Advanced biofuels

This Technology Transfer Advances Mozambique's:

• Nationally Determined Contribution to improve energy use and waste management
• Strategy for Integrated Municipal Solid Waste Management
• National Strategy for Clirnate Change Adaptation and Mitigation 2013-2025

Context

NCF develops a system that dissociates CO2 and H2O into Syngas and Oxygen using concentrated solar energy. The obtained syngas is then converted into liquid fuels or methanol an excellent alternative fuel and the one of the building block in many chemical processes. The oxygen can be used for clean fuel combustion. The system is self-contained extracting all necessary energy for the process from the solar energy. Eventually the product will be in the form of large plants installed in high solar radiation areas producing hundreds of thousands of tons of fuel per year.

IIGE is a research institute that promotes development, innovation and transmission of technology focused on energy efficiency and renewable energy. The institute aims to contribute to the sustainable development of the Ecuadorian society, through the implementation of energy efficient and energy renewable policies and projects.

The Global Environment Centre Foundation (GEC) is an entity that supports the UNEP’s International Environmental Technology Centre (IETC), based in Japan. GEC is dedicated to the transfer of environmentally sound technologies, in both developing countries and countries with economies in transition. The foundation aims to contribute to Japan’s international efforts on the environment, sharing project collaborations as well as promoting Japan’s rich conservation knowledge and experience in developing nations.

Background: Whether we are past right on top of or heading towards peak oil production we are experiencing a consistent increase in demand for renewable energy sources as our dependence on oil becomes more prominent. There is much need for biofuel as a renewable source of energy as it has positive sustainability factors. Shell ExxonMobil and British Petroleum have made substantial investments in algal biofuel production. Any amount of fuel produced would be easily consumed by the market. Current methods of biofuel production utilize crops that could otherwise be used for agriculture.

The primary synthesis product is methanol an alcohol with chemical and physical properties that are nearly identical to ethanol. The means to synthesize carbon-neutral fuels is designed to be self-contained easily transportable and may be operated at existing sites that emit carbon dioxide (e.g. fermentation plants) and/or sites with abundant (renewable) low cost electricity which may be used to disassociate water in order to obtain the requisite hydrogen. The plant consumes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or carbon dioxide destined to be emitted into the atmosphere (e.g.

Lignocellulosic biomass is a very desirable feedstock for biofuel production. If the fermentation process for lignocellulose could be optimized conversion of this biomass could yield 25 to 50 billion gallons of ethanol or other biofuels per year. However lignocellulose which is composed of lignin cellulose and hemicelluloses is resistant to chemical or enzymatic hydrolysis. This resistance is a key limiting step in the conversion of biomass into fermentable sugars.

Technology Overview: The common biodiesel a mixture of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) is receiving increasing attention as a clean and renewable energy. FAMEs are commonly produced by methanolysis of vegetable oils and animal fats using base catalysts but it suffers from the high costs of feedstock. Low cost waste grease is an attractive feedstock but due to the high free fatty acid (FFA) content (>15 wt%) grease cannot be converted into biodiesel via base-catalysis.

Cornell inventors identified glycosyl hydrolases (GH) from plant origins that contain carbohydrate binding domains (CBDs) that can be used to modify the structure of crystalline cellulose for more efficient biofuel production.

Technology Overview: Biodiesel a mixture of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) is traditionally produced from the base-catalyzed transesterification of triglycerides in vegetable oil with methanol but suffers from the high cost of vegetable oil. Low cost waste grease is an attractive feedstock but due to the high free fatty acid (FFA) content (>15 wt%) grease cannot be converted into biodiesel via base-catalysis.