Researchers working on alternative jet fuel

Widespread use could be years or even decades away, experts say


SEATTLE - The spike in oil prices has prompted plenty of drivers to consider biodiesel-powered or hybrid cars for their daily commute, but what about that gas guzzler we use to fly across country?

Government and corporate researchers are looking into ways to power commercial jet engines with alternative fuels, although many caution that widespread use could be years or even decades away.

Scientists face myriad obstacles, including the difficulty of producing, transporting and using massive amounts of these fuels under harsh conditions such as extreme cold. And for now at least, experts say many alternative jet fuels are more expensive than traditional ones.
“It’s just so much easier to develop a fuel for automobile applications than for airplane applications,” said Billy Glover, director of environmental performance for Boeing Co.
Still, rising oil prices are prompting increased interest, giving some researchers hope their preliminary efforts will someday pay off.

Boeing researchers say the practical concerns go beyond just the rising cost of jet fuel.
“We are interested in alternative fuels because we want to make sure that there’s fuel available for the future,” Glover said.

Today, most commercial airplanes use a fuel similar to light kerosene. It’s heavier than the gasoline in most cars but not as heavy as diesel fuel, and is designed for the particular rigors of plane travel, such as cold conditions.

One alternative researchers are studying is biodiesel, which can be made from soybeans, corn and other products, and is used in some cars and trucks today.

A big problem, though, is that biodiesel freezes at a much higher temperature than traditional fuel, which could spell trouble in the frigid air at 35,000 feet.

Scientists are working on ways to keep the fuel from freezing so readily. But even if such efforts are successful, another big issue is supply. Scientists say there just isn’t enough U.S. farmland to produce the crops needed to power jetliners, in addition to feeding people.

Robert Dunn, a U.S. Department of Agriculture chemical engineer who is studying biodiesel jet fuel, said he doubts airlines will be interested until it gets cheaper.

“The main challenge right now is economics,” Dunn said. “Even though the price of petroleum is going up, biodiesel is still at a disadvantage economically. It simply costs more to produce.”

Glover thinks it’s more likely that airplanes would fly with a mix of biodiesel and traditional fuel.
Another option, which has been considered for decades, is whether jetliners could run on hydrogen. Gerald Brown, a senior research engineer with NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, said it would require relatively little modification to run a regular jet engine using liquid hydrogen. The hard part is storing it on board.

Liquid hydrogen has to be stored at minus 424 degrees. While lighter, it also takes up far more space than regular jet fuel. Airplanes would have to be redesigned to accommodate it.

Also, since hydrogen occurs mainly in combination with other elements, such as water, it’s costly and takes a great deal of energy to produce it.

Since the Hindenburg disaster of 1937, there have been worries about hydrogen’s explosive qualities. But Stan Seto, an engineer with consulting firm Belcan Corp. who has researched airplane fuels, said people now have decades of experience handling such fuel, so that’s not a primary worry.

Hydrogen burns cleanly, releasing water as a combustion product. But Glover said that actually could be a concern: the amount of water released by a high-flying, hydrogen-powered jet could turn it into a cloud-making machine.

“The dynamics of the upper atmosphere are pretty complex, so you wouldn’t want to do that without understanding that that was actually a good thing,” he said.

Another option, which is in limited use today, is to run airplanes on synthetics, made by turning coal, oil shale or natural gas into a liquid that can act like traditional jet fuel. Chi-Ming Lee, chief of the combustion branch at NASA Glenn Research Center, said rising oil prices mean synthetics could be a cheaper alternative.

But Glover said synthetics currently require more resources to produce than traditional jet fuel.
Still, Lee says synthetics could be used in ultra-efficient jet engines that are under development today, potentially saving energy. Another advantage is the U.S. has large coal and natural gas reserves.

Although research into commercial jet fuel alternatives is still in the early stages, some expect quicker success in using alternative fuel for specialized aircraft.

AeroVironment Inc., based in Monrovia, Calif., is at work on the Global Observer unmanned surveillance aircraft that would be powered by liquid hydrogen. Spokesman Steven Gitlin said liquid hydrogen allows the aircraft to fly about four times longer than traditional jet fuel, although it is two to four times more expensive.

AeroVironment also developed — and successfully flew — a solar-powered aircraft, although the Helios Prototype crashed in later flight tests because of structural problems.

In the immediate future, the focus remains on making traditional airplanes more fuel-efficient. Boeing says its new 787 jetliner, scheduled to enter service in 2008, promises to be as fuel-efficient per person as a hybrid car traveling with two passengers.

“We try to build the most fuel-efficient airplane, so we need as little as possible fuel to meet the demand,” Glover said.

Company chose non-automated biodiesel facility to foster job growth

Company chose non-automated biodiesel facility to foster job growth

 

http://www.durantdemocrat.com/articles/2006/06/19/news/news8.txt

 

At the Durant biodiesel facility, Earth Biofuels intends to hire significantly more employees than typical biodiesel plants, while only producing a fraction of the biodiesel.

 

Durant's plant was not designed to be an automated, but rather take advantage of tax incentives for hiring more employees.

 

A listing of biodiesel plants proposed to be built this year was recently published in Biodiesel Magazine. The list is made up of 65 plants with an average proposed name plate design capacity of 22.4 million gallons per year. This is a marked increase over the 2005 list, which contained only 36 plants with an average capacity of 14 million gallons per year. According to the Tax Policy Commission at the Oklahoma Tax Office, the name plate capacity of the Durant facility is 10 million gallons per year. The name plate capacity is the amount of biodiesel plants are certified to produce.

 

Plants contacted from this list were automated plants, in operation 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. All plants that were contacted produced or proposed to produce more than 20 million gallons per year.

 

One reason for such a large roster of employees at the Earth Biofuels alternative fuels facility in Durant, as cited by executives at Earth Biofuels, was its intention to purposely not automate the Durant facility to allow for the hiring of more personnel.

 

While most modern biodiesel facilities try to cut costs and stay competitive by automating their processes as much as possible, Earth Biofuels has taken a different approach to the industry.

 

Earth Biofuels Director of Communications Rob Reed said, “Why not build an automated plant? These run on computers and require very few employees. The Durant facility is not automated, in part, because it's intended to provide jobs. The federal biodiesel subsidy is part of the JOBS Act, and the company receives a state employment tax credit. So there are incentives, in addition to the benefits of employing people. The Durant facility will also operate 24/7 with 4.2 shifts when it's running at full capacity; many other biodiesel facilities don't run around the clock.”

 

The tax incentives that Reed referenced are where the reports that Earth Biofuels plans to hire 148 people have come from. Reed explained the number of employees that had been determined by Earth Biofuels in conjunction with the Oklahoma Department of Commerce was 148. He went on to say ? employees is the maximum we can get incentives for, the company will not receive incentives for the 149th employee.”

 

The number of 148 was determined by trying to estimate the absolute highest number employees the plant would hire under optimal circumstances.

 

Reed and Earth Biofuels believe that the company can stay competitive in its industry by using state and federal government incentives.

 

 

Better method developed to make biodiesel

Better method developed to make biodiesel

 

AMES, Iowa, June 19 (UPI) -- Iowa State University scientists say they are using chemistry and nanotechnology to create a better way to make biodiesel by using tiny nanospheres.

 

The research, led by Associate Chemistry Professor Victor Lin, is 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.

 

Current biodiesel production technology reacts soy oil with methanol using toxic, corrosive and flammable sodium methoxide as a catalyst, Lin said. Getting biodiesel from that chemical mix requires acid neutralization, water washes and separation steps in a tedious process.

 

So Lin and his team developed a nanotechnology that accurately controls the production of tiny, uniformly shaped silica particles. Running all the way through the particles are honeycombs of relatively large channels that can be filled with a catalyst that reacts with soybean oil to create biodiesel.

 

The results, Lin says, include faster conversion to biodiesel, a catalyst that can be recycled and elimination of the wash step in the production process.

 

Biodiesel, ethanol hold big promise

Biodiesel, ethanol hold big promise

http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/stories/0620bizbiofuel.html

 

Until recently, Desmond Stewart had to look far and wide for someone willing to buy the fluid left over from his manufacturing operation in South Georgia.

 

Then gas prices spiked.

 

Wind Gap Farms, where Stewart is manager, takes spent yeast from beer plants, removes the alcohol and sells the dry material as flavoring for pet food makers. But that still leaves the alcohol.

 

Stewart does a little more processing and sells the fluid — ethanol — to buyers who blend the cleaner-burning alternative fuel with gasoline. For years that meant he had to send it up north.

 

"There was nobody buying it in Georgia," Stewart said.

 

That changed about a year ago, inspired by rocketing gasoline prices.

 

"Today I could sell 10 times what I have," Stewart says.

 

Biofuels are hot in Georgia and across the nation. State officials know of only three small alternative-fuel-making plants in Georgia. But more than 20 groups are considering building manufacturing plants here to make biofuels — ethanol or biodiesel, state officials say.

 

The proposals are pumped less by support for more environmentally friendly fuels than by dollar signs.

 

High oil prices make the economics of alternative fuels more attractive. Couple that with tax incentives, government mandates for oil alternatives and uneasiness with reliance on foreign oil and you may have the makings of a boomlet in new fuels.

 

The question is whether the industry's heady business expectations are based on fumes more than long-term reality.

 

"Right now I think you are seeing a bit of a bubble," said Murray Campbell, a South Georgia cotton and peanut farmer who heads a company hoping to start construction this year on an ethanol plant in Camilla.

 

The company, First United Ethanol, is recruiting investors to help pay for a $143.5 million plant.

 

It's expensive and complex to build plants that will consistently produce fuels that meet set standards, said Jill Stuckey, who heads the alternative fuels program for the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority.

 

She predicts that most of the entrepreneurs considering local facilities will quit before they get that far. But she expects some to make it and demand for the fuels to increase as oil prices remain high.

 

"It's not going to be like the 1970s where the price of oil shot back down and all of those things went away," she said. "I think they are here to stay."

 

Environmentally friendly

 

Ethanol is often blended with gasoline as a way to lower tailpipe emissions. Recently, oil companies have scrambled to buy more ethanol to replace another additive that raised environmental concerns.

 

In addition, last year's federal energy policy act required doubling the nation's use of alternative fuels by 2012.

 

Ethanol prices have increased with demand, raising questions about whether there will be enough of the product to fill demand, at least in the short term.

 

The price surge "makes the opportunities look more inviting" for people trying to enter the industry, Campbell said, but "our business model is certainly not based on these prices."

 

Instead, he and other agribusiness people leading First United Ethanol analyzed a decade's worth of prices for ethanol and for the plant's raw materials — corn, in this case. Still, he predicts energy prices will remain high.

 

The company also plans to sell byproducts from the process, including carbon dioxide for dry ice makers as well as distiller's grain for animal feed.

 

Biodiesel — used in diesel-powered rather than gas-burning vehicles — faces different pressures. Nationwide, capacity to make biodiesel easily outstrips current sales and production, said Leland Tong, a market development consultant for the National Biodiesel Board, an industry group.

 

About 75 million gallons of biodiesel were produced in the United States last year, and the figure may be 150 million to 200 million gallons this year, Tong said. That's sharp growth, which he said could continue if diesel prices stay high. But capacity is already about twice actual production and growing, according to his talks with producers. While some of that capacity may be overstated, some biodiesel plants may go out of business as the industry tries to find balance, Tong said.

 

Finding ways to expand

 

Many producers have focused on sales to distributors serving commercial and government truck fleets or school bus operators. But finding ways to expand to the general public is a crucial step, Tong said.

 

One of the biggest risks for alternative fuel makers is ensuring they have enough affordable raw materials — a potpourri of kitchen and farm products, such as soybean oil, corn, canola oil.

 

Some biodiesel plants make their fuel from yellow grease — restaurant waste. Its price has jumped from 4 to 7 cents per pound four years ago to 15 to 30 cents per pound now, Stuckey said.

 

A rush of new biodiesel plants in Georgia could send material prices still higher and lead to shortages, said Keith Hopkins, a vice president of Rome-based U.S. Biofuels, which makes biodiesel primarily from poultry grease.

 

He and his father, Greg Hopkins, started the business three years ago as an offshoot of the family's chemical business.

 

Now, biodiesel is the bigger of the businesses. The family is in the process of spending about $6 million as it shifts its operations to a bigger plant next month, increasing its production from 300,000 gallons a month to 800,000 gallons.

 

Biodiesel competition

 

Nearby, another biodiesel producer is also banking on growth.

 

Rick Sargent started producing the fuel as a way to use a byproduct from using soybean oil at his chemical company in Rome. Now the company, Peach State Labs, has launched its own fuel brand, SoyMet, and plans to build a plant to convert soybeans, sunflower seeds or peanuts into oil to make fuel for vehicles and industrial boilers, Sargent said.

 

He hopes to recruit franchisees to open SoyMet-branded stations to sell alternative fuel to the public.

 

While many small companies are betting on alternative fuel expansion, some big ones are also jumping in, including agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland and Perdue Farms, the big poultry producer.

 

Meanwhile, Georgia Tech researchers are trying to improve the process of making ethanol from wood chips and switchgrass.

 

And to demonstrate the feasibility of small operations, the nonprofit Southern Alliance for Clean Energy plans to open a 24-hour-a-day fueling station in Atlanta late next month and a small alternative fuel production facility on Moreland Avenue later this summer

 

"The market will grow as it becomes more convenient," said Robert Del Bueno, manager of the organization's ReFuel biodiesel program.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Biodiesel Plant Opens in Berlin

Biodiesel Plant Opens in Berlin

 

BERLIN- The first biodiesel plant in Maryland opened Monday in Berlin. Officials are already calling it a success.

 

James Warren, who owns Maryland Biodiesel on Route 50, has been working on this plant for two years. 

 

"The facility does 500,000 gallons a year right now and I believe that's already been spoken for, so we're looking to expand probably in September," Warren said.

 

Warren said he hopes his plant will be able to pump out 1 million gallons total after the upgrade.

 

Warren says the gold-colored liquid burns clean and is better for the environment compared to regular diesel fuel.  The prices are about the same.

 

Customers say biodiesel has helped cut down on engine problems. At the grand opening, several politicians and bus contractors said they have made the switch to biodiesel in their vehicles.

 

Maryland Biodiesel supplies Worcester County, most state highway vehicles and area school bus contractors with fuel.

 

Warren said his company will use local soybeans to make the fuel. He has made a deal with Perdue Farms to use the poultry company's soybean oil.

 

Worcester County Commissioner Virgil Shockley said biodiesel will help cut down on America's dependence on foreign oil.

 

"It's a renewable resource," Shockley said. "We can grow it and we can grow it every year, so it's something we can produce here."

 

A look at possible alternative jet fuels

A look at possible alternative jet fuels

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BIODIESEL: Researchers say this fuel made from soybeans and other products could be used in airplanes, but the challenges include its high freezing point and the difficulty in producing enough for widespread airplane consumption. Some say it's more likely biodiesel will be blended with more traditional fuels.

LIQUID HYDROGEN: Hydrogen takes up more space than jet fuel, and must be kept very cold. That means airplanes would have to be redesigned to accommodate it.

SYNTHETICS: These are made by turning fuels such as coal or oil shale into a liquid that can act like traditional jet fuel. Synthetics could be a lower-cost alternative, but for now, they require more resources to produce than traditional jet fuel.

 

China Firms Seek Malaysian Palm Oil Waste For Biodiesel

China Firms Seek Malaysian Palm Oil Waste For Biodiesel

By Tham Choy Lin

 

BEIJING, June 19 (Bernama) -- The viability of palm oil as a clean alternative fuel has prompted several mainland China firms to seek palm oil waste from Malaysia to produce biodiesel amid spiking crude petroleum prices.

 

This can well be another huge potential revenue earner for Malaysia as energy-thirsty China and its galloping economy has begun developing its biodiesel sector.

 

According to state media, China produced 60,000 tonnes of biodiesel last year but within the next few years, the sector is expected to accelerate because the goal is to produce 2 million tonnes by 2010.

 

Five companies have approached the Malaysian External Trade Development Corp (Matrade) office here to source for palm oil waste. Two of them are already in talks with Malaysian suppliers.

 

"This is the first time we had received queries from Chinese companies and agents asking to buy palm oil waste for biodiesel.

 

"They are looking for long-term contracts and are willing to pay between US$200 to US$250 (US$1=RM3.61 per tonne.

 

"The companies are all from the energy industry but did not wish to be identified pending negotiations for the purchase," said Matrade commissioner Abu Bakar Yusof.

 

Initial demand from the five enquiries alone totalled between 200,000 and 250,000 tonnes a year and if met, the exports could fetch up to US$62.5 million.

 

Spiralling crude petroleum prices and pollution concerns have heightened the search and development of alternative energy especially renewable resources around the world.

 

Malaysia, currently the world's biggest palm oil producer, has also embarked on using the commodity to produce environmentally-friendly fuel. It recently launched Envo Diesel, a biofuel mixture of 5 per cent processed palm oil and 95 per cent petroleum diesel to be introduced for government vehicles from next year.

 

"China is already a major buyer of Malaysian palm oil used mainly by its food industry. Last year, it bought close to 3 million tonnes of Malaysian crude palm oil worth US$1.2 billion, or 75 per cent of palm oil imported into China," said Abu Bakar.

 

The commodity makes up 12.6 per cent of Malaysian exports to China last year.

 

China's import of palm oil had risen in the first quarter this year by almost 20 per cent to 899,000 tonnes after import quotas were abolished.

 

-- BERNAMA

 

Only Biodiesel Plant In MD Opens

http://www.wmdt.com/topstory/displaystory.asp?id=2504

 

The only biodiesel plant in the state of Maryland opened its doors Monday. Maryland Biodiesel will operate out of Cropper Oil in Berlin. Federal, state and local leaders gathered for the grand opening.

 

The alternate oil production plant will use renewable resources such as soybeans to power vehicles. Many hope this is the key to lessening dependency on foreign oil.

 

"It's huge for Worcester County. This is the first biodiesel plant in the state of Maryland. The county I think is in the forefront of helping both agriculture helping the environment," said Senator Lowell Stoltzfus.

 

Maryland Biodiesel plant is one of only 35 that exist nationwide.

Biodiesel Plant Opens In Berlin

Biodiesel Plant Opens In Berlin

 

Maryland gets its first biodiesel plant today with the opening of a production facility on Route 50 in Berlin. It's being operated by James Warren, the owner of Cropper Oil and Gas. He says he already has orders for a half million gallons of the fuel. The mix is 80 percent diesel fuel and 20 percent soybean oil. The fuel can be used to power diesel engines or most oil home-heating systems. Advocates say it's less toxic and cleaner burning.

Case Leads Construction Industry into Biodiesel

Case Leads Construction Industry into Biodiesel

 

Jun 19, 2006 3:25 PM

 

In response to rising fuel prices, future fuel supply concerns and its customers’ owning- and-operating costs, Case Construction Equipment has become the first construction equipment manufacturer to approve the use of B5 blends (5 percent biodiesel and 95 percent petroleum-based diesel) in all of its mechanical engines.

 

The global full-line manufacturer also announced that the use of B20 blends (20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent petroleum-based diesel) is possible on all Case engines other than electronic engines and those in the Case 410 and 420 Skid Steer Loaders. Owners should see their local Case dealer for more information on specific biodiesel applications.

 

“Our customer-focused strategy helps us understand just how important lower owning-and-operating costs are to the people who buy our machines,” said Jim McCullough, president of Case Construction Equipment. “We’re taking every step we can to help customers be more productive, competitive and profitable. We’re also well aware of the finite availability of fossil fuels; for all these reasons, we are investigating a variety of alternatives like biodiesel.”

 

Biodiesel, which is produced from vegetable-based oils derived from renewable resources such as North American-grown soybeans, is used in various processed mixes with standard petroleum diesel. It has been heralded as an alternative fuel with the

 

 

Chip fat to fuel dustcarts

Chip fat to fuel dustcarts

TOM SMITHARD

 

19 June 2006 20:04

 

The fish and chips that fuel thousands of visitors to Yarmouth's marketplace will soon also be fuelling the council's vehicles too, under a pioneering energy-saving scheme to turn cooking fat into biodiesel.

 

And it will be the dustcarts that collect, among other things the empty chip wrappers, that will be the first to benefit as Yarmouth Borough Council's GYB Services converts its 35 refuse vehicles to the green fuel.

 

The cooking fat will be collected by Yarmouth chemical firm J&H Bunn from commercial caterers in the town and then be converted into biodiesel, which will then be sold back to the council as new fuel.

 

Deputy chief executive Mark Barrow said today that the scheme showed that the council was prepared to “practice what we preach”.

 

“We currently have a fuel procurement policy with Bunns, buying in bulk to keep down the price,” he said. “GYB Services has a large fleet of vehicles and the two companies are ideally suited to form a partnership promoting the use of biodiesel.

 

“This is about practising what we preach, having an environmentally-sound energy policy. We have a corporate social responsibility, this demonstrates how seriously we take it.”

 

Mr Barrow said that converting the dustcarts and vans from diesel to biodiesel did not cost much and could be done easily when each vehicle was serviced.

 

The fuel costs little to make and sells for 10p less than standard diesel.

 

Chip stalls and other catering outlets supplying the cooking fat will also benefit, with Bunns offering a free collection of oil that would normally cost a restaurant £15 per barrel to dispose of.

 

Mr Barrow said that it was hoped the scheme, when it is introduced in the next few months, would help cut the amount of waste oil that gets dumped illegally.

 

Bunns started selling horse feed in 1816, but since the 1960s has specialised in producing fertiliser from its factory on the banks of the River Yare. It is now diversifying into biofuel.

 

Biodiesel is a processed fuel derived from cooking fat but which can be readily used in diesel engines, unlike unprocessed waste vegetable oils, for which vehicles need considerable modification.

 

Some Michigan fairs make the switch to biodiesel

Some Michigan fairs make the switch to biodiesel

FRANKENMUTH, Mich. The Bavarian Festival looks, sounds and smells like most other traveling amusement shows, except for one small detail.

 

Inside an unassuming white trailer is a 350-kilowatt generator that powers the festival with biodiesel. The only sign of the generator is the black power cords that snake across the grass-pressed ground.

 

The generator used to release a thick, black smoke from its vents that could be seen from across the fair and would sometimes bother those enjoying the rides.

 

Since the switch to biodiesel, the smoke looks more like rising heat blurring one's vision on a hot day. The company also is using biodiesel in its trucks that lug the show from city to city.

 

The Bavarian Festival is one of about 60 county fairs, carnivals and hometown festivals in the state that will be powered by biodiesel this summer as Michigan-based amusement companies search for solutions for high diesel prices.

Researchers look beyond biofuels as substitutes for fossil fuels

6/18/2006, 3:00 p.m. PT   By LIBBY TUCKER   The Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — As biofuels gain momentum as viable alternatives to petroleum-based fuels in the Northwest, Oregon researchers are sounding a word of caution.

 

Biodiesel and ethanol are good short-term solutions to curbing the nation's oil addiction, but they are not sustainable over the long haul, they say.

 

Biofuels could provide 37 percent of U.S. transport fuel within the next 25 years, according to a new report by the Worldwatch Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based environmental advocacy group.

 

But growth of crops such as corn and soybeans — traditional feedstocks — for biofuels production is energy- and water-intensive. And with limited farmlands available, feedstock production for fuel would have to supplant food production.

 

"There's never going to be enough cropland to replace all the petroleum we use" with biofuels, said Jan Auyong, an Oregon State University professor.

 

In response, Oregon researchers, business leaders, and state officials submitted a proposal for the formation of the Oregon Clean Energy Center for research.

 

The proposed center would centralize efforts under way around the state to develop substitutes for fossil fuel-based materials used in building products and transportation.

 

"I'm worried that people are promoting biodiesel without really looking at the life cycle costs," said Gail Achterman, a commissioner with the Oregon Transportation Commission and a key author of the proposal. "I doubt that people will feel good about replacing foreign imported (petroleum) oil with imported palm oil."

 

Oregon researchers have already begun to develop a whole suite of biofuels that use biomass from agriculture and forest industry waste — in plentiful supply in Oregon — to supplement seed crop production.

 

Like seed crops, leftover stems and leaves and woody materials can be broken down into their component sugars and starches for biofuels production.

 

Using biomass to make biofuels "is already very economically feasible in the U.S. and especially in the Northwest," said Larry Benford, an engineering consultant with Parker, Messana & Associates, a Federal Way, Wash.-based firm that manages clean-energy investments.

 

"We have huge assets, a huge feedstock in terms of land mass" for creating a supply stream of woody undergrowth, Benford said.

 

Oregon produces almost 4.5 million tons of forest residue per year as part of forest-thinning efforts called for by the federal Healthy Forest Initiative, passed in 2003, according to a recent study by engineering firm CH2M Hill. And about 62,000 tons of wood waste from sawmills are entered into landfills each year in Oregon, according to the study.

 

"A lot of the clean-energy focus in the proposal is realizing we need to transition to a society that is closing loops on production," said John Bolte, head of the bioresource engineering department at Oregon State University.

 

Most of the 1 million gallons of biodiesel currently produced in Oregon by SeQuential-Pacific Biodiesel are made in a sustainable manner with waste vegetable oil from the food industry. But restaurant grease is in limited supply.

 

The remainder of the state's biodiesel is shipped in by other suppliers from the Midwest where oil seed crops are grown and turned into oil for fuel production. Any additional demand for fuels will be met by further imports or by in-state production of seed crops.

 

The Clean Energy Center proposal is "taking advantage of these (forest) waste materials that have some very valuable molecules in them and figuring out economically productive ways to turn those into fuels," Bolte said.

 

The proposal is one of a handful of finalists submitted to the Oregon Innovation Council with the hope of being designated a new "signature research center" by the state Legislature.

 

In 2005, the state Legislature charged the Innovation Council with creating several new signature research centers by 2010 to translate research into commercial applications. The state's first signature research center, the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute, was created in 2005 by the Innovation Council.

 

"We're looking at a wide range of opportunities, with a broad base of established work that is already contributing to the Oregon economy in a significant way," said Rich Linton, vice president for research and graduate studies at the University of Oregon and a member of the Innovation Council's proposal evaluation committee.

 

"Certainly," Linton said, "the clean-energy area is an important one and will receive serious consideration."

 

 

 

 

Region 8 to accelerate production of biodiesel

PIA Press Release

06/19/2006

Region 8 to accelerate production of biodiesel

 

 

Tacloban City (June 19) -- Region 8 have been singled out to be one of the Regions in the country with the biggest potential of producing in big amount an alternative fuel, the biodiesel from jatropha which is better known as tuba tuba.

 

Department of Agriculture Regional Field Office 8 Director Leo Caneda revealed that the State Universities and Colleges in Region 8 have been tapped to allocate at least 50 hectares for the production of jatropha as their contribution in the government's thrust of tapping alternative sources of energy in order to minimize the country's dependency on the important fossil oil.

 

Director Caneda said that the Leyte State University has already established a two-hectare jatropha plant nursery which will make jatropha seedlings available to would be jatropha farmers. He also revealed that the Leyte State University has already set up a refinery that produces oil from jatropha.

 

The refinery was set up by a German cooperator particularly for use of the bio-oil stove now being manufactured at LSU as an alternative to LPG. The stove uses used cooking oil and jatropha oil.

 

In Samar, the University of Eastern Philippines will be the lead school in the development of jatropha as alternative source of fuel, Director Caneda informed. In Southern Leyte, it will be in Sogod while in Biliran, it will be the Biliran National Agriculture College.

 

Director Caneda further said that the prospects of producing biodiesel from the jatropha plant is made clearer with the interest shown by a group of Taiwanese investors who are willing to put up a refinery as long as the availability of jatropha raw materials will be ensured through about 200hectares of land planted to jatropha..

 

Director Caneda said that jatropha needs only 8 months to one year before it starts flowering and producing fruits. The seeds from the jatropha fruit are extracted to produce jatropha oil which will then be turned into biodiesel. It was learned that three kilos of jatropha seeds are needed to produce one liter of biodiesel. From a single tree, Director Caneda said, it is possible to obtain about 80 kilos of seeds from one jatropha tree. This, he said will mean additional income for the farmer.

 

What is good about the jatropha is that the farmer may plant it in between the coconut trees, so he does not have to look for other land to plant the jatropha. DA 8 is committed to allocate 300 hectares of land planted with jatropha, Director Caneda quipped.

 

Farmers who are interested to go into jatropha farming may visit the DA Regional Office or the Provincial and Municipal Offices of Agriculture.