Green Options

An update from Emerson Process Management’s Alan Novak on progress made at bringing second generation biofuels into commercial production.

In the constant push for ever newer and greener technology and energy, we sometimes forget that it is often both simpler and cheaper to revisit old techniques in new ways. And that’s exactly what a group of researchers in California has done.

At the Eco-Aviation Conference in Washington, Air New Zealand’s Chief Pilot Captain David Morgan announced the company’s findings on a test flight from last December. Powered by a combination of biofuel and jet fuel, the test resulted in a fuel savings of 1.2%. It also cut CO2 emissions by over 60%!

While a 1.2% fuel savings doesn’t seem like much, that is over 1 ton of fuel!

The test was conducted using a commercial 747-400 fitted with Rolls Royce engines. Rolls Royce had certified the fuel — a 50:50 blend of standard Jet A1 fuel and synthetic paraffinic kerosene derived from jatropha oil.

[Sunflower. Creative Commons photo by cygnus921]

Pittsburgh-based nonprofit GTECH Strategies is transforming empty plots of land in New Orleans into sunflower gardens! GTECH’s partner in Project Sprout, Green Coast Enterprises, is a local New Orleans real estate company that’s focused on sustainable development in the Gulf Coast area. GTECH’s vision is to reclaim abandoned land, like these “blighted” lots in New Orleans, to produce biofuels and green jobs for the community.

Rich countries and firms are currently purchasing massive amounts of land in developing African nations to be used for the production of food and biofuel.

Many of the agricultural dealings are being called “murky”, as small scale, local farmers and native pastoralists are increasingly being pushed aside to make room for large agri-industrial estates connected to far off markets.

Needed is fuel from wood and waste, not food and haste. Some of the world’s best minds are focused on fuel from cellulosic and waste sources, in some cases from biological sources that remove CO2 from the air and enrich depleted soil. I am writing this article from the 31st Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals sponsored by NREL. 800 global bioscientists have gathered in San Francisco to share their research and showcase their progress. Many at the conference [...]

Vehicles fueled by biomass-fired electricity would travel 81% farther on a given crop and produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions than vehicles powered by ethanol, a new study finds.

In a new study published online yesterday in the journal Science, researchers led by Elliott Campbell of the University of California, Merced modeled entire fuel systems all the way from crop cultivation to vehicle propulsion, comparing cumulative greenhouse-gas emissions for both biofuels and bioelectricity. They found that the bioelectric pathway came out ahead of both corn ethanol and advanced cellulosic ethanol made from switchgrass.

Jatropha, despite the hype, will not be a contributor to fuel security on the planet in the near, or even the middle future.

NASA’s new ingeneous design calls for using large plastic bags, made of forward-osmosis membranes, and filled with sewage for offshore harvesting of algae for bio-fuel. Don’t expect any protests against this “offshore” oil-generation!

The algae! Yes – the same slimy brown-green ‘plant’ that makes a pond or a lake look yucky – is the creating a great buzz as the most promising source of alternative energy. And now nanotechnology is being leveraged to add some more zing to the promise!

Liz Thompson recently introduced us to Further Soap, a biodegradable soap crafted from glycerin left behind in the bio-fuel making process.  She shares the fascinating story of a husband and wife team who find a way to transform grease from Los Angeles restaurants into automobile bio-diesel and eventually into Bergamot-scented hand soap.

If you thought this “perfect sustainable circle” couldn’t possible get any better…it just did.  For each bottle of Further Soap you purchase on Wednesday April 22, you will receive one bottle free. And you don’t even have to pay for shipping!