Microbial Fuel Cells & BioDiesel expanding

[philb]

It's Alive! How Living Organisms are Helping Create a Renewable Energy Future
by Stephen Lacey, Podcast Editor March 27, 2008 New Hampshire, United States

The energies we mostly rely on today were made possible by the death and fossilization of ancient organisms. Unfortunately, our continued reliance on those fossil energies will most certainly cause the future death of many others. So how are we going to change our habits and develop more renewable energy? Well, one way is to use living organisms such as plants, animals, bacteria and fungi to develop next-generation fuels and electricity. In this program, we'll talk with some researchers who are on the cutting-edge of this field.

Firstly, Bruce Rittman, director of the Center for Environmental Biotechnology at the University of Arizona, will tell us about microbial fuel cells (MFC) that use cultures of bacteria to break down wet biomass waste to create electricity.

Then, we’ll talk with Bill Baum, general manager of the Specialty Enzymes Business Unit of Verenium and Steve Hutcheson, President and CEO of Zymetis about the best places in nature to find enzymes for breaking down cellulose for ethanol production.

Finally, Brian Willson, chief technology officer for Solix Biofuels, describes how to grow algae for fuel. He’ll talk about the differences between open and closed production systems, how Solix’s biophotoreactor works, and when we can expect to see biofuels from algae on the market.

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/podcast/inside_re_03_28_08.mp3


Virent's biogasoline gets major industry backing
Shell and others are funding the biofuel startup's research into a sugar-based fuel that could be used like regular gasoline.

Madison, Wis.-based Virent Energy Systems announced its second collaboration with oil giant Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A) today, saying the two plan to work on developing a biogasoline that could be used in regular cars and take advantage of the existing gasoline infrastructure.

Virent said its BioForming technology, based on research started at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, uses a solid-state catalyst to convert plant sugars into hydrocarbon molecules like those produced at a petroleum refinery.
And the company said the technology can take in a broad menu of feedstocks.

"We think the biggest benefit of the process is that we can use whatever the cheapest, most available sugar stream is in that area," Eric Apfelbach, president and CEO of Virent, told Cleantech.com.
"So anything that's a carbohydrate that can be made soluble in water is a candidate feedstock."
Virent said the sugars for its biogasoline can be sourced from non-food sources like corn stover, switch grass, wheat straw and sugarcane pulp, in addition to conventional biofuel feedstock like wheat, corn and sugarcane.
The company said its biogasoline molecules have a higher energy content than ethanol or butanol and deliver better fuel efficiency, and unlike ethanol, the biogasoline could potentially be transported using the same pipelines as regular gasoline.

Cargill Ventures, an arm of Wayzata, Minn.-based Cargill, one of the leading grain producers in the U.S., is an investor in Virent, along with the strategic venture unit of Tokyo's Honda Motor (NYSE: HMC).
Also backing Virent are Venture Investors, Stark Investments, Advantage Capital and several angel investors.
Virent has also received a little over $10 million in government grants for its research.

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Emeryville, Calif.-based Amyris Biotechnologies, another company based on university research, is also working on a biogasoline process (see Amyris pulls in $70M for unique biofuel).

"We're a very different technology pathway," said Apfelbach.

Spun out from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2003, Amyris uses synthetic biology to reprogram microbes, or "bugs," to function as living factories for the environmentally-friendly production of high-value chemicals.

The end result is a hydrocarbon that Amyris said is designed to closely resemble components in current gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. "We're making something that looks just like gasoline with a catalyst," said Apfelbach.

"A catalyst has a very wide process window to use many different types of mixed sugars and carbohydrates. And a bug generally will only eat one monosaccharide."
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Biodiesel Facts

http://www.biodiesel.org/pdf_files/fuelfactsheets/CommonlyAsked.PDF

Imperium Renewables http://www.imperiumrenewables.com/

Innovation Fuels-Biodiesel http://www.innovationfuels.com/

Renewable Energy Group http://www.regfuel.com/

[HysteryDiagnosis]

1. Then, we’ll talk with Bill Baum, Bill needs to talk to these

people

www.roebic.com

If more people used these products, we would have a much less sh*tty time taking care of things.

[philb]

2. Ethanol Facility increases efficiency by cellulosic process and biomass energy with CHP

Expanded POET Biorefining - Chancellor begins production
$100 million project doubled the plant's capacity to 100 MGPY

Press Release from

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (March 24, 2008)

POET Biorefining - Chancellor started producing ethanol last week at its expanded capacity of 100 million gallons per year (MGPY). It took the plant fewer than 24 hours to achieve its new nameplate capacity. The $100 million construction project started 12 months ago and doubled the plant's production capacity. With the expansion completed, the annual production capacity of POET's 22 ethanol plants is 1.25 billion gallons per year.

Construction continues at the plant on a solid waste fuel boiler, which will burn waste wood to produce more than half of the expanded plant's power needs Waste wood from pallets, construction sites and area landfills will be the primary fuel source for the solid waste fuel boiler.

POET Biorefining - Chancellor started operations in March 2003. Last year, the facility produced 51 million gallons of ethanol and 160,000 tons of Dakota Gold Enhanced Distillers Nutrition products. Construction on the solid waste fuel boiler is expected to be complete in Q3 2008. The expansion and the addition of the solid waste fuel boiler will necessitate the hiring of approximately 20 new employees for the facility, which is already the largest employer in Chancellor.

Project LIBERTY

"Our goal is to bring cellulosic ethanol to commercial viability in order to reduce global warming, revitalize the rural economy and lessen our country's dependency on foreign oil."

Project Liberty will convert an existing 50 million gallon per year (mgpy) dry-mill ethanol plant in Emmetsburg, Iowa into an integrated corn-to-ethanol and cellulose-to-ethanol biorefinery.

Once complete, the facility will produce 125 mgpy, 25 percent of which will be from corn fiber and corn cobs. By adding cellulosic production to an existing grain ethanol plant, POET will be able to produce 11 percent more ethanol from a bushel of corn, 27 percent more from an acre of corn, while significantly reducing fossil fuel consumption. The facility will also produce 80,000 tons of Dakota Gold Corn Germ Dehydrated™ and 100,000 tons of Dakota Gold HP™ annually as animal feed co-products.

DOE Agreement

POET has signed phase I of an agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for a grant that will fund a portion of Project LIBERTY (up to $80 million).

http://www.poetenergy.com/learn/projectliberty.asp

[diane in sf]

3. Thanks philb this is a great set of articles from you I find posted today!