A global comparison of national biodiesel production potentials

Cold Temperature Limits to Biodiesel Use under Present and Future Climates in North America

Cold weather operability is sometimes a limiting factor in the use of biodiesel blends for transportation. Regional temperature variability can therefore influence biodiesel adoption, with potential economic and environmental implications. This study assesses present and future biodiesel cold weather operability limits in North America according to temperature data from weather stations, atmospheric reanalysis, and global climate models with highest resolution over Ontario, Canada. Future temperature projections using the RCP8.5 climate change scenario show increases in the potential duration for certain seasonal fuel blends. For example, biodiesel blends whose cloud point temperature is -9 °C may expand their duration by 3-7% in North America for nonwinter seasons according to projections for 2040. Cloud point specifications among supply orbits in Ontario increase up to +6 °C during nonwinter seasons, with most increases observed in Fall and Spring. In winter, however, the modeling suggests no change in Ontario cloud point specifications because the coldest temperatures by mid-century are not significantly warmer than the past climate normal according to our climate simulations. This study provides a quantitative analysis on biodiesel usage scenarios under a changing climate, including Ontario region geographic temperature clusters that could prove useful for biodiesel blend-related decision-making.

Response Surface Methodology and Artificial Neural Networks-Based Yield Optimization of Biodiesel Sourced from Mixture of Palm and Cotton Seed Oil

In this present study, cold flow properties of biodiesel produced from palm oil were improved by adding cotton seed oil into palm oil. Three different mixtures of palm and cotton oil were prepared as P50C50, P60C40, and P70C30. Among three oil mixtures, P60C40 was selected for biodiesel production via ultrasound assisted transesterification process. Physiochemical characteristics—including density, viscosity, calorific value, acid value, and oxidation stability—were measured and the free fatty acid composition was determined via GCMS. Response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural network (ANN) techniques were utilized for the sake of relation development among operating parameters (reaction time, methanol-to-oil ratio, and catalyst concentration) ultimately optimizing yield of palm–cotton oil sourced biodiesel. Maximum yield of P60C40 biodiesel estimated via RSM and ANN was 96.41% and 96.67% respectively, under operating parameters of reaction time (35 min), M:O molar ratio (47.5 v/v %), and catalyst concentration (1 wt %), but the actual biodiesel yield obtained experimentally was observed 96.32%. The quality of the RSM model was examined by analysis of variance (ANOVA). ANN model statistics exhibit contented values of mean square error (MSE) of 0.0001, mean absolute error (MAE) of 2.1374, and mean absolute deviation (MAD) of 2.5088. RSM and ANN models provided a coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.9560 and a correlation coefficient (R) of 0.9777 respectively.

Development of Renewable Energy Sources in the European Union in the Context of Sustainable Development Policy

Renewable energy sources play a key role in decarbonizing the economy of the European Union (EU) and the world. The aim of this research is to present the development of the renewable energy sources (RES) sector in the European Union (EU), with particular emphasis on sustainable development. The EU guidelines, requirements, and directives were analyzed in order to meet the provisions of the energy policy to ensure energy and climate security. The potential of the RES was studied in the EU countries, and the possibility of its use in cogeneration with the use of local renewable resources. The results are presented in tabular, graphic, and descriptive forms. The results are presented based on the extensive literature on the subject and data from Eurostat. The data covered 2004–2019. We used different methods to evaluate the changes in the RES in the EU countries. First, we compiled descriptive statistics; second, we used the Augmented Dickey–Fuller test (ADF test); and, finally, we used the Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity model (GARCH model). Our analysis found that the EU increased the share of RES. The biggest share of energy from renewable energy sources was found in 2019 in Iceland (78%), Norway (74%), and Sweden (56%). The biggest increase in the share of RES in 2004–19 was found in Malta (8322%), Great Britain (1126%), and Luxemburg (784%). The results demonstrate the development of RES in the EU countries. However, not all countries achieved the planned goal in 2019.

Significant Seed Oil Feedstocks for Renewable Production of Biodiesel: A Review

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The rapidly increasing demand for biodiesel is now tying agriculture and energy more closely than ever. Biodiesel may be one of the key ways to pump immediate life into the flaccid economy of many underdeveloped countries. The present review critically describes leading potential feedstocks available for biodiesel production based on a full life-cycle analysis which comprises major producer countries, important cultivation practices and major fatty acid compositions of the produced biodiesel. This article provides a comprehensive approach about the twenty leading plant sources which can contribute to enhance biodiesel production throughout the world along with their production methodologies, physical and chemical fuel quality parameters and analytical techniques for the assessment of the quality of the prepared biodiesel. Biodiesel has become further interesting in recent years because of its eco-friendly benefits and the fact that it is made from renewable and sustainable resources. A wide literature review was conducted and the major fatty acid composition of various vegetable oils was discussed as it significantly affects biodiesel properties. Lipids obtained from filamentous fungi, for example, Cunninghamella echinulata exhibit great promise for biofuel production. Finally, this review will be helpful in promoting the development of biodiesel by several countries not only by extending scientific research and knowledge but also through the introduction of policies and expressing reasons underlying these policies.

Conclusion:

This review explains the potential feedstocks for renewable production of biodiesel.

A flow-based procedure exploiting the lab-in-syringe approach for the determination of ester content in biodiesel and diesel/biodiesel blends

The ester content is an important parameter to be monitored in biodiesel for evaluation of the transesterification reaction yield and for assessing the purity of the final product. This is also a relevant quality parameter in diesel/biodiesel blends to avoid frauds, because legislation establishes a minimum amount of biodiesel to be added to diesel. The official method EN14103 requires the addition of an alternative internal standard (methyl nonadecanoate) for analysis of biodiesel from bovine tallow because the methyl heptadecanoate is found in high amounts in this product. In this work, it is proposed a fast, simple, practical, and environmental friendly flow-based spectrophotometric procedure, which exploits the formation of the violet complex between Fe(III) and the hydroxamate generated by the reactions of the alkyl esters with hydroxylamine. All involved steps are carried out inside the syringe pump of a sequential injection analyzer (lab-in-syringe approach). A single phase is attained by using ethanol as mediator solvent between the organic sample and aqueous soluble reagents. Linear responses for biodiesel samples and diesel/biodiesel blends were obtained from 4-99%(v/v) to 2.0-40%(v/v) methyl esters, described by the equations: A = 0.342 + 0.00305C (r = 0.997) and A = 0.174 + 0.00503C (r = 0.999), respectively. The analytical curve can be obtained by in-line dilution of a methyl linoleate stock solution. For biodiesel samples, the coefficient of variation (n = 10), limit of detection (99.7% confidence level), and sampling rate were estimated at 0.8%, 0.36%(v/v), and 15h^-1, respectively, whereas the corresponding values for the blend samples were 0.20%, 0.03%(v/v), and 12h^-1, respectively. The procedure consumes only 860μg of hydroxylamine, 366μg of Fe₂(SO₄)₃·H₂O, and 2.0mL ethanol and generates ca. 3.0mL of residue per determination. The results agreed with those obtained by official methods EN14103/2011 e EN14078, at the 95% confidence level.

Antisense-RNA-Mediated Gene Downregulation in Clostridium pasteurianum

Clostridium pasteurianum is receiving growing attention for its unique metabolic properties, particularly its ability to convert waste glycerol and glycerol-rich byproducts into butanol, a prospective biofuel. Genetic tool development and whole genome sequencing have recently been investigated to advance the genetic tractability of this potential industrial host. Nevertheless, methodologies for tuning gene expression through plasmid-borne expression and chromosomal gene downregulation are still absent. Here we demonstrate plasmid-borne heterologous gene expression and gene knockdown using antisense RNA in C. pasteurianum. We first employed a common thermophilic β-galactosidase (lacZ) gene reporter system from Thermoanaerobacterium thermosulfurogenes to characterize two promoters involved in the central fermentative metabolism of C. pasteurianum. Due to a higher level of constitutive lacZ expression compared to the ferredoxin gene (fdx) promoter, the thiolase (thl) promoter was selected to drive expression of asRNA. Expression of a lacZ asRNA resulted in 52%–58% downregulation of β-galactosidase activity compared to the control strain throughout the duration of culture growth. Subsequent implementation of our asRNA approach for downregulation of the native hydrogenase I gene (hydA) in C. pasteurianum resulted in altered end product distribution, characterized by an increase in production of reduced metabolites, particularly butyrate (40% increase) and ethanol (25% increase). Knockdown of hydA was also accompanied by increased acetate formation and lower levels of 1,3-propanediol, signifying a dramatic shift in cellular metabolism in response to inhibition of the hydrogenase enzyme. The methodologies described herein for plasmid-based heterologous gene expression and antisense-RNA-mediated gene knockdown should promote rational metabolic engineering of C. pasteurianum for enhanced production of butanol as a prospective biofuel.

Continuous flow vortex fluidic production of biodiesel

Vortex fluidic synthesis of biodiesel from sunflower oil under continuous flow at room temperature, with spontaneous phase separation.

Biomass for energy in the European Union - a review of bioenergy resource assessments

This paper reviews recent literature on bioenergy potentials in conjunction with available biomass conversion technologies. The geographical scope is the European Union, which has set a course for long term development of its energy supply from the current dependence on fossil resources to a dominance of renewable resources. A cornerstone in European energy policies and strategies is biomass and bioenergy. The annual demand for biomass for energy is estimated to increase from the current level of 5.7 EJ to 10.0 EJ in 2020. Assessments of bioenergy potentials vary substantially due to methodological inconsistency and assumptions applied by individual authors. Forest biomass, agricultural residues and energy crops constitute the three major sources of biomass for energy, with the latter probably developing into the most important source over the 21st century. Land use and the changes thereof is a key issue in sustainable bioenergy production as land availability is an ultimately limiting factor.

Tropical forests were the primary sources of new agricultural land in the 1980s and 1990s

Global demand for agricultural products such as food, feed, and fuel is now a major driver of cropland and pasture expansion across much of the developing world. Whether these new agricultural lands replace forests, degraded forests, or grasslands greatly influences the environmental consequences of expansion. Although the general pattern is known, there still is no definitive quantification of these land-cover changes. Here we analyze the rich, pan-tropical database of classified Landsat scenes created by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations to examine pathways of agricultural expansion across the major tropical forest regions in the 1980s and 1990s and use this information to highlight the future land conversions that probably will be needed to meet mounting demand for agricultural products. Across the tropics, we find that between 1980 and 2000 more than 55% of new agricultural land came at the expense of intact forests, and another 28% came from disturbed forests. This study underscores the potential consequences of unabated agricultural expansion for forest conservation and carbon emissions.

Overview on Biofuels From a European Perspective

In light of the recently developed European Union (EU) Biofuels Strategy, the literature is reviewed to examine (a) the coherency of biofuel production with the EU nonindustrial vision of agriculture, and (b) given its insufficient land base, the implications of a proposed bioenergy pact to grow biofuel crops in the developing world to meet EU biofuel demands. The EU acknowledged that the use of food crops for biofuel production was based on wrong assumptions concerning climate change mitigation, and its support has now shifted to second-generation nonfood crops. The bioenergy pact entails (a) biofuel crops production in developing countries, especially Africa, that in the absence of environmental and social regulations may lead to ethical trade-offs in land use (food vs. fuel) and (b) the use of transgenic technology that conflicts with the EU’s own vision of sustainable agriculture.

Life-cycle assessment of energy use and greenhouse gas emissions of soybean-derived biodiesel and renewable fuels

In this study, we used Argonne National Laboratory's Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Transportation (GREET) model to assess the life-cycle energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission impacts of four soybean-derived fuels: biodiesel fuel produced via transesterification, two renewable diesel fuels (I and II) produced from different hydrogenation processes, and renewable gasoline produced from catalytic cracking. Five approaches were employed to allocate the coproducts: a displacement approach; two allocation approaches, one based on the energy value and the other based on the market value; and two hybrid approaches that integrated the displacement and allocation methods. The relative rankings of soybean-based fuels in terms of energy and environmental impacts were different under the different approaches, and the reasons were analyzed. Results from the five allocation approaches showed that although the production and combustion of soybean-based fuels might increase total energy use, they could have significant benefits in reducing fossil energy use (>52%), petroleum use (>88%), and GHG emissions (>57%) relative to petroleum fuels. This study emphasized the importance of the methods used to deal with coproduct issues and provided a comprehensive solution for conducting a life-cycle assessment of fuel pathways with multiple coproducts.

Sustainable global energy supply based on lignocellulosic biomass from afforestation of degraded areas

An important aspect of present global energy scenarios is the assumption that the amount of biomass that can be grown on the available area is so limited that a scenario based on biomass as the major source of energy should be unrealistic. We have been investigating the question whether a Biomass Scenario may be realistic. We found that the global energy demand projected by the International Energy Agency in the Reference Scenario for the year 2030 could be provided sustainably and economically primarily from lignocellulosic biomass grown on areas which have been degraded by human activities in historical times. Moreover, other renewable energies will contribute to the energy mix. There would be no competition with increasing food demand for existing arable land. Afforestation of degraded areas and investment for energy and fuel usage of the biomass are not more expensive than investment in energy infrastructure necessary up to 2030 assumed in the fossil energy based Reference Scenario, probably much cheaper considering the additional advantages such as stopping the increase of and even slowly reducing the CO(2) content of the atmosphere, soil, and water conservation and desertification control. Most importantly, investment for a Biomass Scenario would be actually sustainable, in contrast to investment in energy-supply infrastructure of the Reference Scenario. Methods of afforestation of degraded areas, cultivation, and energetic usage of lignocellulosic biomass are available but have to be further improved. Afforestation can be started immediately, has an impact in some few years, and may be realized in some decades.