The 20th century witnessed penicillin and DNA structure discovery, and the 21st century has even more to offer, including bioinformatics, personalized medicine, and stem cell reprogramming. The advancements in computational science have allowed scientists to map any living process, even if it cannot be directly manipulated.

Biotechnology products have helped evolve agriculture, the environment, and medicine greatly. Due to this, experts in biotechnology are in great demand. This has raised educational requirements and salaries. The best part is that experts can work in one of several fields that touches the biotechnology discipline.

If you wish to be a part of biotechnological processes that help cure disease, eliminate defects and extend human life, today, we shall look at the best possible career options for a biotechnology degree holder who graduates from a renowned university like the American International College.

Top Career Paths for Biotechnology Experts

1. Biofuels Engineer

Biofuel is formed from the fermentation of biomass and is considered an alternative energy source. Ethanol and biodiesel are considered the first generation of biofuel that are paving the path towards the creation of renewable energy sources. The final goal is to reduce CO2 and CO emissions and eliminate the dependency on petroleum globally.

Biofuel is used in homes for heating purposes as well as in the automotive industry. Many biofuels are distilled from corn, and research has been conducted to see if fast-growing tree bark, grains, and starchy vegetable skins can be used to create renewable fuel.

• You can pursue a career in biofuel technology by opting to become a chemical engineer.
• The United States BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics) reports that chemical engineering jobs are expected to grow at a rate of 14% between 2021 and 2031. The growth rate for other occupations is only 5%.
• Chemical engineers earn $105,550 per year on average, and 2,000 new jobs are reported to emerge between 2021 and 2031.
• Engineers must earn a professional certificate from the National Society of Professional Engineers to pursue their career legally.

2. Biomedical Engineer

A biomedical engineer focuses on how mechanical and living processes are interwoven. These engineers create products like laser systems for corrective eye surgery, insulin regulation devices, artificial limbs, internal organs, etc. These enable people with disabilities to hear, see and walk again.

A biomedical engineer can work in a commercial industry, in a research facility, or even at a hospital. They can work in a range of industries and can take on several responsibilities like sales, maintenance,  product designing, patent law, etc.

• Biomedical engineering jobs are reported to grow by 10% between 2021 and 2031 owing to rapid technological advancements (3D printing and smartphones, for example) and a rapidly aging population.
• Engineers need a license from the NSPE (National Society of Professional Engineers) to pursue a career legally. Engineers must complete a four-year degree, obtain the PE (Professional Engineer) certificate, pass two exams, work under a licensed PE for four years, and get state licensure before they apply for the NSPE.
• The BLS reports that the average annual salary of a biomedical engineer is $97,410.

3.    Bioinformatics Specialist

Bioinformatics is a merger of computer science and biological science. It focuses on complex tools to help understand complex biological processes. Due to this, biotechnology concepts and big data are becoming very codependent. Modern bioinformatics specialists take up huge chunks of biological data (gene and mutation data, for example) and analyze it to produce practical insights using a computer.

A bioinformatics specialist needs to have sufficient knowledge of statistical analysis, biological processes, computer science, and mathematics to develop data mining tools or analyze the results produced. Previously, bioinformatics specialists were expected to have 2 doctorates. However, specialized and streamlined Master’s degrees are slowly becoming the ultimate educational requirement.

• The BLS reports that computer and information research scientist careers are expected to grow by 21% between 2021 and 2031. These scientist jobs are very similar to that of a bioinformatics specialist.
• 7,100 new jobs are expected to emerge in just 10 years (2021 and 2031)
• The average annual salary for computer and information research scientists is 131,490 USD.
• Computer programming language efficiency is often the only measure required to assess qualification levels, as there are no industry-level certifications to become a bioinformatics specialist.
• Specialists can pursue courses in computer languages like Unix, Ruby, Perl, Python, Linux, and others to gain a competitive advantage.

Endnote

We only touched upon the top career options for biotechnology experts above. There are many more career options you can opt for due to the increased versatility in the biotechnology sector.

The post Top Career Choices for Biotechnology Degree Holders first appeared on BioEnergy Consult.

What are Drop-in Biofuels

Drop-in biofuels are can be produced from oilseeds via trans-esterification, lignocellulosic biomass via thermochemical process, sugars and alcohol via biochemical conversion or by hybrids of the above methods. Drop-in fuels encompass high hydrogen to carbon ratio with no/low sulfur and oxygen content, low water solubility and high carbon bond saturation. In short drop-in fuel is a modified fuel with close functional resemblance to fossil fuel.

Existing biofuels – bioethanol and biodiesel – have wide variation from fossil fuels in their blend wall properties – high oxygen content, hydrophilicity, energy density and mainly compatibility in existing engines and infrastructures. Oxygenated groups in biofuel have a domino effect such as reduction in the energy density, production of impurities which are highly undesirable to transportation components, instability during storage etc.

Major advantages of drop-in fuels over existing fuels are as follows:

• Reduced sulphur oxide emissions by ultra low sulphur content.
• Reduced ignition delay by high cetane value
• Reduced hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides emissions
• Low aromatic content
• Low olefin content, presence of olefin compounds undergo auto-oxidation leading to surface depositions.
• High saturates, therefore leaving minimum residues
• Low particulate emissions
• No oxygenates therefore has high stability.

Potential Biomass Feedstock

Drop-in biofuels can be produced from various biomass sources- lipids (vegetable oils, animal fats, greases, and algae) and lignocellulosic material (such as crop residues, woody biomass, and dedicated energy crops). The prominent technologies for biomass conversion to drop-in fuel are the thermochemical and the biochemical process.

The major factor playing role in selection of biomass for thermochemical methods is the energy content or heating value of the material, which is correlated with ash content. Wood, wood chips accounts for less than 1% ash content, which is favorable thermal processing than biochemical process, whereas straws, husks, and majority of the other biomass have ash content ranging up to 25% of dry mass.

Free sugar generating plants such as sugarcane and sweet sorghum, are desirable feedstock for Acetone-Butanol-Ethanol fermentation and have been widely implemented. Presently there is a focus to exploit lignocellulosic residues, rich in hydrocarbon, for fuel production. However, this biomass requires harsh pretreatment to remove lignin and to transform holocellulose (cellulose & hemicelluloses) into fermentable products.

The lignocellulose transformation technology must be circumspectly chosen by its life cycle assessment, as it resists any changes in their structural integrity owing to its complexity. Lignocellulosic biomass, when deoxygenated, has better flexibility to turn to drop-in fuels. This is because, in its native state of the feedstock, each oxygen atom consumes two hydrogen atoms during combustion which in turn reduces effective H: C ratio. Biomass feedstock is characterized with oxygen up to 40%, and higher the oxygen content higher it has to be deoxygenated.

Thermochemical Route

Thermochemical methods adopted for biomass are pyrolysis and gasification, on thermolysis of biomass produce intermediate gas (syngas) and liquid (bio crude) serving as precursors for drop-in fuel. Biomass when exposed to temperature of 500^oC-600^oC in absence of oxygen (pyrolysis) produce bio-oil, which constitutes a considerable percentage of oxygen. After down streaming by hydroprocessing (hydrotreating and hydrocracking) the rich hydrocarbon tar (bio-oil) can be converted to an efficient precursor for drop-in fuel.

At a higher temperature, above 700, under controlled oxygen, biomass can be converted to liquid fuel via gas phase by the process, gasification. Syngas produced is converted to liquid fuel by Fischer-Tropsch with the help of ‘water gas shift’ for hydroprocessing. Hydroprocessing after the thermochemical method is however costly and complex process in case of pyrolysis and inefficient biomass to fuel yield with gasification process.

Biochemical Pathway

The advanced biocatalytic processes can divert the conventional sugar-ethanol pathway and convert sugars to fatty acids. Modified microbial strain with engineered cellular machineries, can reroute the pathway to free fatty acid that can be transformed into butanol or drop-in fuel with necessary processing.

Biological processing requires operation under the stressful conditions on the organisms to reroute the pathways, in additional to lowering NADPH (hydrogen) consumption. Other value added products like carboxylic acid, polyols, and alcohol in the same biological routes with lower operational requirements have higher market demands and commercial success. Therefore little attention is given by chemical manufacturers to the biological pathways for drop-in fuel production.

The mechanisms of utilization of lignocellulosic biomass to fuel by biological pathway rely heavily on the availability of monomeric C5 and C6 sugars during fermentation. Ethanol is perhaps the best-known and commercially successful alcohol from ABE fermentation. However, butanol has various significant advantages over ethanol- in the perception of energy content, feasibility to existing infrastructures, zero blend wall, safety and clean aspects.

Although butanol is a closer drop-in replacement, existing biofuel ethanol, is a major commercial competitor. Low yield from fermentation due to the toxicity of butanol and complexity in down streaming are the vital reasons that hamper successful large scale butanol production.

Also Read: Top Sustainable Power Solutions for Modern Aviation

Challenges to Overcome

Zero oxygen and sulphur content mark major challenges for production of drop-in fuels from conventional biomass. This demands high hydrogen input on the conventional biomass, with H: C ratio below 0.5, like sugar, starch, cellulose, lignocellulose to meet the effective hydrogen to carbon ratio of 2 as in drop-in fuel. This characterizes most of the existing biomass feedstock as a low-quality input for drop-in fuels. However oleochemicals like fats, oils, and lipids have closer H: C ratio to diesel, gasoline and drop-in fuels, thus easier to conversion.

Oleochemical feedstock has been commercially successful, but to prolong in the platform will be a major challenge. Lipid feedstock is generally availed from crop-based vegetable oil, which is used in food sectors. Therefore availability, food security concerns, and economics are the major constraints to sustaining the raw material. Consequently switching to lignocellulosic biomass feedstock for drop-in holds on.

Conclusions

Despite the hurdles on biomass characteristics and process technology for drop-in fuel, it is a vital requirement to switch to better replacement fuel for fossil fuel, considering environmental and economic benefits. Understanding its concepts and features, drop-in fuel, can solve existing greenhouse emission debate on current biofuels. Through crucial ambiguities existing on future of alternative fuels, drop-in fuel has a substantial potential to repute itself as an efficient sustainable eco-friendly fuel in the near future.

References

• Neal K Van Alfen: ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SYSTEMS, Elsevier, Academic Press.
• Pablo Domínguez de María John: INDUSTRIAL BIORENEWABLES:A Practical Viewpoint: Wiley & Sons.
• Ram Sarup Singh, Ashok Pandey, Edgard Gnansounou: BIOFUELS- PRODUCTION AND FUTURE PERSPECTIVES, CRC Press.
• Satinder Kaur Brar, Saurabh Jyoti Sarma, Kannan Pakshirajan : PLATFORM CHEMICAL BIOREFINERY-FUTURE GREEN CHEMISTRY, Elsevier.
• Sergios Karatzos, James D. McMillan, Jack N. Saddle: Summary of IEA BIOENERGY TASK 39 REPORT-THE POTENTIAL AND CHALLENGES OF DROP-IN BIOFUELS, IEA Bioenergy.
• Vijai Kumar Gupta, Monika Schmoll, Minna Maki, Maria Tuohy, Marcio Antonio Mazutti: APPLICATIONS OF MICROBIAL ENGINEERING, CRC Press.

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In India, the government launched Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) programme in January 2013 for 5% ethanol blended petrol. The policy had significant focus on India’s opportunity to agricultural and industrial sectors with motive of boosting biofuel (bioethanol and biodiesel) usage and reducing the existing dependency on fossil fuel.

The Government of India initiated significant investments in improving storage and blending infrastructure. The National Policy on Biofuels has set a target of 20% blending of biofuel by 2017. However, India has managed to achieve only 5% by September 2016 due to certain technical, market and regulatory hurdles.

In India, sugarcane molasses is the major resource for bioethanol production and inconsistency of raw material supply holds the major liability for sluggish response to blending targets.  Technically speaking, blend wall and transportation-storage are the major challenges towards the biofuel targets. Blending wall is the maximum percent of ethanol that can be blended to fuel without decreasing the fuel efficiency.

Various vehicles are adaptable to various blending ratio based on the flexibility of engines. The technology for the engine modification for flex fuel is not new but making the engines available in India along with the supply chain and calibrating the engine for Indian conditions is the halting phase. The commonly used motor vehicles in the country are not effectual with flex fuel.

Ethanol being a highly flammable liquid marks obligatory safety and risk assessment measures during all phases of production, storage and transportation. The non-uniform distribution of raw material throughout the country, demands a compulsory transportation and storage, especially inter-state movement, encountering diverse climatic and topographic conditions.

Major bioethanol consumers in India are potable liquor sector (45%), alcohol based chemical industry (40%), the rest for blending and other purposes. The yearly profit elevation in major sectors is a dare to an economical ethanol supply for Ethanol Blending Programme. Drastic fluctuation in pricing of sugar cane farming and sugar milling resulted to huge debt to farmers by mill owners. Gradually the farmers shifted from sugarcane cultivation other crops.

Regulatory and policy approaches on excise duty on storage and transportation of ethanol and pricing strategy of ethanol compared to crude oil are to be revised and implemented effectively. Diversifying the feedstocks (especially use of lignocellulosic biomass) and advanced technology for domestic ethanol production in blending sectors are to be fetched out from research laboratories to commercial scale. Above all the knowledge of economic and environmental benefits of biofuel like reduction in pollutants and import bills and more R&D into drop-in biofuels, need to be amplified for the common man.

The post Bioethanol Sector in India: Major Challenges To Overcome first appeared on BioEnergy Consult.

Emissions continue to be a huge issue, and there are two main options for helping to rectify that. The first is electric, which is seeing widespread adoption; and the second, biomass fuel, for more traditional vehicles. Between the two, excellent progress is being made, but there’s much more to be done.

How electric is helping

Electric cars are favoured heavily by the national authorities. A recent Times of India report outlined how the government is aiming for an all-electric vehicle fleet by 2030 and is pushing this through with up to US$16m of electric vehicle grants this year.

Green vehicles are obviously a great choice, improving in-city noise and air pollution whilst providing better vehicular safety to boot; a study by the USA’s MIT suggested that electric vehicles are all-around safer than combustion.

However, where EVs fall down to some extent is through the energy they use. As they are charged from the electricity grid, this means that the electricity is largely derived from fossil fuels – official statistics show that India is 44% powered by coal. Ultimately, however, this does mean that emissions are reduced. Fuel is only burned at one source, and oil refining isn’t done at all, which is another source of pollutants. However, as time goes on and the government’s energy policy changes, EVs will continue to be a great option.

The role of biofuels

Biofuels are seeing a huge growth in use – BP has reported that globally, ethanol production grew 3% in 2017. Biofuel is commonly a more favoured option by the big energy companies given the infrastructure often available already to them. While biofuel has been slow on the uptake in India, despite the massive potential available for production, there are now signs this is turning around with the construction of two US$790m biofuel facilities.

The big benefit of biofuel is that it will have a positive impact on combustion and electric vehicles. The Indian government has stated they intend to use biofuel alongside coal production, with as much as 10% of energy being created using biofuel. Therefore, despite not being emission-free, biofuel will provide a genuine green energy option to both types of eco-friendly vehicle.

Green car fuel is not entirely clean. The energy has to come from somewhere, and in India, this is usually from coal, gas, and oil. However, the increase in biofuel means that this energy will inevitably get cleaner, making green car fuel absolutely a reality.

Also Read: Exploring the Rise of Green Energy Vehicles in Business

The post Is Green Car Fuel A Reality? first appeared on BioEnergy Consult.

Agricultural Residues

Agricultural residues encompasses all agricultural wastes such as straw, stem, stalk, leaves, husk, shell, peel, pulp, stubble, etc. which come from cereals (rice, wheat, maize or corn, sorghum, barley, millet), cotton, groundnut, jute, legumes (tomato, bean, soy) coffee, cacao, tea, fruits (banana, mango, coco, cashew) and palm oil.

Rice produces both straw and rice husks at the processing plant which can be conveniently and easily converted into energy. Significant quantities of biomass remain in the fields in the form of cob when maize is harvested which can be converted into energy.

Sugarcane harvesting leads to harvest residues in the fields while processing produces fibrous bagasse, both of which are good sources of energy. Harvesting and processing of coconuts produces quantities of shell and fibre that can be utilised while peanuts leave shells. All these lignocellulosic materials can be converted into biofuels by a wide range of technologies.

Forestry Biomass

Forest harvesting is a major source of biomass energy. Harvesting in forests may occur as thinning in young stands, or cutting in older stands for timber or pulp that also yields tops and branches usable for production of cellulosic ethanol.

Biomass harvesting operations usually remove only 25 to 50 percent of the volume, leaving the residues available as biomass for energy. Stands damaged by insects, disease or fire are additional sources of biomass. Forest residues normally have low density and fuel values that keep transport costs high, and so it is economical to reduce the biomass density in the forest itself.

Energy Crops

Energy crops are non-food crops which provide an additional potential source of feedstock for the production of second-generation biofuels. Corn and soybeans are considered as the first-generation energy crops as these crops can be also used as the food crops. Second-generation energy crops are grouped into grassy (herbaceous or forage) and woody (tree) energy crops.

Grassy energy crops or perennial forage crops mainly include switchgrass and miscanthus. Switchgrass is the most commonly used feedstock because it requires relatively low water and nutrients, and has positive environmental impact and adaptability to low-quality land. Miscanthus is a grass mainly found in Asia and is a popular feedstock for second-generation biofuel production in Europe.

Woody energy crops mainly consists of fast-growing tree species like poplar, willow, and eucalyptus. The most important attributes of these class species are the low level of input required when compared with annual crops. In short, dedicated energy crops as feedstock are less demanding in terms of input, helpful in reducing soil erosion and useful in improving soil properties.

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Lignocellulose is a generic term for describing the main constituents in most plants, namely cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignin. Lignocellulose is a complex matrix, comprising many different polysaccharides, phenolic polymers and proteins. Cellulose, the major component of cell walls of land plants, is a glucan polysaccharide containing large reservoirs of energy that provide real potential for conversion into biofuels.

First-generation biofuels (produced primarily from food crops such as grains, sugar beet and oil seeds) are limited in their ability to achieve targets for oil-product substitution, climate change mitigation, and economic growth. Their sustainable production is under scanner, as is the possibility of creating undue competition for land and water used for food and fibre production.

The cumulative impacts of these concerns have increased the interest in developing biofuels produced from non-food biomass. Feedstocks from lignocellulosic materials include cereal straw, bagasse, forest residues, and purpose-grown energy crops such as vegetative grasses and short rotation forests. These second-generation biofuels could avoid many of the concerns facing first-generation biofuels and potentially offer greater cost reduction potential in the longer term.

The largest potential feedstock for biofuels is lignocellulosic biomass, which includes materials such as agricultural residues (corn stover, crop straws and bagasse), herbaceous crops (alfalfa, switchgrass), short rotation woody crops, forestry residues, waste paper and other wastes (municipal and industrial). Bioethanol production from these feedstocks could be an attractive alternative for disposal of these residues.

Importantly, lignocellulosic biomass resources do not interfere with food security. Moreover, bioethanol is very important for both rural and urban areas in terms of energy security reason, environmental concern, employment opportunities, agricultural development, foreign exchange saving, socioeconomic issues etc.

Lignocellulosic biomass consists mainly of lignin and the polysaccharides cellulose and hemicellulose. Compared with the production of ethanol from first-generation feedstocks, the use of lignocellulosic biomass is more complicated because the polysaccharides are more stable and the pentose sugars are not readily fermentable by Saccharomyces cerevisiae. 

In order to convert lignocellulosic biomass to biofuels the polysaccharides must first be hydrolysed, or broken down, into simple sugars using either acid or enzymes. Several biotechnology-based approaches are being used to overcome such problems, including the development of strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae that can ferment pentose sugars, the use of alternative yeast species that naturally ferment pentose sugars, and the engineering of enzymes that are able to break down cellulose and hemicellulose into simple sugars.

Lignocellulosic biomass processing pilot plants have been established in the EU, in Denmark, Spain and Sweden. The world’s largest demonstration facility of lignocellulose ethanol (from wheat, barley straw and corn stover), with a capacity of 2.5 Ml, was first established by Iogen Corporation in Ottawa, Canada. Many other processing facilities are now in operation or planning throughout the world.

Economically, lignocellulosic biomass has an advantage over other agriculturally important biofuels feedstock such as corn starch, soybeans, and sugar cane, because it can be produced quickly and at significantly lower cost than food crops.

Lignocellulosic biomass is an important component of the major food crops; it is the non-edible portion of the plant, which is currently underutilized, but could be used for biofuel production. In short, biofuels from lignocellulosic biomass holds the key to supplying society’s basic needs without impacting the nation’s food supply.

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Pretreated biomass can directly be converted to ethanol by using the process called simultaneous saccharification and cofermentation (SSCF). Pretreatment is a critical step which enhances the enzymatic hydrolysis of biomass.

Basically, it alters the physical and chemical properties of biomass and improves the enzyme access and effectiveness which may also lead to a change in crystallinity and degree of polymerization of cellulose. The internal surface area and pore volume of pretreated biomass are increased which facilitates substantial improvement in accessibility of enzymes. The process also helps in enhancing the rate and yield of monomeric sugars during enzymatic hydrolysis steps.

Pretreatment methods can be broadly classified into four groups – physical, chemical, physio-chemical and biological. Physical pretreatment processes employ the mechanical comminution or irradiation processes to change only the physical characteristics of biomass. The physio-chemical process utilizes steam or steam and gases, like SO2 and CO2. The chemical processes employs acids (H2SO4, HCl, organic acids etc) or alkalis (NaOH, Na2CO3, Ca(OH)2, NH3 etc).

The acid treatment typically shows the selectivity towards hydrolyzing the hemicelluloses components, whereas alkalis have better selectivity for the lignin. The fractionation of biomass components after such processes help in improving the enzymes accessibility which is also important to the efficient utilization of enzymes.

The pretreated biomass is subjected to enzymatic hydrolysis using cellulase enzymes to convert the cellulose to fermentable sugars. Cellulase refers to a class of enzymes produced chiefly by fungi and bacteria which catalyzes the hydrolysis of cellulose by attacking the glycosidic linkages. Cellulase is mixture of mainly three different functional protein groups: exo-glucanase (Exo-G), endo-glucanase(Endo-G) and ?-glucosidase (?-G).

The functional proteins work synergistically in hydrolyzing the cellulose into the glucose. These sugars are further fermented using microorganism and are converted to ethanol. The microorganisms are selected based on their efficiency for ethanol productivity and higher product and inhibitors tolerance. Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is used commercially to produce the ethanol from starch and sucrose.

Escherichia coli strain has also been developed recently for ethanol production by the first successful application of metabolic engineering. E. coli can consume variety of sugars and does not require the complex growth media but has very narrow operable range of pH. E. coli has higher optimal temperature than other known strains of bacteria.

The major cost components in bioethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass are the pretreatment and the enzymatic hydrolysis steps. In fact, these two process are someway interrelated too where an efficient pretreatment strategy can save substantial enzyme consumption.

Pretreatment step can also affect the cost of other operations such as size reduction prior to pretreatment. Therefore, optimization of these two important steps, which collectively contributes about 70% of the total processing cost, are the major challenges in the commercialization of bioethanol from 2nd generation feedstock.

Enzyme cost is the prime concern in full scale commercialization. The trend in enzyme cost is encouraging because of enormous research focus in this area and the cost is expected to go downward in future, which will make bioethanol an attractive option considering the benefits derived its lower greenhouse gas emissions and the empowerment of rural economy.

The post Biochemical Method for Ethanol Production first appeared on BioEnergy Consult.

Feedstock for biomass energy plants can include residues from agriculture, forestry, wood processing, and food processing industries, municipal solid wastes, industrial wastes and biomass produced from degraded and marginal lands.

The terms biomass energy, bioenergy and biofuels cover any energy products derived from plant or animal or organic material. The increasing interest in biomass energy and biofuels has been the result of the following associated benefits:

• Potential to reduce GHG emissions.
• Energy security benefits.
• Substitution for diminishing global oil supplies.
• Potential impacts on waste management strategy.
• Capacity to convert a wide variety of wastes into clean energy.
• Technological advancement in thermal and biochemical processes for waste-to-energy transformation.

Biomass can play the pivotal role in production of carbon-neutral fuels of high quality as well as providing feedstock for various industries. This is a unique property of biomass compared to other renewable energies and which makes biomass a prime alternative to the use of fossil fuels. Performance of biomass-based systems for heat and power generation has been already proved in many situations on commercial as well as domestic scales.

Biomass energy systems have the potential to address many environmental issues, especially global warming and greenhouse gases emissions, and foster sustainable development among poor communities. Biomass fuel sources are readily available in rural and urban areas of all countries. Biomass-based industries can provide appreciable employment opportunities and promote biomass re-growth through sustainable land management practices.

The negative aspects of traditional biomass utilization in developing countries can be mitigated by promotion of modern biomass-to-energy technologies which provide solid, liquid and gaseous fuels as well as electricity as shown. Biomass wastes can be transformed into clean and efficient energy by biochemical as well as thermochemical technologies.

The most common technique for producing both heat and electrical energy from biomass wastes is direct combustion. Thermal efficiencies as high as 80 – 90% can be achieved by advanced gasification technology with greatly reduced atmospheric emissions. Combined heat and power (CHP) systems, ranging from small-scale technology to large grid-connected facilities, provide significantly higher efficiencies than systems that only generate electricity.

Biochemical processes, like anaerobic digestion and sanitary landfills, can also produce clean energy in the form of biogas and producer gas which can be converted to power and heat using a gas engine.

In addition, biomass wastes can also yield liquid fuels, such as cellulosic ethanol, which can be used to replace petroleum-based fuels. Cellulosic ethanol can be produced from grasses, wood chips and agricultural residues by biochemical route using heat, pressure, chemicals and enzymes to unlock the sugars in lignocellulosic biomass. Algal biomass is also emerging as a good source of energy because it can serve as natural source of oil, which conventional refineries can transform into jet fuel or diesel fuel.

The post Everything You Need to Know About Biomass Energy Systems first appeared on BioEnergy Consult.

The agricultural resources include grains used for biofuels production, animal manures and residues, and crop residues derived primarily from corn and small grains (e.g., wheat straw). A variety of regionally significant crops, such as cotton, sugarcane, rice, and fruit and nut orchards can also be a source of crop residues.

The forest resources include residues produced during the harvesting of forest products, fuelwood extracted from forestlands, residues generated at primary forest product processing mills, and forest resources that could become available through initiatives to reduce fire hazards and improve forest health.

Municipal and urban wood residues are widely available and include a variety of materials — yard and tree trimmings, land-clearing wood residues, wooden pallets, organic wastes, packaging materials, and construction and demolition debris.

Globally, biofuels are most commonly used to power vehicles, heat homes, and for cooking. Biofuel industries are expanding in Europe, Asia and the Americas. Biofuels are generally considered as offering many priorities, including sustainability, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, regional development, social structure and agriculture, and security of supply.

First-generation biofuels are made from sugar, starch, vegetable oil, or animal fats using conventional technology. The basic feedstocks for the production of first-generation biofuels come from agriculture and food processing. The most common first-generation biofuels are:

• Biodiesel: extraction with or without esterification of vegetable oils from seeds of plants like soybean, oil palm, oilseed rape and sunflower or residues including animal fats derived from rendering applied as fuel in diesel engines
• Bioethanol: fermentation of simple sugars from sugar crops like sugarcane or from starch crops like maize and wheat applied as fuel in petrol engines
• Bio-oil: thermochemical conversion of biomass. A process still in the development phase
• Biogas: anaerobic fermentation or organic waste, animal manures, crop residues an energy crops applied as fuel in engines suitable for compressed natural gas.

First-generation biofuels can be used in low-percentage blends with conventional fuels in most vehicles and can be distributed through existing infrastructure. Some diesel vehicles can run on 100 % biodiesel, and ‘flex-fuel’ vehicles are already available in many countries around the world.

Second-generation biofuels are derived from non-food feedstock including lignocellulosic biomass like crop residues or wood. Two transformative technologies are under development.

• Biochemical: modification of the bioethanol fermentation process including a pre-treatment procedure
• Thermochemical: modification of the bio-oil process to produce syngas and methanol, Fisher-Tropsch diesel or dimethyl ether (DME).

Advanced conversion technologies are needed for a second-generation biofuels. The second generation technologies use a wider range of biomass resources – agriculture, forestry and waste materials. One of the most promising second-generation biofuel technologies – ligno-cellulosic processing (e. g. from forest materials) – is already well advanced. Pilot plants have been established in the EU, in Denmark, Spain and Sweden.

Third-generation biofuels may include production of bio-based hydrogen for use in fuel cell vehicles, e.g. Algae fuel, also called oilgae. Algae are low-input, high-yield feedstock to produce biofuels.

The post Things You Should Know About Biofuels first appeared on BioEnergy Consult.

Algae holds enormous potential to provide a non-food, high-yield, non-arable land use source of biodiesel, ethanol and hydrogen fuels. Microalgae are the fastest growing photosynthesizing organism capable of completing an entire growing cycle every few days. Up to 50% of algae’s weight is comprised of oil, compared with, for example, oil palm which yields just about 20% of its weight in oil.

Algaculture (farming of algae) can be a route to making vegetable oils, biodiesel, bioethanol and other biofuels. Microalgae are one-celled, photosynthetic microorganisms that are abundant in fresh water, brackish water, and marine environments everywhere on earth. The potential for commercial algae production is expected to come from growth in translucent tubes or containers called photo bioreactors or open ocean algae bloom harvesting. The other advantages of algal systems include:

• carbon capture from smokestacks to increase algae growth rates
• processing of algae biomass through gasification to produce syngas
• growing carbohydrate rich algae strains for cellulosic ethanol
• using waste streams from municipalities as water sources

Algae have certain qualities that make the organism an attractive option for biodiesel production. Unlike corn-based biodiesel which competes with food crops for land resources, algae-based production methods, such as algae ponds or photobioreactors, would “complement, rather than compete” with other biomass-based fuels. Unlike corn or other biodiesel crops, algae do not require significant inputs of carbon intensive fertilizers.  Some algae species can even grow in waters that contain a large amount of salt, which means that algae-based fuel production need not place a large burden on freshwater supplies.

Several companies and government agencies are funding efforts to reduce capital and operating costs and make algae fuel production commercially viable. Companies such as Sapphire Energy and Bio Solar Cellsare using genetic engineering to make algae fuel production more efficient. According to Klein Lankhorst of Bio Solar Cells, genetic engineering could vastly improve algae fuel efficiency as algae can be modified to only build short carbon chains instead of long chains of carbohydrates.

Sapphire Energy also uses chemically induced mutations to produce algae suitable for use as a crop. Some commercial interests into large-scale algal-cultivation systems are looking to tie in to existing infrastructures, such as cement factories, coal power plants, or sewage treatment facilities. This approach changes wastes into resources to provide the raw materials, CO₂ and nutrients, for the system.

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