Parts from old computers grow algae for biodiesel

Usually, we talk about using high-tech computer programs to help producers get more biodiesel out of their operations. But this time, it’s the low-tech components that are the platforms for growing a feedstock for the green fuel.

Treehugger.com has this post about how students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have put together an algae bioreactor called the Bio-Grow to cultivate large amounts of algae for biodiesel using old computer parts:

“If someone had one of these in their homes, they would cultivate algae and extract it,” says Megan Kenney, one of the members of the five-person undergraduate team. “Then they could take it into a gas company that was set up with an oil filtration facility and get credit off their gas.”

The Bio-Grow’s various components would include side panels from an Apple G4 CPU tower for the incubating tank, with PVC pipes for structural reinforcement and high density foam for insulation and stability. An old Apple iMac CRT provides the light needed for photosynthesis, while a modified Dell Latitude CPX laptop controls and adjusts the temperature and required light spectrums generated by the iMac CRT. The device also features a water pump to aerate the algae and a faucet that allows user to harvest the algae at any time.

“Algae’s best growth factors are within the red and blue spectrums of light at a ratio of four to one,” Kenney explains. “We also knew that it needed to be 62 to 82 degrees.”

The hope is that people will be able to grow algae as part of a larger system and take that algae to a central collection point. The lipids in the algae would be extracted and sent to a refinery to make biodiesel, while the by-products would go into livestock feed, fertilizer and pharmaceuticals. The Bio-Grow team believes just under 7 percent of American homes would need to have a device to grow enough algae to replace petroleum with algae biodiesel.

I don’t know what growing algae for biodiesel smells like, but it probably is not a smell most people want in their homes. Still, the idea of using recycled junk computers for a good purpose is brilliant.

Four biodiesel producers plead their case to the media, we need tax credit immediately

Four biodiesel producers from around the nation took their story to the media today, increasing their call for Congress to immediately and retroactively reinstate the federal biodiesel tax incentive which was allowed to expire five months ago. The producers included a small family operation in Arkansas, an energy group in Washington state, a plant that is laying off people in Georgia, and the largest biodiesel producer in the country with plants in five states.

There isn’t much new information anyone can give to Congress, the biodiesel industry is hurting without this tax credit, and jobs are lost daily. Mr. President, is there nothing you can do to prompt faster action on this matter?

Wisconsin tech college goes green by adding biodiesel to the curriculum

Jessica Lawent, air management transportation specialist at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, gets a demonstration at the new Advanced Propulsion Lab by Gateway Technical College torque instructor Dave Dalpaos after a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday. ( KEVIN POIRIER )

The newest addition to Gateway Technical College’s Horizon Center was praised as a “world-class” training ground for tomorrow’s fuel technology by local, state and federal officials.

Gateway formally opened the Advanced Propulsion Lab at its Horizon Center, 4940 88th Ave., at a ceremony Thursday attended by more than 100 people on Thursday. The 12,800-square-foot addition to the Horizon Center, which opened in 2007, will provide instruction on “green” energy fuel sources, such as hybrid biodiesel and electricity.

This is a college with long-term thinking, offering information on job opportunities involving biodiesel and other green tech jobs. It is up to the schools of this country to help build a biodiesel future.

Philippines can grow enough coco oil to support biodiesel mandate

Photo from: http://www.gasalternatives.1st-rate.info/wp-content/plugins/wp-o-matic/cache/2a267_42e4c2f09365dd5a111ff759b8c7-grande.jpg

There would be enough crude coconut oil to support the the Energy Department's new policy to increase the mandated minimum blend for biodiesel to 5 percent starting this year and 10 percent by 2015, The CIIF-Oil Mills Group (CIIF-OMG) said Thursday.
“A 5-percent blend would only require 350,000 metric tons of crude coconut oil, or just 23 percent of the current annual production capacity in the country,” CIIF Group president and CEO Jesus L. Arranza told reporters in an interview.
A coconut-tree replanting program, initiated by the CIIF-OMG and the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), is now underway to raise the production of crude coconut oil over the mid-term to support the 10-percent biodiesel blend by 2015.
“We are giving financial support to farmers' cooperatives in establishing their seed garden and when they are ready, we provide them with free seed-nuts that they can plant either in new areas or in places destroyed by typhoon, as well as replace senile trees,” Arranza said.
Coconut trees take five years to bear fruit. By then the fruit-bearing trees are ready to support the higher demand for crude coconut oil, and just in time for the 10 percent blending in 2015.

Every country has a favorite feedstock for biodiesel, and in this case we are talking about coconut trees. Who’s to say which is better for biodiesel, those trees or our soybeans. Both are equal.

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More layoffs in biodiesel industry due to loss of tax credit

Another day, more jobs lost due to Congress’ inaction on renewing the $1-a-gallon federal biodiesel tax credit.

This time, it’s the Maple River Energy biodiesel plant near Galva, Iowa. The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association says 12 of the facility’s 18 employees are being laid off until the biodiesel blenders credit is reinstated:

Delayne Johnson, General Manager of Maple River Energy, added: “Looking my employees in the eye and telling them they were being laid off was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do in my life. Despite the expiration of the tax credit, we did everything we could at Maple River Energy to keep a core key group of highly trained employees on the job. We took Congress at their word when they promised to make restoring the biodiesel tax credit their first priority in 2010. Congress has failed to live up to that promise.”

At a time when America needs every available job, it really hurts to see the conflict involved in the biodiesel tax credit—we want independence from foreign fuel and we want jobs.

Canadian power company tests biodiesel at extremely cold temperatures

A Canadian power company is funding testing of biodiesel in extreme cold condiitons to see if the green fuel will perform and how well it will hold up to long-term storage under those conditions.

This press release from Manitoba Hydro says the utility has partnered with Natural Resources Canada’s National Renewable Diesel Demonstration Initiative (NRDDI) in the $340,000 project testing 5 percent biodiesel blends in electric generators in a remote northern Manitoba community:

This study on the quality and reliability of biodiesel will contribute to a better understanding of the technical issues related to the use of the fuel. This research will also identify the best solutions to overcome any potential challenges to biodiesel implementation in Canadian operations…

This is an important test in Canada where cold weather and the desire to use more biodiesel fuel coincide. I hope we will get a good report, even though they are only testing B5 blends.

CT lawmakers call for more biodiesel in the state’s heating oil

Governor Jodi Rell must now consider two bills that could have a profound effect on heating oil dealers and consumers in Connecticut. (image: WNPR – Connecticut Public Radio via flickr.com)

In late March, HeatingOil.com covered a debate over the pros and cons of Connecticut State Senate bill SB 382, which calls for less sulfur and more biodiesel in the state’s heating oil. On Wednesday night, proponents of the bill scored a major victory when the Connecticut State House passed the bill by a vote of 146-1 following its unanimous passage by the Senate on Monday. The bill is now awaiting the approval of Governor Jodi Rell.

A second and more controversial bill, SB 463 was also passed by the Connecticut Senate on Tuesday night and given final approval by the House after an all-night debate at 6:01 am Wednesday morning, the Connecticut Mirror reported. SB 463’s main goal is to bring down’s Connecticut’s electricity prices, which are the second highest in the nation, requiring state utilities to lower rates by 15 percent by July of 2012. The bill also provides a major incentive for Connecticut residents to upgrade their heating systems and make them more energy efficient. Under the proposed law, Connecticut electric companies would be required to create a loan program to fund consumer improvements to their homes that would save energy. The program would offer low-interest loans to homeowners for improvements like installing better windows, adding insulation, and purchasing a more efficient furnace or boiler. According to a summary of the bill posted to the assembly’s website on April 7, “The energy efficiency measures can be designed to save electricity, natural gas, or heating oil.”

Millions of homes in America could be using biodiesel for heating the home, and the heating oil is stored inside the house in a tank, so cold weather is really not a problem. Heat with biodiesel, CT.

Biodiesel fuel spills would be easier to clean up with bacteria

Carbon steel coupons after 60 days of exposure to Key West seawater and biodiesel under anaerobic conditions. (b, c, and d) Coupons in biodiesel, at the biodiesel/seawater interface, and in
seawater, respectively. Corresponding micrographs (e-g) indicate
pitting after acid cleaning. Credit: ACS, Aktas et al.

A study by researchers from the University of Oklahoma and the US Naval Research Laboratory has found that biodiesel is easily susceptible to biological degradation by anaerobic bacteria. Although many fuel components are susceptible to anaerobic decay, the results suggest that biodiesel is far more amenable to such biodegradation processes than traditional hydrocarbons, the researchers said.

As I understand it, biodiesel isn’t a great thing to spill in the sea, but if you did, certain bacteria could be used to clean it. I think we already know that biodiesel is cleaner in every way than petroleum.

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A Canadian power company is funding testing of biodiesel in extreme cold condiitons to see if the green fuel will perform and how well it will hold up to long-term storage under those conditions.

This press release from Manitoba Hydro says the utility has partnered with Natural Resources Canada’s National Renewable Diesel Demonstration Initiative (NRDDI) in the $340,000 project testing 5 percent biodiesel blends in electric generators in a remote northern Manitoba community:

This study on the quality and reliability of biodiesel will contribute to a better understanding of the technical issues related to the use of the fuel. This research will also identify the best solutions to overcome any potential challenges to biodiesel implementation in Canadian operations…

“Biodiesel is rapidly growing as part of Canada’s new supply of sustainable clean energy. We are confident this demonstration will further validate the viability and reliability of biodiesel in all aspects of transportation and stationary use in the most demanding of Canada’s weather conditions,” said Gordon Quaiattini, President, Canadian Renewable Fuels Association.

Two years ago, Manitoba Hydro stored some 5 percent bioidesel in Brochet, in the northern reaches of Manitoba, for more than a year and burned it successfully.

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