1% coco-biodiesel blend can save 95-m liters of diesel fuel yearly ..., Biofuels: A user’s guide, Biodiesel could help solve oil crisis

1% coco-biodiesel blend can save 95-m liters of diesel fuel yearly ...
Philippine Information Agency - Philippines
... he reiterated the exploration of indigenous sources of energy and development of alternative fuels like coco-methyl ester and other biodiesel, fuel ethanol and ...
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Biofuels: A user’s guide
Mail & Guardian Online - Johannesburg,South Africa
Biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel have been touted as the future of energy. Cleaner, home-grown and potentially cheaper than ...

Biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel have been touted as the future of energy. Cleaner, home-grown and potentially cheaper than petroleum, countries such as Brazil and Britain have already made biofuels a major part of their energy consumption with many others expected to follow.

For South Africa to integrate bio-fuels into its economy, the country will have to dramatically expand the production of the crops from which they are derived. The government is expected to roll out a plan for integrating ethanol into the economy by the end of the year, which will determine which feedstocks get used and in what quantities.

Several factors determine what makes a good biofuel feedstock, including the crop’s content of starch (for ethanol production) or vegetable oil (for biodiesel), its potential for agricultural expansion, its suitability to the South African climate and its cost.

Maize: Maize and grain sorghum may have the best potential as ethanol feedstocks, according to some experts. Both have a high content of starch. Maize is also among the most efficient potential feedstocks in terms of crop yield. But production has been slashed to 1920s levels in the past few decades, said Fanie Brink, manager of industry services for Grain SA. Production, expected to reach about six million tonnes this year according to the Department of Agriculture, would have to be expanded considerably.

Grain sorghum: Grain sorghum has a starch content of about 75%, which is very high. The crop is suited to the climates of the Free State and Mpumalanga, where hundreds of thousands of tonnes are already produced for food. There is a great deal of room for expansion of the crop’s production in North West province, Brink said.

Wheat: About 1,9-million tonnes of wheat are expected to be harvested this year, according to the agriculture department. But the starch content is too low and the cost too high to make it economical for agriculture production, Brink said. “Wheat is for bread, and I think farmers are going to find the prices a bit too high on wheat.”

Triticale: This wheat-rye hybrid is still in its experi-mental phases. Potentially more drought-resistant than wheat, its starch content is uncertain when produced on a larger scale. It is produced in small quantities in the Western Cape, and varieties are being grown and tested at the University of Stellenbosch.

Sugarcane has highest yield and could be the cheapest of all potential ethanol feedstocks, said Adrian Wynne, deputy director of industrial affairs at SA Cane Growers, at a bio-fuels conference last month. South Africa is among the top 10 producers of sugarcane, Wynne said, but half of the crop is exported. A fuel with a 4% ethanol blend could be developed right away if the exports were diverted to ethanol production, he said.

Soyabeans: Several experts believe that soya-beans and sunflower seeds hold the most promise as feedstocks for biodiesel in South Africa. While soyabean oil content — about 18% — is lower than in other feedstocks, it has potential for expansion in South Africa, especially in the wetter provinces. In addition, its biggest byproduct, protein, can be sold by farmers.

Sunflower seeds: Already a major crop in South Africa, sunflower seeds have an oil content of about 40%, making it well-suited for biodiesel production. In addition, both soyabeans and sunflowers can be rotated on farms with maize. About 600 000 tonnes are expected to be harvested this year, but this figure could be doubled depending on government policy, Brink said.

Jatropha: There is debate about whether jatropha, a tree alien to South Africa whose seeds are toxic to humans, will be useful as a feedstock. While jatropha can grow on otherwise unfavourable land and may require less water than other feedstocks, according to Brian Tait, manager of the alternative energy group at Sasol, its environmental impact assessments are pending and it may not be suitable for growth in South Africa.

Biodiesel could help solve oil crisis
Jackson Sun - Jackson,TN,USA
... and Panther Energy, Inc have been running on a mixture of soy-based biodiesel and petroleum diesel. After four months of using biodiesel ...

There is a couplet in one of my favorite poems that says: "What is that which I should turn to, lighting upon days like these? Every door is barred with gold, and opens but to golden keys?"

Although Lord Tennyson was expressing his frustration with his love life in this poem, I believe his well-chosen words could easily be applied to the extreme frustration that we are all experiencing with the high energy prices that we are paying this year and the utter helplessness that we feel against the relentless climb of fuel prices. To add insult to injury, we are also painfully aware as we stand before the fuel pump and watch the meter digits spin in a wallet-emptying blur that a large part of the money that we are paying for gasoline or diesel fuel is going to a country somewhere in the world wherein we as a nation are reviled and cursed.

Yet, in this dark season of frustration, there is a very significant reason for hope. High fuel prices have given us the incentive to turn to other forms of energy to power our vehicles. Even better, it has driven us to look at what we can provide for ourselves, in our own country, and at what can be replaced year after year. Renewable fuels have long been a dream for us but the cheap price of fossil fuels effectively prevented any serious research much less attempts at the use of renewable fuels.

The time for serious, disciplined research arrived with $50 a barrel crude oil! In fact, one could say even more emphatically that the time for action on fuel independence from Middle Eastern sources arrived on 9/11.

One of the bright spots in the energy darkness of the past couple of years has been the growing availability of a renewable fuel for diesel engines, made from the oil of grains and vegetable products such as soybeans. A historical note: The diesel engine was invented by a German engineer named Adolph Diesel and was originally designed to run on peanut oil.

Since March 2005, our fleet of diesel-powered trucks at Panther Oil , Inc. and Panther Energy, Inc have been running on a mixture of soy-based biodiesel and petroleum diesel. After four months of using biodiesel in our own fleet of trucks with outstanding results, we offered the product for sale through Panther Energy to other fleet customers and to farmers throughout West Tennessee. At that time, we made the commitment to our customers that we would sell biodiesel in a mixture of 20 percent biodiesel to 80 percent petroleum diesel at the same price that we were selling 100 percent petroleum diesel. (We have often regretted that commitment since biodiesel is sometimes more expensive than regular diesel fuel). Since that time, we have sold many thousands of gallons of biodiesel to our farm and fleet customers.

Biodiesel not only has a higher cetane rating (the rating of how well the fuel burns in the combustion chambers of an engine) than petroleum diesel, it also provides greater lubricity to lessen engine wear. Best of all, though, biodiesel has a much lower emission of pollutants into the environment as it is exhausted through the smoke stacks of diesel trucks, buses and construction equipment.

Good logic would dictate that the entities with the greatest interest in getting biodiesel into their fleets are the municipalities and counties that operate transit buses, school buses, public highway construction equipment and a plethora of other pieces of equipment powered by diesel engines. I suppose that's the difference between good logic and local government. To my knowledge, only the city of Knoxville has converted their diesel-powered trucks and equipment to biodiesel. (With the high level of air pollution in the Great Smoky Mountains, the government of Knox County is attempting in a very serious way to limit the amount of combustion engine emissions there). The city of Nashville conducted a small-scale test on biodiesel last year in a few city buses but have yet to follow up with a degree of real-world usage of biodiesel.

Panther Energy is currently involved in a 24-bus test with Memphis Area Transit Authority that is measuring both emissions and engine performance that will end in another 60 days. Whether they will convert to this renewable fuel is only speculative at this point.

Is biodiesel a golden key to turn a lock made of gold? I think the answer to that question is a resounding yes. It makes our environment cleaner, it is renewable with each new crop year, it provides income for our farmers, and it lessens our dependence on foreign oil thereby making us more economically secure. It is not the total answer to our energy problem, but it is definitely a step in the right direction.

Bob Campbell is president of Panther Oil Co., Inc. and Panther Energy, Inc. Both companies are based in Jackson. He is a veteran of 28 years in the petroleum industry. Readers can write to him at 396 Airways Blvd., Jackson, TN 38301.