Bioenergy

BIOT 4001
Michon Aguiler
Neil Shrestha-Birtch
David Clason
Thomas Chwilkowski
Chris Gala
Agenda
Introduction
Biomass
Biofuels
Environmental Analysis
Ethical Issues
Introduction
● Bioenergy is energy that has been
derived from Biomass.
● Biomass is organic energy that has
stored chemical energy inside.
● Different from fossil fuels in terms of
its carbon cycle
● Prime examples involve straw,
sugarcane, manure and wood.
What is Biomass?
● Biological material from either living, or recently living organisms.
● Difference between biomass and fossil fuel is their CO emissions.
2
● Biomass pulls carbon out of the atmosphere as it grows and returns it when
it is burned, the result is no net increase to the atmospheric CO levels.
2

● Primary enemy of biomass conversion process… moisture content.

● Secondary enemy of biomass conversion… loss of moisture content!

Too wet = too much energy to break down (Eg: wet grass clippings)
Too dry = no energy left to convert (Eg: dried out grass clippings)
Introduction
● The molecules of biomass
contain hydrogen, atoms of
oxygen, nitrogen and trace
amounts of alkali, earth and
heavy metals
● Biomass removes carbon out of
the atmospheres while growing.
● When biomass is burned, most
of the carbon is returned back
● If this cycle is managed,
biomass can be involved in a
constantly replenished supply.
Sources of Biomass
● Primarily plant dry matter called Lignocellulose
Three primary sources:
Virgin Biomass (trees, plants, and grasses)
Waste Biomass (byproducts of agriculture and forestry activities)
Energy Crops (high yield crops for biofules)
● Trees (wood) comprise the largest source of biomass.
● Plant fibres leftover from extraction processes – “bagasse”
Eg: Sugarcane stocks
● Also used as a substitute from pulp and building materials.
Biomass Supply Chain
Tree Stump Harvesting in British Columbia
● Approximately 60% of BC is covered by forests (~55 million hectares)
● 22 million hectares are classified as ‘Timber Harvesting Land Base’ (THLB)
Tree Stump Harvesting in British
Columbia
• Excavators are used to
extract the stumps after a
cutting operation

• Primarily used in Europe

(do to terrain restrictions)
Tree Stump Harvesting in British
Columbia
● Environmental concerns and considerations

● Habitat and biodiversity protection.

● Soil conservation and erosion.

● Hydrology.

● Growth and regeneration.

Facilities for Transformation and Storage
● Commercial kitchens (cooking oil)

● Residential food waste (green bin collection)

● Feasibility limited to transportation and storage costs

Bio-Diesel

● Biodiesel refers to a vegetable oil or animal fat-based diesel fuel

consisting of long-chain alkyl esters.
● It is commonly produced by the transesterification of the vegetable
oil or animal fat feedstock.
● Made by chemically reacting lipids with an alcohol producing fatty
acid esters.
Bio-Diesel
● Meant to be used in standard diesel engines and is thus distinct from the
vegetable and waste oils used to fuel converted diesel engines.

● Can be used alone, or blended with petrodiesel in any proportions.

100% biodiesel is referred to as B100
20% biodiesel, 80% petrodiesel is labeled B20
5% biodiesel, 95% petrodiesel is labeled B5
2% biodiesel, 98% petrodiesel is labeled B2
Evolution of Bio-Diesel Use In Vehicles
● In 2005, Chrysler released the Jeep
Liberty CRD diesels into the American
market with 5% biodiesel blends

● The Volkswagen Group has released a

statement indicating that several of its
vehicles are compatible with B5 and B100
made from rapeseed oil
Evolution of Bio-Diesel Use In Vehicles
● In 2004, the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia
decided to update its bus system to
allow the fleet of city buses to run
entirely on a fish-oil based biodiesel
● In 2007, McDonalds of UK announced
it would start producing biodiesel from
the waste oil byproduct of its
restaurants. This fuel would be used to
run its fleet
● In 2014 Chevy launched the Cruze
Clean Turbo Diesel which is rated for up
to B20
Bio-Diesel- Other Uses
Railway usage

● British train operating company Virgin Trains claimed to have run the
UK's first "biodiesel train", which was converted to run on 80%
petrodiesel and 20% biodiesel.

Aircraft use

● On November 7, 2011 United Airlines flew the world's first commercial

aviation flight on a microbially derived biofuel using Solajet,
Solazyme's algae-derived renewable jet fuel.
Bio-Diesel- Other Uses
As a heating oil
● Biodiesel can also be used as a heating fuel in domestic and
commercial boilers using a mix of heating oil and biofuel
Cleaning oil spills
● Biodiesel has displayed its capacity to significantly dissolve crude oil.
● Biodiesel is an effective solvent to oil due to its methyl ester
component, which considerably lowers the viscosity of the crude oil
Bio-Diesel in Vancouver
The Vancouver Biodiesel Co-op provides
B100 pure, locally sourced Biodiesel.

Real-time Co-op Stats

● Current Price: $1.85
● Estimated CO2 reduction: 252576kg
● Registered Members: 350
● Fuel Sold: 130194 Litres
Algae Fuel
Algae can be converted into various types of fuel, depending on the technique
and the part of the cells used. The lipid, or oily part of the algae biomass can be
extracted and converted into biodiesel through a process similar to that used for
any other vegetable oil
Advantages of Algae
● Algae grow much faster than food crops, and can produce hundreds of
times more oil per unit area than conventional crops such as rapeseed,
palms, or soybeans
● As algae have a harvesting cycle of 1–10 days, their cultivation permits
several harvests in a very short time-frame
Advantages of Algae
● Algae can be grown on land unsuitable for terrestrial crops, including arid
land and land with excessively saline soil, minimizing competition with
agriculture
● A possible nutrient source is waste water from the treatment of sewage,
agricultural, or floodplain run-off, all currently major pollutants and health
risks
Disadvantages of Algae
● Algae biodiesel is still a fairly new technology. Despite the fact that
research began over 30 years ago, it was put on hold during the mid-1990s,
mainly due to a lack of funding and a relatively low petroleum cost.

● Held back by lobbyists in support of alternative biofuels, like those

produced from corn and grain

For these reasons….

Probably further than 25 years away from commercial viability.
 Why aren’t we more involved in
developing cleaner bioenergy and fuels?
-Corn, Soy and Sugarcane are food for humans

-1st generation Biofuels feedstock are dead or

dying

-2nd generation biofuels Cellulosic

-Lignin removal requires acid or consumes

fossil fuels to process

-If nature can produce it, nature can break it

down

Piromyces Fungi from

-Herbivore intestinal fungi, cellulase enzymes, Horse intestine
CeIA
Green Blue Algae
Converted into Biocrude
Biomass Transformation
● Combustion - Uses the basic process of oxidization
- Oxidization utilizes Carbon and Hydrogen to create carbon dioxide and
water (CO2 and H2O)

- Air and fuel go in > outcomes heat is used for its energy.
Biomass Transformation
● Gasification (wood gas, coal gas)
- Production of gas based on different feedstock, an oxidizer such as air will
be used to produce steam, oxygen and nitrogen (N2). Gasification systems
will be coupled with a combined cycle gas turbine to produce electricity

-Low temperature gasification enables the biomass nutrients to be intact for

further fertilization processes.
Biomass Transformation
● Pyrolysis
- Production of liquid and a solid char with the decomposition of organic
material. The fuel is then used as furnace fuel or fuel for diesel generator
- Not to be confused with gasification. The oil can be further refined.
Gasification Short Film
- Feedstock to Synthetic Gase
- Separation
- Char
- Catalyst Convertor
- Fuel Output
Ethical Dilemma
● Greenpeace studies dictate carbon neutrality is not possible with biomass
collection and processing.

● In BC, new policy now encourages collection of fuel

● Stumps and organic waste that would lie on the forest floor that should
have aided in the growing of trees would now be missing, leading to the
permanent removal of the tree growing process
-5 million private automobiles owned in
Beijing

-During the weekdays 31 million passenger

trips/day were made in 2013

-China implements air quality regulations prior

to APECs Conference in Nov. 2014
Environmental Analysis
- Most of the carbon dioxide that is outputted from the facilities are released
back into the biomass
- Co2 emissions is cut down with this type of power system
- Emissions to water are a greater issue
- In feedstock generation, large quantities of water become tainted
- Non hazardous solid waste is created in small quantities.
- Methane concentrations are in its highest levels with wood burning then
with oil burning.
Questions???