Tag Archives: alternative
The Latest Clean Energy Cocktail: Bacteria And Fungus
BY JEFF SPROSS ON AUGUST 23, 2013 By throwing together a common fungus and a common bacterium, researchers are producing isobutanol — a biofuel that gallon-for-gallon delivers 82 percent of gasoline’s heat energy. The more common ethanol, by contrast, only gets 67 percent of gasoline’s energy, and does more damage to pipelines and engines. And the University of Michigan research team did it using stalks and leaves from corn plants as the raw material. The fungus in question was Trichoderma reesei , which breaks down the plant materials into sugars. The team used corn plant leftovers in this case, but many other forms of biomass like switchgrass or forestry waste could also serve. The bacterium was Escherichia coli — good old-fashioned E. coli — which then converted those sugars into isobutanol. Another team of researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison recently came up with a similar process by studying leaf cutter ants, but their work produced ethanol instead. The University of Michigan team also got the fungi and bacteria to co-exist peacefully in the same culture and bioreactor. That means fewer cost barriers to commercializing the process: “The capital investment will be much lower, and also the operating cost will be much lower,” Xiaoxia “Nina” Lin, the team’s leader, explained. “So hopefully this will make the whole process much more likely to become economically viable.” The big advantage of a cellulosic biofuel like this is twofold. One, because it can be produced from crops that don’t double as a food source, demand for it won’t drive up food prices or contribute to global food insecurity. Traditional corn-based ethanol obviously competes with one of the world’s most basic and widely-used foods, and American and European demand for it has contributed to spiraling food costs and crises in Guatemala and across the developing world. Studies looking into the 2008 food crisis determined that biofuel policies contributed to the problem, compounding the threat of global food insecurity, which in turn helps drive geopolitical upheaval and destabilization. Two, by driving up demand for food crops, traditional biofuels encourage individuals and countries to clear ever more natural land for agriculture. Grasslands and natural forest store more carbon from the atmosphere than cropland. So the growth in biofuel production, means less natural ecology to absorb carbon, leaving more greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. On top of that, agriculture involves its own carbon emissions from driving tractors and such. So put it all together and traditional biofuel production is largely self-defeating in terms of the final amount of carbon dioxide left in the atmosphere. But if a process like this one produces biofuel purely from waste materials — stuff left over from crops we would’ve grown regardless, on land we would’ve cleared regardless — those biofuels will deliver a much bigger net positive when it comes to fighting climate change. “We’re really excited about this technology,” said Jeremy Minty, another member of the team. “The U.S. has the potential to sustainably produce 1 billion tons or more of biomass annually, enough to produce biofuels that could displace 30 percent or more of our current petroleum production.” And it’s not just fossil fuels that could be replaced, either. Petrochemicals are also used in making a host of other products, especially plastics. The research team hopes their work could be adapted to replace the petrochemicals used in those processes as well. HT: CleanTechnica Continue reading
‘We Can Produce Our Own Power Or Depend On Russia And The Middle East’: Drax Boss’s Blunt Message To Protesters As She Backs Fracking
By VICKI OWEN, FINANCIAL MAIL ON SUNDAY PUBLISHED: 22:18, 24 August 2013 Target: Dorothy Thompson has faced green protests Power giant Drax’s chief executive, Dorothy Thompson, reckons burning wood for light and heat is as old as time – and it’s hardly fracking, so why all the protests? The Drax power station in North Yorkshire is the UK’s biggest single emitter of carbon dioxide, but Thompson’s plan to turn its fuel from coal to biomass – wood-based pellets – has made environmentalists see red. Drax is the largest coal-fired power station in Western Europe and produces about 7 per cent of UK electrical consumption – enough for six cities the size of Leeds. But campaigners argue that it is a myth that biomass is a low-carbon process and its large-scale use for power generation is sustainable, claiming it leads to the destruction of forests. Drax’s annual meeting was targeted in April by protesters chanting ‘Drax, Drax, what do you say? How many trees have you killed today?’and carrying ‘Drax the Destroyer!’ banners. Thompson remains unfazed, proudly recalling the moment a few months ago when, in the Starship Enterprise-like control room of the power station, her ‘Project Phoenix’ staff flicked the switch that made one unit of the station run solely on biomass for the first time. ‘It was the culmination of ten years of research, development and analysis, and it started beautifully. I mean very smoothly. It is as old as time to burn wood to generate energy.’ Drax’s critics, she says, just don’t see the full picture. ‘I think controversial might be the wrong word for biomass. I think it is counter-intuitive. And, certainly, when we started it wasn’t the route I thought we’d go down. The Drax power station in North Yorkshire (pictured) is the UK’s biggest single emitter of carbon dioxide ‘It is one of those classic cases where you really have to understand the data. People who haven’t understood the data sometimes come to what I would suggest is the wrong conclusion. When we burn biomass we get about 80 per cent carbon savings relative to coal and we really do calculate the carbon cost all the way along the chain. ‘There are only two ways you can reduce carbon emissions: either improve your efficiency so you use less fuel for the same output or change what you burn. ‘Well, we’ve invested more than £100million in improving our efficiency and we’re pretty well at the technical limit. So in parallel we’ve been working on burning this renewable fuel, which is biomass.’ The vast majority of it is imported from the US, and Drax is two months into building huge processing facilities there. Thompson describes biomass as the ‘residues, leftovers and low-value products of agriculture and forestry’. She says: ‘The UK is really quite a small island and it doesn’t have that much forestry and agriculture, and it certainly doesn’t have enough to produce low-value biomass, so the vast majority we burn we import from the US, which has a vibrant commercial forestry industry.’ Huge quantities of biomass will be stored in four large domes – each 30 per cent bigger than the Royal Albert Hall. Indeed, everything about Drax is big: the company has just unveiled a new 62ft-long railway wagon, the largest sealed wagon in the UK, 200 of which are being produced for transporting biomass to Drax. Starship enterprise: The futuristic control room that runs the biomass operation Despite the protests, Drax’s conversion to biomass is on course: ‘We’re hoping to convert the next unit next summer and the third in 2016 and we’re beginning to design plans for a conversion of the fourth. It is ‘‘wow’’. It has never been done at this scale before – all new.’ Thompson’s first experience of the power sector came from funding an independent power project in the Philippines. Now the former banker, who is married with two children, divides her time between a ‘very low-carbon house’ in London with solar panels and ground-sourced heating, a York home nearer to the power station, along with trips to the Ipswich-based retail business, Haven Power, and America. She admits she knew nothing about biomass before joining Drax in 2005, but claims the Government is supportive. ‘It has put significant investment into understanding the detail of biomass and is going to be the first in the EU to produce mandatory sustainability standards for biomass,’ she says. When it comes to national energy policy, she believes the Coalition is right to keep its options open. ‘It is driving policy to create capacity, to essentially ensure you always have sufficient supply to meet demand. ‘People care a lot about security of power supply, so I think they will support it because they want to have electricity to light their homes and power their washing machines.’ Thompson can take some comfort, perhaps, that Drax is not involved in fracking, which has led to large environmental protests at Balcombe in West Sussex. ‘We have a source of wealth [shale] for the country, and we can either neglect it and import from where we are importing – Russia, the Middle East – or we can choose to develop it. It’s our choice,’ she says. Thompson believes her business has the support of the broader community. ‘One of the things I think is really stunning is the support we have from the local community,’ she says. They’ve been absolutely fantastic. It’s a big construction, there are villages behind us, but there’s been nothing. No complaints. Nothing. ‘We try to be as responsible as we can. But you’d think someone would say something. I’m really, impressed. We’ve had no nimbyism at all.’ A huge new plant that ‘captures’ CO2 and stores it deep under the seabed The downside is that CCS plants demand more energy to work properly It sounds like the answer to a previously insoluble problem: coal-burning power stations belching out carbon dioxide could divert the fumes into a massive pipe to be stored under the seabed. It is called carbon capture and storage, and Drax Power, Alstom and BOC have formed a consortium to develop the White Rose Project on land next to to the Drax power station. The consortium is seeking funding from the Government and the European Union for the project, which will be a 426MW new-build power plant that could burn coal together with biomass, producing enough power to meet the needs of more than 630,000 homes. Drax says 90 per cent of all carbon dioxide produced by the plant will be captured and transported by pipes underneath Yorkshire for permanent storage beneath the North Sea seabed in depleted oil and gas fields. The downside is that CCS plants demand more energy to work properly, while the technology has yet to be produced on a truly industrial scale. Nevertheless, a US study reckoned America had enough storage capacity for 900 years worth of carbon dioxide at current production rates. The Drax consortium, one of two preferred bidders, is in discussions with the Government for funds to conduct a study, lasting about 18 months. A final investment decision will be taken by the Government in early 2015. Read more: http://www.thisismon…l#ixzz2d40Xr7XS Continue reading
Price Of Farmland Trebles In Decade And ‘Set For £10k An Acre’
The price of UK farmland has trebled in less than a decade to hit a record high, according to a new survey, as researchers predicted the average price of an acre could soon hit £10,000. Prices for farmland are climbing, a new survey shows. Photo: Alamy By Emma Rowley 7:00AM BST 23 Aug 2013 Interest from farmers and investors buying to rent land to farmers pushed the cost of farmland to £7,440 an acre across the UK in the first six months of this year – three times the price fetched during the same period in 2004, when an acre cost just more than £2,400. Commercial farmers want to expand production to take advantage of the long-term trend for rising food prices and economies of scale, according to researchers at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), who produced the data. While commodity prices have eased in recent months, demand for food is expected to remain on an upwards path in the long term, driven by growing populations and changing diets around the world. The appeal of farmland as a “safe haven” investment to rival gold also plays a part, researchers said. Farmland has outperformed a number of alternative asset classes, which – combined with tax breaks – has enhanced its appeal as an investment. Analysis by estate agents Knight Frank has shown that for years gold was the only asset to outperform farmland, but in the short term this situation has reversed as the price of the precious metal has weakened. “The growth in farmland prices in recent times has been nothing short of staggering,” said Sue Steer, spokeswoman for RICS. “In less than 10 years, we’ve seen the cost of an acre of farmland grow to such an extent that investors – not just farmers – are entering the market. “If the relatively tight supply and high demand continues, we could experience the cost per acre going through the £10,000 barrier in the next two to three years.” The most expensive farmland was found in the North West – where supply is tight – at £8,813 an acre, the RICS survey showed, while the cost was lowest in Scotland, at £4,438 an acre. None the less, prices north of the border touched record levels for the Scottish market. Some areas are already past the £10,000 mark, surveyors said. A 13.5 acre block of land near Antrobus near Northwich, which was suitable for potatoes, recently went for well over £12,000 an acre, said Andrew Wallace at Cheshire-based auctioneers Wright Manley. He reported “keen farmer competition for extra land”. Graham Bowcock, a surveyor, said last year’s wet summer and a tough winter and spring that followed did not seem to have diminished the appetite for land purchase. “The big [farmers] still want to get bigger but continue to be hampered by shortage of supply,” he said. “There are plenty of non-farmers waiting in the wings and many seem to have cash available.” On a long-term perspective, the demand for farmland looks likely to increase further around the world due to the finite supply of arable land and population and consumption trends. Analysts also say that rising demand for land for renewable energy sources such as biofuels will compete against food production, further increasing pressure on arable land. Against this backdrop, food prices will stick above their historical average over the medium term for both crop and livestock products as demand grows and production slows, according to a recent report published by the OECD think tank and the UN’s food agency. The twice-yearly RICS rural market survey, which began in 1995, tracks market prices for farmland across England, Wales and Scotland. Continue reading
