Mean Green

One of the most exciting and promising new technologies in the search for new ways of fueling the vehicles of the future is definitely algae oil. Many people are quite surprised by the fact that the oil found in “pond scum” known as algae actually holds a lot of promise for being a potential new source of fuel. Indeed, with the growing concern over gasoline and its ever rising costs, as well as the amount of pollution it generates, researchers are turning more and more to algae oil as a real possibility and an answer to this sometimes troubling question.

Many people do not realize that almost 50 percent of algae’s weight is made out of oil. The oil is essentially a lipid form, and can easily be used to create biodiesel that can fuel many different kinds of vehicles, including cars and trucks. While electricity is very popularly talked about as a replacement for gasoline and regular oil, algae oil is considered to be potentially more feasible, as it is so abundant around the world and would not require people to have to recharge their vehicles.

Algae oil is a truly renewable energy source, unlike gasoline. While average, every day algae is found in ponds and other bodies of water all over the world, it can actually also be grown and farmed quite easily. Many people are already experimenting with growing algae in a much more efficient manner. While ponds have a set limit to how much of its surface is exposed to the sunlight needed by algae to grow, commercial farming techniques are being developed that can grow amazing quantities of algae in relatively little space.

Corn and soybeans are other examples of potential sources of biofuel; however, more algae can be grown and produced per acre than either one of these plants. The oils needed from algae are easy to extract, and they are much better for the environment that gasoline. Thanks to the exciting potential of algae oil, researchers are working at a feverish pace to try and come up with efficient applications of it so that the general public – and the world – can soon enjoy its benefits.

Most people know that it is very critical for the environment and the economy to come up with alternative energy sources than gasoline; indeed, exhaust from cars running on gasoline are one of the biggest contributors to pollution on the planet. It is hoped that algae oil can become a viable solution for this vexing and worrisome problem. Maybe some day, extracting oil from algae will be the most common method for obtaining fuel for our vehicles. It is certain that the benefits to the environment – and our wallets – will be huge.

Loss of forests contributes as much as 30 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions each rivaling emissions from the global transportation sector. The Kyoto Protocol’s offset mechanisms allow credits to be given for replanting trees or establishing new forests, which capture carbon dioxide through photosynthesis. But the current policy regimen does nothing to prevent existing forests from being cut down in the first place.

With Kyoto set to expire in 2012, a new round of talks is under way to develop the next framework for climate change. Experts believe a policy to avoid further deforestation will be a major topic at the conference. But some environmentalists remain wary of forestry climate policy, fearing it will draw attention away from the need to reduce emissions caused by fossil fuels.

The world currently has about ten billion acres of forest. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) 2007 report on the world’s forests, the world lost about 3 percent of forest area between 1990 and 2005, and the net rate of loss has declined since 2000 (the world loses on average 32 million acres per year). Growth in northern hemisphere forest has helped offset tropical deforestation. There is disagreement, however, on the extent to which increases in temperate-zone forests offset the loss of carbon sinking in tropical zones.

Deforestation is caused by exploitation of natural resources, including expanding populations, logging, agriculture, biofuel production, and wildfires. Clearing forests for the production of biofuels is causing major concern, as experts contend that it has a significant negative impact on forests without doing much to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The FAO report shows that the greatest overall loss is occurring in Africa, followed closely by Latin America and the Caribbean. Indonesia has the fastest deforestation rate of any single country in the world. When emissions from loss of forests are taken into account, Indonesia could be considered the world’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, according to a recent World Bank report. Indonesia recently has made a show of planting 80 million trees ahead of the Bali conference, but some question the country’s long-term commitment to slowing exploitation of its valuable resources, such as stemming illegal logging.

China’s rapid growth in the production of manufactured goods that need wood also poses challenges. The country’s consumption of forest products leads the world. According to Forest Trends, a nonprofit research group, China’s increasing demand has lead to unsustainable and sometimes illegal logging practices in many of the countries seeing significant deforesting activities, such as Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

China has a seemingly limitless appetite for cheap wood, says Don J. Melnick, a conservation biology professor at Columbia University. Products made from this timber often wind up in U.S. and European markets. Richard Z. Donovan, chief of forestry for the Rainforest Alliance, an advocacy group, says that right now China is not only adding to climate change by burning large amounts of fossil fuels that emit greenhouse gas but also by being a non-discriminating buyer of wood.

e to fully understand if there is a relationship between ethanol and biodiesel, it will probably be a good idea to learn about them individually, this will then help you get a proper understanding of these two biofuels. You will probably find that ethanol and biodiesel are quite similar in lots of ways, therefore, consideration should be given to both of them when thinking about alternatives to fossil fuel.

Ethanol information:

Ethanol is a mildly toxic,flammable and colorless mixture of chemicals with a very noticeable perfume like smell, it is also the same type of alcohol that you will find in your nice cool beer, however, it is simply referred to as alcohol.

Ethanol has been used by humans as far back as when the dinosaurs were on the planet, and even though it has been used for more negative reasons, such as explosives because of its volatile nature, it has also been though of as positive when made into alcohol drinks and other products. Ethanol has also been used as an essence to help illness for many thousands of years, and so this is also recognized as being a positive use.

Another point to consider is, ethanol is the fuel which is at present being considered to replace fossil fuels, this is a very important topic, particularly when we consider that we are in a crazy war with Iraq and this is a country where we get most of our fuel from.

So what is biodiesel?

Biodiesel is a fuel which is been considered as diesel replacement, it is a fuel that is manufactured from biological sources, such as corn, oilseed rape and sugar beet. Although both ethanol and biodiesel are normally mixed with gas and diesel, some of the newer vehicles designs can run on pure biofuel with only very simple modifications. Lack of consumer understanding of ethanol and biodiesel is a key reason for limited confidence in it, although this is starting to change world wide.

Ethanol and biodiesel relationship:

When thinking about the relationship between ethanol and biodiesel, probably the most important thing that should be taken into consideration is that these are the two main options that are being looked at with respect to which will be better for the environment overall. Ethanol, however is considered as being the better choice, and this is for several different reasons. It is also fair to say that biodiesel as many benefits as well.

On a positive note, production of alternative fuel in the US is putting hundreds of millions of dollars into the American farming community, so this must also be taken into consideration as well.

Great strides are being made in the biofuel industry with a very exciting development in Australia in the search for a viable second generation solution with a biocrude that has been produced from green waste and paper.

The development of an extremely stable biocrude by the CSIRO and Monash University in Australia by using green waste such as forest thinnings, household waste and crop residues has made the prospect of biofuel production that significantly reduces carbon emissions possible. Dr Steven Loffler of CSIRO Forest Biosciences says, “the oil that we’ve made is both stable and also PH neutral, so the advantage of that is that it can be held in storage for as long as it needs to before further processing”.

The plant wastes being targeted for conversion into biofuels contain chemicals known as lignocellulose, which is increasingly favoured around the world as a raw material for the next generation of bio-ethanol as they are renewable and potentially greenhouse gas neutral. Materials such as lawn clippings, tree trimmings and other materials that households already put in their green bins for removal by local councils. When you consider that these wastes are already being collected on a weekly or fortnightly basis, then the fact that they will not end up as landfill is an immediate bonus. Currently there is between 1 and 2 million tonnes going into landfill in Australia alone.

The first generation biofuels come with so many negatives with destructive rainforest clearing and long distance haulage threaten to prove more harmful than the fuel they’re replacing. Biocrude production addresses many of these problems.

The plan is to operate from small regional facilities close to the source of the bio-material converting it into the crude oil and then shipping the crude which would be much more efficient and would produce much less greenhouse gas emissions than moving the bulkier solid material to a large central facility.

It’s still very early days in this process and one of the unanswered questions that will be a huge factor towards the success or failure of the project is how much the biocrude will cost to produce. At this stage no cost analysis has been performed although Dr Loffler believes that it will at least be as competitive as current crude production.

The prospects look very promising for the creation of a greenhouse gas friendly biofuel as long as the creation of local refining facilities acutally become reality.

The potential of biomass as an energy source is enormous: experts have calculated that the planet produces eight times more biomass each year than its energy needs overall (though it currently puts only 7 percent of that available resource to use in energy production). It’s not only a renewable resource, it’s also a seemingly inevitable one; to paraphrase a common aphorism, biomass happens.

Any fuel created from biomass can be called biofuel, although the term gets the most media attention when used to denote biomass-based fuels that power internal combustion engines especially cars. These include biodiesel, biobutanol, biogas and bioethanol. The fuels can be created from plant materials specifically grown for the purpose or from the recycling or re-use of other biomass resources.

Energy Crops

Crops have long been grown to feed people and animals, but until recently were not raised specifically as energy sources. Even trees, which have been used for thousands of years as a heating source, were not “farmed” for just that purpose. Today there is even a term for trees and woody plants cultivated for the specific purpose of creating fuel: dendro-energy. The products of any agriculture dedicated to producing fuel of any sort are called “energy crops” the high-falutin technical term would be “closed-loop biomass” and are steadily becoming an important resource in global energy development.

There are literally hundreds of different dendro-energy resources alone, from abies balsamea (balsam fir) to Zizania aquatica (wild rice) around the world. In countries with no proven reserves of fossil fuels, investments and research in dendro-energy resources have helped otherwise energy-poor nations such as Sri Lanka develop alternatives to costly and politically dependent imports, giving a whole new meaning to the phrase “power plant.”

Some of the energy crops grown around the world include corn, soybeans, flaxseed and sugar cane. Additionally, biofuels are also manufactured frequently from the unused portions of crops grown for other purposes such as the chaff, stalks, shells, husks, and roots.

Energy crops add fewer emissions to the air and water supply than do petroleum products in general and coal in particular. Energy crops contain almost no sulfur and far less nitrogen than fossil fuels, so their combustion does not contribute to acid rain and smog (sulfur dioxide, or SO2) and smog (nitrogen oxides, or NOx). And unlike fossil fuels, they do not have significant quantities of mercury to leach into the water supply. In general, energy crops do not release nearly the amount of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as anthropogenic sources (that is, human-made concoctions such as natural gas, gasoline, solvents, pesticides, and paints).

There are biogenic sources of VOCs, however, and these do represent significant contributors. Pine and citrus trees, for example, release large quantities of isoprene (a chemical compound found naturally in plants and animals, including humans, isoprene is nevertheless a pollutant, especially as it contributes to the production of ozone) and terpenes (a family of hydrocarbons that are the major components of resin and, not surprisingly, turpentine), although these trees are used as biomass.

One promising source of biofuels is microalgae, which can be grown on aquaculture farms. A pilot program demonstrated in during the 1990s showed that algae can be used to create diesel and jet fuel. This is particularly good news given the efficiency of algae relative to some other energy crops. For example, corn, which is a common energy crop, yields just 18 gallons of fuel per acre. Thanks to its fast growth cycle, algae can yield up to 10,000 gallons per acre. There’s another benefit to algae, too. Some power plants are already using algae bioreactors to reduce CO2 emissions by pumping the gas into a pond or tank for the algae to feed on.

Recycled Energy

Another way in which biomass gets put to use as an energy source is through recycling biodegradable materials or water products. Industry and agriculture are major sources of biodegradable by-products, but every household generates potentially useful biomass. On a large scale, manufacturers and other industrial and commercial services generate biodegradable materials they no longer need.

Something big is going on throughout the energy business. It’s a great bubbling of innovation in every part of the industry. This bubbling is the brew of many different ingredients-from the impact of high prices and geopolitical uncertainty to the growing focus on “clean tech” and climate change. Will Innovation Transform Energy?

Though invisible to the consumer, an enormous amount of technological advance is embedded in every gallon of gasoline. Less than 30 years ago, the absolute “deep water” frontier for drilling was 600 feet of water.

Today, companies are working in what is called ultra-deep water, drilling through as much as 12,000 feet of ocean. Explorers can now use a new technology called WAZ-wide azimuth seismic-to “see” deep resources previously not visible through salt barriers thousands of feet below the seabed.

Companies are integrating a wide variety of information

technology capabilities to turn the “digital oilfield of the future” into the digital oilfield of the present, increasing efficiency and output. The large-scale conversion of natural gas into high-quality, diesel-like fuel is getting closer.

What is very visible today in the public’s eye is the innovation in renewables of every sort. Renewables received much attention in the 1970s and early 1980s, but faded away in the face of falling fuel prices and ample supplies. Their rebirth is partly the result of market forces. But it is also driven by continuing technology improvements and by mandates and subsidies from federal and state governments in the United States and the European Union, and by similar programs in countries like India, China and a growing number of other nations.

This year will certainly see the incentives and mandates expanded in the United States, as is already evident with the higher target for ethanol in the State of the Union speech.

The effects of the surge in alternatives are being felt in unexpected ways. Growth in renewables is going so fast that it is straining capacity in people, materials and supplies. If you want to order turbines and blades for windmills or silicon for solar photovoltaic cells today, you may have trouble finding supply. Livestock raisers and dairy farmers in the United States-along with Mexicans for whom tortillas are a staple are complaining about the sharp rise in the price of corn being fueled by rapid growth in corn-based ethanol production.

Renewables may be called “alternatives,” but they already constitute a considerable business. The one is that is well on the way to becoming conventional is wind power, which has gone through a considerable evolution over the last two decades. Along the way, costs have declined by a factor of ten.

Last year’s worldwide investment in wind and solar is estimated at over $40 billion. Yet, while the prospects for renewables are very large, they also need to be seen in context. In this case, the context is the huge scale of the overall system and the long lead times that are needed to develop any form of energy.

Moreover, these sources eventually have to establish themselves as economically competitive in the marketplace on a large scale. Even with all the advances, they are still a very small part of the overall energy mix. In the United States, wind is 1 percent of total electric generating capacity. But wind and the other renewables will continue to grow.

Underpinning the “great bubbling” is the rapidly growing spending on energy innovation.

A decade ago, I chaired a task force on energy research and development for the U.S. Department of Energy. That was a time of low interest in energy; and, not surprisingly, interest in the subject of our task force was also relatively low. After all, in the aftermath of the First Gulf War, there was little concern about the availability of future supplies. Climate change was hardly on the horizon as an issue. It’s a very different situation today. The reasons are multiple.

Prices and worry about supplies and energy security are important. So is the prospect of the vast growth in energy demand in Asia, which will change the global energy balance. Also looming large are environmental worries and the growing quest to reduce carbon emissions because of climate-change concerns.

All these factors mean that energy is now a major focus for technology investment. Governments and companies continue to be big players, and they are stepping up their investment. Research-and-development spending by the U.S. Department of Energy was $1.8 billion last year and is currently expected to grow by at least 25 percent in 2007-and could be even more with the new Congress.

And now there are new players: venture capitalists. The funding sources that brought immense innovation in information technology and life sciences-and created Silicon Valley along the way-are now honing in on the energy industry. To be sure, some prominent venture firms are standing back, saying that venture capital does not fit the longer time horizon and larger capital requirements of the energy business. But many others see this as their next frontier.

“Clean tech” is the new rubric under which much of this money is flowing, and the flows are increasing significantly. In North America, venture-capital investment in energy reached $2.1 billion in 2006-four times what it was in 2004, according to the Cleantech Venture Network. Venture capital is not merely a source of money; it is also a source of focused, results-driven discipline. This also means a wide diversity of ideas and technologies will be explored.

Inevitably, many of the new initiatives will end up being venture’s version of dry wells. That’s the character of research and development- and venture investing. The kind of surge we’re seeing today comes not only with hope but also with hype. This will remind some of the Internet boom. That boom left many deflated hopes and even more deflated valuations. But it also initiated a transformation of the way the world works.

And, by contrast, in the Internet boom there was often no clear idea of how to make money. It was about “firstmover advantage” and “land grabs.” This time, the opportunity is clear and can be measured against costs and prices in the marketplace.

The innovation frontier in energy is very broad. The systematic application of biology to energy is new, and could end up having a big impact. Ethanol is already being called a “firstgeneration” biofuel, and there is a growing debate as to the biology driven “second-generation” fuels.

Another area that will receive much greater focus is energy efficiency. This is building on a more solid foundation than may be recognized. It’s often said that the United States has made little progress on energy conservation or energy efficiency. In fact, the United States, along with countries like Japan, is twice as energy efficient as it was in the 1970s.

Much technological effort will go into the effort to double once again. This push is not limited to the United States. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has made energy efficiency the centerpiece of her agenda as chairman of the G-8 nations and president of the European Union.

This “great bubbling” represents what is the broadest drive ever for energy innovation. It has the potential over a period of 10 or 15 years to work major transformations in how energy is produced, transported and consumed. But it is not a sure thing.

Two ingredients will likely be required if it is to have this effect. One is consistency-maintaining the level of financial commitment and stability over the cycles. And that gets to the second ingredient: Prices, and what people expect of them, will also be an important part of this brewing future. One way or the other, they will likely add much spice over the coming years.

ght (c) 2009 Wes Fernley

The recent breathtaking spike in oil prices has finally awakened professionals in the energy field to the very real need for alternatives. As a result, we are seeing liquid fuels developed from plant materials entering the market. Sugar components of various plant materials if fermented will yield an alcohol called bioethanol. Even cellulosic biomass (trees and grasses, for instance) can be used to produce this kind of biofuel. Ethanol, widely used in Brazil as well as in the United States, can, actually, be used in a pure form; however, it is used more as an additive to boost octane in addition to reducing emissions.

Biodiesel, on the other hand, is made from oils—vegetable or animal. Very often, greases are recycled and used for biodiesel. Like ethanol, it can be used in its pure form for diesel engines but is more often treated as an additive. This is the most common biofuel in Europe. The process for producing it from fats and oils is called transesterification.

In 2008, 1.8% of the world’s transport fuel was biofuel. Investment in the production of this new approach to fueling transportation vehicles for the world is expanding rapidly. It was $4 billion in 2007. The liquid biofuels are the most popular ones for these purposes because they can be pumped, and they can directly replace gasoline. Not only do internal combustion engines run cleaner on biofuels, but pollution is also minimized. Biofuels are generally classified as first generation, second generation, and third generation.

First generation biofuels are made from sugar, starch, vegetable oil, or animal fats. Grains such as wheat are fermented into bioethanol; sunflower seeds are pressed to yield vegetable oil for biodiesel. The most common first generation biofuels:

- Bioalcohols

- Biodiesel

- Vegetable Oil

- Bioethers

- Biogas

- Syngas

- Solid biofuels

Second generation biofuels are made from non-food crops such as waste biomass, stalks of wheat, corn, wood, and certain grasses. To avoid the political issues that have arisen from the use of food that is needed for humans and animals to produce fuel, the pressure is on to develop more of these sources. Some of the second-generation biofuels under development:

- Biohydrogen

- Biomethanol

- DMF

- Vio-DME

- Fischer-Tropsch Diesel

- Biohydrogen Diesel

- Mixed Alcohols

- Wood Diesel

Third-generation biofuels are made primarily from algae, which can produce up to 30 times more energy per acre than land crops such as soybeans. However, they have not yet been produced commercially. These are biodegradable and will not harm the environment if they happen to be spilled. Algae can be grown agriculturally. It’s estimated that 15,000 square miles of algae would meet all the needs for petroleum fuel in the United States.

- Agricultural Algae

- Ethanol from Living Algae

- Helioculture (collection of carbon dioxide from the air using solar power)

For the non-scientist, this seems somewhat complicated, but more and more professionals in the appropriate fields are switching to this quickly-emerging industry, and we can hope that many of the problems the world faces now in obtaining energy without jeopardizing our environments will see solutions in the coming years.

As November 1st 2008 approaches and the end to UK Red Diesel derogation, yacht owners are sharing an interest in alternative fuels one being Biodiesel. What are the benefits for boat owners and who will supply it?

Biodiesel refers to a non-petroleum-based diesel fuel made vegetable oils or animal fats.

There are many advantages of marine biodiesel as a marine fuel



Biodiesel serves as a drop-in replacement for petro diesel — no conversion necessary.

Biodiesel when used in boats causes less water pollution – there is less smoke and it is safer to store.

Biodiesel production uses a third less energy than petroleum diesel production.

High lubricity extends engine life

Higher cetane rating (46-62) almost always smoothes engine operation

Biodiesel can be blended with petroleum-based diesel at any ratio

Biodiesel contains essentially no sulfur or aromatics. Blends as low as B20 have reduced soot exhaust by 83%. Biodiesel removes deposits in tanks and fuel systems left by petro diesel.

Cheaper than the current red diesel prices of 88pence per litre even before the additional 54.94p in duty to be added from 1st Nov 2008.



Disadvantages



Doesn’t store as well as petro diesel

Possibility of blocked filters as it cleans the lines out and failed rubber seals as Biodiesel is a better solvent than mineral diesel

Blends of more than 5% (B5) to 95% (B95) may invalidate engine warranties

No Bio Diesel suppliers and blending facilities in marinas or boatyards at present.



Conclusion

Whilst at present there are no direct suppliers of marine biodiesel for boat owners, there are plans for the 2009 Portland Marina in Dorset to supply biodiesel and several marinas advise they have spare tank capacity to store another grade of oil.

A recent farm-based bio-diesel plant in North Wales has been reported as receiving interest from yacht and boat owners already. BML Biofuels, based at Llanfihangel GM, near Corwen is the first plant in Wales – and only the second in Britain – to extract oil by cold pressing oilseed rape (OSR). At the resulting cost 45p-55p/litre for the first 2,500 litres plus tax, it’s then no surprise BML Biofuels has already received maritime inquiries as far afield as Portsmouth since its official June opening.

With the higher cost or red diesel and a government under pressure to meet renewable fuel targets Biodiesel is likely to become a key ingredient in the refueling of motor yachts over the next decade.

Biofuels are hot. But how hot? Here are “just the facts.” But first, what are biofuels? These are fuels derived from plants or animal fat that can replace such familiar oil-based transportation fuels as gasoline or diesel.

Ethanol can be distilled from corn, sugarcane or even straw and other cellulosic plant materials such as wood chips or grasses. Biodiesel is produced from vegetable oil crops such as palm, soybeans or rapeseed, or animal fats and leftover restaurant grease.

High oil prices, technological advances, concerns about energy security and the environment, and efforts to revitalize rural economies have all intersected to drive the biofuels boom. Ethanol has been used as a gasoline additive or stand-alone fuel in the United States and Brazil since the 1970s, but in recent years there has been an explosion of interest, resulting in substantial investment and steeply increased production.

Biodiesel is relatively new in the U.S., but has attracted strong interest and investment as well. There are 113 ethanol plants producing today in the U.S., with a capacity of 5.6 billion gallons per year or 365,000 barrels per day (bd).

Another 84 ethanol plants are either under construction or expanding, which could add another 6.1 billion gallons of annual production capacity (400,000 bd) in the next few years. A barrel of ethanol contains 3.54 million British Thermal Units (BTUs) of energy, while a barrel of gasoline contains 5.25 million BTUs. This means that a gallon of ethanol only provides about 70 percent of the energy that one gets from a gallon of gasoline. A state-of-the-art ethanol plant today can convert a bushel of corn into about 2.8 gallons of fuel ethanol. Two decades ago, this figure was closer to 2 gallons.

n the United States, blenders of ethanol receive a 51 cent-per gallon tax credit for every gallon of ethanol used in gasoline; for biodiesel, the equivalent credit is $1.00 per gallon. In 1980, the U.S. consumed a grand total of 11,000 barrels of ethanol per day. By early 2007, that demand had reached about 400,000 barrels per day, or over four percent of the total gasoline market by volume.

Current federal legislation requires 7.5 billion gallons (490,000 bd) of biofuel use by 2012. The Bush administration recently proposed a target of 35 billion gallons (2.3 million bd) of renewable and alternative fuels by 2017-a goal that would likely require major advances in cellulosic ethanol technology.

In 2006, the ethanol sector consumed nearly 2.2 billion bushels of corn-about 20 percent of the total U.S. harvest of 10.7 billion bushels. Ethanol can be produced from non-food crops, such as switchgrass and straw. But this approach can’t yet compete in the marketplace. There is currently intense interest in making this process-”cellulosic ethanol”-commercially viable.

The US biodiesel industry is much smaller than the ethanol industry. Current annual production is estimated at 250 million gallons (16,000 bd), although it is growing quickly. Europe is currently the world leader in biodiesel production and use. Annual production is currently over 1.5 billion gallons (100,000 bd) with substantial new capacity under construction.

Pure Biofuels announced the increase of capacity at its primary Callao Port facility, built on a 47,000-square-meter parcel of waterfront land near the capital city of Lima, Peru. With three 17.5 million gallon per year modules, the facility is set to produce an annual capacity of 52.5 million gallons of biodiesel. The Callao plant is situated in close proximity to the La Pampilla Refinery which is one of Peru’s biggest oil refineries.

The Callao Port refinery of the company will process biodiesel from crude palm oil feedstock. The company has already secured memorandums of understanding with local fuel distributors for all of Callao Port’s annual biodiesel production.

Luis Goyzueta, the Pure Biofuels’ president, earlier provided the names of the construction company that will be building the refinery as well as the engineering firm designing the facility. Polindustria, a veteran Peruvian engineering firm, is chosen as the General Contractor. Consequently, Capricorn Chemical Engineering SA, popularly known as Capricorn, will be providing Pure Biofuels basic engineering, instrumentation, control schematics, and process flow design. The two companies are famous in infrastructure projects that Pure Biofuels is planning.

“We are extremely pleased with the team we have pulled together for our primary facility and we’re very confident in our plans to establish Pure Biofuels as one of South America’s true leaders in alternative energy production,” said Goyzueta. “With a 50 million gallon per year facility, Pure Biofuels can make a significant impact on the amount of diesel fuel used in Peru, and, more importantly, we can help contribute to the energy independence of all of South America.”

At present, automakers are aimed at discovering and producing biofuels, renewable energy sources derived from biomass, to replace oil and natural gas. The studies also focus on the use of cheap organic matter like sewage and agricultural wastes as well as cellulose. These organic matters efficiently produce gas and liquid biofuels that give off high net energy gain.

Biodiesel is basically derived from vegetable oil. It can be utilized by unmodified diesel engines. Biodiesel improves the overall performance of engines. It is a hundred percent compatible with today’s diesel vehicles and infrastructure. Aside from this, biodiesel is also proven reliable in over fifty million miles of road testing.

Biodiesel complements Borla and other exhaust system. Biodiesel is famed for its ability to reduce harmful exhaust emissions that contribute significantly to global warming. This biofuel is the first and only fuel to have passed the Clean Air Act. By 2025, the United Nations expects biofuels to account for 25 percent of world energy needs.