Jatropha for biofuels

[minotaur]

Saw this article in The Australian online today about Jatropha being a good prospect for biofuels. Link is here Jatropha article - The Australian

THE jatropha bush seems an unlikely prize in the hunt for alternative energy, being an ugly, fast-growing, poisonous weed.

Hitherto, its use has principally been as a constipation remedy. Very soon, however, it may be powering your car.

Almost overnight, the unloved Jatropha curcus has become an agricultural and economic celebrity with the discovery that it may just be the ideal biofuel crop, an alternative to fossil fuels for a world dangerously dependent on oil supplies and deeply alarmed by the effects of global warming.

The hardy jatropha, resilient to pests and resistant to drought, produces seeds with up to 40 per cent oil content. When the seeds are crushed, the resulting jatropha oil can be burnt in a standard diesel car, while the residue can be processed into biomass to power electricity plants.

As the search for alternative energy sources gathers pace, the jatropha has provoked something like a gold rush. BP announced last week that it was investing almost pound stg. 32 million ($76million) in a jatropha joint venture with British biofuels company D1 Oils.

Even Bob Geldof has entered the fray, becoming a special adviser to Helius Energy, a British company developing jatropha as an alternative to fossil fuels. Lex Worrall, its chief executive, says: "Every hectare can produce 2.7 tonnes of oil and about four tonnes of biomass. Every 8000 hectares of the plant can run a 1.5 megawatt station, enough to power 2500 homes."

The jatropha grows in tropical and subtropical climates. Whereas other biofuel feedstocks, such as palm oil or corn for ethanol, require reasonable soils on which other crops might be grown, jatropha is prepared to put down roots almost anywhere.

Scientists say that it can grow in the poorest wasteland, generating topsoil and helping to stall erosion, but also absorbing carbon dioxide as it grows, thus making it carbon neutral even when burnt. A jatropha bush can live for up to 50 years, producing oil in its second year of growth, and survive up to three consecutive years of drought.

In India, about 11 million ha have been identified as potential land on which to grow jatropha. The first jatropha-fuelled power station is expected to begin supplying electricity in Swaziland in three years. And companies from Europe and India have begun buying land in Africa as potential plantations.

The jatropha, a native of Central America, was brought to Europe by Portuguese explorers in the 16th century and has since spread worldwide, even though, until recently, it had few uses: malaria treatment, a windbreak for animals, live fencing and candle-making. An ingredient in folk remedies around the world, it earned the nickname "physic nut", but its sap is a skin irritant, and ingesting three untreated seeds can kill a person.Although some places have embraced it, others are more cautious. Western Australia banned the plant last year as invasive and highly toxic to people and animals.

Yet a combination of economic, climatic and political factors have made the search for a more effective biofuel a priority among energy companies. Britain now requires that biofuels comprise 5 per cent of the transport fuel mix by 2010, and the European Union has mandated that all cars must run on 20per cent biodiesel by 2020. Biodiesel reduces carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 80 per cent compared with petroleum diesel.

China is planning an 80,000-acre plantation in Sichuan, and the BP-D1 team hopes to have one million ha under cultivation in four years.

The Times

The article came from The Times in the UK.

Scientific American reported on it a bit earlier back in June - June 2007 Scientific American article

[Torsten]

It's the ideal biodiesel crop because it grow on land that is unproductive for other crops or uses. It is a semi succulent so it can tolerate long droughts with no loss of plant size or vigor [although might not produce a crop that year]. It isn't eaten by stock or feral animals, so doesn't need any protection. It doesn't need fertiliser or pesticides and it definitely doesn't need water. The deep tap root will seek out water and bring moisture and nutrient minerals to the surface.

In India it is planted between the fields as windbreak, mulch source and for firewood. In many countries in africa it is being planted large scale by communities, companies and governments because it is so resilient and useful.

In australia its use is limited. Being frost sensitive it can only be grown in frost free areas [although light frosts seem to be ok], and in the tropics we have a bug that decimates its immature seeds. That still leaves millions of acres of land where it could be grown though.

I think this crop has a real future. We have calculated that a 4 acre block will provide enough fuel to cover the 6000 litres of diesel we use every year.

The main shortcoming of this and every other oil is the waste products from the transesterification process. However, I have developed a method that will close the nutrient cycle and will use up all waste on site with no water pollution. No polluting sulphuric acid is used, nor does it require methanol [although I personally don't have a problem with using methanol for the process].

Jatropha is at the core of our plan for total energy independence within the next few years.

[Monk]

My apologies for ignorance on the subject, but what are the waste products of the transesterification process?

[Torsten]

sulphates are the main problem.

[gecko]

My apologies for ignorance on the subject, but what are the waste products of the transesterification process?

Simple way of lookimg at it is that fats and oils are esters

Ester = acid + alcohol

in this case Fatty acids + glycerol (a complex alcohol)

Transesterification for Biodiesel is replacing the glycerol with methyl alcohol

Leaving three molecules of a methyl ester of fatty acids for every one of triglyceride ester

this is acheived with the use of a catylist , potessium or sodium hydroxide.

Byproducts from this process are Glycerol and the hydroxides and usually a little bit of soap

esp. if more hydroxide is used.

It makes a good hand cleaner or detergent for really dirty stuff but usually waay more than you can use!

this is the only method I'm aware of in making BD apart from straight oil on its own

that's not to say the only way -I'm not a chemist.

Hope this helps.

Hey Torsten, is the sulphuric acid used to neutralise the hydroxide or is it a different process altogether?

Edited August 2, 2007 by gecko

[Monk]

Thanks gecko! But yeah, where's the sulphate come in?

[Μορφέας]

Here is a reponse article to biofuels

http://environment.newscientist.com/channe...ape-nature.html

Its a valid point, I still think they should go into solar power

Ramping up the use of renewable energy would lead to the "rape of nature", meaning nuclear power should be developed instead. So argues noted conservation biologist and climate change researcher Jesse Ausubel in an opinion piece based on his and others' research.

Ausubel (who New Scientist interviewed in 2006) says the key renewable energy sources, including sun, wind, and biomass, would all require vast amounts of land if developed up to large scale production – unlike nuclear power. That land would be far better left alone, he says.

Renewables are "boutique fuels" says Ausubel, of Rockefeller University in New York, US. "They look attractive when they are quite small. But if we start producing renewable energy on a large scale, the fallout is going to be horrible."

Instead, Ausubel argues for renewed development of nuclear. "If we want to minimise the rape of nature, the best energy solution is increased efficiency, natural gas with carbon capture, and nuclear power."

'Massive infrastructure'

Ausubel draws his conclusions by analysing the amount of energy renewables, natural gas, and nuclear can produce in terms of power per square metre of land used. Moreover, he claims that as renewable energy use increases, this measure of efficiency will decrease as the best land for wind, biomass, and solar power gets used up.

Using biofuels to obtain the same amount of energy as a 1000 megawatt nuclear power plant would require 2500 square kilometres of prime Midwestern farm land, Ausubel says. "We should be sparing land for nature, not using it as pasture for cars and trucks," he adds.

Solar power is much more efficient than biofuel in terms of the area of land used, but it would still require 150 square kilometres of photovoltaic cells to match the energy production of the 1000 MW nuclear plant. In another example, he says meeting the 2005 US electricity demand via wind power alone would need 780,000 square kilometres, an area the size of Texas.

Part of the land used in Ausubel's calculations is for storage and transportation: "Any renewable energy supply needs a massive infrastructure, including steel, metal, pipes, cables, concrete, and access roads."

'Heretical demagogue'

However, other experts who have seen Ausubel’s study are highly critical, both of its conclusions and its inflammatory rhetoric.

"To have a debate on the various issues is good, but setting himself up as a demagogue with this heretical stuff, takes away from the focus and value of the debate," says John Turner of the US government’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Turner says that even if the US got all of its power from solar energy, it would still need less than half the amount of land that has been paved over for highways. Further, it need not take up additional land. “We could get a quarter of our energy just from covering rooftops of existing buildings,” he says.

The same "dual use" also applies to wind power. "The footprint for wind is only 5% of the land that it covers," says Turner. "Farmers can still farm the land that the turbines are on."

Turner says looking solely at land use is an oversimplification of the issue. "I’m not sure I’d want to build one of these nuclear plants in Afghanistan, but we could certainly put in wind and solar power," he adds.

'Taboo subject'

Turner also highlights the risks of nuclear waste storage. "It has to be safely stored for 100,000 years," says Turner. "To dismiss that as a simple waiting game is totally irresponsible."

However, public perceptions of nuclear energy are changing. A new study by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, found that 35% of the US population wants to increase nuclear power use. The figure has risen from 28% in 2002.

And not everyone disagrees entirely with Ausubel. The land argument is valid, says David Keith, of the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada.

“I think the argument is crucial and correct and something the environmental community hasn’t wrapped its head around,” Keith says. “I don’t see any scenario where we won’t have an environmental holocaust from biomass if we rely on it for more than a third of global energy production. But this doesn’t apply to all renewables.”

Keith notes that solar power has 10 times the energy density of biomass and its cost is likely to drop as the technology advances.

Ausubel thinks he represents a silent majority of scientists concerned about renewables. “I think I’m saying what many of my colleagues know, but have felt its taboo to say,” he says.

[Torsten]

please note I only advocate biofuels as transport energy source, and even then only for certain applications. I feel that solar and hydrogen [esp solar derived hydrogen] are one of the obvious long term choices. But there is little that beats diesel for certain applications, incl 'grunt' and operator safety on large machinery.

The sulphuric acid is used to neutralise the hydroxide. This liberates the glycerin which can then be used as a heating fuel for the biodiesel process, especially to produce diesel for high tech engines. There is only so much soap you can make use of

[ThunderIdeal]

this is cool news. i just hope that somebody bothers to assess it's potential as an environmental weed before we go planting it everywhere, because if there's one thing australia doesn't need it's more out-of-control environmental weeds.

[Legba]

AIR New Zealand says it could be using a poisonous weed to power commercial flights before the end of the year, thus revolutionising air travel and leading to fare cuts. The breakthrough fuel source will be a noxious weed called jatropha, an ugly fast-growing drought-proof bush that can grow in virtually any soil...

Link

[baphomet]

So does this mean that biofuels are not just a great big useless scam anymore then?

[Fenris]

Once the oils have been extracted, the leftover biomass could be fermented to produce an alcohol which could be used in the biodiesel production process. Any reminants could be burned and the ash used as the OH to add to the B/D process.

Alchemy at work

[ThunderIdeal]

it's always referred to as an ugly plant but it isn't that bad.

[folias]

Air New Zealand say they are soon going to use Jatropha in their jets!

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4563018a1864.html

[Legba]

Air New Zealand say they are soon going to use Jatropha in their jets!

That's what I said