Ethanol Biofuel

The largest national use of ethanol biofuel exists in Brazil (gasoline sold in Brazil contains at least 20% ethanol and hydrous ethanol is also used as fuel). In order for ethanol (ethyl alcohol) to be suitable for use as a replacement to petrol in its pure form, it must be distilled to at least 70-80% purity by volume before use. For use as an additive to petrol, almost all water must be removed; otherwise it will separate from the mixture and settle to the bottom of the fuel tank, causing the fuel pump to draw water into the engine, which will cause the engine to stall.

Ethanol Biofuel
Today almost 50% of Brazilian cars are able to use 100% ethanol biofuel, that includes ethanol only engines and flex fuel engines. Flex fuel engines are able to work with all ethanol, all gasoline or any mixture of both, giving the buyer a choice between price and performance. That was only possible due to the capability of an efficient sugar cane production. Sugar cane not only has a greater concentration of sucrose (about 30% more than corn) but is also much easier to extract. The bagasse generated by the process is not wasted and it is utilized in power plants. World production of ethanol in 2006 was 51 billion litres, (13.5 billion gallons), with 69% of the world supply coming from Brazil and the United States.

Currently the main feedstock in the United States for the production of ethanol biofuel is corn. Approximately 2.8 gallons (10 litres) of ethanol are produced from one bushel of corn (35 litres). While much of the corn turns into ethanol, some of the corn also yields by products such as DDGS (distillers dried grains with solubles) which can be used to fulfill a portion of the diet of livestock. A bushel of corn produces about 18 pounds of DDGS.

Corn is an energy intensive crop that requires petroleum derived fertilizers; however, using corn to produce alcohol could save farmers additional petroleum if the farmers are feeding the byproduct to livestock and if the excrement from the animals is then used as fertilizer for the corn. Although most of the fermentation plants have been built in corn-producing regions, sorghum is also an important feedstock for ethanol production in the Plains states. Pearl millet is showing promise as an ethanol feedstock for the southeastern U.S.

A recent study by Argonne National Laboratory conducted by Michael Wang claims that ethanol generates 35% more energy than it takes to produce. This finding goes against other studies that suggest ethanol production uses more energy than it creates. Conflicting studies may be the result of some regions in the world possessing better growing conditions and more efficient processing systems.

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Heinz Ketchup Goes Green With Coca-Cola's Plant-Based Bottle

Source: FastCompany

Heinz's ketchup bottles haven't changed at all since plastic was first used for the iconic containers in 1983. Now the bottles are set to get a green makeover, courtesy of Coca-Cola.

The ketchup manufacturer announced a partnership this week to use Coca-Cola's PlantBottle, a plastic bottle made from a combination of petroleum-based materials and up to 30% plant-based materials, for its ketchup bottles. Heinz will roll out the bottle en masse, starting with 120 million PlantBottles this year. By 2020, the company hopes to manufacture the bottle globally.

Coca-Cola first introduced the PlantBottle in 2009, piloting it with Dasani water bottles before expanding to Coke, Sprite, Fresca, and more. PlantBottle packaging is made from a process that turns natural sugars from plants--in this case, Brazilian sugarcane ethanol--into plastic. In the coming years, Coke plans to bring use cellulosic plant waste in the bottle, with local markets dictating the feedstock.

Coke hasn't revealed how much Heinz is paying for its PlantBottle technology, but we're guessing its a substantial sum. And that means Coca-Cola is no longer just in the food and beverage business--it's now a sustainable packaging leader.

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Would You Buy a $40 Light Bulb?

Source: GreenBiz
This week, Philips Lighting said that its AmbientLED 12.5-watt bulb — which, just to confuse you, is also sold under the Philips EnduraLED brand — has qualified for a EPA’s Energy Star rating. That means that it’s an efficient and, quite possibly cost-effective alternative to the 60-watt bulb, even with a $39.97 list price at Home Depot.
Here’s how the math works, at least according to Philips:
A conventional 60-watt bulb lasts about 1,000 hours, uses 60 watts of electricity (duh) and costs $180 to run for 25,000 hours.
The LED equivalent lasts 25,000 hours (nearly three years if you left it on 24/7), uses 12.5 watts and costs $37.50 to run for 25,000 hours.
That assumes electricity costs of 12.5 cents/kwh, slightly higher than average across the U.S. but a lot less that you pay in high-cost states like California.
Practically a bargain, no?
The Energy Star rating matters because it means that the bulb, which is evidently the first LED bulb in its category to qualify, can earn you a rebate from your local utility. There’s more on the rebates here from the U.S. Department of Energy. Each state has its own rebate program, forms to fill out, etc. Fun.
Better news is that for now Phillips is offering a $10 cash rebate on the bulb.
CNET’s Martin Lamonica wrote last fall:
I have been using an early production version of the Philips bulb around my house for the last few days. At first blush, I’d say this is the sort of product that could finally help nudge out the beloved, if wasteful, incandescent bulb.

Philips says that it is also the first and only company to enter the U.S. Department of Energy’s L Prize contest, which calls for an LED equivalent to the 60-watt bulb that can produce 900 lumens using less than ten watts of electricity. The L Prize is a government-backed competition to encourage innovation in lighting.
LED light bulbs, by the way, offer significant advantages over curlicue CFLs. They contain no mercury, turn on instantly, last longer and are more efficient. GE, Osram Sylvania, Cree and EarthLED also make LED bulbs, which can range in price from $20 to $80

If you’re balking at those price tags, you’re surely not alone. In fact, you can now understand first-hand one of the big reasons why we waste so much energy in the U.S.: It’s very hard to persuade people, even supposedly rational business people, to spent money today to save money in the future.
Maybe you’re a tenant, and you won’t be able capture the operating costs savings of the bulb. Maybe there’s a chance you’ll move soon. Maybe you don’t have $40 to spare right now. Corporate executives and the owners of commercial buildings face these kinds of obstacles, too.
Remember that next time someone talks about how easy it is to pick the low hanging fruit.

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An economical energy supply and reduce carbon dioxide emissions

Quarter-Million Cows to Work in Chinese Biogas Plant
“GE’s efficient, durable and reliable Jenbacher biogas engines will allow us to face that challenge by maximizing the use of an economical energy supply -- cow manure.” said Xu Guangyi, vice president of the Liaoning Huishan Cow Farm
In an effort to help ease China's energy shortage and put tons of biowaste to good use, a 250,000-head cow farm in north eastern China will use animal dung to power four GE Jenbacher biogas engines and produce an estimated 38,000 MWh a year.
Biogas projects using GE Jenbacher engines can be found at dairy farms in Waterloo, Wisconsin, and at chicken farms in Beijing and Penglai, China.
GE and operators of the new Liaoning Huishan Cow Farm, which is scheduled to begin operation in September, announced their plans today. When it is complete, the operation with be the largest cow-powered biogas project in the world.
The operation slated for the Huishan farm complex in Shenyang, China, tops all the earlier projects.
Energy produced at the dairy farm would power an estimated 10,000 homes in Europe and considerably more in China, where average energy consumption per household is not as great, said Martina Streiter, the spokeswoman specializing in Jenbacher engines for GE Power & Water.
Energy generated at the dairy plant will be sold to China's state grid. The liquid byproduct from biogas production will be used on pasture grass and the remaining solid waste can be sold as organic fertilizer, according to GE.
Project is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 180,000 tons year.

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Geothermal Energy In Pakistan And The World

Source: tawanai


According to Aleternative Energy Board of Pakistan, a global seismic belt passes through Pakistan and the country has a long geological history of geotectonic events. The Geotectonic framework shown above indicates that Pakistan should not be lacking in commercially exploitable sources of geothermal energy. AEDB is working on a preliminary study on technical, economical and market aspects of geothermal utilization possibilities and detailed feasibility studies for geothermal energy utilization. Let’s take a look at
what Geothermal energy is?

We have prepared a concise summary of Geothermal power and its use in the world – aggregated from various top sources.

Geothermal power is energy generated by heat stored in the earth, or the collection of absorbed heat derived from underground, in the atmosphere and oceans.  As of 2008, geothermal power supplies less than 1% of the world’s energy. Geothermal power requires no fuel, and is therefore virtually emissions free and insusceptible to fluctuations in fuel cost. And because a geothermal power station doesn’t rely on transient sources of energy, unlike, for example, wind turbines or solar panels, its capacity factor can be quite large; up to 90% in practice.

Geothermal has minimal land use requirements; existing geothermal plants use 1-8 acres per megawatt (MW) versus 5-10 acres per MW for nuclear operations and 19 acres per MW for coal power plants. It also offers a degree of scalability: a large geothermal plant can power entire cities while smaller power plants can supply more remote sites such as rural villages.

Geothermal resources range from shallow ground to hot water and rock several miles below the Earth’s surface, and even further down to the extremely hot molten rock called magma. Wells over a mile deep can be drilled into underground reservoirs to tap steam and very hot water that can be brought to the surface for use in a variety of applications. Geothermal power is generated in over 20 countries around the world including the United States, Iceland, Italy, Germany, Turkey, France, The Netherlands, Lithuania, New Zealand, Mexico, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Russia, the Philippines, Indonesia, the People’s Republic of China, Pakistan, Japan and Saint Kitts and Nevis. Chevron Corporation is the world’s largest producer of geothermal energy.

A global seismic belt passes through Pakistan and the country has a long geological history of geotectonic events. Several projects are  on the roll these days which include Remote Sensing Studies, geothermal geology, geothermal hydrogeology, hydrogeochemical Studies, geophysical Studies and preliminary Study on Technical, Economical and Market Aspects of Geothermal utilization possibilities and detailed feasibility studies for geothermal energy utilization. Projects like these if being managed and properly financed by Pakistani government should result in a major solution for meeting the energy shortage.

A 2006 report by MIT, that took into account the use of Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS), concluded that it would be affordable to generate 100 GWe (gigawatts of electricity) or more by 2050 in the United States alone, for a maximum investment of 1 billion US dollars in research and development over 15 years. The MIT report calculated the world’s total EGS resources to be over 13,000 ZJ. Of these, over 200 ZJ would be extractable, with the potential to increase this to over 2,000 ZJ with technology improvements – sufficient to provide all the world’s present energy needs for several millennia. The key characteristic of an EGS (also called a Hot Dry Rock system), is that it reaches at least 10 km down into hard rock. At a typical site two holes would be bored and the deep rock between them fractured. Water would be pumped down one and steam would come up the other. The MIT report estimated that there was enough energy in hard rocks 10 km below the United States to supply all the world’s current needs for 30,000 years.

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