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This archive is a compilation of articles published in our eMagazine since inception. The articles are organized by "Subject". Many thanks to those who have contributed to this archive and continue to help it grow by submitting their thoughts and expertise to the magazine.
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Biomass Energy - General
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| Article Title | Author | Company | eMag Issue | Article Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vegawatt Cogeneration System Powers Restaurants with Waste Vegetable Oil | James Peret | Owl Power Company | Dec 2012 |
Currently, Owl Power Company has 22 Vegawatt devices installed and operating at restaurants, most located in the Northeast, with one in California and two in the United Kingdom. |
| Jatropha 2.0 - Biofuel Breakthrough | Kirk Haney | SG Biofuels | Oct 2012 |
SGB’s crop improvement platform is highlighted by aggressive breeding and selection via the largest, most diverse library of Jatropha genetic material in the world, and supported by the application of sophisticated genotyping and molecular breeding tools designed to shorten breeding cycles. |
| Algae to Biofuel Technology | Riggs Eckelberry | OriginOil, Inc. | Aug 2012 |
Algae converts at a very high efficiency into biocrude, as it has lots of caloric value and happens to have the same molecular structure as petroleum. So out of all the whole biomass sources, algae is probably the most efficiently converted to biocrude. |
| Advanced Biogas Thermal Mass Flow Meter Boosts Methane Recovery System Operation | Steven Craig | Fluid Components International LLC | Aug 2012 |
The S.P.M. Mill operators initially tried using Oscillator and Vortex technology flow meters. They found that these flow technologies contain moving parts or orifices and were unable to measure flows accurately at the low flow rate demanded by this digester application. |
| Gasplasma® Technology | Rolf Stein | Advanced Plasma Power | Jun 2012 |
The Gasplasma® process delivers higher energy efficiency than alternative waste-to-energy processes. Converting waste to a gas to generate electricity directly in gas engines, turbines or fuel cells dramatically improves energy conversion efficiency and maximises electrical output. |
| Biofuels for the future | Len Calderone | Jun 2012 |
We still need a lot more research into different biofuels to see which source will be low cost and environmentally safe. Using a weed, pond scum, municipal waste and manure are future possibilities of biofuels that help, rather than damage our food sources and the environment. | |
| Separation of electrolytes from non-electrolytes by pseudo-charge mosaic membranes | Caidong Qin | Maanshan Dasheng Biofuel Co. Ltd. | Apr 2012 |
The piling of anion and cation ion exchange membranes can provide a kind of pseudo-charge mosaic membranes and that can be practically used in various industrial applications, and is worth of further detailed studies. |
| Processing and Disposal of “soft” Municipal Solid Waste and Conversion into Electricity | Bernard Scharle | CONSULTING INTERNATIONAL | Feb 2012 |
Ligno cellulose consists of accumulated solar energy, however recovery of this energy is possible only through combustion processes with considerable environmental disadvantages. The proposed technology offers a completely different approach: The input materials are dissolved in a concentrated salt solution. |
| Harvesting Energy from Organic Materials | Paul Sellew | Harvest Power | Oct 2011 |
Harvest uses a platform of technologies – including advanced composting, anaerobic digestion, and material recovery – to harness the full carbon, energy and nutrient value from discarded organic materials. |
| Biopower - Global Market Size, Feedstock Analysis, Regulations and Investment Analysis to 2020 | Contributed by | Global Data | Aug 2011 |
GlobalData has released its research on the Alternative Energy Industry. Please see below for key findings from the study. |
| Biofuels Potential to Transform the Global Economy | John C.K. Daly for | OilPrice.com | Aug 2011 |
The technology is in place, the product has been certified, and at the end of the day, one is talking about an agricultural product which, depending on where it is sown, can produce one or even two harvests a year. |
| Biomass Exchange – A Plug in the Missing Link | Setu Goyal | Jun 2011 |
In India alone, one can observe several cases where bio-energy projects of the scale greater than 5 MW are on sale already, even with their power purchase agreements still in place. Such events necessitate the need to have a mechanism in place which would further seek the promotion of such technologies. | |
| Microwave-induced Plasma Gasification | Rodolfo Sanchez and Teo Tijerina | Plasma2Energy | Apr 2011 |
Plasma2Energy is introducing a disruptive technology to the waste management market. There is no single technology that can deliver the performance that Plasma2Energy can achieve. That is why a third party validation is necessary to attract more attention from investors in this field. |
| Bioenergy: Impediments and Plausible Solutions | Setu Goyal | Apr 2011 |
Bio-energy projects have been in controversy since ages, with the initial debates raging over the feedstock’s intervention with food available for human consumption. Although these disputations are now a thing of past with such technologies being successful in proving their deftness over the use of a multitude of resources like agro-wastes, animal-wastes, municipal waste, forestry residues and others, which are of no significant use to the mankind. | |
| Food Waste to Energy Conversion - Indian Perspectives | Setu Goyal | Feb 2011 |
The anaerobic digestion technology is highly apt in dealing with the chronic problem of organic waste management in urban societies. Although the technology is commercially viable in the longer run, the high initial capital cost is a major hurdle towards its proliferation. The onus is on the governments to create awareness and promote such technologies in a sustainable manner. At the same time, entrepreneurs, non-governmental organizations and environmental agencies should also take inspiration from successful food waste-to-energy projects in other countries and try to set up such facilities in Indian cities and towns. | |
| A Bean Called Castor Can Cut Carbon & Fuel the Future | Contributed by | CENTER FOR JATROPHA PROMOTION & BIODIESEL | Feb 2011 |
Vast scope exists for exploitation of castor as a bioenergy crop although there are still some technological challenges to overcome. A combination of conventional breeding methods with biotechnological techniques provides newer routes for designing oils for biofuel purpose. |
| Turning Grass, Woodchips & Algae into Fuel with CoolPlanet | GE Reports | Dec 2010 |
GE announced today that they have just joined an $8 million funding round for California-based start-up CoolPlanet, which is developing a unique thermal/mechanical processor technology that converts low-grade biomass – such as grass, woodchips, crop residue and algae — into high-grade fuel. With this recent upsurge in funding, can biofuels be a viable reality… | |
| MyClimate Carbon Offset Project in Uttarakhand, India | Rural Renewable Urja Solutions Pvt. Ltd. | Oct 2010 |
We're making biomass briquettes using forest residues or agro-waste which include a wide-range of residues: dry leaves, grass, unwarranted weeds, (Lantana) forest residue, cow dung, sawdust from local sawmills, and highly inflammable pine needles that cause forest fires. These briquettes are then supplied to brick kilns manufacturers, boiler operators for steam generation, and food processing industries that use coal for heating purposes. The low cost and guaranteed availability of the densified biomass is the main motivator for the clients to switch to the clean energy alternative. | |
| Fuel Additives and the Environment | Sergio Trindade Ph.D | International Fuel Technology | Aug 2010 |
|
| Algae Energy Center Part 1 | Robert Ware | National Water Fund | Aug 2010 |
An Advanced Energy Technology Introduction and Outline From The National Water Fund |
| Turning A Poisonous Weed Into The Next Viable Biofuel | Gregg Fryett | Carbon Credited Farming | Jun 2010 |
The CCF Energy Credits Program facilitates the implementation of scalable and auditable energy efficiencies through education, baseline auditing and practicable product and service applications, all of which result in volume job creation at the shop floor and management levels now and in the future. For business and consumer customers, the benefits are also clear – reduced costs of energy be it water or electricity, with a no cost power efficiency program. |
| Trash To Energy | Jack Lundee | Everything Left Blog | Jun 2010 |
Denmark has installed a number of garbage plants that take trash and make it into energy. These plants are at the forefront of waste/energy technology. |
| Global Biodiesel Market Analysis and Forecasts to 2020 | Sushmita Chaudhuri | GlobalData | Jun 2010 |
GlobalData’s report, “Global Biodiesel Market Analysis and Forecasts to 2020”, is an essential source of information and analysis on the global biodiesel market. This report gives an in-depth analysis of the global biodiesel market and provides forecasts up to 2020. |
| Extracting Oil from Algae | Riggs Eckelberry | OriginOil, Inc. | Jun 2010 |
OriginOil is very specifically a technology company that wants to make it possible for producers to scale up algae industrially. We are very focused on helping to develop an algae industry in which many players do not exist yet. That means that we have to define our role very narrowly, so that other roles can be developed. |
| AltEnergyMag Interview - Recycle CO2 into Fuel | Byron Elton | Carbon Sciences | Jun 2010 |
From sources such as natural gas fields, refinery flare gas, landfill gas, municipal waste, algae and other biomass, there is an abundant supply of inexpensive feedstock available to produce large and sustainable quantities of liquid fuel to replace petroleum for global consumption, thereby eliminating our dependence on petroleum. |
| Sustainably Producing Algae Biofuels for a Clean Energy Future | Cai Steger | Natural Resources Defense Council | Dec 2009 |
Algae biofuels promise greater productivity, and can be grown on nonarable land, and with mostly non-potable water. However, as with any new technology—especially in the biofuels space— many questions about its technical potential and sustainability remain. |
| Overview of Municipal Solid Waste in Brazil | Ronaldo Martire | Grupo Combustol & Metalpó | Dec 2009 |
Brazil, the third largest territory in the Americas and the fifth largest in the world, with nearly 200 million people, has suffered with the environmental problems generated by the traditional model of dumping their waste in landfills. That process unfortunately, turns worse by the inhabitants practices of simply throwing the waste away on areas without any control or care, constituting the so-called "lixões" (slang meaning “big garbage” in Portuguese language). |
| Emerging Trends in Commercial Biofuels Production | Salman Zafar - Renewable Energy Advisor | Oct 2009 |
The challenges from agricultural requirements to produce food and energy can only be met if we use all options available for increasing productivity and safeguarding harvests. Innovative crop protection products and plant biotechnology provide solutions to reduce the energy consumption in agriculture while conserving natural resources and contributing to mitigate the effect of climate change. | |
| Biomass Wastes | Salman Zafar | Renewable Energy Advisor | Aug 2009 |
Biomass wastes can be transformed into clean energy and/or fuels by a variety of technologies, ranging from conventional combustion process to state-of-the art thermal depolymerization technology. Besides recovery of substantial energy, these technologies can lead to a substantial reduction in the overall waste quantities requiring final disposal, which can be better managed for safe disposal in a controlled manner while meeting the pollution control standards. |
| ECOFA - BIOFUEL MADE WITH GARBAGE | Francisco Angulo | Apr 2009 |
A group of Spanish developers working under the company name Ecofasa, headed by chief executive officer and inventor Francisco Angulo, has developed a biochemical process to turn urban solid waste into a fatty acid biodiesel feedstock. | |
| JATROPHA FOR BIOFUELS | Steve Clemens | UBI | Feb 2009 |
Does Jatropha risk a backlash from public opinion? Jatropha proponents have justifiably been promoting its benefits as a sustainable source of oil crops for years, but from the agro-business side it seems to be evolving in the opposite way: monoculture, hurting biodiversity, causing deforestation and competing for land with food crops. |
| BIOMASS PYROLYSIS | Salman Zafar | Biomass Energy Advisor | Feb 2009 |
Pyrolysis is the thermal decomposition of biomass occurring in the absence of oxygen. It is the fundamental chemical reaction that is the precursor of both the combustion and gasification processes and occurs naturally in the first two seconds. The products of biomass pyrolysis include biochar, bio-oil and gases including methane, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide. Depending on the thermal environment and the final temperature, pyrolysis will yield mainly biochar at low temperatures, less than 450 0C, when the heating rate is quite slow, and mainly gases at high temperatures, greater than 800 0C, with rapid heating rates. At an intermediate temperature and under relatively high heating rates, the main product is bio-oil. |
| THINKING OUT OF THE BOX: SHELF-2-ENERGY | Steve Clemens | UBI | Feb 2009 |
What do supermarkets do with their products when the expiry date has been reached? Surprisingly, there are only a limited amount of options. Belgian retailer Colruyt has found a sustainable angle: they convert it to green power. |
| WOODY BIOMASS AS ENERGY RESOURCE | Salman Zafar | Biomass Energy Advisor | Dec 2008 |
Biomass can play a major role in helping reduce reliance on fossil fuels by making use of efficient thermo-chemical conversion technologies. In addition, the increased utilization of biomass-based fuels will be instrumental in safeguarding the environment, generation of new job opportunities, sustainable development and health improvements in rural areas. |
| ALTERNATIVE FUEL FOR AVIATION | James DiGeorgia | The Gold and Energy Advisor | Dec 2008 |
The aviation industry produces only about one-ninth as much carbon dioxide as motor vehicles do. However, environmentalists are vocal about emissions from aviation, because they tend to go into the upper atmosphere, where some scientists say the impact is greater. |
| CLEAN ENERGY FROM ANAEROBIC DIGESTION | Salman Zafar | Renewable Energy Expert | Oct 2008 |
The livestock industry is a vitally important contributor to the economy of any country, regardless of the degree of industrialization. Animal manure is a valuable source of renewable energy; additionally, it has soil enhancement properties. |
| BIO-FUEL MARKET SET TO GROW | James DiGeorgia | The Gold And Energy Advisor | Oct 2008 |
Middle Eastern oil sheiks move over. There's a new kid on the energy block! |
| WASTE-TO-ENERGY (WTE) CONVERSION | Salman Zafar | Waste-to-Energy Consultant | Aug 2008 |
Generally, the greater the economic prosperity and the higher percentage of urban population, the greater the amount of solid waste produced. Reduction in the volume and mass of solid waste is a crucial issue especially in the light of limited availability of final disposal sites in many parts of the world. |
| Waste Today, Green Energy Tomorrow | Ed Mant | Inetec | Dec 2006 |
On average we throw away 2.7kgs of food per person, per week. Now, a leading environmental solutions company has developed a technology to convert this waste stream into green renewable energy. |
| What Is Anaerobic Digestion? | Focus on Energy | Focus on Energy | Jun 2005 |
Renewable energy technology is powering farms and small communities while controlling organic waste volume and odor. |
