Tag: biofuels

 A new $1 million relationship between Michigan State University and ExxonMobil will expand research designed to progress the fundamental science required to advance algae-based fuels.David Kramer, MSU’s John Hannah Distinguished Professor in Photosynthesis and Bioenergetics at the MSU-DOE Plant and Research Laboratory, says that the overall goal of the partnership is to improve the efficiency of photosynthesis in microalgae to produce biofuels and bioproducts.“Photosynthesis is the biological process that plants and algae use to store solar energy in biomass. It is how all our food is made, and we would starve without it,” said Kramer, who is leading the grant with Ben Lucker with the PRL and Joe Weissman, Distinguished Scientific Associate at ExxonMobil.The key to bioenergy is the efficiency of photosynthesis, the process algae use to capture solar energy and the first step in converting the energy from the sun into a liquid fuel. Past research has shown that algae photosynthesis can be highly efficient under optimal conditions in the laboratory. Under realistic growth conditions however, this efficiency drops. There is a need to improve photosynthesis under simulated production environments.“Fortunately, nature has provided us with a great potential for improvement. There are many different strains of algae that have ...

 Boskalis, and Wärtsilä jointly announced their collaboration with GoodFuels Marine. The consortium will pioneer the development of sustainable “drop in” marine biofuels for the shipping industry. Netherlands-based GoodFuels Marine and its partners will spearhead a two-year pilot programme to accelerate the development of truly sustainable, scalable and affordable marine biofuels. Biofuels are today not part of the marine fuel mix that operators and owners can choose from. This means that shipping is missing an opportunity to utilise what should be a price competitive, environmentally friendly fuel option.   The programme’s focus will be on delivering and analysing a sustainable feedstock, securing industry certification, and preparing the building blocks for large-scale production. Additionally, the consortium will initiate a global scalability study involving leading shipowners, universities, NGOs, ports, biofuel companies and other industry stakeholders. The aim will be to identify tangible opportunities for scaling supply to the world’s commercial shipping fleet.   Theo Baartmans, COO, Boskalis commented:“We strongly believe in the need for sustainable “drop in” marine biofuels and their potential as part of the long term fuel mix, as we see them as an important means of improving the sustainability of the industry. Participating in this pilot and making our vessels available ...

 Researchers at the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) have unlocked a treasure chest of ‘super-algae’ that could provide a previously untapped source of oil.Using a newly devised technique, scientists examined micro-algae strains in the Culture Collection of Algae and Protozoa (CCAP), an internationally important algal store based at SAMS in Oban, to find out which ocean-based strains had the highest oil content.The screening revealed two marine strains, Nannochloropis oceanica (pictured below) and Chlorella vulgaris, which had a dry-weight oil content of more than 50 per cent. This makes them ideal sources of biofuel for vehicles and aircraft.The results of the screening, part of the BioMara project, have been published in Nature’s online journal Scientific Reports and are likely to help bring forward research into algae as a source of biodiesel and other biofuels by a number of years.SAMS scientists have demonstrated that Nannochloropsis, for example, is very efficient at converting nutrients, so it has the perfect combination of high levels of oil and high productivity.The report’s lead author, Dr Stephen Slocombe, SAMS research associate in molecular biology, said: “In order to produce biofuels from micro-algae we will have to generate high yields, so we need to know which strains ...

 The Port of Rotterdam Authority predicts a great future for the biobased industry, which is why it intends to further strengthen Rotterdam’s leading position in this sector. To provide room for growth, the Port of Rotterdam designated an 80-ha plot with greenfield opportunities at Maasvlakte 2, specifically geared towards an innovative chemical industry that uses biomass as feedstock.(You may click on the infographic above for a larger view) A unique feature of this area is its Plug & Play concept. In partnership with specialist suppliers E.ON, Vopak, Stedin and Evides, the Port of Rotterdam invests in the necessary local industrial infrastructure and utilities, so that biobased companies can focus on their core business. In addition newcomers aren’t required to reserve capex for matters like tank storage, energy networks, wastewater treatment plants and steam boilers. This can result in some 20 percent lower investment costs.BioPort Rotterdam is an exceptionally strategic and attractive business location for biobased companies. The Netherlands has the most competitive sugar industry in the world. Over ten million tonnes of cereals, corn and lingo-cellulosics are traded, stored and transshipped in Rotterdam on an annual basis.In addition, Rotterdam is Europe’s foremost port and a key hub for international cargo flows. ...

  Butamax Advanced Biofuels, LLC,  has welcomed the recent announcement by the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) in support of the use of fuels blended with up to 16 percent biobutanol in recreational marine engines. This decision follows five years of evaluation performed by NMMA with the American Boat and Yacht Council (ABYC), under the direction and guidance of the U.S. Department of Energy and Argonne National Laboratory. Specifically, biobutanol was identified as a safe and compatible option for growing the use of renewable fuels in marine engines. It complements the extensive body of work sponsored and published by Butamax on the value and compatibility of 16 percent biobutanol blends with automotive engines and refueling infrastructure. Jeff Wasil, BRP-Evinrude Engineering Manager for Emissions Testing, Certification & Regulatory Development and a key contributor to the NMMA biobutanol evaluation, noted “BRP-Evinrude and the marine industry appreciate the technical expertise Butamax provided to NMMA’s marine engine evaluation program, as well as Butamax’s long-term efforts to bring biobutanol to the fuels market for our customers.”   Biobutanol-blended fuels are especially valuable for use in marine engines, as they are highly resistant to phase separation in the presence of water and have been demonstrated to offer ...

  John Kokarakis, VP Engineering, Bureau Veritas presentation during the 2015 GREEN4SEA Forum The tsunami of emission related regulations and the need for environmental friendliness also dictates the utilization of alternate fuels less polluting than HFO. The star player is LNG but  not the only player though. Future ships will burn a variety of fuels; hydrogen, synthetic fuels and biofuels will be chosen depending on the characteristic of the ship.   Nowadays, we are facing an utterly confusing and conflicting tsunami of fuel regulations. Fuel is the most expensive OPEX item and plays an important role in defining the future of the shipping industry. The drivers for new marine fuels are: regulations, financial considerations and available technology. In the future, there is going to be coexistence of multiple fuels. Be aware that the wrong fuel choice has major impact on commercial performance of the vessel. Pioneer owners may be confronted with unforeseen technical issues costing time and money. However shipping thrives through innovation and technology development. The fact that the charterer pays the fuel removes the motivation from the owners to use alternative fuels. Lack of bunkering facilities and supply chains are barriers for the introduction of new “exotic” fuels. Due to ...

  The U.S. Navy is to test a production of 100% renewable drop-in fuels on its ships and aircrafts, according to the fuels' developers. Applied Research Associates (ARA) and Blue Sun Advanced Fuels are performing on a Defense Logistics Agency Energy  contract that was awarded for production of 100% drop-in renewable jet and diesel fuel utilizing ARA’s and Chevron Lummus Global’s (CLG) Biofuels ISOCONVERSION technology. The first contract fuel deliveries were made in February of 2015; the remainder of the fuel will be delivered in 2015 and 2016 to support certification and testing of renewable fuels for U.S. Navy ships and aircraft. The contract calls for production of CHCD-76 and CHCJ-5. CHCD-76 is a catalytic hydrothermal conversion diesel fuel, developed as a variation of the commercial ReadiDiesel with the intention to meet the Navy’s F-76 Naval Marine Distillate Fuel spec and qualification protocols. CHCJ-5 denotes a catalytic hydrothermal conversion jet fuel, developed as a variation of the commercial ReadiJet with the intention to meet the Navy’s JP-5 jet fuel spec and qualification protocols. Blue Sun Advanced Fuels, a licensee of the Biofuels ISOCONVERSION technology, converts the renewable oils to crude oil in their 100 barrel-per-day (4,200 gallon-per-day) demonstration-scale Biofuels ISOCONVERSION ...

  The marine research vessel Aranda's carbon load will be significantly reduced when she starts being fuelled with domestic bio-oil made from food industry by-products, such as used vegetable oils and fish guts. Early this year, the vessel already switched over to bio-oil for heating. "The ship's crew and visitors have noted that the smells wafting from the heating boiler remind them of traditional English fish and chips, so the smells of the exhaust gases are a good indicator of the fuel's origin." "For the next step of the trial, we will start burning a mix of mineral-based marine diesel and bio-oil in the vessel's main engines during upcoming trips, looking to find the optimal ratio for efficient and economical engine operation with the highest possible proportion of bio-oil. The waste-based bio-oil used on the ship is made in a manufacturing plant in Uusikaupunki operated by the shipping company VG-Shipping. The higher the proportion of bio-oil in the fuel, the lower the ship's carbon load," says HRD Manager Juha Flinkman from SYKE's Marine Research Centre. "The Research Vessel Aranda was built in the late 1980s when we needed a new ship suitable for icy conditions for Finnish marine research purposes. ...