systems, methanol recovery units, biodiesel wash-tank systems, biodiesel settling and storage tanks, inline heaters, and clarifiers.
Green Star Products, Inc
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A holding company with various equity (stock) positions in other technology companies. GSPI uses opportunities such as the TVT race car, industrial offset programs, conferences, meetings and trade shows to showcase technologies of subsidiary companies. In addition, GSPI provides engineering and research and development assistance to insure the technologies are highly competitive and provide superior market value.
World's First Carbon-Neutral Biodiesel Plant Coming to Idaho
Green Star Products, Inc. (GSPI) will build the first biodiesel plant to emit almost zero net greenhouse gases from direct plant production of biodiesel. We've been following the rise of biodiesel as an alternative to fossil fuels and gasoline (from the geography of the fuel to the celebs who use it to its addition to the dictionary), so we know that most production plants require heating input, usually from natural gas, require electricity from local utilities, which emit CO(2), and that the chemical processes uses 10% methanol (wood alcohol) made from natural gas, all of which contribute to our warming planet.
...Almost all of the methanol used in the U.S. comes from South American countries and of course is not renewable because it is produced from natural gas.
...The new facility, located in Glenns Ferry, Idaho, will have a startup biodiesel production capacity of 10 million gallons per year.
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Biodiesel Basics
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Helps disseminate information about biodiesel and offer resources such as books, workshops, and other materials and services. It was formed because of the surging global demand for information on biodiesel and its production. Now one website offers a collection of books, workshops, and a host of other services.
The books we list on our website are of textbook quality and provide accurate and up-to-date information for the biodiesel industry. Before a book can be listed on our site, we make sure it meets our standard and that of the industry. We want to provide information that will be helpful in planning a biodiesel business, such as on marketing, production, operating cost, financing, and many other important areas. Please review current listings to see why they are rated the best in the industry.
Grown Fuel Biodiesel Consultancy
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Paul Martin, a consultant offering designs for biodiesel plants and information for consumers to aid understanding the value of biofuels.
"I blew up my 2008 F350 on biodiesel"
A biodiesel user who is part of the San Francisco Biofuels group recently blew up his truck, a brand-new Ford F350.
...To my understanding, biodiesel has a higher flash point and I can't understand how one blows up an engine on a vegetable-based fuel.
...to test fuel and eventually even legal documentation that Ford could not extend their warranty to cover third parties, and thus not honor (the now 20k) in warranty work.... Skip several interesting exchanges later, Ford scrambled and is now covering everything-and has even offered to take the truck back and sell me a new one (mine had only 200 miles on it). Next, I found out that Ford just offered a massive recall for injector problems that create a hydrolock that produces white smoke and can cause a massive bang-exactly what happened to me....
...If you're interested to know more, the truck owner in question has been reading the comments and posted himself (see #24).
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Biodiesel motorcycles
When I first started writing about diesel motorcycles it struck me as a bit unusual, I really wasn’t aware of some of the latest advances in adapting diesel engines to a motorcycle frame but of course, the Thunder Star 1200 got me thinking about the possibilities.
...Over the weekend, the TV show, Trucks, ran through the whole process of making biodiesel fuel from a large container of used cooking oil picked up at a local restaurant after which, the host, Stacy David, pumped the homebrew into a diesel pickup and ran it through its paces.
...He had a setup from a company called Freedom Fuel America, which consisted of a couple of plastic containers, some pumps and hoses and a test kit to determine how much lye was necessary to adjust the chemical properties of the used oil.
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Earth Biofuels
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Earth Biofuels, Inc. (EBI) is a vertically integrated energy company and one of the first of its kind in the biofuels industry. As a producer, distributor, and marketer of biodiesel fuel, the company operates at each level of the supply chain from raw materials to the retail level. The company is also expanding, through construction or acquisition, into the ethanol market. Additionally, Earth LNG, a wholly owned subsidiary of Earth Biofuels, is currently the largest producer and marketer of vehicle-grade Liquified Natural Gas in western United States.
Cornell ecologist's study finds that producing ethanol and biodiesel from corn and other crops is not worth the energy
Patzek, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Berkeley, conducted a detailed analysis of the energy input-yield ratios of producing ethanol from corn, switch grass and wood biomass as well as for producing biodiesel from soybean and sunflower plants.
...corn requires 29 percent more fossil energy than the fuel produced; switch grass requires 45 percent more fossil energy than the fuel produced; and wood biomass requires 57 percent more fossil energy than the fuel produced.
...In assessing inputs, the researchers considered such factors as the energy used in producing the crop (including production of pesticides and fertilizer, running farm machinery and irrigating, grinding and transporting the crop) and in fermenting/distilling the ethanol from the water mix.
..."The United State desperately needs a liquid fuel replacement for oil in the near future," says Pimentel, "but producing ethanol or biodiesel from plant biomass is going down the wrong road, because you use more energy to produce these fuels than you get out from the combustion of these products."
Honge Oil proves to be a good biodiesel
One evening in early 1999, Dr.Udipi Shrinivasa from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore was having tea with some locals in Kagganahalli village.
...After all Rudolf Diesel used peanut oil to run the first ever diesel engine.
..."Here we were,- all scientists- looking at technical solutions like windmills, gasifiers, solar panels and methane generators for rural India, and we had not made the obvious connection with the potential of non-edible oils known from Vedic times as fuels."
...In the 1930s the British Institute of Standards, Calcutta had examined, over a 10 year period, a series of eleven non edible oils as potential 'diesels', among them the oil from Pongamia Pinnata ['Honge' in Kannada]. In 1942, during those dark war years the prestigious US journal, 'Oil and Power' had in an editorial euologised Honge Oil as technically a fit candidate to generate industrial-strength power.
...War was over, oil fields were secure again, everyone got lazy and the petroleum industry got smart: it pumped out and flooded the world with fuels, at times cheaper than the cost of water.
...And yet a Honge oil economy did survive in India, though once removed from direct contact with people. Dr.Shrinivasa estimates that the size of trade in Honge oil['Karanji' in Hindi and 'Pungai' in Tamil] controlled by the Bombay commodities market is 1 million tonnes feeding mostly soap making and lubricants industries. In Warrangal, Andhra Pradesh, the Azamshahi Textile Mills, set up by the Nizam of Hyderabad in 1940, generated all the power needs of the factory using non-edible oils until its recent closure; and it had surplus power left over for the city's needs!
...It is a hardy tree that mines water for its needs from 10 metre depths without competing with other crops.... From year-3 it yields pods and production is a mature average of 160kG per tree per year from year-10, through to its life of 100 years. Ten trees can yield 400 litres of oil, 1200 kg of fertiliser grade oil cake and 2500kg of biomass as green manure per year.
...If the farmer collected the seeds free from his land, had it milled and sold the oil cake at Rs.3 per kG, the cost of oil to him was Rs.4 per litre.... If he bought the seeds at Rs.3.50 per kilo, the cost was Rs.9 per litre and if he bought the ready oil from the market it was Rs.20. The potential to drive the rural economy, make it autonomous and put some cash in its pockets was obvious.
...If the power and fertiliser needs are met by Honge, villages would have cash surpluses," says Dr.Shrinivasa.
..."...30 million hectare equivalent [planted for biodiesels] can completely replace the current use of fossil fuels, both liquid and solid, renewably, at costs India can afford," says Dr. Shrinivasa. Our oil bill is $6 billion a year; we can put a third of that cash in the hands of rural Indians, have our oil needs met and save the two thirds.
...P.V.Jose of the company read an early press release about Dr.Shrinivasa's findings on Honge oil and got in touch with him. Coordinating with Dr.Shrinivasa, Dandeli converted all five of their 1 megaWatt diesel engines to run on biodiesel.
...Rs.200,000 was spent on sourcing satellite images to identify fracture lines and from them, deep water sources were identified using electrical sensitivity measurements. 20 bore wells of depths varying from 200' to 300' were drilled in the project area spread over 40 sq.kM. Submersible pumps were let into the wells and a project-level 440 volt grid was created to power the pumps.
...Honge seeds were collected from the project area, taken to a miller at a nearby town.
...Energy flowed through the project grid, charged the pumps and water sprayed out of a rain gun. For the first time ever in history Kagganahalli witnessed a source of water other than rain.
...An information centre will soon be ready at Huliyurdurga to impart training to groups from other parts of India.
...We could easily put the oil cake through digesters that would yield a rich fertiliser slurry, methane and drop costs further.
...Only in the west the accent has been on vegetable oils [which are far too valuable in India's kitchens] to run automobiles. Dr.Shrinivasa's thrust on the other hand, has been to use non-edible oils to ignite a process of rural enrichment.
...They are cheap and renewable, they disperse profits, are safe to store [due to a high flash point], need nothing new to be invented to run engines, are kinder on the engines, have a long shelf life, are biodegradable, release no more carbon di oxide than the trees originally consumed and have cooler, clearer exhausts. And to the delight of many investigators the exhaust from an engine on biodiesel "smells of pop corn and french fries!"
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India's BioDiesel Scene
Communities in rural India need to develop alternative energy options that will be good for the environment and help promote sustainable livelihoods in the region, without exposing them to such adverse effects of modernization as cultural transformations, and allowing them to retain independence in the face of globalization.
...Establishment and ongoing improvement of a Jatropha System will benefit four main aspects of development and secure a sustainable way of life for village farmers and the land that supports them.
...There are new work opportunities in Jatropha cultivation and biodiesel production related sectors, and the industry can be grown in a manner that favors many prosperous independent farmers and farming communities.
Price Policy for BioDiesel: Public sector oil firms have announced a price of Indian Rupees 25 (US$ 0.56) per liter for procuring bio-diesel extracted from non-edible oilseeds for mixing in diesel. The program to sell diesel mixed with non-edible oil extracted from Jatropha Curcas and Pongamia Pinnata, which could cut India's import dependence, but would take 4-5 years to launch on commercial scale.
...The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is now in talks with country's biggest truck and bus maker Tata Motors and Indian Oil to take its biofuel project to the next stage, for testing its vehicles on bio-diesel developed from jatropha plant.
It is likely there will be a clear-cut and updated Indian government bio-diesel policy by early 2006, after the Energy Policy Committee submits its report to the government by November 30, 2005.
...The Indian government plans to assist states to promote Jatropha cultivation for increasing bio-diesel production in the country under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the Rajya Sabha was informed on 7 Dec 2005.
The Andhra Pradesh government has introduced a draft biodiesel policy to facilitate both investors and farmers to plant oil-bearing trees on 1.5 million acres in the next four years. Also, a risk fund of Indian Rupees 2.0 Billion is expected to be created, as a loan to the state government, to support small and marginal farmers having up to five acres of land.... The proposed board, having legal authority, will monitor the tripartite agreement signed between the stake holders, besides assisting, encouraging, and promoting jatropha cultivation, according to the officials involved in preparing the draft policy.
...Gujarat Oelo Chem Limited (GOCL), a Panoli-based firm started on 12th of March 2005, producing bio-diesel from vegetable based feedstock.
...Tel: 91-20-5623 3110, Cell : 91-9422010236, Fax : 91-20-2581 3993, , is setting up a refinery at Hinjewadi, with a capacity to process 5,000 liters biodiesel per day from Jatropha plant.
...Renewable energy company Bhoruka Power Corporation Ltd, has received a grant of 100,000 dollars from the US government to conduct a detailed feasibility report for a bio-diesel project in State of Karnataka.
...Southern Online Biotechnologies Limited, which is setting up a bio-diesel project in Andhra Pradesh, has signed memorandum of understanding with several government bodies and non-governmental organisations, for procuring raw material like Pongamia Pinnata (Karanja or Kanuga) and Jatropha seed.... The company is setting up the bio-diesel project at an estimated cost of Indian Rupees 150 million at Choutuppal in Andhra Pradesh, with technology from a German company named Lurgi.
...Jain Irrigation System Ltd., has plans to set up a Indian Rupees 480 million large-scale commercial bio-diesel plant, with a capacity of 150,000 tons per day in Chattisgarh by 2008. R&D work is being done at a 3.0 tons per day biodiesel pilot plant at Jalgaon, built at a cost of Indian Rupees 5.0 million.
...The 300 tons per day biodiesel plant will come up in the port town of Kakinada at an estimated cost of Indian Rupees 1.4 billion and would be a 100 percent export-oriented unit.
...The fuel has been produced and marketed by Pune-based Mint Biofuels, Though the plant initially had a capacity of 100 litres per day, it was scaled up to 400 litres per day. The company will set up a Indian Rupees 300 million plant at Chiplun, which will have a capacity of producing 5,000 tons of fuel per year.
...British Petroleum on Feb. 2, 2006, declared that it will fund a $9.4 million project in India to see if biodiesel can be produced from a non-edible oil bearing crop. The project by The Energy and Resources Institute in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh will study the feasibility of producing biodiesel from the crop Jatropha Curcas. The 10-year project will cultivate around 8,000 hectares of wasteland with the crop and install equipment needed for seed crushing, oil extraction and processing, to produce 9 million liters of biodiesel per year.
...Demand for bio-fuels will invariably increase, it is expected that the demand for bio-fuel from vegetable oils and fats will shoot up to 3 million tons a day.
...The state government has set up a separate department for bringing into productive use the 728,000 hectare cultivable wasteland available for cultivation of Jatropha plantation for production of bio-diesel. The state government is drawing up a roadmap, which will see the involvement of oil majors like Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Reliance Industries, to make the state the biggest producer of bio-diesel. It is planning to bring between 4 and 5 million acres of land in seven to eight districts of the state under biodiesel plantations and ensure that micro-irrigation is used in a big way in these areas.
...D1-Mohan Bio Oils Limited (a joint venture of Mohan Breweries and Distilleries and U.K.based D1 Oils Plc) plans to bring one lakh hectares under jatropha cultivation in Tamil Nadu. Indian Overseas Bank signed an agreement with Coimbatore based Classic Jatropha Oil (India) Ltd for promoting cultivation of jatropha curcas in Tamil Nadu under contract farming.
...India's contribution to world carbon emissions is expected to increase in the coming years due to the rapid pace of urbanisation, shift from non-commercial to commercial fuels, increased vehicular usage and continued use of older and more inefficient coal-fired power plants.
...: A UK producer of green fuel, Newcastle-based D1 Oil Plc, has 10,000 hectares of the crop planted in India and its target of 267,000 hectares by the end of 2006 is on track.
...A jatropha plantation over 100,000 hectares is expected to yield 250,000-300,000 tons of crude jatropha oil per annum.
...Godrej Agrovet Ltd is planning to invest over Indian Rupees 5.0 billion, for jatropha and palm oil cultivation in the states of Gujarat and Mizoram.
...According to industry sources, Godrej Agrovet would invest Indian Rupees 2.5 billion for bio-fuel plant cultivation along with the palm oil processing and plant cultivation project in Gujarat while it would invest Indian Rupees 2.5 billion for both jatropha and palm oil cultivation in Mizoram. Godrej would be cultivating both jatropha and palm oil in an area over 10,000 acres in Mizoram as per the fertility of the land.
...Biodiesel will have a pronounced impact on edible oil prices : Prices of both palm and soy oils will firm up in the coming months, with demand for biodiesel alone grabbing at least six million tons of oils despite the slower growth of the economy.
...From mid-2006, the use of soy oil for biodiesel will have a pronounced impact on prices, and the total biodiesel capacity coming on stream by the end of 2006/07 will require 1.6 million tons of soya oil. Edible oil imports by India, the world's leading buyer, in 2005/06 could remain flat at around 5.65 million tons, but imports of soy oil will go up at the expense of palm oil.
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Backyard Biodiesel
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Teachers of making biodiesel and converting vehicles. They teach in the SF Bay Area.
Technical Handbook for Marine Biodiesel
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This handbook has been prepared to provide practical information on Biodiesel to owners of recreational boats powered with diesel engines. The report summarizes research work and field observations collected over the past five years from the U.S. and Europe. The handbook is intended to be relatively comprehensive without being overly detailed. References are cited to guide the reader in pursuing specific topics in more depth. The appendices contain support documentation and articles on marine Biodiesel.
Dr. Dan's Alternative Fuelwerks
Description:
They first introduced Biodiesel to the Puget Sound area in October of 2001. With the support of local grassroots groups such as The Northwest Biodiesel Network and TDIClub.com, we have grown to be one of the largest and
most successful retailers of Biodiesel in the country.
Driver ticketed for using biofuel
Bob Teixeira decided it was time to take a stand against U.S. dependence on foreign oil. So last fall the Charlotte musician and guitar instructor spent $1,200 to convert his 1981 diesel Mercedes to run on vegetable oil. His reward, from a state that heavily promotes alternative fuels: a $1,000 fine last month for not paying motor fuel taxes.
...The state Department of Revenue, which fined Teixeira, has asked legislators to waive the $2,500 bond for small fuel users.
..."With the high cost of fuel right now, the department does recognize that a lot of people are looking for relief," said Reggie Little, assistant director of the motor fuel taxes division.
..."One of the biggest problems in the state is a real lack of information for people who want to use alternative fuels," said Snow's research assistant, Jonathan Ducote.
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Biodiesel Gear
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Manufacturer of cost effective Biodiesel processing gear & supplier of accessories, Biodiesel information and services since 2002! We are the originator of small biodiesel processors of this kind anywhere in the world. Many have tried to copy us but all have failed to adequately meet all the required factors in making biodiesel. We began manufacturing these processors in 2002. since that time we have cut the processing time in half, implemented the only directly heated plastic processor in the world all the while adding additional layers of safety to the process.
Energea
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Maker of biodiesel equipment in Austria. ENERGEA Environmental Technology is an innovative research company that follows a new approach in the field of biofuels. The range of our activities includes biofuels and natural solvents. The principles of sustainability and natural cycles are the driving force of our motivation. We aim to find intelligent and economically optimized solutions that are environmentally friendly and do not waste our resources. After all, environmental technology has to be economical, as well.
Renewable Energy Group
Description:
Renewable Energy Group, Inc. (REG) is the market leader in production and sales of the most promising renewable energy – biodiesel. Strategic agreements with key partners have given Renewable Energy Group, Inc. the ability to lead in the planning, construction, administration and distribution of new biodiesel plants and the resources to create and market an overwhelming majority of biodiesel in the U.S.
By rapidly growing production capacity and strengthening distribution channels, Renewable Energy Group, Inc. will continue to expand the reach of clean-burning fuel that helps reduce U.S. reliance on foreign oil.
Veg My Ride
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They offer a DVD showing how to convert a vehicle to run on biodiesel or vegetable oil.
Ecotec Resources UK.
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Ecotec Resources UK Ltd have been serving the biodiesel community since July 2005. We specialise in biodiesel installations and training in the manufacture of biodiesel and all applicable regulations and licensing. Our staff offer quality and reliable service you can count on. In addition, we are always here to answer any questions you may have about our company, our products or training.
As each system can be individually tailored to suit the customer with further add-ons available we recommend that you attend our single day training school prior to purchase where all your needs and requirements can be discussed.
Our systems are designed to be very easy to use and our training day will set you on the road to making top quality biodiesel. The training takes place on site where you will be able to see our own production unit in action as well as learn how to operate yours, we like to keep things relaxed and informal and we get excellent feedback from our customers who attend these sessions. Our intention is that you leave happy, confident and one step nearer to drastically reducing not only your carbon footprint but your fuel bills!
PlantDrive.com
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PlantDrive™ provides high quality kits and components for the conversion of diesel engines to use 100% vegetable oil as fuel without chemical processing or addition of harmful chemicals. We all know that climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our age. Al Gore's film "An Inconvenient Truth" has brought this reality to the attention of millions. It is now widely accepted that the carbon dioxide released from our cars and trucks is one of the main contributors to climate change. Renewable vegetable oil fuels in an efficient diesel engine offer one of the only currently affordable and viable carbon-neutral fuel solutions!
Golden Fuel Systems
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Golden Fuel Systems (formerly Greasel Conversions) is one of the world leaders in manufacturing and installation of SVO (Straight Vegetable Oil) diesel conversion systems.
For over 6 years, Golden Fuel Systems (GFS) has served the world-wide SVO community by offering affordable products, installations, unmatched customer service and knowledgeable technical support. With 6 installation locations around the globe, Golden Fuel Systems has helped thousands convert their diesel vehicles to run on SVO to avoid those costly fuel prices and lessen their environmental impact.
Greasecar
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The Greasecar Vegetable Oil Conversion System is an auxiliary fuel modification system that allows all diesel vehicles to run on straight vegetable oil in any climate. Your Greasecar kit comes with everything you need to convert your diesel vehicle to run on vegetable oil. Including hand crafted aluminum heated fuel cell, Quick-flush switching and 10 micron filter.
Frybrid
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Frybrid manufactures the only commercial conversion systems which ensures that the vegetable oil is addequately heated, and that the engine is up to operating temperature, preventing lube oil polymerization and combustion chamber carbon build-up.
Our switch-over times from VO back to Diesel are the lowest available averaging 7-10 seconds on Mercedes applications and 3-5 on VW applications!. Switching from Diesel fuel to VO is done as soon as is safe, unlike systems which advise the user to "Give it a try and see if the engine looses power" or use electric heaters to warm the fuel while the engine is still cold.
How Biodiesel Works
If you've read or watched the news lately, you've probably come across some article, snippet or sound bite related to oil and oil prices.
...These starting ingredients can range from corn to soybeans to animal fat, depending on the type of fuel being made and the production method.
...There is also a formal, technical definition that is recognized by ASTM International (known formerly as the American Society for Testing and Materials), the organization responsible for providing industry standards.
a fuel comprised of mono-alkyl esters of long chain fatty acids derived from vegetable oils or animal fats, designated B100, and meeting the requirements of ASTM D 6751.
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British biodiesel firm close to collapse
British company Biofuels Corporation has been hit hard by the rising price of vegetable oil that they use to produce biodiesel.
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McDonald's will make biodiesel from its own waste grease for trucking fleet
Over in the UK, McDonald's announced today that it will start using its own waste cooking oil to make biodiesel, which will be then used in its entire truck fleet of 155 vehicles. McDonald's has 1,200 restaurants in Britain, and Matthew Howe, senior vice president with McDonald's UK, told Reuters that the fast food chain just might be able to sell biodiesel to others because they'll likely have some excess.
...The whole truck fleet should be converted to biodiesel in about a year, which will mean 6.1 million liters of waste oil put to use on the roads.
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Algal Biodiesel: Fact or Fiction?
Microalgae biofuels generally, and algae biodiesel production specifically, is still a long-term R&D goal (likely about 10 years), that will require at least as much funding as the ASP, if not more, and success is, as for any R&D effort, rather uncertain.
...Some near term applications can be considered, in wastewater treatment specifically (but, wait, do not rush to your nearest algae wastewater treatment ponds - there are thousands of these around, but they are mostly very small and their algae have little or no oil, at least the way that we operate those systems at present.
...There are now scores of venture-financed companies, university research groups, government labs, garage start-ups, GFT licensees, web sites, and on and on claiming that they have, can, may and/or will produce algae biodiesel, at low cost, high productivity, soon, etc. None are based on data, experience, reality or even a correct reading of the literature.
...Even if R&D proves successful and we can actually produce algae biofuels (maybe even biodiesel) economically (whatever the economics may be a decade or so from now), even then, I am sorry to say that due to resource (land, water, etc.) limitations, algae will not replace all our (or their) oil wells, cannot solve our entire global warming problem, or make me rich quick, at least not honestly.
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Finding A Better Way To Make Biodiesel
Their project is being supported by a $1.8 million, three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a $120,000, two-year grant from the U.S. Department of Energy and a $140,000 grant from the Grow Iowa Values Fund.
...They were also hoping to find technologies that would effectively make biodiesel out of raw materials such as used restaurant oils and animal fats -- materials that are much cheaper than soy oil, but also contain free fatty acids that can't be converted to biodiesel by current production methods.
...Lin's particles can also be used as a catalyst to efficiently convert animal fats into biodiesel by creating a mixed oxide catalyst that has both acidic and basic catalytic sites.
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