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First, Choren's process heats biomass to 500 C, causing the tars to turn into a gas. The coal-like char left behind is then ground into a powder and blown into a high-temperature chamber, along with the gaseous tar. The resulting chemical reactions and temperatures as high as 1600 C break down the tars and simultaneously convert the carbon char into syngas pure enough for Fischer-Tropsch chemistry.
Steve Brown, Shell's London-based commercial manager for biofuels, says the result is a domestically produced fuel that outperforms both petroleum and plant oil-based biodiesel. Brown says studies that account for each joule of energy consumed in growing or pumping feedstock and fuel production show motoring on gasification biodiesel produces 85-90 percent less climate-changing carbon dioxide than using fossil diesel, while conventional biodiesel offers only a 50 percent reduction.
Using Choren's biodiesel also generates less soot and smog because the fuel contains none of the sulfur found in conventional diesel and few aromatic hydrocarbons, such as benzene. Carmakers DaimlerChrylser and Volkswagen, which helped finance Choren's pilot plant, test-drove on its fuels and measured a 30-50 percent drop in exhaust soot and up to 90 percent less smog-forming pollutants, compared to the cleanest grades of conventional diesel.
Shell's cash and expertise is helping Choren build the world's first commercial biomass-to-biodiesel plant. By early 2007, the company expects to be consuming approximately 67,000 tons of biomass and pumping out 15,000 tons of biodiesel annually. If all goes well, Choren plans to build a series of larger plants each capable of pumping 200,000 tons of biodiesel per year.
Even at that scale, though, Choren's biodiesel will be pricey. Rudloff predicts that Choren will produce biodiesel for €0.70 per liter (about $3.10 per gallon). That is marginally more than the cost of conventional biodiesel and two to three times more than wholesale diesel in the United States.
However, Shell's Brown cautions that biodiesel's price per liter is not the whole story. He says Shell believes biofuels use will double over the next five years because it responds to government pressures to reduce carbon emissions and to strengthen energy security, and that these advantages will be ultimately be rewarded. "The price per liter might be higher," says Brown, "but it might be very competitive in terms of price per gram of CO2 saved."
Brown says government incentives are already leveling the playing field. Many European countries, including Germany, Austria, Italy, and Spain, exempt biodiesel from their hefty fuel taxes. Diesel fuel currently sells for €1.05 per liter in Freiberg, of which €0.65 is tax. That leaves plenty of room to guarantee biodiesel producers such as Choren and Shell a profit.
It's not surprising, then, that in Germany -- Europe's leader in biodiesel production and consumption -- Shell is now a major distributor of conventional biodiesel. Currently, the company purchases its biodiesel from independent suppliers and then blends up to 5 percent into the diesel its sells across Germany. No doubt, they'd prefer to sell their own.
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Guest (Em)
"Canadian study, for example, found that the biodiesel produced from just 10 percent of Canadas agricultural wastes would satisfy 16.7 percent of its appetite for diesel"
Hopefully the Canadian gov. will smarten up and do something useful with the bio waste. If the numbers in your article are accurate, Canada could be using 100% biodiesel and export 67% more to others.
I ride the bicycle to work year-round and resent the Edmonton city busses that smoke my lungs every day, both ways.
Guest (Harold Wicks)
Diesel from Domestic & Commercial Bio-waste
High temperature calorifiers similar to those used by Chloren & others for sythesizing diesel from bio-mass are likely to be able to use the millions of tons household and commercial non-hazardous (non-radioactive) waste and sludge from sewage treatment works for producing the syngas used for diesel synthesis.
Setting up such facilities, ensuring zero emissions to the atmosphere, should turn waste disposal into a lucrative activity rather than the costly problem that it is now.
Guest (Harold Wicks)
Diesel from Domestic & Commercial Bio-waste
High temperature calorifiers similar to those used by Chloren & others for sythesizing diesel from bio-mass are likely to be able to use the millions of tons household and commercial non-hazardous (non-radioactive) waste and sludge from sewage treatment works for producing the syngas used for diesel synthesis.
Setting up such facilities, ensuring zero emissions to the atmosphere, should turn waste disposal into a lucrative activity rather than the costly problem that it is now.
Guest (Harold Wicks)
Diesel from Domestic & Commercial Bio-waste
High temperature calorifiers similar to those used by Chloren & others for sythesizing diesel from bio-mass are likely to be able to use the millions of tons household and commercial non-hazardous (non-radioactive) waste and sludge from sewage treatment works for producing the syngas used for diesel synthesis.
Setting up such facilities, ensuring zero emissions to the atmosphere, should turn waste disposal into a lucrative activity rather than the costly problem that it is now.
Guest (Harold Wicks)
Diesel from Domestic & Commercial Waste
High temperature calorifiers similar to those used by Chloren & others for sythesizing diesel from bio-mass are likely to be able to use the millions of tons household and commercial non-hazardous (non-radioactive) waste and sludge from sewage treatment works for producing the syngas used for diesel synthesis.
Setting up such facilities, ensuring zero emissions in to the atmosphere, should turn waste disposal into a lucrative activity rather than the costly problem that it is now.
Guest (Erik Karl Sorgatz)
The CON-AGRA 4 stage repolymerizer
The simple fact is that at a cost of about $7US/bbl virtually all human effluents along with coal, cellulose, rubber and plastic waste products can be converted into C18 using the Con-Agra process. C18 can be catalytically cracked and reformed into whatever organic oil or methyl ester youd like. You could even use the C18 as feedstock for gasoline production! Why there is no effort to do this on a huge scale defies all logic. Instead, we spend money on waste treatment plants that were designed and built in the 1940s-1960s..and they are constantly in need of repairs. Meanwhile the piles of used tires grows ever larger. Its my understanding that the DoE has blocked Con-Agra from licensing the technology for this purpose, gee I wonder why? )
have a look: http://www.changingworldtech.com/
Guest (Harold Wicks)
RE: Diesel from Domestic & Commercial Waste
In my previous post I should have referred to pyrolysers and not calorifiers. My apologies.
CWT (changingworldtech) and the associated company RES (Renewable Environmental Solutions) appear to be doing something similar but do not seem to be focusing on producing diesel as the german companies seem to be doing. Most people Most people (including politicians, investors and government officials)can relate to diesel better than they can to oil and other chemical product streams.
Guest (Harold Wicks)
RE: Diesel from Domestic & Commercial Waste
In my previous post I should have referred to pyrolysers and not calorifiers. My apologies.
CWT (changingworldtech) and the associated company RES (Renewable Environmental Solutions) appear to be doing something similar but do not seem to be focusing on producing diesel as the german companies seem to be doing. Most people Most people (including politicians, investors and government officials)can relate to diesel better than they can to oil and other chemical product streams.
Guest (Erik Karl Sorgatz)
The CON-AGRA 4 stage repolymerizer
The simple fact is that at a cost of about $7US/bbl virtually all human effluents along with coal, cellulose, rubber and plastic waste products can be converted into C18 using the Con-Agra process. C18 can be catalytically cracked and reformed into whatever organic oil or methyl ester youd like. You could even use the C18 as feedstock for gasoline production! Why there is no effort to do this on a huge scale defies all logic. Instead, we spend money on waste treatment plants that were designed and built in the 1940s-1960s..and they are constantly in need of repairs. Meanwhile the piles of used tires grows ever larger. Its my understanding that the DoE has blocked Con-Agra from licensing the technology for this purpose, gee I wonder why? )
have a look: http://www.changingworldtech.com/
Guest (Steve Guenther)
A Penn professor was working on an algea that would
yield a high percentage of oil.
Here in Tampa we have phosphate runnoff that is
producing an over growth of all sorts of algea.
It would be great if our problem could provide
some opportunities for this technology.
Guest (Em)
"Canadian study, for example, found that the biodiesel produced from just 10 percent of Canadas agricultural wastes would satisfy 16.7 percent of its appetite for diesel"
Hopefully the Canadian gov. will smarten up and do something useful with the bio waste. If the numbers in your article are accurate, Canada could be using 100% biodiesel and export 67% more to others.
I ride the bicycle to work year-round and resent the Edmonton city busses that smoke my lungs every day, both ways.
Guest (Harold Wicks)
Diesel from Domestic & Commercial Waste
High temperature calorifiers similar to those used by Chloren & others for sythesizing diesel from bio-mass are likely to be able to use the millions of tons household and commercial non-hazardous (non-radioactive) waste and sludge from sewage treatment works for producing the syngas used for diesel synthesis.
Setting up such facilities, ensuring zero emissions in to the atmosphere, should turn waste disposal into a lucrative activity rather than the costly problem that it is now.
Guest (Kris)
Biofuels are important. Although I'm not a Scientist, it seems to me that Biofuels should be able to be produced for less than $3.10 per Gallon.
Guest (Ecacofonix)
Biodiesel from algae appear to be one of the more promising developments in the recent months...while of course a lot more ground needs to be covered to prove its viability for large-scale production, it sounds like an exciting area..because after all the oil we use today originally came from algae and planktons!!
Some more inputs on biodiesel from algae @ Oilgae.com - http://www.oilgae.com
Ec @ http://www.eit.in
Sir I am working for a start up company that is currently looking into algae as a source of Biodiesel. I am looking for published studies. Have you published any such study?
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Guest (Steve Guenther)
Algea
A Penn professor was working on an algea that would
yield a high percentage of oil.
Here in Tampa we have phosphate runnoff that is
producing an over growth of all sorts of algea.
It would be great if our problem could provide
some opportunities for this technology.
Reply
Guest (Jim)
Headlines Id like to see
Heres some headlines that would convince me that progress is being made:
Landfills to vehicle fuel: taming the garbage.
GM restructures yet again, cancels all giant SUVs.
Jack Daniels cheaper at the pump than gas.
Dick Cheneys ranch in Montana strip-mined for coal-to-gasoline pilot plant.
Gusher on Bushs ranch.
All are equally possible - if you get the idea.
Reply
Guest (Jonathan Shine)
Algae
Please can you tell me more about your Algae,
Jonathan Shine
jonathan.shine@drivelectric.com
011 44 796 111 6732
Reply
Guest (Bobby Emory)
Re: Algae
There are several c andidate algae that produce about 50% lipids. The rest of the algae may be usable for alcohol production.
My favorite algae is CCMP647
Reply
Guest (Jim)
Headlines Id like to see
Heres some headlines that would convince me that progress is being made:
Landfills to vehicle fuel: taming the garbage.
GM restructures yet again, cancels all giant SUVs.
Jack Daniels cheaper at the pump than gas.
Dick Cheneys ranch in Montana strip-mined for coal-to-gasoline pilot plant.
Gusher on Bushs ranch.
All are equally possible - if you get the idea.
Reply
Guest (Jonathan Shine)
Algae
Please can you tell me more about your Algae,
Jonathan Shine
jonathan.shine@drivelectric.com
011 44 796 111 6732
Reply