In order to protect the trees and shrubs from damage in area parks, thousands of rabbits are culled in Stockholm neighborhoods every year.  Last year alone, nearly 6,000 rabbits were killed during the annual cull.  The rabbits are shot by specially hired people armed with a “special rifle.”   The rabbits are usually killed at the first crack of dawn, as they peek out of their rabbit holes. 

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With the fluctuating price of oil, a finite resource, and concerns over CO2 emissions, many energy companies and developers have turned to utilizing biomass as alternative fuel (biofuel). This trend is actually taking two pathways: using biomass to convert to ethanol to power automobiles (which has been around for awhile now), and, converting biomass to electricity to power electric (or hybrid) vehicles (a more recent alternative). The question of which path is most efficient, sustainable, and less carbon-intensive is a vitally important one in terms of this nation’s “energy future”.

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Earlier this year we caught up with Alan Novak, Director of Alternative Fuels for Emerson Process Management, to discuss last December’s BioEnergy Summit.

In that post we touched on how, depending on your perspective, biofuel and bioenergy production represent either unmitigated hype and controversy on the one hand, or the potential promise and hope for a sustainable clean energy future based, in part, on an abundant renewable fuel source on the other.

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This according to the Biotechnology Industry Organization as they presented key findings from a Bio Economic Research Associates (bio-era™) research report entitled U.S. Economic Impact of Advanced Biofuels Production: Perspectives to 2030.

The research analyzed how the growth of the advanced biofuels industry will impact four areas critical for recovery of the U.S. economy: job creation, economic output, energy security, and investment opportunity. The report forecasts that 190,000 new direct industry jobs will be created, with $37 billion dollars in direct economic growth, by 2022. 

The impact throughout the economy could be as much as $148.7 billion, creating 807,000 jobs within the same 2010-2022 period. 

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Beyond these entrenched extremes, ranging from wild optimism to abject skepticism, comes the real heavy lifting - understanding there are significant hurdles inherent in getting second generation biofuel from the lab into full-scale sustainable commercial production, but seeing those hurdles as challenges to be overcome, not as roadblocks from which to retreat, and working to bridge the gap from current reality to potential promise.

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But for Montana State University students, this seemingly implausible scenario is the real deal.  Last month at the launch of the spring semester, MSU unveiled the brand-new Sustainable Food and Bioenergy Systems undergraduate degree program.

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Aha, the African Bush! Savor a-bush-to-electricity energy project in the African hinterland! What’s the connection? Well, it controls the wildlife habitat in a positive way that ensures an ecological balance in the Namibian bush, provides a source of livelihood to surrounding communities by opening more space in the farmlands as a way of community conservation and powers local homes and businesses by feeding the electricity grid!

I like what they called the project: CBEND or Combating Bush Encroachment for Namibia’s Development because an 1MW electricity plant will be entirely powered by harvested invader bush and the electricity produced will be supplied to the national grid using technology dubbed wood gasification.

Ten million hectares of land containing up to 10,000 bushes per hectare will be freed to produce between 5 to 25 tons of biomass per hectare in a bush thinning process that allows re-growth from the roots with a repeat maturity period of 10 to 15 years. This translates to 125 million tons of biomass or 500 TWh.

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