Alternative Energy

 

First Edition, 2011

ISBN 978-93-81157-39-8

© All rights reserved.

Published by: The English Press 4735/22 Prakashdeep Bldg,  Ansari Road, Darya Ganj, Delhi - 110002  Email: [email protected] 

 

Table of Contents Chapter 1- Introduction to Alternative Energy Chapter 2 - Alternative Fuel Chapter 3 - Alcohol Fuel Chapter 4 - Butanol Fuel Chapter 5 - Ethanol Fuel Chapter 6 - Methanol Fuel Chapter 7 - Coalbed Methane Chapter 8 - Biomass Briquettes

 

Chapter- 1

Intro duction ducti on to Al ternative ternative Energy Energy

Offshore wind turbines near Copenhagen Alternative energy is an umbrella term that refers to any source of usable energy intended to replace fuel sources without the undesired consequences of the replaced fuels.

The term "alternative" presupposes a set of undesirable energy technologies against which "alternative energies" are contrasted. As such, the list of energy technologies excluded is an indicator of what problems that the alternative technologies are intended to address. Controversies regarding dominant sources of energy and their alternatives have a long history. The nature of what was regarded alternative energy sources has changed considerably over time, and today, because of the variety of energy choices and differing goals of their advocates, defining some energy types as "alternative" is highly controversial. In a general sense in contemporary society, alternative energy is that which is produced without the undesirable consequences of the burning of fossil fuels, such as high carbon dioxide emissions, which is considered to be the major contributing factor of global warming according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Sometimes, this less comprehensive meaning of "alternative energy" excludes nuclear energy (e.g. as defined in the Michigan Next Energy Authority Act of 2002).

Definitions

 

Source

Definition

energy fuelled in ways that do not use up natural resources or harm the environment. energy derived from sources that do not Princeton use up natural resources or harm the WordNet environment. Responding to energy derived from nontraditional Climate Change sources (e.g., compressed natural gas, 2007 solar, hydroelectric, wind).  Natural energy that is not popularly used and is Resources usually environmentally sound, such as Defense solar or wind energy (as opposed to fossil Council fuels). Fuel sources that are other than those derived from fossil fuels. Typically used Materials interchangeably for renewable energy. Management Examples A** include: wind, solar, Services  biomass, wave and tidal energy. Torridge Energy generated from alternatives to District Council fossil fuel. Need not be renewable. Oxford Dictionary

History Historians of economies have studied the key transitions to alternative energies and regard the transitions as pivotal in bringing about significant economic eco nomic change. Prior to shift to an alternative energy, supplies of the dominant energy type became erratic, accompanied by rapid increases in energy prices.

Coal as an alternative to wood Historian Norman F. Cantor describes how in the late medieval period, coal was the new alternative fuel to save the society from overuse of the dominant fuel, wood: "Europeans had lived in the midst of vast forests throughout the earlier medieval centuries. After 1250 they became so skilled at a t deforestation that by 1500 AD

they were running short of wood for heating and cooking... By 1500 Europe was on the edge of a fuel and nutritional disaster, [from] which it was saved in the sixteenth century only by the burning of soft coal and the cultivation of potatoes and maize."

Petroleum as an alternative to whale oil

 

Whale oil was the dominant form of lubrication and fuel for lamps in the early 19th century, but the depletion of the whale stocks by mid century caused whale oil prices to skyrocket setting the stage for the adoption of petroleum which was first commercialized in Pennsylvania in 1859.

Alcohol as an alternative to fossil fuels In 1917, Alexander Graham Bell advocated ethanol from corn and other foodstuffs as an alternative to coal and oil, stating that the world was in measurable distance of dep depleting leting these fuels. For Bell, the problem requiring an alternative was lack of renewability of orthodox energy sources.toSince the the 1970s, Brazil has had an ethanol fuel which has allowed the country become world's second largest producer of program ethanol (after the United States) and the world's largest exporter. Brazil’s ethanol fuel program uses modern equipment and cheap sugar cane as feedstock, and the residual cane-waste (bagasse) is used to process heat and power. There are no longer light vehicles in Brazil running on pure gasoline. By the end of 2008 there were 35,000 filling stations throughout Brazil with at least one ethanol ethano l pump. Cellulosic ethanol can be produced produce d from a diverse array of feedstocks, and involves the use of the whole crop. This new approach should increase yields and reduce the carbon footprint because the amount of energy-intensive e nergy-intensive fertilizers and fungicides will remain the same, for a higher output of usable material. As of 2008, there aare re nine commercial cellulosic ethanol plants which are either operating, or under construction, in the United States.

Coal gasification as an alternative to petroleum In the 1970s, President Jimmy Carter's administration advocated coal gasification as an alternative to expensive imported oil. The program, including the Synthetic Fuels Corporation was scrapped when petroleum prices plummeted in the 1980s. The carbon footprint and environmental impact of coal gasification are both very high.

Renewable energy vs non-renewable energy Renewable energy is generated from natural resources—such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides and geothermal heat—which are renewable renewab le (naturally replenished). When comparing the processes for producing energy, there remain several fundamental differences between renewable energy and fossil fuels. The process of producing oil, coal, or natural gas fuel is a difficult and demanding process that requires a great deal of complex equipment, physical and chemical processes. On the other hand, alternative energy can be widely produced with basic equipment and naturally basic processes. Wood, the most renewable and available alternative energy, burns the same amount of carbon it would emit if it degraded naturally.

Ecologically friendly alternatives

 

Renewable energy sources such as biomass are sometimes regarded as an alternative to ecologically harmful fossil fuels. Renewables are not inherently alternative energies en ergies for this purpose. For example, the Netherlands, once leader in use of palm oil as a biofuel, has suspended all subsidies for palm oil due to the scientific evidence that their use "may sometimes create more environmental harm than fossil fuels". The Netherlands Nethe rlands government and environmental groups are trying to trace the origins of imported palm oil, to certify which operations produce the oil in a responsible manner. Regarding  biofuels from foodstuffs, the realization that converting the entire grain harvest of the US would only produce 16% of its auto fuel needs, and the decimation of Brazil's CO 2  absorbing tropical rain forests to make way for biofuel production produc tion has made it clear that  placing energy markets in competition with food markets results in higher food prices

and insignificant or negative impact on energy en ergy issues such as global warming or dependence on foreign energy. Recently, alternatives to such undesirable sustainable fuels are being sought, such as commercially viable sources of cellulosic ethanol.

Relatively new concepts for alternative energy Algae fuel Algae fuel is a biofuel which is derived from algae. During photosynthesis, algae and other photosynthetic organisms capture carbon dioxide and sunlight and convert it into oxygen and biomass. The benefits of algal biofuel are that it can be produced industrially, thereby obviating the use of arable land and food crops (such as soy, palm, and canola), and that it has a very high oil yield as compared to all other sources of biofuel.

Biomass briquettes Biomass briquettes are being developed in the developing world as an alternative to charcoal. The technique involves the conversion of almost any plant matter into compressed briquettes that typically have about 70% the calorific value of charcoal. There are relatively few examples of large scale briquette production. One exception is in  North Kivu, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where forest clearance for charcoal production is considered to be the biggest threat to Mountain Gorilla habitat. The staff of Virunga National Park have successfully trained and equipped over 3500  people to produce biomass briquettes, thereby replacing charcoal produced illegally inside the national park, and creating significant employment for people living in extreme  poverty in conflict affected areas. Biogas digestion

Biogas digestion deals with harnessing the methane gas that is released when waste  breaks down. This gas can be retrieved from garbage or sewage systems. Biogas digesters are used to process methane gas by having bacteria break down biomass in an anaerobic environment. The methane gas that is collected and rrefined efined can be used as an energy source for various products.

 

Biological Hydrogen Production Hydrogen gas is a completely clean burning fuel; its only by-product is water. It also contains relatively high amount of energy compared with other fuels due to its chemical structure. 2H2 + O2 

 2H2O + High Energy

→

High Energy + 2H2O

 2H2 + O2 

→

This requires a high-energy input, making commercial hydrogen very inefficient. Use of a biological vector as a means to split water, and therefore produce hydrogen gas, would allow for the only energy input to be solar radiation. Biological vectors can include  bacteria or more commonly algae. This process is known as biological hydrogen  production.  It requires the use of single celled organisms to create hydrogen gas through fermentation. Without the presence of oxygen, also known as an anaerobic environment, regular cellular respiration cannot take place and a process known as fermentation takes over. A major by-product of this process is hydrogen h ydrogen gas. If we could implement this on a large scale, then we could take sunlight, nutrients and water and create hydrogen gas to    be used as a dense source of energy. Large-scale production has proven difficult. It was not until 1999 that we were able to even induce these anaerobic conditions by sulfur deprivation.  Since the fermentation process is an evolutionary back up, turned on during stress, the cells would die after a few days. In 2000, a two-stage process was deve developed loped to  

take theyears, cells in and out of anaerobic and therefore keep last ten finding a way to do thisconditions on a large-scale has been the them main alive. goal ofFor the research. Careful work is being done to ensure an efficient process before large-scale  production, however once a mechanism is developed, this type of production could solve   our energy needs.

Floating wind farms Floating wind farms are similar to a regular wind farm, but the difference is that they float in the middle of the ocean. Offshore wind farms can be placed in water up to 40 metres (130 ft) deep, whereas floating wind turbines can float in water up to   700 metres (2,300 ft) deep. The advantage of having a floating wind farm is to be able to harness the winds from the open ocean. Without any obstructions such as hills, trees and  buildings, winds from the open ocean can reach up to speeds twice as fast as coastal   areas. A Norwegian energy company, StatoilHydro, will launch the first test period for   the floating wind farms in autumn 2009.

Investing in alternative energy Over the last three years publicly traded alternative a lternative energy have been v very ery volatile, with some 2007 returns in excess of 100%, some 2008 returns down 90% or more, and peakto-trough returns in 2009 again over 100%. In general there are three subsegments of “alternative” energy investment: solar energy, wind energy and hybrid electric vehicles.

 

Alternative energy sources which are renewable, free and have lower ca carbon rbon emissions than we have now are wind energy, energy, geothermal and bio fuels. Eachwhat of these four segments involve very solar different technologies andenergy, investment concerns. For example, photovoltaic solar energy is based on semiconductor processing and accordingly, benefits from steep cost reductions similar to those realized in the microprocessor industry (i.e., driven by larger scale, higher module efficiency, and improving processing technologies). PV solar energy is perhaps the only energy technology whose electricity generation cost could be reduced by half or more over the next 5 years. Better and more efficient manufacturing process and new technology such   as advanced thin film solar cell is a good example of that he helps lps to reduce industry cost. The economics of solar PV electricity are highly dependent on silicon pricing and even companies whose technologies are based on other materials (e.g., First Solar) are impacted by the balance of supply and demand in the silicon market. In addition, because some companies sell completed solar cells on the open market (e.g., Q-Cells), this creates a low barrier to entry for companies that want to manufacture solar modules, which in turn can create an irrational pricing environment. In contrast, because wind power has been harnessed for over 100 years, its underlying technology is relatively Itsinvestment economicsrequirements) are largely determined by siting (e.g.,(the how hard the wind blows andstable. the grid and the prices of steel largest component of a wind turbine) and select composites (used for the blades). Because current wind turbines are often in excess of 100 meters high, logistics and a global manufacturing platform are major sources of competitive advantage. adva ntage. These issues and others were explored in a research report by Sanford Bernstein. Some of its key

conclusions are shown here.

Alternative energy in transportation Due to steadily rising gas prices in 2008 with the US  national average price per gallon of regular unleaded gas rising above $4.00 at one point, there has been a steady movement towards developing higher fuel efficiency and more alternative fuel vehicles for consumers. In response, many smaller companies have rapidly increased research and development into radically different ways of powering consumer vehicles. veh icles. Hybrid and  battery electric vehicles are commercially available and are gaining wider industry and consumer acceptance worldwide.  For example, Nissan USA introduced the world's first mass-production Electric Vehicle   "Nissan Leaf".

Making Alternative Energy Mainstream Before alternative energy becomes main-stream there are a few crucial obstacles that it must overcome: First there must be increased understanding of how ho w alternative energies

 

work and why they are beneficial; secondly the availability components for these systems must increase and lastly the pay-off time must be decreased. d ecreased. For example, electric vehicles (EV) and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV) are on the rise. These vehicles depend heavily on an effective charging infrastructure such as a smart grid infrastructure to be able to implement electricity as mainstream alternative energy for future transportations. 

 

Chapter- 2

 All t ern  A er n ati v e Fuel

Typical Brazilian filling station with four alternative fuels for sale: biodiesel (B3), gasohol (E25), neat ethanol (E100), and compressed natural gas (CNG). Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil. Alternative fuels, also known as non-conventional or advanced fuels, are any materials or substances that can be used as fuels, other than conventional fuels. Conventional fuels

include: fossil fuels (petroleum (oil), coal, propane, and natural gas), and nuclear materials such as uranium.

 

Some well known alternative fuels include biodiesel, bioalcohol (methanol, ethanol,  butanol), chemically stored electricity (batteries and fuel cells), hydrogen, non-fossil non-fossil methane, non-fossil natural gas, vegetable oil,and other biomass sources.

Background The main purpose of fuel is to store energy, which should be in a stable form and can be easily transported to the place of production. Almost all fuels are chemical fuels. We as a user use this fuel to perform mechanical work, such as powering an engine.

Biofuel

Information on pump regarding ethanol fuel blend up to 10%, California.

 

  Bus run on biodiesel. Biofuels are a wide range of fuels which are in some way derived from biomass. The term covers solid biomass, liquid fuels and various biogases. Biofuels are gaining increased public and scientific attention, driven by factors such as oil price spikes, the need for increased energy security, and concern over greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels.

Bioethanol is an alcohol made by fermenting the sugar components of plant materials and it is made mostly from sugar and starch crops. With advanced adva nced technology being developed, cellulosic biomass, such as trees and grasses, are also used as feedstocks for ethanol production. Ethanol can be used as a fuel for vehicles v ehicles in its pure form, but it is usually used as a gasoline additive to increase octane and improve vehicle emissions. Bioethanol is widely used in the USA and in Brazil. Biodiesel is made from vegetable oils, animal fats or recycled greases. Biodiesel can be used as a fuel for vehicles in its pure form, but it is usually used as a diesel additive to reduce levels of particulates, carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons from diesel-powered vehicles. Biodiesel produced from oils or fats using transesterification and is the most common biofuel in is Europe. Biofuels provided 1.8% of the world's transport fuel in 2008. Investment into biofuels  production capacity exceeded $4 billion worldwide in 2007 and is growing.

Liquid fuels for transportation

 

Most transportation fuels are liquids, because vehicles usually require high energy en ergy density, as occurs in liquids and solids. High power p ower density can be provided most inexpensively by an internal combustion engine; these engines require clean burning fuels, to keep the engine clean and minimize air pollution. The fuels that are easiest to burn cleanly are typically liquids and gases. Thus liquids (and gases that can be stored in liquid form) meet the requirements of being both portable and clean burning. Also, liquids and gases can be pumped, which means handling is easily mechanized, and thus less laborious.

First generation biofuels 'First-generation biofuels' are biofuels made from sugar, starch, and vegetable vege table oil. Bioalcohols

 Neat ethanol on the left (A), gasoline on the right (G) at a filling station in Brazil. Brazil. Biologically produced alcohols, most commonly ethanol, and a nd less commonly propanol and butanol, are produced by the action of microorganisms and enzymes through the fermentation of sugars or starches (easiest), or cellulose (which is more difficult).

Biobutanol (also called is often provide replacement for gasoline, because it can biogasoline) be used directly in a claimed gasolineto eng engine ine (inaadirect similar way to  biodiesel in diesel engines).

 

Ethanol fuel is the most common biofuel worldwide, particularly p articularly in Brazil. Alcohol fuels are produced by fermentation of sugars derived de rived from wheat, corn, sugar beets, sugar cane, molasses and any sugar or starch that alcoholic beverages can be made from (like  potato and fruit waste, etc.). The ethanol production methods used are enzyme digestion (to release sugars from stored starches), fermentation of the sugars, distillation and drying. The distillation process requires significant energy input for heat (often unsustainable natural gas fossil fuel, but cellulosic biomass such as bagasse, the waste left after sugar cane is pressed to extract its juice, can also be used more sustainably).

The Koenigsegg CCXR Edition at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show. This is an "environmentally friendly" version of the CCX, which can use E85 and E100. Ethanol can be used in petrol engines as a replacement for gasoline; it can be mixed with gasoline to any percentage. Most existing car petrol engines can run on blends of up to 15% bioethanol with petroleum/gasoline. Ethanol has a smaller energy density than gasoline, which means it takes more fuel (volume and mass) to produce the same amount of work. An advantage of ethanol (CH3CH2OH) is that it has a higher octane rating than ethanol-free gasoline available at roadside gas stations which allows an increase of an engine's for increased thermal efficiency. altitude (thin to air) locations,compression some states ratio mandate a mix of gasoline and ethanolInashigh a winter oxidizer reduce atmospheric pollution emissions. Ethanol is also used to fuel bioethanol fireplaces. As they do not require a chimney and are "flueless", bio ethanol fires fires are extremely useful for new build homes and apartments

 

without a flue. The downside to these fireplaces, is that the heat output is slightly less than electric and gas fires. In the current alcohol-from-corn production model in the United States, considering the total energy consumed by farm equipment, eq uipment, cultivation, planting, fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides made from petroleum, irrigation systems, harvesting, transport of feedstock to processing plants, fermentation, distillation, drying, transport to fuel terminals and retail pumps, and lower ethanol fuel energy content, the net energy content value added does and delivered to consumers is very imported small. And, benefit thingsto considered) little to reduce un-sustainable oil the andnet fossil fuels(all required  produce the ethanol. Although ethanol-from-corn and other food stocks has implications both in terms of world food prices and limited, yet positive energy yield (in terms of energy delivered to customer/fossil fuels used), the technology has led to the development of cellulosic

ethanol. According to a joint research agenda conducted through the U.S. Department of Energy, the fossil energy ratios (FER) for cellulosic ethanol, corn ethanol, and gasoline are 10.3, 1.36, and 0.81, respectively. Many car manufacturers are now producing flexible-fuel vehicles (FFV's), which can safely run on any combination of bioethanol and petrol, up to 100% bioethanol. They dynamically sense exhaust oxygen content, and adjust the engine's computer systems, spark, and fuel injection accordingly. This adds initial cost and ongoing increased vehicle maintenance. As with all vehicles, efficiency falls and an d pollution emissions increase when FFV system maintenance is needed (regardless of the fuel mix being used), but is n not ot  performed. FFV internal combustion engines are becoming increasingly complex, as are multiple-propulsion-system FFV hybrid vehicles, which impacts cost, maintenance, reliability, and useful lifetime longevity. Even dry ethanol has roughly one-third lower energy content per unit of volume compared to gasoline, so larger / heavier h eavier fuel tanks are required to travel the same distance, or more fuel stops are required. With large current c urrent unsustainable, non-scalable subsidies, ethanol fuel still costs much more per distance traveled than current high gasoline prices in the United States. Methanol is currently produced from natural gas, a non-renewable fossil fuel. It can also  be produced from biomass as biomethanol. The methanol economy is an interesting alternative to get to the hydrogen economy, compared to today's hydrogen production from natural gas. But this process is not the state-of-the-art clean solar thermal energy  process, where hydrogen production is directly produced from water. Butanol is formed by ABE fermentation (acetone, butanol, ethanol) and experimental modifications of the process show potentially high net energy en ergy gains with butanol as the only liquid product. Butanol will produce more energy and allegedly can be burned "straight" in existing gasoline engines (without modification to the engine or car), and is less corrosive and less water soluble than ethanol, and could be distributed via existing

 

infrastructures. DuPont and BP are working together to help develop Butanol. E. coli

have also been successfully engineered to produce Butanol by hijacking their amino acid metabolism. Fermentation is not the only route to forming biofuels or bioalcohols. One can obtain methanol, ethanol, butanol or mixed alcohol fuels through pyrolysis of biomass including agricultural waste or algal biomass. The most exciting of these pyrolysis alcoholic fuels is the pyrolysis biobutanol. The product can c an be made with limited water use an and d most  places in the world. Green diesel

Green diesel, also known as renewable renewab le diesel, is a form of diesel fuel which is de derived rived from renewable feedstock rather than the fossil feedstock used in most diesel fuels. Green diesel feedstock can be sourced from a variety of oils including canola, algae, jatropha and salicornia in addition to tallow. Green diesel d iesel uses traditional fractional distillation to  process the oils, not to be confused with biodiesel which is chemically quite different and  processed using transesterification. “Green Diesel” as commonly known in Ireland should not be confused with dyed green diesel sold at a lower tax rate for agriculture purposes, using the dye allows custom officers to determine if a person is using the cheaper diesel in higher taxed applications such as commercial haulage or cars. Biodiesel

 

  In some countries biodiesel is less expensive than conventional diesel. Biodiesel is the most common biofuel in Europe. It is produced from oils or fats using transesterification and is a liquid similar in composition to fossil/mineral diesel. Chemically, it consists mostly of fatty acid methyl (or ethyl) esters (FAMEs). Feedstocks for biodiesel include animal fats, vegetable oils, soy, rapeseed, jatropha, mahua, mustard, flax, sunflower, palm oil, hemp, field pennycress, pongamia pinnata and algae. Pure  biodiesel (B100) is the lowest emission diesel fuel. Although Although liquefied petroleum gas and hydrogen have cleaner combustion, they are used to fuel much less efficient petrol engines and are not as widely available. Biodiesel can be used in any diesel engine when mixed with mineral diesel. In some countries manufacturers cover their diesel engines under warranty for B100 use, although

 

Volkswagen of Germany, for example, asks drivers to check by telephone with the VW environmental services department before switching to B100. B100 may become more viscous at lower temperatures, depending on the feedstock used. In most cases, biodiesel is compatible with diesel engines from 1994 onwards, which use 'Viton' (by DuPont) synthetic rubber in their mechanical fuel injection systems. Electronically controlled 'common rail' and 'unit injector' type systems from the late 1990s onwards may only use biodiesel blended with conventional diesel fuel. These engines have finely metered and an d atomized multi-stage injection systems that are very sensitive to the viscosity of the fuel. Many current cu rrent generation diesel engines are made so that they can run on B100 without altering the engine itself, although this depends on the fuel rail design. Since biodiesel is an effective e ffective solvent and cleans residues deposited by mineral diesel, engine filters may need to be replaced more often, as the biofuel dissolves old deposits in the fuel tank and pipes. It also effectively cleans the engine ccombustion ombustion chamber of carbon deposits, helping to maintain efficiency. In many European countries, a 5% biodiesel blend is widely used and is available at thousands of gas stations.

Biodiesel is also an oxygenated fuel, meaning that it contains a reduced amount of carbon and higher hydrogen and oxygen content than fossil diesel. This improves the combustion of fossil diesel and reduces the particulate emissions from un-burnt carbon. Biodiesel is also safe to handle and transport because it is as biodegradable as sugar, 10 times less toxic than table salt, and has a high flash point of about 3 300 00 F (148 C) compared to petroleum diesel fuel, which has h as a flash point of 125 F (52 C). In the USA, more than 80% of commercial trucks and city buses run on diesel. The emerging US biodiesel market is estimated to have grown 200% from 2004 to 2005. "By the end of 2006 biodiesel production was estimated to increase fourfold [from 2004] to more than 1 billion gallons". Vegetable oil

 

  Filtered waste vegetable oil. Straight unmodified edible vegetable oil is generally not used as fuel, but lower quality oil can be used for this purpose. Used vegetable oil is increasingly being processed into  biodiesel, or (more rarely) cleaned of water and particulates and used as a fuel. Also here, as with 100% biodiesel (B100), to ensure that the fuel injectors atomize the vegetable oil in the correct pattern for efficient combustion, vegetable oil fuel must be heated to reduce its viscosity to that of diesel, either by electric coils or heat exchangers. This is easier in warm or temperate climates. Big corporations like MAN B&W Diesel, Wärtsilä and Deutz AG as well as a number of smaller companies such as Elsbett offer engines that are compatible with straight vegetable oil, without the need for after-market modifications. Vegetable oil can also be used in many older diesel engines that do not use common rail or unit injection electronic diesel injection systems. Due to the design of the combustion chambers in indirect injection engines, these are the best engines for use with vegetable oil. This system allows the relatively larger oil molecules more time to burn. b urn. Some older engines, especially Mercedes are driven experimentally by enthusiasts without any conversion, a handful of drivers have experienced limited success with earlier pre"Pumpe Duse" VW TDI engines and other similar engines with direct injection. Several companies like Elsbett or Wolf have developed professional conversion kits and

successfully installed hundreds of them over the last decades.

 

Oils and fats can be hydrogenated to give a diesel substitute. The resulting product is a straight chain hydrocarbon, high in cetane, low in aromatics and sulfur and does not contain oxygen.oils Hydrogenated can be blended with diesel in all proportions Hydrogenated have severaloils advantages over biodiesel, including good performance at low temperatures, no storage stability problems and no susceptibility to microbial attack. Bioethers

Bio ethers (also referred to as fuel ethers or oxygenated fuels) are cost-effective compounds that act as octane rating enhancers. They also enhance engine performance, whilst significantly reducing engine wear and toxic exhaust e xhaust emissions. Greatly reducing the amount of ground-level ozone, they contribute to the quality of the air we breathe. Biogas

 

  Pipes carrying biogas Biogas is methane produced by the process of anaerobic digestion of organic material by anaerobes. It can be produced either from biodegradable waste materials or by the use of energy crops fed into anaerobic digesters to supplement gas yields. The solid byproduct, digestate, can be used as a biofuel or a fertilizer.  

•

Biogas can be recovered from mechanical biological treatment waste processing systems.  Note:Landfill gas is a less clean form of biogas which is produced in landfills landfills through naturally occurring anaerobic digestion. If it escapes escap es into the atmosphere it is a potential greenhouse gas.

 

 

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Farmers can produce biogas from manure from their cows by getting a anaerobic digester (AD).

Syngas

Syngas, a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, is produced by partial combustion of biomass, that is, combustion with an amount of oxygen that is not sufficient to convert the biomass completely to carbon dioxide and water. Before partial combustion the  biomass is dried, and sometimes pyrolysed. The resulting gas mixture, syngas, is more more efficient than direct combustion of the original biofuel; more of the energy contained in the fuel is extracted.  

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Syngas may be burned directly in internal combustion engines or turbines. The wood gas generator is a wood-fueled gasification reactor mounted on an internal combustion engine.

 

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Syngas can be used to produce methanol andsubstitute, hydrogen,or oraconverted the Fischer-Tropsch process to produce a diesel mixture ofvia alcohols that can be blended into gasoline. Gasification normally relies on temperatures >700°C.   Lower temperature gasification is desirable when co-producing biochar but results in a Syngas polluted with tar.

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Solid biofuels

Examples include wood, sawdust, grass cuttings, domestic refuse, charcoal, charcoa l, agricultural waste, non-food energy crops (see picture), and dried manure. When raw biomass is already in a suitable form (such as firewood), it can burn directly in a stove or furnace to provide heat or raise steam. When raw biomass is in an inconvenient form (such as sawdust, wood chips, grass, urban waste wood, agricultural residues), the typical process is to densify the biomass. This process includes grinding the raw biomass to an appropriate particulate size (known as hogfuel), which depending on the densification type can be from 1 to 3 cm (1 in), which is then concentrated into a fuel  product. The current types of processes are wood pellet, cube, or puck. The pellet process is most common in Europe and is typically a pure wood product. The other types of densification are larger in size compared to a pellet and are compatible with a broad range of input feedstocks. The resulting densified fuel is easier to transport and feed into thermal generation systems such as boilers. A problem with the combustion of raw biomass is that it emits considerable amounts of  pollutants such as particulates and PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons). Even modern pellet boilers generate much more pollutants than oil or natural gas boilers. Pellets made from agricultural residues are usually worse than wood pellets, producing much larger emissions of dioxins and chlorophenols.

 

 Notwithstanding the above noted study, numerous studies have shown that biomass fuels have significantly less impact on the environment than fossil based fuels. Of note is the U.S. Department of Energy Laboratory, Operated by Midwest Research Institute Biomass Power and Conventional Fossil Systems with and without CO2 Sequestration – Comparing the Energy Balance, Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Economics Study. Power generation emits significant amounts of greenhouse gases (GHGs), mainly carbon ca rbon dioxide (CO2). Sequestering CO2 from the power plant flue gas can significantly reduce the GHGs from the power plant itself, but this is not the total picture. CO 2 capture and sequestration consumes additional energy, thus lowering the plant's fuel-to-electricity efficiency. To compensate for this, more fossil fuel must be procured and consumed to make up for lost capacity. Taking this into consideration, the global warming potential (GWP), which is a combination of CO 2, methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N 2O) emissions, and energy  balance of the system need to be examined using a life cycle assessment. This takes into account the upstream processes which remain constant after CO 2 sequestration as well as the steps required for additional power generation. firing biomass instead of coal co al led to a 148% reduction in GWP. A derivative of solid biofuel is biochar, which is produced by biomass pyrolysis. Biochar made from agricultural waste can substitute for wood charcoal. c harcoal. As wood stock  becomes scarce this alternative is gaining ground. In eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, for example, biomass briquettes are being marketed as an alternative to charcoal in order to protect Virunga National Park from deforestation associated with charcoal  production.

Second generation biofuels Supporters of biofuels claim that a more viable solution is to increase political and industrial support for, and rapidity of, second-generation biofuel implementation from non-food crops. These include waste biomass, the stalks of wheat, corn, wood, and special-energy-or-biomass crops (e.g. Miscanthus). Second generation (2G) biofuels use biomass to liquid technology, including cellulosic biofuels. Many second generation

 biomass to liquid technology, including cellulosic biofuels. Many second generation  biofuels are under development such as biohydrogen, biomethanol, DMF, Bio-DME, Fischer-Tropsch diesel, biohydrogen diesel, mixed alcohols and wood diesel. Cellulosic ethanol production uses non-food crops or inedible ined ible waste products and does not divert food away from the animal or human food chain. Lignocellulose is the "woody" structural material of plants. This feedstock is abundant and diverse, and in some cases (like citrus peels or sawdust) it is in itself a significant disposal problem. Producing ethanol from cellulose is a difficult technical problem to solve. In nature, ruminant livestock (like cattle) eat grass and then use slow enzymatic digestive processes to break it into glucose (sugar). In cellulosic ethanol laboratories, various experimental  processes are being developed to do the same thing, and then the sugars released can be fermented to make ethanol fuel. In 2009 scientists reported developing, using "synthetic

 

 biology", "15 new highly stable fungal enzyme catalysts that efficiently break down cellulose into sugars at high temperatures", adding to the 10 previously known. The use of high temperatures, has been identified as an important factor in improving the overall economic feasibility of the biofuel industry and the identification of enzymes that are stable and can operate efficiently at extreme temperatures is an area of active research. In addition, research conducted at TU Delft by Jack Pronk has shown that elephant yeast, when slightly modified can also create ethanol from non-edible ground sources (e.g. straw).  The recent discovery of the fungus Gliocladium roseum points toward the production of so-called myco-diesel from cellulose. This organism was recently discovered in the rainforests of northern Patagonia and has the unique capability of converting cellulose   into medium length hydrocarbons typically found in diesel fuel. Scientists also work on experimental recombinant DNA genetic engineering organisms that could increase  biofuel potential. Scientists working in New Zealand have developed a technology to use industrial waste gases from steel mills as a feedstock for a microbial fermentation process to produce p roduce   ethanol.

Second, third, and fourth generation biofuels are also called advanced biofuels.

Third generation biofuels Algae fuel, also called oilgae or third generation biofuel, is a biofuel from algae. Algae are low-input, high-yield feedstocks to produce biofuels. Based Ba sed on laboratory experiments, it is claimed that algae can produce up to 30 times more energy per acre   than land crops such as soybeans,  but these yields have yet to be produced commercially. With the higher of fossil fuels (petroleum), theremost is much interest in algaculture (farming algae). prices One advantage of many biofuels over other fuel types is that they   are biodegradable, and so relatively harmless to the environment if spilled. Algae fuel still has its difficulties though, for instance to produce algae fuels it must be mixed   uniformly, which, if done by agitation, could affect biomass growth. The United States Department of Energy estimates that if algae a lgae fuel replaced all the  petroleum fuel in the United States, it would require only 15,000 square miles (38,849 square kilometers), which is roughly the size of Maryland,   or less than one seventh the amount of land devoted to corn in 2000.   Algae, such as Botryococcus braunii  and Chlorella vulgaris are relatively easy to grow,  but the algal oil is hard to extract. There are several approaches, some of which work  better than others.  Macroalgae (seaweed) also have a great potential for bioethanol and  biogas production. 

 

Ethanol from living algae

 

Most biofuel production comes from harvesting organic matter and then converting it to fuel but an alternative approach relies on the fact that some algae naturally produce ethanol and this can be collected without killing the algae. The ethanol evaporates and then can be condensed and collected. The company Algenol is trying to commercialize this process.

Fourth generation biofuels A number of companies are pursuing advanced "bio-chemical" and "thermo-chemical"  processes that produce "drop in" fuels like "green gasoline," "green diesel," and "green aviation fuel." While there is no one established definition of "fourth-generation  biofuels," some have referred to it as the biofuels created from processes other than first first generation ethanol and biodiesel, second generation cellulosic ethanol, and third generation algae biofuel. Some fourth generation technology pathways include: pyrolysis, gasification, upgrading, solar-to-fuel, and genetic manipulation of organisms to secrete hydrocarbons.   

GreenFuel Technologies Corporation developed a patented bioreactor system that uses nontoxic photosynthetic algae to take in smokestacks flue gases and produce  biofuels such as biodiesel, biogas and a dry fuel comparable to coal.    With thermal depolymerization of biological waste one can extract methane and other oils similar to petroleum.

•

•

Hydrocarbon plants or petroleum plants are plants which produce terpenoids as secondary metabolites that can be converted to gasoline-like fuels. Latex producing members of the Euphorbiaceae such as Euphorbia lathyris and E. tirucalli and members of Apocynaceae have been studied for their potential energy uses.  Green fuels

However, if biocatalytic cracking and traditional fractional distillation are used to process    properly prepared algal biomass i.e. biocrude, then as a result we receive the following distillates: jet fuel, gasoline, diesel, etc.. Hence, we may call them third generation or green fuels.

Biofuels by region Recognizing the importance of implementing bioenergy, there are international   organizations such as IEA Bioenergy, established in 1978 by the OECD International Energy Agency (IEA), with the aim of improving cooperation and information exchange  between countries that have national programs in bioenergy research, development and deployment. The U.N. International Biofuels Forum is formed by Brazil, China, India, South Africa, the United States and the European Commission.  The world leaders in  biofuel development and use are Brazil, United States, France, Sweden and Germany.

 

Issues with biofuel production and use There are various social, economic, environmental and technical issues with biofuel  production and use, which have been discussed in the popular media and scientific  journals. These include: the effect of moderating oil prices, the "food vs fuel" debate,  poverty reduction potential, carbon emissions levels, sustainable biofuel production, deforestation and soil erosion, loss of biodiversity, impact on water resources, as well as energy balance and efficiency.

Alternative fuel dispensers at a regular gasoline station in Arlington, Virginia. B20  biodiesel at the left and E85 ethanol at the right.

Biofuels are also considered a renewable source. Although renewable energy is used mostly to generate electricity, it is often assumed that some form of renewable renewab le energy or at least it is used to create alternative fuels.

Biomass Biomass in the energy production industry is living and recently dead biological material which can be used as fuel or for industrial production.

Algae based fuels

 

Algae based biofuels have been hyped in the media as a potential panacea to our Crude Oil based Transportation problems. Algae could yield more than 2000 gallons of fuel per pe r acre per year of production. Algae based fuels are being successf successfully ully tested by the navy Algae based plastics show potential to reduce waste and the cost per pound of algae  plastic is expected to be cheaper than traditional plastic prices.

Alcohol fuels Methanol and Ethanol fuel are typically primary sources of energy; they are conven convenient ient fuels for storing and transporting energy. These alcohols can be used in "internal combustion engine as alternative fuels", with butanol also having known advantages, such as being the only alcohol-based motor fuel that can be transported readily by existing petroleum-product pipeline networks, instead of only by tanker trucks and railroad cars.

Hydrogen Hydrogen as a fuel has been suggested to have the capability to create a hydrogen economy.

economy.

HCNG

HCNG -CNG emission HCNG (or H2CNG) is a mixture of compressed natural gas and 4-9 percent hydrogen by energy. It may be used as a fuel gas for internal combustion engines and home appliances. HCNG dispensers can be found at Hynor (Norway) Thousand palms and Barstow California Fort Collins Colorado, Dunkerque (France), Goteborg Sweden, Dwarka and Faridabad (Delhi), (Delhi), India and the BC hydrogen highway in Canada.

HCNG for mobile use is premixed at the hydrogen station.

Research

 

Testing is underway in Ameland for a 3 year field testing until 2010 were 20 % hydrogen is added to the local CNG distribution net, the appliances involved are kitchen stoves, condensing boilers and micro-CHP boilers. To get the most out of a ICE in transportation if higher levels of hydrogen are added modifications have to be made in the corresponding engine and the control strategy.

Codes and Standards The National Fire Protection Association 52 presently covers cove rs CNG and hydrogen fueling stations. Blends with < 20% hydrogen by volume are treated identically to CNG HCNG (or H2CNG) is a mixture of compressed natural gas and 4-9 percent hydrogen by energy.

Liquid nitrogen Liquid nitrogen is another type of emissionless fuel.

Compressed air The air engine is an emission-free piston engine using compressed air as fuel. Unlike hydrogen, compressed air is about one-tenth one -tenth as expensive as fossil oil, making it an economically attractive alternative fuel.

Alternative fossil fuels Compressed natural gas (CNG) is a cleaner burning alternative to conventional petroleum automobile fuels. The energy efficiency is generally g enerally equal to that of gasoline eng engines, ines, but lower compared with modern diesel engines. CNG vehicles require a greater amount of space for fuel storage than conventional gasoline power vehicles because CNG takes up more space for each GGE (Gallon of Gas Equivalent). Almost any existing gasoline ccar ar can be turned into a bi-fuel (gasoline/CNG) car. However, natural gas is a finite resource like all fossil fuels, and production is expected to peak gas soon after .

Nuclear power  Nuclear power is any nuclear technology designed to extract usable energy from atomic nuclei via controlled nuclear reactions. The most common method today is through nuclear fission, though other methods include nuclear fusion and radioactive decay. All current methods involve heating a working fluid such as water, which is then converted into mechanical work for the purpose of o f generating electricity or propulsion. Today, more than 15% of the world's electricity comes from nuclear power, over 150 nuclear-powered nuclea r-powered naval vessels have been built, and a few radioisotope rockets have been produced.

 

Chapter- 3

 All c o h o l Fuel  A Fu el

Although Fossil fuels have become the dominant energy resource for the modern world, alcohol has been used as a fuel throughout history. The first four aliphatic alcohols (methanol, ethanol, propanol, and butanol) are of interest as fuels because they can be synthesized biologically, and they have characteristics which allow them to be used in current engines. One advantage shared by all four alcohols is octane rating. Biobutanol has the advantage that its energy density is closer to gasoline than the other alcohols (while still retaining over 25% higher octane rating) - however, these advantages are outweighed by disadvantages (compared to ethanol and methanol) concerning  production, for instance. Generally speaking, the chemical formula for alcohol fuel is CnH2n+1OH. Alcohol fuels are usually of biological rather than petroleum sources. When obtained from biological sources, they are known as bioalcohols (e.g. bioethanol). There is no chemical difference between biologically produced alcohols and those obtained from other sources. However, ethanol that is derived from petroleum should not be considered safe for consumption as this alcohol contains about 5% methanol and may cause  blindness or death. This mixture may also not be purified by simple distillation, distillation, as it forms an azeotropic mixture.

Methanol and ethanol

 

Ethanol used as a fuel. Methanol and ethanol can both be derived from fossil fuels, biomass, or perhaps most simply, from carbon dioxide and water. Ethanol has most commonly been produced through fermentation of sugars, and methanol has most commonly been produced from synthesis gas, but there are more modern ways to obtain these fuels. Enzymes can be used instead of fermentation. Methanol is the simpler molecule, and an d ethanol can be made from methanol. Methanol can be produced from nearly any biomass, including animal waste, or from carbon dioxide and water using electrolysis or enzymes. As a fuel methanol and ethanol both have advantages and disadvantages over fuels such as petrol and diesel. In spark ignition engines both alcohols can run at a much higher Exhaust gas recirculation rates and with higher compression ratios. Both alcohols have a high octane rating, with ethanol at 109 RON, 90 MON, (which equates to 99.5 AKI) and methanol at 109 RON, 89 MON (which equates to 99 AKI). Ordinary European petrol is typically 95 RON, 85 MON, equal to 90 AKI. Note that AKI refers to 'Anti-Knock Index' which averages the RON and MON ratings (RON+MON)/2, and is used on U.S. gas station pumps. As a compression ignition engine fuel, both alcohols create very little  particulates, but their low cetane number means that an ignition improver like glycol must be mixed into the fuel with approx. 5%.

 

When used in spark ignition engines alcohols have the potential to reduce NOx, CO, HC and particulates. A test with E85 fueled Chevrolet Luminas showed that NMHC went down by 20-22%, NOx by 25-32% and CO by 12-24% compared to reformulated gasoline. Toxic emissions of benzene and 1,3 Butadiene also decreased while aldehyde emissions increased (acetaldehyde in particular). Tailpipe emissions of CO2 also decrease due to the lower carbon-to-hydrogen ratio of

 

these alcohols, and the improved engine efficiency. Methanol and ethanol contain soluble and insoluble contaminants. Halide ions, which are soluble contaminants, such as chloride ions, have a large effect on the corrosivity of alcohol fuels. Halide ions increase corrosion in two ways: they chemically attack  passivating oxide films on several metals causing pitting corrosion, corrosion, and they increase the conductivity of the fuel. Increased electrical conductivity promotes electrical, galvanic and ordinary corrosion in the fuel system. Soluble contaminants such as aluminum hydroxide, itself a product of corrosion by halide ions, clogs the fuel system over time. To prevent corrosion the fuel must besensor made of suitable electrical must be properly insulated andsystem the fuel level must be of materials, pulse and hold type wires (or similar). In addition, high quality alcohol should have a low concentration of contaminants and have a suitable corrosion inhibitor added. Methanol and ethanol are also incompatible with some polymers. The alcohol reacts with the polymers causing swelling, and over time the oxygen breaks down the carbon-carbon  bonds in the polymer causing a reduction in tensile strength. For the past few decades though, most cars have been designed to tolerate up to 10% ethanol (E10) without    problem. This include both fuel system compatibility and lambda compensation of fuel delivery with fuel injection engines featuring closed loop lambda control. In some engines ethanol may degrade some compositions of plastic or rubber fuel delivery components designed for conventional petrol, and also be unable to lambda compensate the fuel properly. "FlexFuel" vehicles have upgraded fuel system and engine components which are designed for long life using E85 or M85, and the ECU can adapt to any fuel blend  between gasoline and E85 or M85. Typical upgrades include modifications to: fuel tanks, fuel tank electrical wiring, fuel pumps, fuel filters, fuel lines, filler tubes, fuel level sensors, fuel injectors, seals, fuel rails, fuel pressure regulators, valve seats and inlet valves. "Total Flex" Autos destined for the Brazilian market can use E100 (100% Ethanol). One liter of ethanol contain 21.1 21 .1 MJ, a liter of methanol 15.8 MJ and a liter of gasoline approximately 32.6 MJ. In other words, for the same energy content as one liter or one gallon of gasoline, one needs 1.6 liters/gallons of ethanol and 2.1 liters/gallons of methanol. Although actual fuel consumption doesn't increase as much as energy content numbers indicate.

 

Methanol has been proposed as a s a future biofuel. Methanol has a long history as a racing fuel. Early Grand Prix Racing used blended mixtures as well as pure methanol. The use of the fuel was primarily used in North America after the war. However, methanol for racing purposes has largely been based on methanol produced from natural gas and therefore this methanol would not be considered c onsidered a biofuel. Methanol is a possible biofuel, however. Methanol might be produced from carbon dioxide and captive hydrogen derived using nuclear power or any renewable energy source. Compared to ethanol, the  primary advantage of methanol biofuel is its much greater well-to-wheel efficiency when  produced from syngas. Ethanol is already being used extensively as a fuel additive, and the use of ethanol fuel alone or as part of a mix with gasoline is increasing. Compared to methanol its primary advantage is that it is less corrosive and additionally the fuel is non-toxic, although the fuel will produce some toxic exhaust emissions. From 2007, the Indy Racing League Leagu e will use ethanol as its exclusive fuel, after 40 years of using methanol. Since September 2007  petrol stations in NSW, Australia are mandated to supply all their petrol petrol with 2% Ethanol content Methanol combustion is: 2CH3OH + 3O2 

 2CO2 + 4H2O + heat

→

Ethanol combustion is: C2H5OH + 3O2 

 2CO2 + 3H2O + heat

→

Butanol and Propanol Propanol and butanol are considerably less toxic and less volatile than methanol. In  particular, butanol has a high flashpoint of 35 °C, which is a benefit for fire safety, but may be a difficulty for starting engines in cold weather. The concept o off flash point is however not directly applicable to engines as the compression of the air in the cylinder means that the temperature is several hundred degrees d egrees Celsius before ignition takes place. The fermentation processes to produce propanol and butanol from cellulose are fairly tricky to execute, and the Weizmann organism (Clostridium acetobutylicum) currently used to perform these conversions produces an extremely unpleasant smell, and this must  be taken into consideration when designing and locating a fermentation plant. This organism also dies when the butanol content of whatever it is fermenting rises to 7%. For comparison, yeast dies when the ethanol content of its feedstock hits 14%. Specialized

strains can tolerate even greater ethanol concentrations - so-called turbo yeast can withstand up to 16% ethanol . However, if ordinary Saccharomyces yeast can be modified to improve its ethanol resistance, scientists may yet one day produce a strain of the Weizmann organism with a butanol resistance higher than the natural boundary of 7%. This would be useful because butanol has a higher energy density than ethanol, and  because waste fibre left over from sugar crops used to make ethanol could be made into  butanol, raising the alcohol yield of fuel crops without there being a need for more crops to be planted.

 

Despite these drawbacks, DuPont and British Petroleum have recently announced that they are jointly to build a small scale butanol fuel demonstration plant alongside the large bioethanol plant they are jointly developing with Associated British Foods. Energy Environment International developed a method for producing butanol from  biomass, which involves the use of two separate micro-organisms in sequence sequence to minimize production of acetone and ethanol byproducts. The Swiss company Butalco GmbH uses a special technology to modify y yeasts easts in order to produce butanol instead of ethanol. ethan ol. Yeasts as production organisms for butanol have decisive advantages compared to bacteria. Butanol combustion is: C4H9OH + 6O2 

 4CO2 + 5H2O + heat

→

The 3-carbon alcohol, propanol (C3H7OH), is not used as a direct fuel source for petrol engines that often (unlike ethanol, methanol and butanol), with most being directed into use as a solvent. However, it is used as a source of hydrogen in some types of fuel cell; it can generate a higher voltage than methanol, which is the fuel of choice for most alcohol based fuel cells. However, since propanol is harder to produce than methanol (biologically OR from oil), methanol fuel cells are still used a lot more often than those that utilise propanol.

By country Alcohol in Brazil Brazil was until recently the largest producer of alcohol fuel in the world, typically fermenting ethanol from sugarcane. The country produces a total of 18 b billion illion liters (4.8  billion gallons) annually, of which 3.5 billion liters are exported, 2 billion of them to the U.S.. Alcohol cars debuted in the Brazilian market in 1978 and became quite popular  because of heavy subsidy, but in the 80's prices rose and gasoline regained the leading market share. However, from 2003 on, alcohol alco hol is rapidly rising its market share once again bec because ause of new technologies involving flexible-fuel engines, called "Flex" by all major car manufacturers (Volkswagen, General Motors, Fiat, etc.). "Flex" engines work with gasoline, alcohol or any mixture of both fuels. As of May 2009, more than 88% of new vehicles sold in Brazil are flex fuel Because of the Brazilian leading production and technology, many countries became very interested in importing alcohol fuel and adopting the "Flex" vehicle concept. On March 7 of 2007, US president George W. Bush visited the city of São Pa Paulo ulo to sign agreements with Brazilian president Lula on importing alcohol and its technology as an alternative fuel.

Alcohol in China

 

China has reported with a 70% methanol use to conventional gasoline an independence from crude oil.  National Committee of Planning and Action Coordination for Clean Automobile had listed key technologies related to alcohol/ether fuel and accelerated industrialization into its main agenda. Alcohol fuels had become part of five main alternative fuels: Two of which were alcohols; methanol and ethanol

Alcohol in Russia

Alcohol in Russia Russia has reduced its dependency on oil by using methanol made from the destructive  pyrolysis of eucalyptus wood and fibre. However, this system is less likely to be emulated elsewhere, due to the disadvantages of methanol fuel.

Alcohol in the United States Theyear. United States at the end of 2007 was producing 7 billion gallons (26.9 billion  per E10 or Gasohol is commonly marketed in Delaware and E85 is found in liters) many states, particularly in the Mid West where ethanol from corn is produced p roduced locally. Due to government subsidies, many new vehicles are sold each year that can use E85, although the majority are run solely on gasoline due to the limited availability of E85. Many states and municipalities have mandated that all gasoline fuel be blended with 10  percent alcohol (usually ethanol) during some or all of the year. This is to reduce  pollution and allows these areas to comply with federal pollution limits. Because alcohol is partially oxygenated, it produces less overall pollution, including ozone. In some areas (California in particular) the regulations may also require other formulations or added chemicals that reduce pollution, but add complexity to the fuel distribution and increase the cost of the fuel.

Alcohol in the European Union Consumption of Bioethanol (GWh) #

1

Country

2005 2006

2007

2008

871 1,719 3,164 4,693

2 3

France Germany Sweden

4

 Netherlands

5 6 7 8

1,314 1,332 1,512 1,454 Spain Poland 329 611 837 1,382 United Kingdom 50 502 563 906 1,223 Finland 0 10 20 858

9

Austria

1,682 3,544 3,448 4,675 1,681 1,894 2,119 2,488 0

0

179 1,023 1,512

0

199

633

 

10

Hungary

28

136

314

454

11 12

Czech Republic Ireland

0

13

1

378

0

13

59

207

13 14

Lithuania Belgium

10 0

64 0

134 0

182 145

15 16

Slovakia Bulgaria

0 -

4 0

140 0

76 72

17

0

42

60

50

18 19 20

Denmark Slovenia Estonia Latvia

0 0 5

2 0 12

9 0 0

28 17 0

21 22

Luxembourg Portugal

0 0

0 0

14 0

11 0

23

Italy

59

0

0

0

24

Greece

0

0

0

0

25

Romania

-

0

0

0

26

0

0

0

0

27

Malta Cyprus

0

0

0

0

27

6,481 81 10 10,13 ,138 8 13,96 13,962 2 20,53 20,538 8 European Union 6,4

1 toe = 11,63 MWh, 0 = no data Alcohol consumption does not specify the traffic fuel use The 2008 data is not confirmed yet 

Alcohol in Japan The first alcohol fuel in Japan started from GAIAX in 1999. GAIAX was developed in South Korea, and imported by Japan. The principal ingredient was a methanol. Because not gasoline, it was a tax-free object ofact theof gas tax of Japan. However,GAIAX the use was of GAIAX came to be considered to be an smuggling from Japanese Government and the petroleum industry in Japan as a result. The retailer of GAIAX was done to evade the tax evasion criticism by independently paying the diesel fuel tax in the legal system regulations either.

The fire accident from the vehicle where GAIAX was refueled began to be reported in around 2000 when the tax evasion discussion ended almost. The car industry in Japan criticized GAIAX , saying that "A fire broke out because high density alcohol had made them corrode the fuel pipe". And, GAIAX was named "High density alcoholic fuel", and the campaign from the market to exclude it was executed for a long term. Finally, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry also joined this campaign.

 

The gasoline quality method was revised by the pretext from the reason on safety in 2003. This was a content that prohibited the manufacturing sales of "High density alcoholic fuel", and a substantial GAIAX sales ban. The thing that the fuel manufacturer  provided by revising this law prohibits gasoline from adding of the alcohol of 3% or more. This law revision is grounds not to be able to sell the fuel alcohol more than the E3 fuel in Japan. GAIAX was excluded from the market by such details. The consumer came also to acknowledge that the fuel alcohol was dangerous widely by a negative campaign of the industrial-government complex cooperation. However, Japan sarcastically invited the result of leaving from the tendency to making of a worldwide vehicle fuel alcohol as a result. The petroleum industry in Japan is advancing the research and development d evelopment of a fuel alcohol that differs from GAIAX and is original now. However, the above-mentioned law used to exclude GAIAX becomes a trouble on the market of their fuel alcohol. a lcohol. Moreover, the prospect of marketing do doesn't esn't stand because disgust to "High density alcoholic fuel" of the consumer in Japan strongly remains by a longtime campaign, too at all.

 

Chapter- 4

Butanol Fuel

Butanol may be used as a fuel in an internal combustion engine. Because its longer hydrocarbon chain causes it to be fairly non-polar, more similar to gasoline than it is to ethanol. Butanol has been demonstrated to workitinisvehicles designed for use with gasoline without modification. It can be produced from biomass (as "biobutanol") as well as fossil fuels (as "petrobutanol"); but biobutanol and petrobutanol have hav e the same chemical properties.

Production of biobutanol Butanol from biomass is called biobutanol. It can be used in unmodified gasoline engines.

Technologies Biobutanol can be produced by fermentation of biomass by the A.B.E. process. The  process uses the bacterium Clostridium acetobutylicum, also known as the Weizmann organism. It was Chaim Weizmann who first used this bacteria bac teria for the production of acetone from starch (with the main use of acetone being the making of Cordite) in 1916. The butanol was a by-product of this fermentation (twice as much butanol was produced). The process also creates a recoverable amount of H2 and a number of other by-products: acetic, lactic and propionic acids, acetone, isopropanol and ethanol. The difference from ethanol production is primarily p rimarily in the fermentation of the feedstock and minor changes in distillation. The feedstocks are the same as for ethanol: ene energy rgy crops such as sugar beets, sugar cane, corn grain, wheat and cassava, prospective nonfood energy crops such as switchgrass and even guayule in North America, as well as agricultural byproducts such as straw and corn stalks. According to DuPont, existing  bioethanol plants can cost-effectively be retrofitted to biobutanol production.

 

Additionally, butanol production from biomass and agricultural byproducts could be more efficient (i.e. unit engine motive power delivered d elivered per unit solar energy consumed) than ethanol or methanol production. Algae butanol

Biobutanol can be made entirely with solar energy, from algae (called Solalgal Fuel) F uel) or diatoms.

Producers ButylFuel, LLC used a U.S. Department of Energy Small Business Technology Transfer grant to develop a process aimed at making biobutanol production economically competitive with petrochemical production processes. DuPont and BP plan to make biobutanol the first product of their joint effort to develop,  produce, and market next-generation biofuels. In Europe the Swiss company Butalco is developing genetically modified yeasts for the production of biobutanol from cellulosic materials. The number of biobutanol producers with commercial plants coming on line continues to grow monthly. At present, there are number of bioethanol plants which are being coverted to biobutanol plants. At last count, there are over 10 companies seeking to develop this promising fuel. Read more about BioButanol companies.

Distribution Butanol better tolerates water contamination and is less corrosive than ethanol and more suitable for distribution through existing pipelines for gasoline. In blends with diesel or gasoline, butanol is less likely to separate from this fuel than ethanol if the fuel is contaminated with water. There is also a vapor pressure co-blend synergy with butanol and gasoline containing ethanol, which facilitates ethanol blending. This facilitates storage and distribution of blended fuels.

Properties of common fuels Fuel

Energy

Airfuel

Specific

Heat of

RON MON

density

ratio

energy

vaporization

Gasoline and  biogasoline

32 MJ/L 14.6

2.9 MJ/kg air

0.36 MJ/kg

Butanol fuel

29.2 MJ/L

11.1

3.2 MJ/kg air

0.43 MJ/kg

96

78

Ethanol fuel

19.6

9.0

3.0 MJ/kg

0.92 MJ/kg

107

89

1.2 MJ/kg

106

91–  81–  99 89

 

MJ/L Methanol

16 MJ/L

air 6.4

3.1 MJ/kg air

92

Energy content and effects on fuel economy Switching a gasoline engine over to butanol would in theory result in a fuel consumption  penalty of about 10% but butanol's effect on mileage is yet to be determined by a scientific study. While the energy density for any mixture of gasoline and butanol can be calculated, tests with other alcohol fuels have demonstrated that the effect on fuel economy is not proportional to the change in energy density.

Octane rating The octane rating of n-butanol is similar to that of gasoline but lower than that of o f ethanol and methanol. n-Butanol has a RON (Research Octane number) of 96 and a MON (Motor octane number) of 78 while t-butanol has h as octane ratings of 105 RON and 89 MON. tButanol is used as an additive a dditive in gasoline but cannot be used as a fuel in its pure form  because its relatively high melting point of 25.5 °C causes it to gel and freeze near room temperature. A fuel with a higher octane rating is less prone to knocking (extremely rapid and spontaneous combustion by compression) and the control system of any modern car engine can take advantage adv antage of this by adjusting the ignition timing. This will improve

energy efficiency, leading to a better fuel economy than the comparisons of energy content different fuels indicate. By increasing the compression ratio, further gains in fuel economy, power and torque can be achieved. Conversely, a fuel with lower octane rating is more prone to knocking and will lower efficiency. Knocking can also cause engine damage.

Air-fuel ratio Alcohol fuels, including butanol and ethanol, are partially oxidized and therefore need to run at richer mixtures than gasoline. Standard gasoline engines in cars can adjust the airfuel ratio to accommodate variations in the fuel, but only within certain limits depending on model. If the limit is exceeded by running the engine on pure butanol or a gasoline  blend with a high percentage of butanol, the engine will run lean, something which can critically damage components. Compared to ethanol, butanol can be mixed in higher ratios with gasoline for use in existing cars without the need n eed for retrofit as the air-fuel ratio and energy content are closer to that of gasoline.

Specific energy Alcohol fuels have less energy per unit weight and unit volume than gasoline. To make it  possible to compare the net energy released per cycle a measure called the fuels specific

 

energy is sometimes used. It is defined as the energy released per air fuel ratio. The net energy released per cycle is higher for butanol than ethanol or methanol and about 10% higher than for gasoline.

Viscosity Kinematic Substance viscosity at 20°C

Butanol

3.64 cSt

Ethanol Methanol Gasoline Diesel Water

1.52 cSt 0.64 cSt 0.4–0.8 cSt >3 cSt 1.0 cSt

The viscosity of alcohols increase with longer carbon chains. For this reason, butanol is used as an alternative to shorter alcohols when a more viscous solvent is desired. The kinematic viscosity of butanol is several times higher than that of gasoline and about as viscous as high quality diesel fuel.

Heat of vaporization The fuel in an engine has to be vaporized before it will burn. Insufficient vaporization is a known problem with alcohol in cold As the heat of vaporization of butanol is lessfuels thanduring half ofcold that starts of ethanol, anweather. engine running on butanol should be easier to start in cold weather than one running on ethanol or methanol.

Potential problems with the use of butanol fuel f uel The potential problems with the use of butanol b utanol are similar to those of ethanol:  

To match the combustion characteristics cha racteristics of gasoline, the utilization of butanol fuel as a substitute for gasoline requires fuel-flow increases (though butanol has only slightly less energy than gasoline, so the fuel-flow increase required is only minimal, maybe 10%, compared to 40% for ethanol.)   Alcohol-based fuels are not compatible with some fuel system components.   Alcohol fuels may cause erroneous gas gauge readings in vehicles with capacitance fuel level gauging.   While ethanol and methanol have lower energy densities than butanol, their higher octane number allows for greater compression ratio and efficiency. Higher combustion engine efficiency allows for lesser greenhouse gas emissions per unit motive energy extracted.

•

• •

•

 

 

•

Butanol is toxic at a rate of 20g per liter and may need to undergo Tier 1 and Tier 2 health effects testing before being permitted p ermitted as a primary fuel by the EPA.

Possible butanol fuel mixtures Standards for the blending of ethanol and a nd methanol in gasoline exist in many countries, including the EU, the US and Brazil. Approximate equivalent butanol blends can be calculated from the relations between the stochiometric fuel-air ratio of butanol, ethanol and gasoline. Common ethanol fuel mixtures for fuel sold as gasoline currently range from 5% to 10%. The share of butanol can be 60% greater than the equivalent ethanol share, which gives a range from 8% to 16%. "Equivalent" in this ca case se refers only to the vehicle's ability to adjust to the fuel. Other properties such as energy density, viscosity and heat of vaporisation will vary and may further limit the percentage of butanol that can be blended with gasoline. Consumer acceptance may be limited due to the offensive smell of butanol. Plans are underway to market a fuel that is 85% Ethanol and 15% Butanol (E85B), so existing E85 internal combustion engines can run on a 100% renewable fuel that could be made without using any fossile fuels. Because its longer hydrocarbon chain causes it to be fairly non-polar, it is more similar to gasoline than it is to ethanol. Butanol has been demonstrated to work in vehicles designed for use with gasoline without modification. It can be produced from biomass (as "biobutanol") as well as fossil fuels (as "petrobutanol"); but biobutanol and petrobutanol have hav e the same chemical properties.

Current use of butanol in vehicles Currently no production vehicle is known to be approved by the manufacturer for use with 100% butanol. As of early 2009, only few vehicles are approved for even using E85 fuel (i.e. 85% ethanol + 15% gasoline)in the USA. However, in Brazil all vehicle manufacturers (Fiat, Ford, VW, GM, Toyota, Honda, Peugeot, Citroen and others)  produce flex fuel vehicles that can run on 100% ethanol or any mix of ethanol and gasoline. These flex fuel cars represent 90% of the sales of personal vehicles in Brazil, in 2009. BP and Dupont, engaged in a joint venture to produce and promote butanol fuel, claim "biobutanol can be blended up to 10%v/v in European gasoline and 11.5%v/v in US that gasoline". David Ramey drove from Blacklick, Ohio to San Diego, California using butanol in an unmodified 1992 Buick Park Avenue. In the 2009 Petit Le Mans race, the No. 16 Lola B09/86 - Mazda MZR-R of Dyson Racing ran on a mixture of biobutanol and ethanol developed by team technology partner

BP.

Research

 

The Swiss company Butalco GmbH uses a special technology to modify y yeasts easts in order to produce butanol instead of ethanol. ethan ol. Yeasts production organisms butanol have decisive advantages compared to bacteria. Theascompany Gevo, Inc., infor Englewood, Colorado, is developing a biotechnology process to mass-produce isobutanol from renewable resources.

 

Chapter- 5

Ethanol Fuel

Saab 9-3 SportCombi BioPower. The second E85 flexifuel model introduced by Saab in the Swedish market.

 

  BEST program ED95 trial bus operating in São Paulo, Brazil. Ethanol fuel is ethanol (ethyl alcohol), the same type of alcohol found in alcoholic  beverages. It is most often used as a motor fuel, mainly as a biofuel additive for gasoline. World ethanol production for transport fuel tripled between 2000 and 2007 from 17  billion to more than 52 billion litres. From 2007 to 2008, the share of ethanol in global gasoline type fuel use increased from 3.7% to 5.4%. In 2009 worldwide ethan ethanol ol fuel

 production reached 19.5 billion gallons (73.9 billion liters). Ethanol is widely used in Brazil and in the United States, and together both countries were responsible for 86 percent of the world's ethanol fuel production in 2009. Most cars on the road today in the U.S. can run on blends of up to 10% ethanol, and the use of 10% ethanol gasoline is mandated in some U.S. states and cities. Since 1976 the Brazilian government has made it mandatory to blend ethanol with gasoline, and since 2007 the legal blend is around 25% ethanol and 75% gasoline (E25). In addition, by 2010 Brazil had a fleet of more than 10 million flexible-fuel vehicles regularly using neat ethanol fuel (known as E100). Bioethanol, unlike petroleum, is a form of renewable energy that can be produced from agricultural feedstocks. It can be made from very common crops such as sugar cane,  potato, manioc and corn. However, there has been considerable debate about how useful  bioethanol will be in replacing gasoline. Concerns about its production and use relate to increased food prices due to the large amount of arable lan land d required for crops, as well as the energy and pollution balance of the whole cycle of ethanol production, especially from corn. Recent developments with cellulosic ethanol production and

commercialization may allay some of these concerns. Cellulosic ethanol offers promise because cellulose fibers, a major and universal component in plant cells walls, can be used to produce ethanol. According to the

 

International Energy Agency, cellulosic ethanol could allow ethanol fuels to play a much  bigger role in the future than previously thought.

Chemistry

Structure of ethanol molecule. All bonds are a re single bonds Glucose (a simple sugar) is created in the plant by photosynthesis. 6 CO2 + 6 H2O + light

 C6H12O6 + 6 O2 

→

During ethanol fermentation, glucose is decomposed into ethanol and carbon dioxide. C6H12O6 

 2 C2H5OH+ 2 CO2 + heat

→

During combustion ethanol reacts with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide, water, and heat:

C2H5OH + 3 O2 

 2 CO2 + 3 H2O + heat

→

After doubling combustion because two molecules of ethanol produced for each glucosethe molecule, and reaction adding all three reactions together, there areare equal numbers of each type of molecule on each side of the equation, and the net reaction for the overall production and consumption of ethanol is just: light

 heat

→

The heat of the combustion of ethanol is used to drive the piston in the engine by expanding heated gases. It can be said that sunlight is used to run the engine (as is the case with any renewable energy source, as sunlight is the only way energy enters the  planet). Glucose itself is not the only substance in the plant that is fermented. The simple sugar fructose also undergoes fermentation. Three other compounds in the plant can be fermented after breaking them up by hydrolysis into the glucose or fructose molecules that compose them. Starch and cellulose are molecules that are strings of glucose

 

molecules, and sucrose (ordinary table sugar) is a molecule of glucose bonded to a molecule of fructose. The energy to create fructose in the plant ultimately comes from the metabolism of glucose created by photosynthesis, and so sunlight also provides the energy generated by the fermentation of these other molecules. Ethanol may also be produced industrially from ethene (ethylene). Addition of water to the double bond converts ethene to ethanol: C2H4 + H2O

 CH3CH2OH

→

This is done in the presence of an acid which catalyzes the reaction, but is not consumed. The ethene is produced from petroleum by steam cracking. When ethanol is burned in the atmosphere rather than in pure oxygen, other chemical

reactions occur with different components of the atmosphere such as nitrogen (N 2). This leads to the production of nitrous oxides, a major air pollutant.

Sources

Sugar cane harvest

 

  Cornfield in South Africa

 

  Switchgrass

Ethanol is a renewable energy source because the energy is generated by using a resource, sunlight, which can't be depleted. Creation of ethanol starts with photosynthesis causing a feedstock, such as sugar cane or corn, to grow. These feedstocks are processed into ethanol. About 5% of the ethanol produced in the world in 2003 was actually a petroleum product. It is made by the catalytic hydration of ethylene with sulfuric acid as the catalyst. It can also be obtained via ethylene or acetylene, from calcium carbide, coal, oil gas, and other sources. Two million tons of petroleum-derived ethanol are produced annually. The  principal suppliers are plants in the United States, Europe, and South Africa. Petroleum derived ethanol (synthetic ethanol) dating. is chemically identical to bio-ethanol and can be differentiated only by radiocarbon Bio-ethanol is usually obtained from the conversion of carbon based feedstock. Agricultural feedstocks are considered renewable because they get energy from the sun using photosynthesis, provided that all minerals required for growth (such as a s nitrogen and

 

 phosphorus) are returned to the land. Ethanol can be produced from a variety of feedstocks such as sugar cane, bagasse, ba gasse, miscanthus, sugar beet, sorghum, grain sorghum, switchgrass, barley, hemp, kenaf, potatoes, sweet potatoes, cassava, sunflower, fruit, molasses, corn, stover, grain, wheat, straw, cotton, other biomass, as well as many types of cellulose waste and harvestings, whichever has the best well-to-wheel assessment. An alternative process to produce bio-ethanol from algae is being developed by the company Algenol. Rather than grow din mor algae and then harvest and ferment it the algae grow in sunlight and produce ethanol directly which is removed without killing the algae. It is claimed the process can produce 6000 gallons per acre per year compared with 400 gallons for corn production. Currently, the first generation processes for the production of ethanol from corn use only a small part of the corn plant: the corn kernels are taken from the corn plant and only the starch, which represents about 50% of the dry kernel mass, is transformed into ethanol.

Two types of second generation gene ration processes are under development. The first type uses enzymes and yeast to convert the plant cellulose into ethanol while the second type uses  pyrolysis to convert the whole plant to either a liquid bio-oil or a syngas. Second generation processes can also be used u sed with plants such as grasses, wood or ag agricultural ricultural waste material such as straw. Production process

The basic steps for large scale production of ethanol are: microbial (yeast) fermentation of sugars, distillation, dehydration, and denaturing (optional). Prior to fermentation, some crops require saccharification or hydrolysis of carbohydrates such as cellulose c ellulose and starch into sugars. Saccharification of cellulose is called cellulolysis. Enzymes are used to convert starch into sugar. Fermentation

Ethanol is produced by microbial fermentation of the sugar. Microbial fermentation will currently only work directly with sugars. Two major components co mponents of plants, starch and cellulose, are both made up of sugars, and can in principle be converted to sugars for fermentation. Currently, only the sugar (e.g. sugar cane) c ane) and starch (e.g. corn) portions can be economically converted. However, there is much activity in the area of cellulosic ethanol, where the cellulose part of a plant is broken down to sugars and subsequently converted to ethanol. Distillation

 

  Ethanol plant in West Burlington, Iowa

Ethanol plant in Sertãozinho, Brazil.

 

For the ethanol to be usable u sable as a fuel, water must be removed. Most of the water is removed by distillation, but the purity is limited to 95-96% due to the formation of a low boiling water-ethanol azeotrope. The 95.6% m/m (96.5% ethanol,ethanol, 4.4% m/m v/v) water mixture may be used as a fuel alone, but unlikev/v) anhydrous is (3.5% immiscible in gasoline, so the water fraction is typically removed in further treatment in order to burn in combination with gasoline in gasoline engines. Dehydration

There are basically five dehydration processes to remove the water from an azeotropic ethanol/water mixture. The first process, used in many early fuel ethanol plants, is called azeotropic distillation and consists of adding benzene or cyclohexane to the mixture. When these components are added to the mixture, it forms a heterogeneous azeotropic mixture in vapor-liquid-liquid equilibrium, which when distilled produces anhydrous ethanol in the column bottom, and a vapor mixture of water and cyclohexane/benzene. When condensed, this becomes a two-phase liquid mixture. Another early method, called extractive distillation, consists of adding a ternary component which will increase ethanol's relative volatility. When the ternary mixture is distilled, it will produce anhydrous ethanol on the top stream of the column. With increasing attention being paid to saving energy, many methods have been proposed that avoid distillation altogether for dehydration. Of these methods, a third method has emerged and has been adopted by the majority of modern ethanol plants. This new  process uses molecular sieves to remove water from fuel ethanol. In this process, process, ethanol vapor under pressure passes through a bed of molecular sieve beads. The bead's pores are sized to allow absorption of water while excluding ethanol. After a period of time, the  bed is regenerated under vacuum or in the flow of inert atmosphere (e.g. N2) to remove the absorbed water. Two beds are a re used so that one is available to absorb water while the other is being regenerated. This dehydration technology can account for energy saving of 3,000 btus/gallon (840 kJ/l) compared to earlier ea rlier azeotropic distillation.

Technology Ethanol-based engines Ethanol is most commonly used to power automobiles, though it may be used to power other vehicles, such as farm tractors, boats and airplanes. Ethanol (E100) consumption in an engine is approximately 51% higher than for gasoline since the energy per unit volume of ethanol is 34% lower than for gasoline. However, the higher compression ratios in an ethanol-only engine allow for increased power output and better fuel economy than could  be obtained with lower compression ratios. In general, ethanol-only engines are tuned to give slightly better power and torque output than gasoline-powered engines. In flexible fuel vehicles, the lower compression ratio requires tunings that give the same output when using either gasoline or hydrated ethanol. For maximum use of ethanol's benefits, a much higher compression ratio should be used, Current high compression neat ethanol

 

engine designs are approximately 20-30% less fuel efficient e fficient than their gasoline-only counterparts. A 2004 MIT study and an earlier paper published by the Society of Automotive Engineers identify a method to exploit the characteristics of fuel ethanol substantially  better than mixing it with gasoline. The method presents the possibility of leveraging the use of alcohol to achieve definite improvement over the cost-effectiveness of hybrid electric. The improvement consists of using dual-fuel direct-injection of pure alcohol alcoh ol (or the azeotrope or E85) and gasoline, in any ratio up to 100% of either, in a turbocharged, high compression-ratio, small-displacement engine having performance similar to an engine having twice the displacement. d isplacement. Each fuel is carried separately, with a much smaller tank for alcohol. The high-compression (which increases efficiency) engine will run on ordinary gasoline under low-power cruise conditions. Alcohol is directly injected into the cylinders (and the gasoline injection simultaneously reduced) only when necessary to suppress ‘knock’ such as when significantly accelerating. Direct cylinder injection raises the already high octane rating of ethanol up to an effective 130. The calculated over-all reduction of gasoline use and CO2 emission is 30%. The consumer

2

cost payback time shows a 4:1 improvement over turbo-diesel and a 5:1 improvement over hybrid. In separation), addition, thesupply problems of water absorption into pre-mixed gasolinestarting (causing phase issues of multiple mix ratios and cold-weather are avoided. Ethanol's higher octane rating allows an increase of an engine's compression ratio for increased thermal efficiency. In one study, complex engine controls and increased exhaust gas recirculation allowed a compression ratio of 19.5 with fuels ranging from neat ethanol to E50. Thermal Th ermal efficiency up to approximately that for a diesel was achieved. This would result in the fuel economy of a neat ethanol vehicle to be about the same as one burning gasoline. Since 1989 there have also been ethanol engines based on the diesel principle operating in Sweden. They are used primarily in city buses, but also in distribution trucks and waste collectors. The engines, made by Scania, have a modified compression ratio, and the fuel (known as ED95) used is a mix of 93.6 % ethanol and 3.6 % ignition improver, and 2.8% denaturants.  The ignition improver makes it possible for the fuel to ignite in the diesel combustion cycle. It is then also possible to use the energy efficiency of the diesel  principle with ethanol. These engines have been used in the United Kingdom by Reading Transport but the use of bioethanol fuel is now being phased out.

Engine cold start during the winter

 

  The Brazilian 2008 Honda Civic flex-fuel has outside direct access to the seconda secondary ry reservoir gasoline tank in the front right side, the corresponding fuel filler door is shown  by the arrow. High ethanol blends present a problem to achieve enough vapor pressure for the fuel to evaporate and spark the ignition during cold weather (since ethanol tends to increase fuel enthalpy of vaporization ). When vapor pressure is below 45 kPa starting a cold engine    becomes difficult. In order to avoid this problem at temperatures below 11 ° Celsius (59 °F), and to reduce ethanol higher emissions during cold weather, both the US and the European markets adopted E85 as the maximum blend to be used in their flexible fuel vehicles, and they are optimized to run at such a blend. At places with harsh cold weather, the ethanol blend in the US has a seasonal reduction to E70 for these very cold regions, though it is still sold as E85.   At places where temperatures fall below -12 °C (10 °F) during the winter, it is recommended to install an engine heater system, both for gasoline and E85 vehicles. Sweden has a similar seasonal reduction, but the ethanol   content in the blend is reduced to E75 during the winter months. Brazilian flex fuel vehicles can operate with ethanol mixtures up to E100, which is hydrous ethanol (with up to 4% water), which causes vapor pressure to drop faster as compared to E85 vehicles. As a result, Brazilian flex vehicles are built with a small secondary gasoline reservoir located near the engine. During a cold start pure gasoline is injected to avoid starting problems at low temperatures. This provision is particularly necessary of Brazil's southern andwinter. centralAn regions, where temperatures normally drop belowfor 15users ° Celsius (59 °F) during the improved flex engine generation

was launched in 2009 that eliminates the need for the secondary gas storage tank.  In

 

March 2009 Volkswagen do Brasil launched the Polo E-Flex, the first Brazilian flex fuel model without an auxiliary tank for cold start.  

Ethanol fuel mixtures

Hydrated ethanol × gasoline type C price table for use in Brazil To avoid engine stall due to "slugs" of water in the fuel lines interrupting fuel flow, the fuel must exist as a single phase. The fraction of water that an ethanol-gasoline fuel can contain without phase separation increases with the percentage of ethanol.   This shows, for example, that E30 can have up to about 2% water. If there is more than about 71% ethanol, the remainder canthe befuel any mileage proportion of water orincreased gasoline and phase separation will not occur. However, declines with water content. The increased solubility of water with higher ethanol content permits E30 and hydrated ethanol to be put in the same tank since any combination of them always results in a single phase. Somewhat less water is tolerated at lower temperatures. For E10 it is about 0.5% v/v at 70 F and decreases to about 0.23% v/v at -30 F.  

 

In many countries cars are mandated to run on mixtures of ethanol. Brazil requires cars  be suitable for a 25% ethanol blend, and has required various mixtures between 22% and 25% ethanol, as of July 2007 25% is required. The United States allows up to 15%  blends, and some states require this (or a smaller amount) amount) in all gasoline sold. Other countries have adopted their own requirements. Beginning with the model year 1999, an increasing number of vehicles in the world are manufactured with engines which can run on any fuel from 0% ethanol up to 100% ethanol without modification. Many cars and light trucks (a class containing minivans, SUVs and pickup trucks) are designed to be flexible-fuel vehicles (also called dual-fuel vehicles). In older model years, their engine systems contained alcohol sensors in the fuel and/or oxygen sensors in the exhaust that  provide input to the engine control computer to adjust the fuel injection to achieve stochiometric (no residual fuel or free oxygen in the exhaust) air-to-fuel ratio for any fuel mix. In newer models, the alcohol sensors have been removed, with the computer using only oxygen and airflow sensor feedback to estimate alcohol content. The engine control computer can also adjust (advance) the ignition timing to achieve a higher output without  pre-ignition when it predicts that higher alcohol percentages are present in the fuel being  burned. This method is backed up by advanced knock sensors - used in most high  performance gasoline engines regardless of whether they're designed to use ethanol or not

- that detect pre-ignition and detonation.

Fuel economy In theory, all fuel-driven vehicles have a fuel economy (measured as miles per US gallon, or liters per 100 km) that is directly proportional to the fuel's energy content.   In reality, there are many other variables that come into play that affect the performance of a  particular fuel in a particular engine. Ethanol contains approx. 34% less energy per unit volume than gasoline, and therefore in theory, burning pure ethanol in a vehicle will result in a 34% reduction in miles per US gallon , given the same fuel economy, compared to burning pure gasoline. Since ethanol has a higher octane rating, the engine can be made more efficient by raising its compression ratio. In fact using a variable turbocharger, the compression ratio can be optimized for the fuel being used, making fuel economy almost constant for any blend. . For E10 (10% ethanol and 90% gasoline), the   effect is small (~3%) when compared to conventional conven tional gasoline, and even smaller (1-2%) when compared to oxygenated and reformulated blends.  However, for E85 (85% ethanol), the effect becomes significant. E85 will produce lower mileage than gasoline, and will require more frequent refueling. Actual performance may vary depending on the vehicle. Based on EPA tests for all 2006 E85 models, the average fuel economy for E85 vehicles resulted 25.56% lower than unleaded gasoline.  The EPA-rated mileage of current USA flex-fuel vehicles  should be considered when making price comparisons,  but it must be noted that E85 is a high performance fuel, with an octane rating of about 104, and should be compared to premium. In one estimate  the US retail price for E85 ethanol is 2.62 US dollar per gallon or 3.71 dollar corrected for energy equivalency compared to a gallon of gasoline priced at 3.03 dollar. Brazilian cane ethanol (100%) is  priced at 3.88 dollar against 4.91 dollar for E25 (as July 2007).

Consumer production systems

 

While biodiesel production systems have been marketed marke ted to home and business users for many years, commercialized ethanol production systems designed for end-consumer use have lagged in the marketplace. In 2008, two different companies announced home-scale ethanol production systems. The AFS125 Advanced Fuel System  from Allard Research

and Development is capable of producing both ethanol and biodiesel in one machine,   while the E-100 MicroFueler  from E-Fuel Corporation is dedicated to ethanol only.

Experience by country The world's top ethanol fuel producers in 2009 were the United States with 10.75 billion U.S. liquid gallons (bg) and Brazil (6.58 bg), accounting for 89% of world production of 19.53 billion US gallons (73.9 billion liters or 58.3 million metric tonnes). Strong incentives, coupled with other industry development initiatives, are giving rise to fledgling ethanol industries in countries such as Germany, Spain, France, Sweden, China, Thailand, Canada, Colombia, India, Australia, and some Central American countries.

Annual Fuel Ethanol Production by Country   (2007–2009) Top 10 countries/regional blocks (Millions of U.S. liquid gallons per year) 

World rank

Country/Region

1

Unit United ed Stat States es

10,7 10,750. 50.00 00 9,00 9,000.0 0.00 0 6,498 6,498.60 .60

2

Brazil

6,577.8 7.89 6,472.2 2.20 5,0 5,019.20

3

1,039. 9.52 52 European Union 1,03

4

China

5

6

2009

2008

2007

73 733. 3.60 60

57 570. 0.30 30

541.55

501.90

486.00

Thailand

435.20

89.80

79.20

Canada

290.59

237.70

211.30

 

7

India

91.67

66.00

52.80

8

Colombia

83.21

79.30

74.90

9

Australia

56.80

26.40

26.40

10

Other

World Total

Brazil

247.27

19,534.99 19,534.99 17,335.29 17,335.29 13,101.70 13,101.70

Brazil has ethanol fuel available throughout the country. A typical Petrobras filling station at São Paulo with dual fuel service, marked A for alcohol (ethanol) and G for gasoline.

 

  Typical Brazilian "flex" models from several carmakers, that run on any blend of ethanol and gasoline, from E20-E25 gasohol to E100 ethanol fuel.

 

  The Honda CG 150 Titan Mix was launched in the Brazilian market in 2009 and became the first flex-fuel motorcycle sold in the world. Brazil has the largest and most successful bio-fuel programs in the world, wo rld, involving  production of ethanol fuel from sugarcane, and it is considered to have the world's first sustainable biofuels economy.  In 2006 Brazilian ethanol provided 18% of the country's road transport sector fuel consumption needs,   and by April 2008, more than 50% of fuel   consumption for the gasoline market. As a result of the increasing use of o f ethanol, together with the exploitation of domestic deep water oil sources, Brazil reached in 2006 a volumetric self-sufficiency in oil supply, but is not effectively self-sufficient, since most of its locally extracted oil is heavy.   Together, Brazil and the United States lead the industrial world in global ethanol fuel  production, accounting together for 89% of worldwide production. In 2009 Brazil  produced 24.9 billion liters (6.57 billion U.S. liquid gallons), representing 33.7% of the world's total ethanol used as fuel. Sugar cane c ane plantations cover 3.6 million hectares of land for ethanol production, representing just 1% of Brazil's arable land, with a  productivity of 7,500 liters of ethanol per hectare, as compared with the U.S. maize ethanol productivity of 3,000 liters per hectare.  The ethanol industry in Brazil is more than 30 year-old and even though it is no longer subsidized, production and use of ethanol ethan ol was stimulated through:    

Low-interest loans for the construction of ethanol distilleries Guaranteed purchase of ethanol by the state-owned oil company at a reasonable price   Retail pricing of neat ethanol so it is competitive if not slightly favorable to the gasoline-ethanol blend

•

•

•

 

•

  Tax incentives provided during the 1980s to stimulate the purchase of neat ethanol vehicles.

 

Guaranteed purchase and price regulation were ended some years ago, with relatively  positive results. In addition to these other policies, ethanol producers in the state state of São Paulo established a research and technology transfer center that has been effective in  

improving sugar cane and ethanol yields. There are no longer light vehicles in Brazil running on pure gasoline. Since 1977 the government made mandatory to blend 20% of ethanol (E20) with gasoline (gasohol), requiring just a minor adjustment on regular gasoline motors. Today the mandatory blend is allowed to vary nationwide between 20% to 25% ethanol (E25) and it is used by all regular gasoline vehicles and flexible-fuel vehicles. The Brazilian car manufacturing industry developed flexible-fuel vehicles that can run on any proportion of gasoline and ethanol.  Introduced in the market in 2003, these vehicles became a commercial success.  By December 2009 the fleet of "flex" cars and light commercial vehicles had reached 9.35 million vehicles,  and 183.3 thousand flex-fuel motorcycles.  The cumulative  production of flex-fuel cars and light commercial vehicles since 2003 reached the milestone of 10 million units produced in March 2010. The ethanol-powered "flex" vehicles, as they are popularly known, are manufactured to tolerate hydrated ethanol   (E100), an azeotrope composed of 95.6% ethanol and 4.4% water. The latest innovation within the Brazilian flexible-fuel technology is the development of   flex-fuel motorcycles. The first flex motorcycle was launched to the market by Honda in March 2009. Produced by its Brazilian subsidiary Moto Honda da Amazônia, the CG 150  

Titan sold around Duringmotorcycles, the first eight months after its market launchMix the is CG 150for Titan MixUS$2,700. has sold 139,059 capturing a 10.6% market share, and ranking second in sales of new motorcycles in the Brazilian market by October 2009. 

United States United States fuel ethanol production and imports   (2001–2009) (Millions of U.S. liquid gallons)   Year Production Imports Demand

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

1,770 2,130 2,800 3,400 3,904 4,855

n/a 46 61 161 135 653

n/a 2,085 2,900 3,530 4,049 5,377

2007 2008 2009

6,500 9,000 10,600

450 556 190

6,847 9,637 10,940

 Note: Demand figures includes stocks change

 

and small exports in 2005 

The United States produces and consumes more ethanol fuel than any other country in the world. Ethanol use as fuel dates back to Henry Ford, who in 1896 designed his first car,   the "Quadricycle" to run on pure ethanol. Then in 1908, he produced the famous Ford Model T capable of running on gasoline, ethanol or a combination of both.  Ford   continued to advocate for ethanol as fuel even during Prohibition. Most cars on the road today in the U.S. can run on blends of up to 10% ethanol, and motor vehicle manufacturers already produce vehicles designed to run on much higher ethanol blends. In 2007 Portland, Oregon, became the first city in the United States to require all gasoline sold within city limits to contain at least 10% ethanol.  As of January 2008, three states — Missouri, Minnesota, and Hawaii — require ethanol e thanol to be blended with gasoline motor fuel. Many cities also require ethanol blends due to non-attainment   of federal air quality goals.

E85 FlexFuel Chevrolet Impala LT 2009, Miami, Florida. Several motor vehicle manufacturers, including Ford, Chrysler, and GM, sell flexible-fuel vehicles that can use gasoline and ethanol blends ranging from pure gasoline all the way up to 85% ethanol (E85). By December 2009 it was estimated there we were re 8.4 million   E85-compatible vehicles on U.S. roads, though actual used of E85 fuel is limited, not only because the ethanol fueling infrastructures is limited,   but also because many owners   are not aware their vehicle is flex-fuel capable.

 

In the USA there are currently about ab out 1,900 stations distributing ethanol, although most   stations are in the corn belt area. One of the debated methods for distribution in the US is using existing oil pipelines,  which raises concerns over corrosion. In any case, some companies proposed building a 1,700-mile (2,700 km) pipeline to carry ethanol from the Midwest through Central Pennsylvania to New York.   The production of fuel ethanol from corn in the United States is controversial for a few

reasons. Production of ethanol from corn is 5 to 6 times less efficient than producing it from sugarcane. Ethanol production from corn is highly dependent upon subsidies and it   consumes a food crop to produce fuel. The subsidies paid to fuel blenders and ethanol refineries have often been cited as the reason for driving up the price of corn, and in farmers planting more corn and the conversion of considerable land to corn (maize)  production which generally consumes more fertilizers and pesticides than many other land uses.  This is at odds with the subsidies actually paid directly d irectly to farmers that are designed to take corn land out of production and pay farmers to plant grass and idle the land, often in conjunction with soil conservation programs, in an attempt to boost corn  prices. Recent developments with cellulosic ethanol production and commercialization may allay some of these concerns. A theoretically much more efficient way of ethan ethanol ol  production has been suggested to use sugar beets which make about the same amount of ethanol as corn without using the corn food crop especially since sugar beets can grow in less tropical conditions than sugar cane.

Most of the ethanol consumed in the US is in the form of low blends with gasoline up to 10%. Shown a fuel pump in Maryland selling mandatory E10.

 

On October 2008 the first "biofuels corridor" was officially opened along I-65, a major interstate highway in the central United States. Stretching from northern Indiana to southern Alabama, this corridor consisting of more than 200 individual fueling stations makes itwithout possiblebeing to drive a flex-fueled from Lake to the of   Mexico further than a quarter quavehicle rter tank worth of Michigan fuel from an E85Gulf pump. On April 23, 2009, the California Air Resources Board approved the specific rules and carbon intensity reference values for the California Low-Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS)   that will go into effect in January 1, 2011. During the consultation process there was   controversy regarding the inclusion and modeling of indirect land use change effects. After the CARB's ruling, among other criticisms, representatives of the US ethanol ethano l industry complained that this standard overstates the environmental effects of corn c orn ethanol, and also criticized the inclusion of indirect effects of land-use changes as an unfair penalty to domestically produced corn ethanol because deforestation in the developing world is being tied to US ethanol production.  The initial reference value set for 2011 for LCFS means that Mid-west corn ethanol will not meet the California   standard unless current carbon intensity is reduced. A similar controversy arose after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)  published on May 5, 2009, its notice of proposed rulemaking for the new Renewable Fuel   Standard (RFS). The draft of the regulations was released for public comment during a 60-day period. EPA's proposed regulations also included the carbon footprint from indirect land-use changes.  On the same day, President Barack Obama signed a Presidential Directive with the aim to advance biofuels b iofuels research and improve their commercialization. The Directive established a Biofuels Interagency Working Group comprising of three agencies, the Department Depa rtment of Agriculture, the Environmental   Protection Agency, and the Department of Energy. This group will develop a plan to increase flexible fuel vehicle use and assist in retail marketing efforts. Also they will coordinate infrastructure policies impacting the supply, secure transport, and distribution of biofuels. The group will also come up with policy ideas for increasing investment in next-generation fuels, such as cellulosic ethanol, and for reducing the environmental   footprint of growing biofuels crops, particularly corn-based ethanol. In 2010, Growth Energy, an industry lobbist group, claimed that increasing the  percentage of ethanol in gasoline to 15% would create 136,000 jobs. The Environmental Working Group said that 27,000 might be created, each costing the taxpayers $446,000

 per year (in 2010 constant dollars).  In October 2010 the E.P.A. granted a waiver to allow the E15 blend to be sold only for cars and trucks with a model year of 2007 or later, representing about 15% of vehicles on the U.S. roads. As stations are not required to offer E15, a practical barrier to the commercialization of E15 is the lack of infrastructure, similar to the limitations suffered by sales of E85. 

Europe Production of Bioethanol in the    European Union (GWh)

 

No 1

Country Germany

2005 2006 2,55 978 4

2

Spain

1,796

3

France

853

4

Sweden

907

2,38 2 1,48 2 830

5

47

759

6 7 8

Italy Poland Hungary Lithuania

379 207 47

711 201 107

9

 Netherlands

47

89

10

Czech Republic 0 Latvia 71 Finland 77

89

11 12 27

Total n.a. = not available 

5,411

71 0 9,27 4

Consumption of Bioethanol in the European Union (GWh)  No

Country

2005 2006

2007

1

Germany

1,682 3,544 3,408

2 3

France Sweden

871 1,719 3,174 1,681 1,894 2,113

4 5 6 7

Spain 1,314 1,332 Poland 329 611 United Kingdom 502 563 Bulgaria 0

8

Austria

0

0

254

9

0

4

154

10 11

Slovakia Lithuania Hungary Hungary

10 28

64 136

135 107

12

 Netherlands

0

179

101

13

-

42

70

14 15 16 17

Denmark Ireland Latvia Luxembourg Slovenia

0 5 0 0

13 12 0 2

54 20 10 9

18

Czech Republic 0

13

2

19

59

0

0

20

Italy Finland

0

10

n.a.

27

EU

1,310 991 907 769

 

6,481 10,138 13,563

The consumption of bioethanol in Europe is largest in Germany, Sweden, France and Spain. Europe produces equivalent to 90% of its consumption (2006). Germany produced

ca 70% of its consumption, Spain 60% and Sweden 50% (2006). In Sweden there are 792 E85 filling stations and in France 131 E85 service stations with 550 more under construction.  On Monday, September 17, 2007 the first ethanol fuel pump was opened in Reykjavik, Iceland. This pump is the only one of its kind in Iceland. The fuel is imported by Brimborg, a Volvo dealer, as a pilot to see how ethanol fueled cars work in Iceland. In the Netherlands petrolthat with no bio-additives slowly being outphased, since EU-legislation has regular been passed requires the fractionisof no nmineral nonmineral origin to become minimum 5.75% of the total fuel consumption volume in 2010. This can be realised by substitutions in diesel or in petrol of any biological source; or fuel sold in the form of  pure biofuel. (2007) There are only a few gas stations where E85 is sold, which is an 85% ethanol, 15% petrol mix.   Directly neighbouring country Germany is reported to have a much better biofuel infrastructure and offers both E85 and E50. Biofuel is taxed equally as regular fuel. However, fuel tanked abroad cannot be taxed and a recent payment receipt will in most cases suffice to prevent fines if customs check tank contents. (Authorities are aware of high taxation on fuels and cross-border fuel refilling is a wellknown practice.)

 

  An example of an ethanol powered bus. This is a Scania OmniCity which has been touring the United Kingdom, which does not use the fuel widely. A larger fleet of similar  buses will enter service in Stockholm in 2008. Sweden

Sweden is the leading country in Europe regarding the use of ethanol as fuel, though it has to import most of the ethanol. All Swedish Swed ish gas stations are required by an act of  parliament to offer at least one alternative fuel, and every fifth car in Stockholm now drives at least partially on alternative fuels, mostly ethanol.   The number of bioethanol stations in Europe is highest in Sweden, with 1,200 stations   and a fleet of 116 thousand flexi-fuel vehicles as of July 2008.  

Stockholm will introduce a fleet of Swedish-made electric elec tric hybrid buses in its public transport system on a trial basis in 2008. These buses will use ethanol-powered internalcombustion engines and electric motors. The vehicles’ diesel engines will use ethanol.   In order to achieve a broader use of biofuels several government incentives were implemented. Ethanol, as the other biofuels, were exempted of both, the CO 2 and energy taxes until 2009, resulting in a 30% price reduction at the pump of E85 fuel over gasoline. Furthermore, other demand side incentives for flexifuel vehicle owners include

 

a USD 1,800 bonus to buyers of FFVs, exemption from the Stockholm congestion tax, up to 20% discount on auto insurance, free parking spaces in most of the largest cities, lower annual registration taxes, and a 20% tax reduction for flexifuel company cars. Also, a part of the program, the Swedish Government Gove rnment ruled that 25% of their vehicle purchases   (excluding police, fire and ambulance vehicles) must be alternative fuel vehicles. ; By the first months of 2008, this package of incentives resulted in sales of flexible-fuel cars   representing 25% of new car sales. Bioethanol stations European Union  Country

6 Stations No/10 persons

 

 Sweden

1,200

France Germany

211 

3.27

193 

2.35

40 Switzerland Ireland 29 United Kingdom 22

Asia

 

131.26

5.27 6.84 0.36

China

China is promoting ethanol-based fuel on a pilot basis in five cities in its central and northeastern region, a move designed to create a new market for its surplus grain and reduce consumption of petroleum. The cities include Zhengzhou, Luoyang and Nanyang in central China's Henan province, and Harbin and Zhaodong in Heilongjiang province, northeast by China. Under the year. program, Henasay Henan n will fuel across the  province the end of this Officials thepromote move isethanol-based of great importance in helping   to stabilize grain prices, raise farmers' income and reducing petrolpe trol- induced air pollution. Thailand

Thailand already use 10% ethanol (E10) widely on big scale on the local market. Beginning in 2008 Thailand started with the sale of E20 and by late 2008 E85 flexible   fuel vehicles were introduced with only two gas stations selling E85. Thailand is now converting some of the cassava stock hold by the government into fuel ethanol. Cassava-based ethanol productions are being ramped up to help manage the agricultural outputs of both cassava and sugar cane. With its abundant biomass resources, it is believed that the fuel ethanol ethano l program will be a new means of job creation in the rural areas while enhancing the balance ba lance sheet of fuel imports.

Australia

 

Legislation in Australia imposes a 10% cap on the concentration of fuel ethanol blends. Blends of 90% unleaded petrol and 10% fuel ethanol are commonly referred to as E10. E10 is available through service stations operating under the BP, Caltex, Shell and United  brands as well as those of a number of smaller independents. Not surprisingly, E10 is most widely available closer to the sources of production in Queensland and New South So uth Wales where Sugar Cane is grown. E10 is most commonly blended with 91 RON "regular unleaded" fuel. There is a requirement that retailers label blends containing fuel ethanol on the dispenser.

Due to ethanol s greater stability under pressure it is used by Shell in their 100 octane fuel. Similarly IFS add 10% ethanol to their 91 octane fuel, label it premium fuel and sell it more cheaply than regular unleaded. This is converse to the general practice of adding ethanol to a lesser quality fuel to bring its octane rating up to 91. Some concern was raised over the use of ethanol blend fuels in petrol vehicles in 2003, yet manufacturers widely claimed that their vehicles were engined for such fuels. Since then there have been no reports of adverse affects to vehicles running on ethanol blended fuels.

Caribbean Basin United States fuel ethanol imports by country   (2002–2007) (Millions of U.S. liquid gallons)   Coun Co untr try y 200 2007 7 2006 2006 2005 2005 2004 2004 2003 2003 2002 2002

 Brazil 188.8 433.7 31.2 Jam Jamaica aica 75 75.2 .2 66 66.8 .8 36 36.3 .3  El Salvador Salvador 73.3 38.5 23.7 Trinidad Trini dad and Tobago 42.7 24.8 10.0 Cost Co staa Ri Rica ca 39.3 39.3 35 35.9 .9 33 33.4 .4

90.3 36 36.6 .6 5.7 0 25.4 25.4

0 39 39.3 .3 6.9 0 14 14.7 .7

0 29 29.0 .0 4.5 0 12 12.0 .0

All countries in Central America, northern South America and the Caribbean are located in a tropical zone with suitable climate for growing sugar cane. In fact, most of these countries a long tradition of growing sugar cane mainly for producing sugar and alcoholic have beverages. As a result of the guerilla movements in Central Cen tral America, in 1983 the United S States tates unilateral and temporarily approved the Caribbean Basin Initiative, allowing most countries in the region to benefit from several tariff and trade benefits. These benefits were made permanent in 1990 and more recently, these benefits were replaced by the Caribbean Basin Trade and Partnership Act, approved in 2000, and the Dominican Republic–Central America Free Trade Agreement that went wen t to effect in 2008. All these agreements have allowed several countries in the region to export ethanol to the U.S free of tariffs.  Until 2004, the countries that benefited the most were Jamaica and Costa Rica,

 

 but as the U.S. began demanding more fuel ethanol, the two countries increased their exports and two others began exporting. In 2007, Jamaica, El Salvador, Trinidad & Tobago and Costa Rica exported together to the U.S. a total of 230.5 million gallons of ethanol, representing 54.1% of U.S. fuel ethanol imports. Brasil began exporting ethanol to the U.S. in 2004 and exported 188.8 million gallons representing 44.3% of U.S. ethanol imports in 2007. The remaining 1.6% imports that year came from Canada and   China. In March 2007, "ethanol diplomacy" was the focus of President George W. Bush's Latin American tour, in which he and Brazil's president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, were seeking to promote the production and use of sugar cane based ethanol throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. The two countries also agreed to share technology and set   international standards for biofuels. The Brazilian sugar cane technology transfer would allow several Central American, Caribbean and Andean countries to take advantage of their tariff-free trade agreements to increase or become exporters to the United States in   the short-term. Also, in August 2007, Brazil's President toured Mexico and several countries in Central America and the Caribbean to promote Brazilian ethanol technology.  The ethanol alliance between the U.S. and Brazil generated some negative reactions from   Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, and by then Cuba's President, Fidel Castro, who wrote that " you will see how many people among the hungry masses of our planet will no longer consume corn." "Or even worse," he continued, "by offering financing to poor countries to produce ethanol from corn or any other kind of food, no tree will be left to   defend humanity from climate change."' Daniel Ortega, Nicaragua's President, and one of   the preferencial recipients of Brazilian technical aidduring also voiced the Bush plan,  but he vowed support for sugar cane based ethanol Lula'scritics visit totoNicaragua.

Colombia

Colombia's ethanol program began in 2002, based on a law approved in 2001 mandating a mix of 10% ethanol with regular gasoline, and the plan is to gradually reach a 25%  blend in twenty-years. Sugar cane-based ethanol production began in 2005, when the law went into effect, and as local production was not enough to supply enough ethanol to the entire country's fleet, the program was implemented only on cities with more than 500,000 inhabitants, such as Cali, Pereira, and the capital city of Bogotá. All of the ethanol production comes from the Department of Valle del Cauca, Colombia's traditional sugar cane region. Cassava is the second source of ethanol, and potatoes and castor oil are also being studied.   On March 2009 the Colombian government enacted a mandate to introduce E85 flexible-

fuel cars. The executive decree applies to all gasoline-powered vehicles with engines smaller than 2.0 liters manufactured, imported, and commercialized in the country  beginning in 2012, mandating that 60% of such vehicles must have flex-fuel engines capable running gasoline or E85, or any of both. 2014 the mandatory quota is of 80% and it with will reach 100% by 2016. Allblend vehicles withBy engines bigger than 2.0 liters must be E85 capable starting in 2013. The decree also mandates that by 2011 all

 

gasoline stations must provide infrastructure to guarantee availability of E85 throughout the country.  The mandatory introduction of E85 flex-fuels has been controversial.   Costa Rica

The government, based on the National Biofuel Program, established the mandatory use of all gasoline sold in Costa Rica with a blend of around 7.5% etha ethanol, nol, starting in October 2008. The implementation phase follows a two year trial that took place in the  provinces of Guanacaste and Puntarenas. The government expects to increase the  percentage of ethanol mixed with gasoline to 12% in the next 4 to 5 years. The Costa Rican government is pursuing this policy to lower the country's dependency of foreign oil and to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases produced. The plan also calls for an increase in ethanol producing crops and tax breaks for flex-fuel vehicles and other   alternative fuel vehicles. However, the introduction of the blend of 7% ethanol was  postponed in September 2008 until the beginning of 2009. This delay was due to a request by the national association of fuel retailers to have more time available to adapt   their fueling infrastructure. Additional delays caused another postponement, as fueling stations were not ready yet for handling ethanol fuel, and now implementation is   expected for November 2009. Despite the official postponement, during the months of February and March 2009, ethanol in different blends was sold without warning to consumers, which was cause for complains. The national distribution company, RECOPE, explained that it had already  bought 50,000 barrels (7,900 m3) of ethanol stored and ready rea dy for distribution, so it decided to used as an oxygenate in substitution of MTBE. Nevertheless, retail sales of E7

continue uninterrupted in the trial regions of Guanacaste Guanac aste and the Central Pacific for three   years now. El Salvador

As a result of the cooperation agreement between the United States and Brazil, El Salvador was chosen in 2007 to lead a pilot experience to introduce state-of-the-art technology for growing sugar cane for production of ethanol fuel in Central America, as this technical bilateral cooperation is looking for helping Central American countries to reduce their dependence on foreign oil. 

Comparison of Brazil and the U.S.

 

  Evolution of the ethanol productivity per hectare of sugarcane planted in Brazil between 1975 and 2004. Brazil's sugar cane-based industry is far more efficient than the U.S. corn-based industry. Brazilian distillers are able to produce  ethanol for 22 cents per liter, compared with the 30 cents per liter for corn-based ethanol. Sugarcane cultivation requires a tropical or subtropical climate, with a minimum of 600 mm (24 in) of annual rainfall. Sugarcane is one of the most efficient photosynthesizers in the plant kingdom, able to convert up to 2% of incident solar energy into biomass. b iomass. Ethanol is produced by yeast fermentation of the sugar extracted from sugar cane. Sugarcane production in the United States occurs in Florida, Louisiana, Hawaii, and Texas. In prime growing regions, such as Hawaii, sugarcane can produce 20 kg for each square meter exposed to the sun. The first three plants to produce sugar cane-based ethanol are expected to go online in Louisiana by mid 2009. Sugar mill plants in Lacassine, St. James and Bunkie were converted to sugar cane-based ethanol production using Colombian technology in order to make possible a profitable ethanol production. These three plants will produce 100 million gallons of ethanol within five years.   U.S. corn-derived ethanol costs 30% more because the corn starch must first be converted to sugar before being distilled into alcohol. Despite this cost differential in production, in contrast to Japan and Sweden, the U.S. does not import much of Brazilian ethanol  because of U.S. trade barriers corresponding to a tariff of 54-cent per gallon – a levy designed to offset the 45-cent per gallon blender's federal tax credit that is applied to

 

ethanol no matter its country of origin.   One advantage U.S. corn-derived ethanol offers is the ability to return 1/3 of the feedstock back into the market as a replacement for the   corn used in the form of Distillers Dried Grain.

Comparison of key characteristics between the ethanol industries in the United States and Brazil

Characteristic

Brazil

U.S.

Units/comments

Sug Sugar can cane

Maize aize

Main cash crop for ethanol  production, the US has less than 2% from other crops. 

Total ethanol fuel  production (2009)

6,578

10,750

Million U.S. liquid gallons 

Total arable land

355

270  

Feed edsstock

Total area used for ethanol crop (2006) 

Productivity per hectare

Energy balance (input energy  productivity)

Estimated GHG emissions reduction

(1)

3.6 (1%)

6,8008,000

  10 (3.7%) Million hectares (% total arable)

3,800-4,000

8.3 8.3 to to 10. 10.2 2 1.3 1.3 to to 1.6 1.6

(2)

Million hectares. 

(2)

86-90%   10-30%  

Liters of ethanol per hectare. Brazil is 727 to 870 gal/acre (2006), US is 321 to 424 gal/acre (2003)  

Ratio of the energy obtained from ethanol/energy expended in its  production 

% GHGs avoided by using ethanol instead of gasoline, using existing crop land (No ILUC).  

Full life-cycle carbon intensity 

(3)

Grams of CO2 equivalent released

MJ of energy produced, 105.10    per includes indirect land use changes.  

73.40

 

Estimated payback time for GHG   emissions

(4)

17 years

Brazilian sugarcanecerrado and USfor grassland 93 years   for corn. Land use change   scenarios by Fargione (4)

Flexible-fuel vehicles produced (autos and light trucks) 

10.6 million

Brazil as of June 2010 (FFVs use any blend up to E100). 9.3 million U.S. as of December 2009 (FFVs use E85).

Ethanol fueling stations in the country

35,017 (100%) 

As % of total gas stations in the 2,326(1%)  country. Brazil by December 2007.   U.S. by July 2010.  (170,000 total. ) 

Ethanol's share in the gasoline market 

50%  

8%

As % of total consumption on a volumetric basis. Brazil as of April 2008. U.S. as of December 2009. 

Cost of production (USD/gallon)

0.83

1.14

2006/2007 for Brazil (22¢/liter), 2004 for U.S. (35¢/liter) 

(5)