In coming times, we could see better quality green fuel helping the US. New research could yield better biofuel from oilseed crops like safflower and waste material like orange peel. Davis, a chemist at University of California has come up with a new process that involves conversion of both the plant oils and the carbohydrates into biofuel in a single step. Where at one end traditional processes extract plant oils and convert them into a form suitable for use in engines, leaving behind carbohydrates, the sugars, starches and cellulose that make up stems, leaves and seed husks of the plant, this new one utilizes without wasting them.
Another research at the University of Central Florida has lead to a method of producing ethanol from waste products that is greener and cheaper in comparison to present methods. This process involves plant-derived enzymes to break down food waste, as well as non-food feedstock like sugarcane, switchgrass and straw, into sugar, which can be fermented to produce ethanol. Waste orange peel alone is capable of producing about 200 million gallons of ethanol annually in Florida.
Abengoa Bioenergy is also on its way to build a $550 million commercial-scale hybrid cellulosic ethanol and power plant in Kansas, which will be the first such facility in the US. Meanwhile, Poet, the largest US producer of biofuel plans to introduce Project Liberty this year, a cellulosic ethanol plant in Iowa that will use corn cobs from local farms to produce 25 million gallons a year. Two other demonstration plants have gone operational. They will produce ethanol from other feedstocks like wood biomass, agricultural waste, sustainable energy crops and construction waste. DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol is operating the other plant in Tennessee in collaboration with University of Tennessee/Genera Energy, while Coskata’s semi-commercial facility is located in Pennsylvania.
Via: EnergyEfficiencyNews