Biomass Utilization - The Absolute Need of the Hour...

                    Biomass Utilization

Biomass can be defined as the total quantity or weight of organisms in a given area... Unlike other renewable energy sources, biomass can be directly converted to liquid fuels, the bio fuel. The two most common type of bio fuel are ethanol and biodiesel. Ethanol is made by fermenting any biomass high in carbohydrates through a process similar to brewing beer. It is used as a fuel additive to cut down a vehicle's carbon monoxide and other smog causing emissions.

Biodiesel is made by combining alcohol with vegetable oil, animal fat or recycled cooking greases. It is used as an additive to reduce vehicle emissions or in its pure form as a renewable alternative fuel for diesel engines. With oil prices going through the roof, the so called bio fuel are at last alternative to gasoline and methanol and reformulated gasoline components. Gasification of biomass at high temperature produces methanol. Reformulated gasoline components produced from biomass are pollution reducing fuel additive.

China has constructed the world's largest fuel ethanol facility at Jilin. It uses corn, but Chinese bio fuel distillers are also experimenting with cassava, sweet potato and sugar cane. Surprisingly, bio fuel could help make hydrogen unnecessary. In a move to encourage bio fuel use, the Germany government has slashed taxes on them. Tests of an ethanol-diesel mixture in Stockholm's buses show that big, thirsty vehicles can use cheaper ethanol as well as biodiesel. Brazil is the world's biggest ethanol producer.

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The soaring price of crude oil and natural gas has also fuelled a race to find new sources for intermediate chemical compounds that are the starting material for many modern plastics, medicines and fabrics. Professor James Dumesic of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, usa and his colleagues have developed a cheap and efficient process to produce a chemical from fructose i.e. similar to crude oil. 0this would reduce our dependence on imported crude oil.

Researchers from US based Pennsylvania state university have developed an electricity generator that is fuelled by human waste. Microbial fuel as it is can be useful in fulfilling the energy requirements of the world and especially of the third world countries that are financially insecure. The system could produce 51 kilowatts of power from the waste of 100,000 people. Work is being done at national environmental engineering research institute (NEERI) Nagpur, Maharashtra, India developing the use of activated sludge to evaluate its potential as a source of microorganisms capable of producing biodegradable plastics.

Eventually, such utilization of biomass would go away long way in effective utilization of available resources for production of a value added resources for production of a value added product thus resulting in reduction of cost of the final product and at the same time solving the problem of waste disposal as well as environmental hazard.

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Biomass Utilization - The Absolute Need of the HourBiomass Utilization - The Absolute Need of the Hour

How Is Sunflower Oil Used in Biodiesel?

Bio-Diesel

      How Is Sunflower Oil Used in Biodiesel?


It is hard to imagine that the bright and yellow sunflower can be destined for something greater such as biodiesel. If someone had told me this many years ago, I would have been extremely surprised. A sunflower to biodiesel? That's a correlation that many people still aren't able to make. So how does it happen, how is sunflower used in biodiesel?

First of all, what is biodiesel? Biodiesel is a form of biofuel that is a substitute to diesel. It is a vegetable oil fat-based diesel fuel consisting of long-chain alkyl esters. It can be used in standard diesel engines and as a back up in diesel-fuelled generators. That means that many trucks whether it's used for transport or commercial purposes can run on biodiesel.

So how does sunflower oil fit into this equation? Many restaurants, café's and catering companies make use of many litres of sunflower oil on a daily basis. Due to health and safety standards, the oil that is used once for frying or cooking cannot be used again. This diminishes the quality of the oil and its nutritional benefits. Therefore, these restaurants, café's and caterers dispose of their used oil via accredited used oil collectors. A certified used oil collector cannot allow that oil be recycled back into the human food chain. Thus they find other means to dispose of the used sunflower oil. You guessed it. Yes, it is recycled into biodiesel. As mentioned earlier in this article, certain chemical combinations are used in conjunction with the sunflower oil to create a stable and sustainable bio fuel that can be used in diesel powered vehicles. That means it replaces the need for conventional diesel because the vehicle is able to run efficiently on the recycled biodiesel.

Furthermore, because the biodiesel is made from locally collected used sunflower oil, local laboratories are able to create the biodiesel. Thus there are no import costs because the biodiesel is locally produced making it more cost effective than standard diesel.

Biodiesel is slowly but surely making its appearance into our world. It may be a few years before enough can be produced to satisfy the demand, but it is good to know that we are moving forward and finding alternative fuel sources. With a fuel source such as sunflowers that are readily available worldwide and can be grown annually in large quantities, it's good to know that we can sustain our standards of living without compromising our planet.

Golden Fry is an approved used oil collector. We are pleased to announce that Golden Fry Biodiesel is now available to all businesses. We have been using Biodiesel in our vehicles and we want other businesses to benefit from it as well.

Feel free to contact us to find out more information:
Tel: 0105957981 or E-mail: hassim@goldenfryoil.co.za

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Cars And The Environment - Sources of Bio-Diesel That Could Solve Our Energy Problems

Duda Diesel and Supplies

Most people can see that our current usage of fossil fuel produced diesel and gasoline, and oil recovered from wells bored deeper and deeper into the ground, can not go on. We have to change the way we use, orthe way we produce, fuel. One option is to change from fossil oil to bio mass produced oil. From oil produced in this way we can produce bio-diesel.

• Most bio material:

Oil can be made from most bio mass, not just cereal and other traditional oil producing crops like sunflowers. There are so many diverse sources that can be used. Many go someway to answering the main criticism of bio fuel, that is, it will take up valuable agricultural land needed for food production.

• Peanut oil:

When the first diesel engine was produced by Rudolf Diesel in 1893 it was demonstrated running on peanut oil. It was never envisaged that it would be run on an oil made from crude oil. It only became the norm to use fossil fuel produced oils because they were cheaper than vegetable based ones. This is no longer the case. However peanuts are just one of the potential oil sources we can use.

• Algae:

Algae has a high oil content and it is easy to cultivate.One of the most exciting and innovative sources of this is using sewage treatment plants. Waste water treatment ponds at these plants make great algae ponds. This can be harvested and made into oil. The great thing about this is it is extremely cheap, and the land used for its production already exits.

• Corn:

Oil produced from corn can be used to make bio-diesel, but if it can also be fermented into alcohol to produce bio ethanol. This in-turn can be used as gasoline. Currently we produce a surplus of corn. However, as this method uses a food resource it is more controversial.

• Animal fat:

Rendered animal fat can be used to make bio-diesel. There are several problems that are unique to using this source however. It is effectively the first fuel that cannot be used by vegetarians, plus it produces an unpleasing smell when burned. Also due to the fact it solidifies at a higher temperature than most oils, it cannot be used in areas that have a low ambient temperature without being treated with additives.

• Fish oil:

Like animal fats, oil produced from fish can be used in the same way. It has similar disadvantages, being derived from an animal it is not suitable for vegetarians, but does have better low temperature performance.

• Used cooking oil:

McDonalds in the UK are currently powering their delivery trucks from a bio-diesel. This is produced partly from the used oil from its restaurants. Used cooking oil is a great source of raw material for the home producer too. It can be a mix of many different oils, so you should test a sample from each batch for its low temperature performance before use.

• Vegetable oils:

there are hundreds of different types. Sunflower and Soybean oil are two of the best known. Bio-diesel plants in Europe mostly use Rapeseed. Tropical countries use oils that come from plants that grow in the their area, like Palm, and Coconut.

• Used coffee grains:

Your morning latte could potentially power your car. It may seem improbable, but studies are taking place using bio-diesel produced from used coffee grains. It is said that if all the used coffee grains in the world were collected, and used in this way, it would provide 1% of the worlds diesel requirements.

• Fungi:

Scientists in Russia are experimenting with an oil producing fungi. It is said that the amount of oil that can potentially be produced from this could be quite significant.

• Seaweed:

Plants that grow in salt water areas, or salt spray, like certain grasses and seaweed, can be used to produce oil. The great thing about this is that coastal areas are used, not prime agricultural land. Plus there are potentially many acres of production area available that are currently not used for any other purpose.

As you can see there are many sources of bio fuel, each have their own specific advantages and disadvantages. One interesting thing about fuel produced in this way is that you can make your own bio-diesel. With the right raw materials you can produce your own fuel and enjoy reduced motoring costs, and because bio fuel is kinder to the environment, guilt free motoring too.

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