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April 2007
New Energy magazine for the bioenergy business
Drink the best, drive the rest Closed loop systems
Supplement with De Molenaar
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Plants Plants for for Pelleting Pelleting of of Renewable Renewable Raw Raw Materials Materials
Biomass Pellets
Wood Pellets
AMANDUS KAHL GmbH & Co. KG Dieselstrasse 5-9 路 D-21465 Reinbek / Hamburg Phone: +49 (0)40 727 71 - 0 路 Fax: +49 (0)40 727 71 - 100 info@amandus-kahl-group.de 路 www.akahl.de
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COLOFON
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New Energy is a supplement with De Molenaar, trade journal for the grain processing and feed industry in the Benelux. De Molenaar is a two weekly trade journal. The special New Energy, magazine for the bio energy business, is first published in October 2006. The second publication is due in April, 2007.
CONTENT
Management Egbert van Hes, general manager Pieter van Hes, manager
Editorial staff Jacqueline Wijbenga, managing editor Trees van der Wal, senior editor Editorial contributors Lourens Gengler, Florian Gerlach, Jacques Van Outryve, Mark van Seggelen, Jef Verhaeren, Hans van Vliet, Mike Wilson and others. Editorial address P.O. Box 340 8901 BC Leeuwarden (The Netherlands) Tel. +-31-(0)58-2954862 Fax. +-31-(0)58-2954878 Email: redactiemolenaar@eisma.nl
BIOGAS
38 PrePress ZeeDesign, Witmarsum (The Netherlands) Print Scholma druk bv, Bedum (The Netherlands)
Vogelbusch GmbH: ‘Drink the best, drive the rest’ USA ethanol production causes higher feed and food prices DDGS decanters for bioethanol production
Growth in biogas seems unlimited in Germany
Rape cake, more than just a by-product Biodiesel from Jathropa
BIOMASS/WOOD
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Biofuels create possibilities and cause worries Volkswagen: ‘Synthetic fuels are the future’ Effect bioenergy on global food market The new world of closed loop agricultural production Surplus heat used for shrimp production
BIODIESEL
25 28 © Copyright 2006 Eisma Businessmedia bv, Leeuwarden, The Netherlands. Nothing from this publication may be multiplied and/or copied in any way without written permission from the publisher. Publisher and authors declare that this magazine was made with the utmost care and to the best of their knowledge. However neither publisher nor authors can be held responsible for the correctness and/or completeness of the information supplied. Publisher and authors do not accept any responsibility for any form of damage caused by decisions or actions taken on the basis of the presented information. Users of this magazine are firmly advised to not use this information without question, but to use their professional knowledge and skills and to check the information before use.
New Energy News Biofuel politics: from moral commitment to binding targets
BIOETHANOL 30 34 37
DEVELOPMENT 8 12 14 16 20
Subscriptions Vanessa Olde Agterhuis Tel. +-31-(0)58-2954870 Fax. +-31-(0)58-2954871 Subcribers to De Molenaar will automatically receive the supplement New Energy. Those interested in the special New Energy can subscribe to this special. Each copy will cost €5 (excluding VAT) to be paid upon receipt.
POLICY
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Advert department Siebolt Nieuwenhuis, head of sales Ria Hoekstra, sales administration Advert department address P.O. Box 340 8901 BC Leeuwarden (The Netherlands) Tel. +-31-(0)58-2954865 Fax. +-31-(0)58-2954871 Email: verkoop@eisma.nl
CONTENT
content
Publishing company Eisma Businessmedia bv P.O. Box 340 8901 BC Leeuwarden (The Netherlands)
Publisher Minne Hovenga
Biomass, energy with potential
New Energy April 2007
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New Energy News
England to boost biomass industry A plan to boost the supply of environment-friendly woodfuel to cut greenhouse gases and produce enough energy to power 250.000 homes was unveiled by Britain's Forestry Commission. The Forestry Commission’s Woodfuel Strategy for England aims to boost the woodfuel market with an extra two million tonnes of wood a year by 2020, saving 400.000 tonnes of carbon annually, equivalent of taking 550.000 cars off the road. Carbon released into the atmosphere by burning woodfuel is absorbed by growing more trees. As well as cutting carbon and producing renewable energy, woodfuel benefits biodiversity through sustainable management of neglected woodlands and boosts the rural economy. “Using wood instead of fossil fuels means that sustainably managed woodland can be a significant resource for a
low-carbon economy”, according to the Britisch Biodiversity minister Barry Gardiner. Biomass such as woodfuel currently supplies only three percent of total UK energy. “Over half of England’s woodlands are currently undermanaged. This is a significant and sustainable resource that we want to tap into”, says Forestry Commission Chairman Lord Clark of Windermere.
have the ability to store natural gas at a density about 180 times their own volume, and at one seventh the pressure of conventional natural gas tanks. This breakthrough would make it possible to retrofit cars to run on methane, which is abundant and burns cleaner than gasoline. The 180-to-1 volume target challenge was issued by the U.S. Department of Energy in 2000. This technology would make it possible to have a flat and compact tank that would fit under the floor of a passenger car, similar to gasoline tanks. The absence of such a flatbed tank has kept natural gas from competing with gasoline as an automobile fuel source. Methane, which can be easily made from farm waste, could get an expanded market if this technology were to be commercialized.
New Energy New use for corn cobs The University of Missouri-Columbia and the Midwest Research Institute have taken corncob waste as a starting material and created carbon briquettes with complex nanopores (pores one-billionth of an inch in size). These briquettes
IN BRIEF If every vehicle in the United States ran on fuel made primarily from ethanol instead of pure gasoline, the number of respiratory-related deaths and hospitalizations likely would increase, according to a new study by Stanford University atmospheric scientist Mark Jacobson (Journal Environmental Science & Technology) . The Intelligent Energy – Europe II (IEE2) programme for 2007 is open for submitting proposals until September 28th, 2007. The aim of IEE2 is improving European performance in energy efficiency and renewable energies. Approximately €55 million will be made available in the 2007 IEE2 call. The production costs for pork- and poultry meat will increase in the years to come due to the large demand of grains for the production of bioenergy. This is mainly due to the shift from wheats to corn for bioethanol, according to the American Agricultural minister Mike Johanns. Dutch farmers invested 892 million euro in biomass installations for the production of electricity in 2006. A year earlier they only invested 70 million euro in these types of projects. Abengoa Bioenergía has been granted the Prince Philip Award for Business Excellence in the category of Renewable Energies and Energy Efficiency 2006. These awards give recognition to those Spanish companies that achieve business excellence and have proven to be outstanding in their trajectories. Abengoa Bioenergy is one of the principal world-wide manufacturers of bioethanol. The U.S. ethanol industry produced 22,1 billion liters in 2006, up 24,3 percent from the year before, according to data released by the Renewable Fuels Association and the Energy Information Administration.
Question marks set with sus tainability of bioenergy Energy produced from biomass is not per definition sustainable. Especially with regard to soil quality questionmarks are set. Energy crops are grown, harvested and transported to be processed. This however results in depletion of the organic matter content of the soil. The Dutch Nutrient Management Institute stresses that attention should be paid to soil management. “De carbon life cycle should be a closed loop”, according to the institute. Research shows that co-fermentation of biomass and second generation bioenergy are more sustainable then first generation biofuels such as ethanol from grains or biodiesel from rapeseed.
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Energy Globes awarded Sustainable On April 11th the Energy Globes were awarded to different projects in five categories: earth, fire, water, air and youth. The price is awarded to projects from all over the world which make careful and economical use of resources and employ alternative energy sources. Every year, about 700 projects from all over the world are submitted in the Energy Globe Award competition. From these projects five award winners are selected. This year the winner in the category air was a renewable energy project in Vietnam. The project aims at developing a commercially viable and market oriented biological gas system and at the same time contributing to limiting the use of fossil fuels and biomass resource depletion. Phase I of the project was implemented from 2003 to 2005 and 18.000 household-biologic gas-plants were built, resulting in a reduction in CO2 of 116.000 to 215.000 tons annually. The project will increase its implementation area to over 64 provinces nationwide with 150.000 plants to be built in project phase II (20062010). A second price in the category air was awarded to a Chinese project: Straw as an energy source. The Energy From Straws Program (EFSP) established to
entice farmers to trade-in their straw harvest and receive clean energy in return. Over 300 systems have been constructed in China. In addition, a 200kW straw power plant was put into operation in 2005 and another is currently being planned. Over the course of the next ten years the plan is to convert straw into liquid fuel, such as biological diesel. In the category water there was a second price awarded to an Indian project. The Sulabh Sanitation Movement has developed a simple and efficient method for the production of biological gas from the human waste in public toilets, which can be utilized for different purposes like cooking, lighting, generating electricity and heating. Through a simple technology called Sulabh Effluent Treatment (SET) the wastewater is made odorless, colorless, pathogen-free and therefore is nonpolluting when released into the environment. The solid remains of biogas production can be used for agriculture and horticulture. Sulabh has constructed the largest public toilet with biological gas production in the world. Up to thirty thousand people can use the toilet complex per day. More information: www.energyglobe.info.
gy News
Environmental Protection Agency sets renewable fuel mandate The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has signed into law the final rules for America’s Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS). The RFS was passed as part of the United States’ 2005 energy bill and requires gasoline refiners to use increasing volumes of renewable fuel each year. The current RFS calls for 34,1 billion liter of renewable fuel use per year by 2012. Yet, U.S. ethanol makers are well on their way to surpass the 34,1 billion liter mandate within the next two years. For 2007, 4,02 percent of all the fuel sold or dispensed to U.S. motorists will have to come from renewable sources, roughly 21,4 billion liters. Total annual capacity is forecast at 117,7 billion liters in 2007, up from 100,9 billion liters in 2006, according to the American Ethanol Coalition.
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In western Europe the most important consumer concerns with regard to agricultural production are animal welfare and sustainability. Both are concerns western European consumers can afford to express and make their demands for. These demands effect the entire chain of supply: from the retailer, back to whole sale, slaughter house, farmer, feed manufacturer and raw materials. These latter pose the biggest challenge as raw materials are to a certain extend imported goods, such as soy beans and derived products, but also minerals and vitamins. In Europe at present there are many concerns about the soy production. The gmo discussion seems to have been placed in the back ground to make way for our duty to care for the rain forests left on this planet. These rain forests are the ‘longs of this earth’, it is said. For a long time the major object to focus on was the feed industry as it was held responsible for the major increase in soy acreage to plant soy beans. With the recent developments in bioenergy there is however a new threat for the rain forests. The crops used to produce biodiesel en bioethanol can be grown in these areas as well and might prove as economically interesting for the local farmers as soy beans. For these farmers, their main concern is to make a living. And in this goal lies a problem, say environmentalists. These farmers only have a short term goal. ‘If the soil is no longer suitable for their crops, they move to a next plot.’ A logical approach from the farmers point, but in the long run he doesn’t have a sustainable way to make a living and the rain forest is ruined.’ Therefore, especially in Europe, there is a lobby to look not only at the potential of bioenergy from an economical and energetic point of view, but also take sustainability of the product as a whole into account. Bioenergy made at the cost of rain forest is bad for the total carbondioxide balance. It is the challenge of all those involved in the production of bioenergy to find the right balance between economics and ecology, local, national as well as international. Jacqueline Wijbenga
New Energy April 2007
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Biofuel politics: from moral com m Policy
[Jacques Van Outryve]
The Belgian Federal Minister for Agriculture,
The European Union has set binding targets for the use of bio-
Sabine Laruelle, visiting the biodie-
energy. The number 20 plays a central role in the final document,
sel plant of Dow Haltermann near
as de European Council committed itself to a 20 percent reduc-
Antwerp.
tion of greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2020.
Did the European leaders have a lot of drive last March or were they swayed by the issues of the day? The decisions of the Brussels European Council about Climate Protection and Energy Policy For Europe (EPE) were contrary to the
European indecisiveness of the last years. For what reason? Has the European Union become afraid of the unreliability of his big neighbour and energy supplier Russia and is this the explanation for the final decision on an
energy policy of its own? Or was it the shadow of Al Gore? Maybe it was the French president, Jacques Chirac’s farewell gift to his farmers on his last official European meeting before elections. Anyhow, politically Europe is now at a point of no return with regard to bioenergy. As a result, agriculture has to take its responsibility in producing raw material for renewable energy. Climat and energy “The challenges of climate change need to be tackled, effectively and urgently”,
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m mitment to binding targets the European Council said. The Council underlined the vital importance of achieving the strategic objective of limiting the global average temperature increase to no more than 2°C above preindustrial levels. Given that energy production and use are the main sources for greenhouse gas emissions, an integrated approach of climate and energy policy is needed. With this in mind, the Energy Policy of Europe (EPE) pursues three objectives, fully respecting Member States’ choice of energy mix and sovereignty over primary energy sources. Those three objectives are: - increasing security and supply of energy; - ensuring the competitiveness of European economies and the availability of affordable energy; - promoting environmental sustainability and combating climate change. The European Council endorsed an ambitious EU objective of a 30 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 compared to 1990 as its contribution to a global and comprehensive agreement for the period beyond 2012, provided that other developed countries commit themselves to comparable emission reductions. The Council made a independent commitment to achieve at least 20 percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 by saving 20 percent of EU’s energy consumption, a ‘binding target’ of a 20 percent share of renewable energies in overall EU energy and a 10 percent ‘binding’ minimum target for the share of biofuels in overall EU transport petrol and diesel consumption. All these ambitions have to be achieved by 2020. The agricultural sector plays an important role in realising these goals. To prevent depletion of arable land, the Council states that the production of energy(crops) should be derived in a sustainable way. Incentives to reach the targets come from the Fuel Quality Directive, which after amendment,
allows adequate levels of blending. Furthermore the Council is of the opinion that second-generation biofuels, that now become commercially available, will help to meet the targets set. Step by step Why is it that de Council now decided to have binding targets contrary to the biofuels directive adopted in 2003? However the Commission at that time has also proposed binding target. The Council had decided otherwise. What has changed? The debate on these proposals took place under conditions that were rather different from todays. At that time biofuels were a marginal activity. Their EU market share in 2001 was only 0,3 percent. Only 5 of Member States had significant direct experiences with the use of biofuels. Meanwhile at the time crude oil prices fluctuated around the $20 to 30 per barrel for more than 15 years. In light of this, it is perhaps not
surprising that the Union decided to proceed in a cautious manner, step by step. Ta r g e t s The biofuels directive (2003/30/EC) expressed the clear intention of ‘promoting the use of biofuels’. The Union targets for renewable energy’s overall share and for electricity generation are set for 2010 alone. Contrary to that the biofuels directive includes not only a target for 2010 (5,75 percent share of the market for petrol and diesel in transport), but also an interim target for 2005, namely 2 percent. Member States were required to set indicative targets for 2005, taking this reference value into account. These national targets are not mandatory. While they constitute a moral commitment, there is no legal obligation for Member States to achieve the target levels of biofuel use they chose. The step by step approach to European biofuel policy is reflected in
The power of creative thinking Pearse Lyons is CEO and owner of Alltech. He is Irish and brewer. He knows everything about brewery processes and yeast. Natural yeast fermentation has been the cornerstone of Alltech’s success. Biotechnology is the heart of the company. Pearse Lyons: “Natural resources are decreasing. Energy prices are escalating. The population is booming. Our industry is responsible for feeding 6.4 billion people. How will we do that in the future? We have new challenges and different standards.” One of the biggest challenges according to the Alltech-CEO is meeting the demands of China. “The giant is awake. And if the United States follows its biofuel program through, some 60 percent of US grains will be used for fuel production. A major dilemma: fewer resources, more expensive energy, people that need to be fed.” Pearse Lyons is an optimist. He confronts this challenge. “Think creative”, he says. “If grains are not the answer, alternative raw materials, like fibre, could be. The US produces 1,4 billion tonnes of fibre annually, for example grass clippings and wood shavings. Let’s take 900 million tonnes of this and make fuel out of it. You can make 63 billion gallons of ethanol out of it and with it 40 percent of US gasoline supplies will be met. Leaving the remaining 500 million tonnes of fibre for use in feed.” Another answer lies in protein sources, according to Pearse Lyons. “The world is moving away from fishmeal. Cod, which was the main source of fishmeal, has been over fished. We look for alternatives such as NuPro, a specific, natural, non-GMO, functional nutrient.” Another answer lies within the genes. “Think of nutrigenomics.” Nutrigenomics is the study of the effect of diet on cells and tissues. Alltech is planning a big integrated production of first- and second generation biofuel. Alltech will use all its knowledge of biotechnology to build that plant.
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New Energy April 2007
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>> Biofuel politics: from moral commitment to binding targets
the fact that, unlike the directive on renewable energy in electricity (2001/77/EC), the biofuels directive did not contain any requirement for Member States to ‘take appropriate steps’ to achieve their 2005 targets. The indicative targets for 2005 were not ambitious and amounted to an EU share of 1,4 percent biofuels. The realised share was even lower, only 1 percent. Progress was uneven in the different countries, with only three of them –Germany, France and Sweden- achieving a share of more than 1 percent. Germany alone accounted for two thirds of total EU consumption.
The European Council decided on binding targets for biofuels. (photo: European
S l o w p ro g re s s In addition to the cost factor, there are three reasons for the slow progress of biofuels in Europe, according the Commission. Firstly, most countries didn’t have appropriate support systems in place. Secondly, fuel suppliers have been reluctant to use bioethanol due to an excess of petrol. Blending in bioethanol makes the surplus even bigger. Thirdly, the EU regulatory framework for biofuels is underdeveloped, particularly in relation to the need for Member States to translate their objectives into action. For these reasons there is no doubt that the biofuels directive’s
targets for 2010 will not be met. On the basis of experiences gained, a number of key principles for a future renewable energy policy framework were elaborated by the Commission. That framework is now supported by the European Council. Such a framework has to be based on long term mandatory targets and stability; has to include increased flexibility in target setting across sectors; has to take into consideration environmental and social aspects and has to ensure cost-effectiveness. Employment strategy Developing the provision and innovative use of renewable energy sources is also seen as a tool for job creation under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development. Employment in rural areas is part of the Lisbon strategy launched in 1997. The European Council set the goal of full employment and a medium-term target of 70 percent employment rate by 2020. Rural areas account for over 90 percent of the territory. Around 60 percent of the EU-population lives there and 53 percent of jobs are located in rural areas. They generate 45 percent of the gross value added in the EU. In view of the large numbers of jobs that will, according to Commission estimates, disappear in rural areas
presidency)
A biodieslereactor (photo: Dow Haltermann)
within the next seven years (4 to 7 million) and given the disguised unemployment of around 5 million people on agricultural holdings, employment and job creation are very important. The Council of Agriculture and Fischeries concluded in March that uncertainty remains about the effect of the CAP reform on agricultural employment and structure as well as the landscape. It seems evident that with intensified competition there will be further differentiation of production and utilisation of existing agricultural land. “And, according to the Council, renewable resources will at the same time provide effects on employment in agriculture and forestry as renewable energy can be produced locally.”
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Sources: Brussels European Council 8/9 March 2007; Presidency Conclusions (7224/07); Communications from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament: Biofuels Progress Report (COM(2006)845); Renewable Energy Road Map (COM(2006)848 and Employment in rural areas: closing the jobs gap (COM(2006)857).
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New Energy April 2007
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Proven experience, inventive ideas.
Dr. Balthasar Schramm*, Chairman of the board of NAWARO BioEnergie AG, initiator of the world’s largest biogaspark in Penkun
*»We have decided in favour of EnviTec, because the company consistently offers well-engineered modular technology and has well functioning plants as reference. The permanently solid utilization of the plants is crucial; in this area EnviTec has the most convincing prepositions. We are also planning the next parks with EnviTec.«
Van Aarsen is the specialist in wood processing machinery. Sixty years of experience in processtechnology is implemented by Van Aarsen throughout the world. Our innovative technology and customized solutions make us trendsetters within the sector. www.aarsen.com Please visit us at the VICTAM, stand no. 8B046
EnviTec Biogas GmbH – Boschstr. 2 – D-48369 Saerbeck Tel.: +49 (0) 25 74 / 88 88-0 – Fax: +49 (0) 25 74 / 88 88-100 info@envitec-biogas.com – www.envitec-biogas.com
bio-ethanol / feedstuffs P.O. Box 6 4600 AA Bergen op Zoom The Netherlands Phone: +31 (0)164 – 213400 Fax: +31 (0)164 – 213401 Internet: www.nedalco.com Dutch sales point: Mr A.P.A. van der Weide Phone: +31 (0)6 – 53435045 E-mail: a.vdweide@nedalco.nl
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‘Biofuels create possibilities a Development
[Lourens Gengler]
The development of biofuels is a great challenge with lots of opportunities, but it is at the same time a development that can bring negative effects on environment or agricultural trade. “The current hype therefore has to be carefully monitored”, according to Suzanne Hunt of the Worldwatch Institute during the Bioenergy congress in Papenburg.
Sugar harvest on an alcohol plane in Brazil.
Competition and protection European biodiesel producers are complaining about unfair competition from American companies. According to the European producers, the American companies get 20 eurocent government subsidy per litre, even when they originally bought the diesel in Brazil or Malaysia. The European producers organization has therefore requested measures by the EU commission. The imports of biodiesel from the USA has increased up to 30.000 tonnes in January and this has impacted some European producers in such a way that they are now out of business, the organization claims. “Many producers are already facing difficulties due to overproduction in the EU, and slow implementation of biodiesel in some European countries”, they said in a letter to Peter Mandelson, EU Commissionary of Trade. The organization has 51 members in the EU.
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s and cause worries’ Worldwatch Institute warns of biofuel side effects
“Biofuels are about the only subject on which George Bush and Hillary Clinton agree with each other. Currently there is a worldwide mania and this market is very much policy driven. There is a broad political agreement while producers and traders seem to be in a Gold Rush phase”, stated Suzanne Hunt, biofuels specialist at the Worldwatch Institute, during the International Energy Farming Congress in Papenburg (Germany) in March. Hunt spent the past year coordinating the landmark study ‘Biofuels for transportation: global potential and implications for sustainable agriculture and energy in the 21st century’. Under her leadership, a team of international experts in the field of bioenergy has assessed the opportunities and risks of large-scale international development of biofuels. She presented these findings to the World Bank, the United Nations, Yale University, Brussels and Capitol Hill, and to groups ranging from European Parliamentarians and the Club of Madrid to industry and farm associations. Brazil In Papenburg Hunt presented an overview of the economical and political developments in the world. “The boom-
Tabel 1. Top five global ethanol producers.
USA Brazil China European Union India
billion liters 19.150 16.745 3850 3310 2000
Source: Christoph Berg, F.O. Licht, november 2006
ing market attracts many new players. The industry is growing in many different regions all over the world. There is now much more investment capital available then there are good projects. Ethanol is currently the leading biofuel, and biodiesel is lacking behind. But developments are progressing in such a pace, that I have to adjust my data day by day”, sayd Hunt. The USA is currently the biggest ethanol producer in the world, with over 19 billion litres, and Brazil is following with just under 17 billion litres. They are followed by China (3,8 billion), the EU (3,3) and India with 2 billion litres. Compared to this, the biodiesel production is just a small sector, with a total of just 8 billion litres per year. Germany is market leader. “The business is booming worldwide. Especially in Brazil at a scary pace. That country's economy is growing very fast. Within twenty years they will use 10 percent of the world's petrol. Their goal is to increase biofuel production to keep up with demand. Currently foreign investment in biofuels in Brazil is just a 5 percent share. We expect that will increase up to 50 percent”, calculated Hunt. “Brazil focusses on ethanol and they want the product to become a world commodity. Therefore an alliance with the USA is needed. During the recent visit of president Bush to Brazil, this aspect was discussed. Keep in mind that in the USA, the focus on biofuels is driven by national security issues. This in contrast with Europe, where sustainability and environment are the main goals. However in the USA there is now the so called 25 x 25 initiative. This is a group of farmers and politicians from several political directions who have a common goal of producing 25 percent biofuels by 2025”, explained Hunt.
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Pie The biofuel market is still expanding, but according to Hunt’s analysis, even at this moment biofuels are a driving factor on agriculture markets. “They are possibly the most powerful force to hit the agriculture sector since the ‘green revolution’. In many aspects we see the same discussions about market protection, but now only with different commodities. Farmers all over the world can benefit, without competing against each other. After all, biofuels are still only about 1 percent of the transport fuel market. I would say, expand the
New Energy April 2007
Suzanne Hunt: “Expand the total biofuels pie, and not fight to protect just a small piece of a small pie.”
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>> ‘Biofuels create possibilities and cause worries’
total biofuel pie, and not fight to protect just a small piece of a small pie”, suggested Hunt. Nevertheless, the increase in use and production of biofuels is bringing strong shifts in worldwide markets of food and feed. “We see that feed prices are increasing, while co-products are getting cheaper. This squeezes producers to the limits. Therefore a strong surge for new and higher-value uses is taking place. Also politicians are getting more and more involved. There is a rainfall of new legislations on biofuels in the USA.” It is very difficult to predict the changes in commodity flows, according Hunt. “We don't know how fast the demand will continue to grow. And above all we don't know the Chinese demands for biofuels. However, for sure, commodity prices will increase and we will have a ‘bumpy road' for the next few years”, warned the Worldwatch biofuels specialist. On the technological point of view a lot still has to be achieved, like international biofuel standards and sustainable regulation and certification. Tr a d e o ff ' s Hunt pointed out that biofuels create great possibilities and, at the same time, causes lots of worries. On the negative side there can be a ‘leakage effect', meaning a shift of regional production. “For instance: increased corn production in the USA will lead to less soy production. This raises prices and
Brazil is the second ethanol producer in the world. Their economy is growing very fast and their goal is to increase biofuel production to keep up with demand.
may lead to increased lobby for soy planting in fragile areas in South America.” Also it is not clear yet what the total effects on green house gasses are for each ‘product’, for example the carbon releases from peat bogs, native forests,
grasslands et cetera. And in North America we see that corn ethanol plants are now powered with coal. There are a lot of trade off’s to be considered in this development”, states Hunt. “A very complicated agricultural industry is developing while there is a great lack of knowledge. We certainly are putting a lot of energy in explaining all the differences to journalists, policy makers and the general public.” Despite these general concerns with regard to biofuels, there is reason for optimism, according to Hunt. “There is a huge potential in the next generation fuels. And the biofuels business can bring much improvement in rural poverty. Still 70 percent of the world population live in rural areas. They can benefit from energy demands elsewhere. There are several successful projects, for instance Jatropha in Haiti where the oil-containing energy plant also prevents erosion on hillsides. Or in Mali, where it brings energy to a rural population and creating new employment”, concluded Hunt.
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Visit... VICTAM International2007 8 – 10 May 2007 • Jaarbeurs Halls, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Visitors to the exhibition will find the world’s foremost companies supplying equipment, technology and systems used in biomass processing for use as an alternative energy source, including services and technology to facilitate organic waste re-cycling. Supporting conference:
Pellets for bio-energy: addressing the challenges Organised by AEBIOM (European Biomass Association) 10 May 2007 For conference programme & delegate registration, travel & accommodation or visitor information contact: Email: expo@victam.com Website: www.victam.com Tel: ++ 31 33 246 4404 Fax: ++ 31 33 246 4706
‘OPTIMIZE PROFIT THROUGH NUTRITION AND TECHNOLOGY’
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Development
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[Lourens Gengler]
‘Synthetic fuels are The German car producer Volkswagen sets its strategy on gas to liquid, or biomass to liquid. “The use of biodiesel and ethanol is just temporary”, says dr. Henning Volkmar of Volkwagen. The German car producer already produces very innovative, fuel saving cars. But until now consumers are not willing to buy them.
Alcohol or petrol?
Biodiesel and ethanol are just temporary solutions when choosing fuel for transport. “They will soon be replaced by (bio) synthetic alternatives”, according to dr. Henning Volkmar, specialist at Volkswagen Powertrain research. “Volkswagen is focussing on synthetic fuels, because in this field there are many different types of energy sources that can be used for transportation.” Volkmar pointed out the strategy of the German car company at the
The concept of the new VW Sunfuel: technology combined with synthetic fuel.
International Energy Farming Congress in Papenburg (Germany). Until full use of these new synthetic fuels is possible, Volkswagen prefers the use of a (limited) mixture of biofuels above sole use of biofuels like ethanol or biodiesel. Volkmar: “We are aware that the availability of oil is slowly decreasing. Therefore alternatives have to be found. At the same time engine technology is continuously improving. The current types of engines already generate considerably less emissions then previous generations. Diesel and petrol engines are now much cleaner and already produce less CO /km then they did ten to 2
twenty years ago. And this is an ongoing development.” S o u rc e s But it is not only a matter of alternative fuels and improving technology. For Volkswagen it is also a cooperation between car manufacturer and fuel producer. “Our highly advanced machines can only be fully effective when the fuel is precisely designed for those engines. Only then the combustion takes place at a specific moment and with the maximum use of the available energy”, explained Volkmar. He showed a short film, made inside a transparent engine, that gave an impression of how different fuels are burning in an engine. Volkmar: “We can clearly see the difference in combustion between synthetic and conventional fuels in the newly designed CSS engine.”
CSS stands for Combined Combustion System and is a combination of petrol and diesel engine technology. The future synthetic fuels can be produced from several sources, such as natural gas, LPG (liquified petroleum gas), coal or biomass. The technology used to produce the synthetic fuel GTL (gas to liquid) is called the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. Currently the new product is already used in the special fuels like Shell V-Power, or BP ultimate. These are examples of synthetic fuels. “With synthetic fuels there is no emission of aromats and sulfur, and the 'burning' takes place at a much more controlled moment”, said Volkmar. Sunfuel For the future Volkswagen is focussing on these synthetic fuels. “Many different types of material can be used to 'design' specific fuels. Also biomass is in the picture as we see opportunities to use the entire plant and process gas, which can be turned into liquid.’’ The car producer has introduced the concept of Sunfuel, where technology combines with synthetic fuel. By using the entire plant, more then double the amount of energy can be harvested from a hectare compared to biodiesel or ethanol, according to Volkswagen. “In the years to come it can even be converted into hydrogen gas, which will bring us to a non-emission car”, said Volkmar. He suggested that the CO reduction of the new synthetic 2 fuels concept can be 80 to 90 percent in
t
12-13•Volkswagen:12-13
23-04-2007
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Pagina 13
Biodiesel and ethanol preliminary fuels, according to Volkswagen
the future’ Gas to liquid
comparison to conventional oil-based diesel or petrol. A large part of that calculation is however based on use of LPG. This coproduct from the oil industry is now often burned without any use but with producing CO . “By using it in the 2
GTL process, it can be used effective as energy source in cars.” The conclusion of Volkswagen (and Daimler Benz) is that all focus has to be on the new generation fuels. “Otherwise the variety in fuels will become too big. This will bring extra costs for the industry and consumers, and new technologies can hardly be introduced successfully.” One liter per 100 km The (German) car industry is often accused of slowing down the introduction of innovative solutions and cars that
produce less CO . According to Volkmar 2 this is an oversimplification of the situation. “At present we can introduce a car that will use just one litre per hundred kilometers. But the problem is that consumers will not buy that car. We have seen the same with our Lupo. It used three litres per hundred kilometers, but we had to stop producing because of lack of interest. The customer decides what we produce. In Germany there is already the possibility to buy cars that run on cheap and clean natural gas. But the interest of buyers is very limited. This is also because of the limited number of petrol stations where natural gas is available. When introducing a new concept, we have to consider the complete infrastructure that is available”, concluded Volkmar.
The Fischer-Tropsch process is a catalysed chemical reaction in which carbon monoxide and hydrogen are converted into liquid hydrocarbons of various forms. Typical catalysts used are based on iron and cobalt. The principal purpose of this process is to produce a synthetic petroleum substitute for use as synthetic lubrication oil or as synthetic fuel. Since the invention of the original process by the German researchers Franz Fischer and Hans Tropsch, working at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in the 1920s, many refinements and adjustments have been made, and the term ‘Fischer-Tropsch’ now applies to a wide variety of similar processes (Fischer-Tropsch synthesis or Fischer-Tropsch chemistry). The process was invented in petroleum-poor but coalrich Germany in the 1920s, to produce liquid fuels. It was used by Germany and Japan during World War II to produce ‘ersatz’ (substitute) fuels. Germany's annual synthetic fuel production reached more than 124.000 barrels per day from 25 plants, which is about 6,5 million tons in 1944. Today there are still large coal reserves which may increasingly be used as a fuel source during oil depletion. Biomass gasification technology offers a carbonneutral alternative. And a combination of biomass gasification (BG) and Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis is a very promising route to produce renewable or ‘green’ transportation fuels. Source: Wikipedia
A visitor from Brazil, Hartmut Lau, pointed out that Volkswagen is market leader in Brazil with the famous flexfuel engine. “We can choose from ethanol to gasoline in any combination and in this way an easy introduction of biofuel is possible. Why doesn't Volkswagen introduce that car in Europe?”, he asked Volkmar. The answer is apparently simple: “The flexfuel engine is a good concept, but it cannot pass the high standards of emissions that we have here in Europe, like particles, HC, NOx and CO”, explained the Volkswagen specialist.
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New Energy April 2007
14-15•FAO:14-15
23-04-2007
15:06
Pagina 14
Effect of bioenergy Development
[Lourens Gengler]
The World Food Organization (FAO) has studied the effect of bioenergy on the Global Food Market and sees that agricultural prices are increasing. The strong demand for bioenergy can therefore influence the aspects of food safety. But the FAO does not expect that the increasing use of biofuels has an essential impact on the availability for food in the world. These are some conclusions that dr. Josef Schmidhuber, senior economist of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) presented at the bioenergy congress in Papenburg.
Dr. Josef Schmid huber,
One of the effects of bioener-
“Agricul tural prices will not
gy on the global food market
rise faster than energy prices.”
is that argicultural prices are increasing. “But we dot not think that prices of food will explode through the ceiling’’, according to dr. Josef Schmidhuber of FAO at the Bioenergy congress in Papenburg.
Factors “First of all it is clear that the current development has a serious impact on agriculture in the world. Demand and prices show an upward trend. We can conclude that a kind of renaissance is going on right now. But it is not only the increasing demand for biofuels that is influencing the market. Other factors like population growth, more need for food, changing composition in age groups and the trend in urbanization, are also driving aspects”, said Schmidhuber. It is obvious that when economic developments increase, higher consumption of food will follow. Schmidhuber showed an animation in which clearly can be seen how calorie and protein intake has gone up since 1960 (see graph 1). At that time the world population consumed an average of about 2000 calories, with 50 grams protein per day. Gradually it increased to nowadays 2700 calories and 60 grams protein per day, while in the coming years the average consumption will enlarge further. This is especially the case in large countries like China and India. Due to this fast growing demand for food, the
impact of biofuels will get relatively less important, expects the FAO. Prices “On the other hand there is in fact no end for the market of biofuels due to the enormous need for energy for transportation. But the question is whether prices of food will explode through the ceiling. And we do not think that will happen”, stated Schmidhuber. He pointed to several reasons for that conclusion. Most important is the simple fact that products will eventually price themselves out of the market, since the oil price (or other conventional energies) will limit the upward trend of individual sources of bioenergy. “A good example is the price relation between sugar and crude oil. When comparing sugar to crude oil in the period from 2000 up to now, we see that oil is the driving factor on the sugar price, and thus creating a limit to uncontrollable increases in sugar prices. And also, on the other hand, when the oilprice (and sugar price) increases, the large Brazilian alcohol producers will produce more and by doing so create a new ceiling. Similar effects can be seen with other bioenergy sources. In general, the energy markets drive the agricultural markets and not vice versa. Agricultural prices will not rise faster than energy prices”, according to the FAO senior economist. Schmidhuber admitted however that the FAO calculations about ceiling prices depend on a perfectly integrated market. “Impacts of subsidies can be considerable, for instance through Carbon Credit when producing 'green electricity', or when governments subsidize other production or use of biomasses”, states Schmidhuber.
14-15•FAO:14-15
23-04-2007
15:06
Pagina 15
on global food market FAO: ‘Biofuels have limited impact on worldwide food prices’
The FAO also simulated the crosslink effects of several agriculture products when an additional 10 million tonnes of sugar, maize, soybeans or mixtures of these commodities were used for producing biofuels. It turns out that effects differ between commodities. For instance wheat and rice prices will hardly go up, while maize prices will probably increase up to 4 percent and the positive effect on sugar can be up to 14 percent. At the same time plant protein prices are expected to go down 1,8 percent. This as result of the protein rich by-products from bioenergy production from maize and soybeans. This again leads to cheaper production of poultry. Beef prices will hardly be affected, expects the FAO.
Food safety The FAO has analysed the impact of biofuels on the four aspects of food safety: availability, access, stability and utilisation. “There are winners and losers depending on the trade balance and net effects on energy and food prices. For countries that are both food and energy importers, the effect is a lose-lose situation. But this happens only in a few regions.” The increasing demand for biofuels clearly has advantages for rural areas, for they can benefit from higher prices. So far incomes in rural areas are lower than those in urban areas. This is partly the cause of migration of millions of people to the big
cities. “And that’s reason for great concern”, said the FAO economist. “When incomes in rural areas increase due to better agriculture prices, then this migration can be slowed down a little. Although we do not believe that the general trend can be halted. Access for food in those regions will probably increase for incomes will go up”, expects Schmidhuber. In general the improvements will depend on land ownership, institutional support, creation of rural employment, land and labour intensity of bioenergy use and technologies. “The policy challenge is to harness benefits for agriculture, but without harming food security.”
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Land use There is another way of looking at the impact of biofuels to world agriculture prices. And that is through the use of land. The FAO calculated that there is now 4188 million hectares land available for agriculture, although in fact just 1506 million hectares are in use. That means that the 14 million hectares that are used (in 2004) for the production of biofuels is no more then 1 percent of that area. Up to 2030 the FAO estimates that 32,5 million hectares will be used for biofuel production. Still this is no more then 2 percent of the total agriculture land use. Therefore the impact on food prices will be limited, according to Schmidhuber. He also pointed out that historically the use of biofuels is wide spread. “Just think of developing countries where manure and wood are the only sources for energy for cooking and heating. We have also calculated the potentials of producing biofuels with theoretical, technical and economic limitations.”
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New Energy April 2007
16-17-18•Biorefinery new:16-17-18
24-04-2007
13:41
Pagina 16
The new world of closed l Development
[Mike Wilson]
Driven by a thriving ethanol industry, closed loop systems or ‘integrated biorefineries’ recycle waste, reduce energy costs and create multiple profit centers. Is this the future of production agriculture?
Our farming ancestors spread their risks by growing more than one crop or livestock, corn, wheat, cattle, milk cows, maybe even some pigs, too. In Cadiz, Ohio they are building a ‘farm’ with the same idea, except this operation would make our ancestors heads spin. On the eastern edge of the US Corn Belt, Harrison Ethanol Corporation is building a 10.000 head feedlot, 2000 head dairy, 91 million liter ethanol plant, and anaerobic digester that will turn cow manure into power for the ethanol plant, which in turn will spit out distillers’ grains to feed all the cattle. “The resulting ‘integrated biorefinery’ will employ over 100 people and provide enough leftover electricity to sell to a local power plant”, says Rhoda Crown, CEO for Coshocton Grain. Coshocton Grain had to sell stock to raise $1,3 million for the project, mostly through local investors, including farmers. "All of the different enterprises within this integrated facility are tried and true", Crown says. “There really is no waste. The digester produces not
only methane, but also dried material that comes out like peat moss. Part will be used for bedding for cattle and part will be sold for horticultural use. The water that runs through the ethanol process runs through the anaerobic digester and is recirculated back through the ethanol process. We want to put all those together to enhance the bottom line and make it economically viable for years to come.” N e w - a g e re f i n e r i e s While the United States hasn’t built a new oil refinery in over 30 years, new steel for so-called ‘biorefineries’ is quickly going up in Ohio, Nebraska, Texas, California, Iowa and other states, driven by larger livestock operations, higher energy costs and a thriving ethanol industry. Some are attached to already-existing dairy and beef operations. Others, like the one in Ohio, are being built from scratch. Besides the obvious benefits – lower costs and increased revenue streams these self-sustaining systems use little if
Closed loop systems Closed loop systems or ‘integrated biorefineries,’ convert manure from cattle into methane to power an ethanol plant, and distillers grains leftover from the ethanol-making process into cattle feed. While the cattle or dairy cows create beef and milk, the ethanol plant creates fuel at a much lower cost thanks to the ‘recycled’ power source (cow manure). If a plant doesn’t need all the energy from its digester, it can sell to the local power grid, creating yet another profit stream.
any fossil fuels, reduce or eliminate environmental concerns from manure loss, and help large-scale operations expand within ever-more stringent pollution restrictions. Why now? “Recycling and capturing more value from products and processes is not a new concept”, notes Purdue University agricultural economist Mike Boehlje. But the biorefinery revolution should certainly cause folks in production agriculture to sit up and re-think how they do business. “People are thinking about how to capture value from all products being produced by the prime industry they are in,” he says. “They’re starting to recognize when you produce an animal, you’re producing more than just milk or meat. The animal waste is a product.” Ethanol surely is a catalyst in closed loop production. But stiffer regulations are also driving change. “We now have regulations that have made it more costly to dispose of the (manure) by-product,” notes Boehlje. “If it becomes costly to throw it away, let’s take the byproduct and create value. We’re moving from a disposal mentality to a capturevalue mentality,” he says. “We are in some sense trying to return back to a concept of creating value, to when we grew our own feed, produced our own fertilizer, and saved those transaction costs.”
16-17-18•Biorefinery new:16-17-18
24-04-2007
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Pagina 17
d loop agricultural production
Scale Most of the maize for the Coshocton ethanol plant will need to be shipped in from nearby counties, but the company has ensured demand for its food and fuel products by locating close to the eastern seaboard. Panda Ethanol, of Texas, plans to build four 455 million liter ethanol plants, three powered by cattle manure. One is in development for Kansas, the other two in Texas in a region where corn is scarce. According to Panda, each plant will need 40 million bushels of corn or sorghum each year. “The plants are in a corn deficit area so they will bring 95
percent of their corn in from other locations and mainly from the central Midwest,” says Illinois farmer Bryan Fogerson. “Half the corn currently going into the Texas Panhandle comes from Illinois, so we are well positioned to service this new market.” Folks like Dennis Langley are also feeling optimistic these days. Langley is CEO (Chief executive officer) of E3 BioFuels, a Kansas company dedicated to stitching ethanol, methane and cattle or dairy operations together into closed loop systems. Interest is at an alltime high. “Right now we have joint venturers lining up”, he says. “A lot of
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large-scale feeding operations come to us and ask us to retrofit their facilities and site our facilities by existing feedlots and dairies, in order to bring them into compliance with new environmental regulations.” But Langley also notes scale plays an important role in these systems. “You need a minimum of 16.000 head of dairy cattle, or 20.000 head of cattle in a feedlot within a 25 mile radius, to make this work”, he adds. M a n u re Closed loop technology may allow livestock farmers to feed many more ani-
New Energy April 2007
16-17-18•Biorefinery new:16-17-18
24-04-2007
13:41
Pagina 18
>> The new world of closed loop agricultural production
Mike Boehlje: “We are in some sense trying to return back to a concept of creating
Dennis Langley of E3 BioFuels: “Large-scale feeding operations asks us to retrofit their
value, to when we grew our own feed, produced our own fertilizer, and saved those
facilities and site our facilities by existing feedlots and dairies, in order to bring them
transaction costs.”
into compliance with new environmental regulations.”
mals because they will no longer be limited by the amount of land they have in proportion to the amount of manure they must disperse, claim proponents. "Farmers apply manure for fertilizer to the extent their manure management plan will allow," says David Mager, Vice President for Bion Environmental Technologies, another company connecting ethanol plants with livestock operations. "According to USDA, only 2 percent of farms have sufficient land to handle phosphorus from manure." According to Bion, its technology should allow for three to five times larger herds in an economically, environmentally sustainable way. “This process eliminates the polluting releases to water and emissions to air associated with livestock,” says Mager. Lower costs One of Langley’s most recent projects is in Mead, Nebraska, where his company
is siting an ethanol plant and digester at a 30.000 head feedlot to produce 100 percent of its own energy from methane. Ethanol from the Mead feedlot will cost about 50 cents a gallon less than at typical coal or gas fired plants. “Energy efficiency is dramatically increased,” Langley says. “E3 BioFuels is 15 times more efficient than producing gasoline and 22 times more efficient than producing traditional ethanol.” Panda’s operations will generate steam to make ethanol by gasifying more than 500.000 tons of cattle manure per plant per year, making them some of the most fuel efficient ethanol refineries in the nation. By using biogas to fuel the plants, the company replaces the energy equivalent of 1000 barrels of oil a day. "The knock on ethanol has always been it uses more energy than it produces,” says Langley. “This will get that monkey off ethanol’s back.” Bion will test that theory soon. It is teaming with Fair Oaks Dairy, Fair Oaks,
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Ind., to create a closed loop system on its 27.000 cow dairy, the largest dairy east of the Mississippi River. “The system will create sufficient renewable energy to support one million gallons of ethanol for every 1000 dairy cows,” says Mager. "The ethanol plant becomes the feed mill for the dairy and the dairy becomes the power plant to run the ethanol plant. That's several million dollars in savings over natural gas costs normally associated with an ethanol plant."
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New Energy April 2007
19•adv:19
23-04-2007
13:59
Pagina 19
YO U R U R G E NT A NA LY T I C A L Q UEST IO N D E SE R V E S A P R O M P T S O LU T I O N Jufferstraat 9-15 3011 XL Rotterdam P.O. Box 893 3000 AW Rotterdam
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25-10-2004 09:35:25
20-21•Happy shrimps:20-21
23-04-2007
15:22
Pagina 20
Surplus heat used f Development
[Mark van Seggelen]
Combining ecology and economy: That’s the goal of Gilbert Curtessi and Bas Greiner. These two entrepreneurs started the Happy Shrimp Farm at the industrial estate Maasvlakte, near Rotterdam (NL). The hatchery uses the surplus heat of the nearby power plant to heat the water basins.
Impression of the shrimp farm at the Maasvlakte.
As of October 2006 the electricity company E.ON Benelux promotes its focus on new horizons via commercials on TV, radio and in newspapers. The Happy Shrimp Farm is the central figure in one of these commercials. Gilbert Curtessi and Bas Greiner started and own this jumbo shrimp enterprise. Curtessi is a skilled concept and product developer and experienced in marketing technology. His partner Greiner specializes in eco-industrial technology and process modulation.
Benelux. The water leaves the plant at a temperature of about 70 degrees C. Heat exchangers at the shrimp farm cool this water back to a temperature of around 30 degrees C and are used to warm the water basins. “This process doesn’t only rely on the heat exchangers. We use new technology to cool the warm water, without applying electricity’’, explains Curtessi. It is all the explaining he will do with regard to this part of the process. “It’s a trick of the trade.”
Surplus heat The Happy Shrimp Farm at the Maasvlakte uses the principle of ‘co-siting’. In other words, sustainable production by using all available environmental factors such as energy, utilities, by-products and space (area and infrastructure). The shrimp farm is located only 200 meters from the E.ON power plant. De farm uses the surplus heat from the incinerator of E.ON
A g ro - i n d u s t r y There is no direct contact between the power plant, which uses coal and biomass to produce electricity, and the shrimp farm. The only connection is a pipe with a total length of three kilometres through which water is continuously pumped around. The power plant supplies 2 MW which is more than sufficient to keep the basins at a constant temperature. By
using the heat exchangers contamination of the basins is out of the question. The use of surplus heat is not only environmentally friendly; it is also much cheaper than gas or oil heating. “We at Happy Shrimp have shown that it is possible to develop a sustainable agro-industrial process in a harbour area, with emphases on the industrial life cycle’’, according to Curtessi. He stresses that on the edge of energy and industry and agriculture and industry more and more innovations get off the ground. “For those innovations to become successful it is of the utmost importance that the industries involved operate with transparency and openness.’’ Basins The Happy Shrimp farm is 5000 square metres in size. The front part of the building contains the technical instrumentation; the remainder is fully occupied by water basins for shrimp culture. The whole building is covered by a green house. This is painted white where its roof covers the technical unit; over the basins the glass is see-through. Shrimp require only a small amount of light, so the green house has no additional lighting. The technical unit contains back-up power units, bio filtration units, heating and hatcheries for the baby shrimp. These baby shrimp are kept in quarantine for a month before they are placed in one of the bigger basins. An aquarium in the nursery contains about 300.000 larvae; Happy Shrimp has three aquaria in the nursery. At an age of four weeks these small shrimp are transferred to one of the 24 large basins. Each of those is 24 meters in length, 6,40 meters wide and 1,60 meters deep. Once the shrimp are fullgrown, they are harvested. “At that point the density of the animals is about 4,5 kilo per square meter”, says Curtessi. Feed The tropical shrimp takes about six to eight months to become a full grown
20-21•Happy shrimps:20-21
23-04-2007
15:22
Pagina 21
d for shrimp production Dutch entrepreneurs develop Happy Shrimp Farm
The shrimp farm uses the surplus heat from the combustion process of the E.ON power plant.
Gamba of 15 to 18 centimetres. The nursery and basins contain algae rich in food components. “In certain growth phases the algae are irreplaceable. They are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which are essential for the growth of the shrimp”, explains Curtessi. The algae are supplied in pellets suitable for feeding these shellfish. These pellets are supplied for about four months. Harvest takes place once the shrimp have reached the required 15 to 18 centimetre size. There is also dry feed on the menu of the shrimp. This is supplied by Danafeed, a Danish subsidiary of Provimi. “It is important that the dry feed we use doesn’t affect the waterquality and the algaecultures in the basins.” The total feed of the shrimp is 70 percent vegetarian an 30 percent rich in protein. “We don’t need to use sea fish for our shrimp. Again a conformation that we produce in a sustainable way.” Another aspect to underline this is the fact that no antibiotics or growth hormones are applied at Happy Shrimp. M a n g ro v e s Up until now shrimp are mainly imported in Northern Europe. Climate condi-
Gilbert Curtessi (left) and Bas Greiner, founders of the Happy Shrimp Farm.
tions in this region are not suitable for jumbo shrimp. The shrimp are imported from Asia and South America. There are other culture basins for jumbo shrimp in Europe, but these are situated in Spain. In Asia and South America the shrimp are mainly found in the mangrove forests. Shrimp farmers cut done the trees and create culture basins in which they also apply antibiotics and pesticides to control diseases. Once the ponds are polluted, the farmers shift to a new forest area to create new ponds. “Our shrimp have more space than those cultured in this type of natural basins. Furthermore we don’t use antibiotics or hormones. All together reasons for us to name our company Happy Shrimp”, according to Curtessi. P ro d u c t i o n Happy Shrimp aims for a yearly production of 30 tonnes of shrimp. The first delivery of day fresh shrimp is planned for December 2007. Fishtrader Schmidt Seefish Rotterdam will distribute the product among about forty restaurants. The harvest is spread, so the restaurants get a fresh supply every day. “That’s the guarantee we want to give the restaurants: fresh shrimp on their menu every day.” To
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reach this goal every two to three weeks basins will be filled with baby shrimp. Plans The ecological entrepreneurs are not satisfied with the established business yet. They are still filled with plans for the future. “We would like to use this site as an experimental garden where those interested can eat shrimp. And we want to start seabass production as well.” The aim is to expand the Happy Shrimp concept and establish 10 shrimp farms by 2012. “These new shrimp farms will all be built near industry from which the basins can be supplied with hot water.” Curtessi and Greiner will be the owners of the future farms. “Our shrimp farming is not patented. Everyone can start such an enterprise. We don’t mind. We’ve got the head start.”
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E.ON Benelux E.ON Benulux produces, distributes and supplies electricity, heat and gas to the consumer and professional market. The company provides about 200.000 households with electricity and gas. The power plants are situated in The Netherlands. The company employs about 600 people.
New Energy April 2007
22-23•Biomas:22-23
23-04-2007
15:38
Pagina 22
Biomass, energy Biomass
[Alexandra Kirchner]
Most of the organic materials, such as plants, used for bioenergy needs a multistage process chain in order to get energy from this kind of biomass. This conversion is not necessary for the supply of solid biogenic fuels, such as biomass pellets. The pelleting of waste and the mixing of different biological raw materials is an attractive solution for the production of sustainable alternative fuels. The production of energy from renewable raw materials and other biomass has developed into one of the most promising areas of application for the agricultural economy, due to the extensive raw materials basis as well as the available technological potentials. Although certain market sectors seem to have reached their saturation level, state support and other measures induce to switch over to alternative systems and solutions for self-sufficiency. In principle the various application possibilities of biomass and renewable raw materials offer sustainable alternatives for fossil raw materials. The use of this potential presupposes economical and reliable sys-
tem solutions that particularly consider the constraints of the incoming raw materials and desired final products. P ro c e s s Biomass is a collective term for all materials of organic origin, this means living and dead plants as well as their waste. In a broader sense, all materials that originate through technical conversion or a material use are considered as biomass. Before the energy from biomass can be used there is a multistage process chain consisting of production, harvest and storage, preparation, transport as well as transformation, i.e. conversion. There are various different processing systems
New Energy on Victam The new trends in the use of energy from biomass will be presented during the Victam International 2007 fair, held in Utrecht form the 8th to the 10th May. Since it began in 1964, Victam International has evolved as a specialised trade fair for products and new developments of the modern feeding stuffs technology and the affiliated areas of the industry. Many successful ventures, with decades of profound knowledge of the pelleting trade of different feeding stuffs, could use their vast experience in the development and preparation of innovative technology to pellet biomass and waste materials from both the pre- and post storage process stages of the supply chain. The multitude of these exhibitors as well as those from the European Biomass Association organised symposium ‘Biomass Technology’ on the 10th of May 2007, make the fair a power wheel for the further development of the use of biogenic solid fuels and it permits an interdisciplinary exchange of experiences between sectors. The relevant machines and plant engineering, manufacturers and those interested in biomass pellets can discuss directly and purposefully about specific approaches to a solution for the use of regional biogenic raw materials.
that convert the biomass into a usable form of energy. A conversion of the biomass is in general not necessary for the supply of solid biogenic fuels, such as biomass pellets. Energy supply in the form of liquid or gaseous sources of energy is carried out through thermo chemical (synthesis gas), physical-chemical (bio diesel, plant oil methyl esters PME) or biochemical conversion (bioethanol, biogas). Solid bio fuels Worldwide the potentials of solid biofuels are only partly being used, although the supply of bioenergy from solid bio fuels can make a contribution to the impact on the environment and to the security of power supply. The expansion of technologies for the energy use from biomass is a promising endeavour to react to the challenge of a sustainable energy supply. The EU and its member states support the building of new and effective technologies through targeted funding and market incentive programmes. In some sub-sectors, such as wood pellets, renewable energy is already competitive, without political funding, in comparison with fossil fuel sources. The use of solid bio fuels to generate heat has a long tradition. Currently solid biofuels are most widely used to generate heat. Wood pellets are established in the market for heat generation and they boast a number of advantages over other wood fuels. The Fuels low water content and fineness of its particles assure the best conditions for optimal burning that is characterised by a low level of pollution in the chimney gases and a low ash production. The demand, in particular for wood pellets, as well as the corresponding combustion installations for all capacity levels, has clearly risen in recent years. The wood pellets
y
22-23•Biomas:22-23
23-04-2007
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Pagina 23
with potential Bioenergy important subject on Victam International
markets are still developing all over Europe. Wo o d p e l l e t s Almost all renewable raw materials can be pelletised and are in the form of biomass pellets ready for further processing. Quality issues in production - the quality of the pellets with regards to transport, storage and durability, efficiency and combustion - determine the possible applications of biomass pellets as an energy supplier. For the pelletising of biomass pellet mills, with rotary dies and gearbox drives are used for the most part. A condition for a good operation is a homogeneous product that is sufficiently available reduced in size. Likewise the conditioning of the biomass before the actual pellet forming plays an important role.
The moisture content and the product temperature as well as the rate of size reduction of the raw material are parameters that can influence the quality of the biomass pellets and they have to be optimised for the pelleting process. B y - p ro d u c t s Besides the increased demand for wood pellets made from forest wood, scrap wood or old wood to generate heat but also power, there is a growing interest in the use of alternative waste and byproducts from farming, the production of biofuels as well as food production. The technological possibilities are equally manifold here. Agropellets are also made from straw, waste cereals, milling by-products and also extracted rapeseed. A research project in Germany, supported by subsidies from the Federal
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Agricultural Ministry, investigates together with project research partners and industry, into a targeted interdisciplinary and complete total concept for the improved use of energy plants by means of optimised power generation from silaged biomass. The completeness is achieved through the optimisation of the dry matter yield from agricultural areas in the form of a dual culture use. The accrued silage is drained by means of a screw press; the pressed juice is used for the generation of biogas. The pressed cake is dried and finally densified into biomass pellets. These can be used for energy generation. Fundamentally the pelleting of waste and the mixing of different biological raw materials is also an attractive solution for the production of alternative fuels.
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New Energy April 2007
24-25-26•Florian:24-25-26
Biodiesel
23-04-2007
15:43
Pagina 24
[Florian Gerlach]
Rape cake, more than Rape cake or expeller, the solid by-product of cold pressing rape seed, is certainly on average the main product of an oil-mill. Rape cake offers huge potential in animal feed, but research shows that there are many other purposes for this product. Use as fuel or even as a protein food for humans may well be the future.
A small but growing quantity of European rape seed goes into oil-mills that use cold pressing as a simple and cheap method of plant oil production. Their main product, rape seed oil, sells as a food, a feeding stuff or as fuel. Rape cake or rape expeller makes up the bulk of an oil-mill’s output: one tonne of rape seed produces about 660 kg of rape cake. At current market prices, this represents more than a quarter of the mill's overall turnover. Overall pressing capacity is increasing rapidly due to additional small on-farm mills as well as new enterprises for the production of biodiesel with a monthly output of several thousand tonnes. The largest capacities for oil seed processing in the EU are in Germany. This is true for the
The booming market for pellets as household fuels may offer a chance for rape cake as a component in so-called biomass pellets. Picture: Christian Mühlhausen.
crushing of oilseeds to produce refined plant oils as well as for oil-mills that use cold pressing. G re a t i n t e re s t In March 2007, researchers at the Technology and Support Centre in Straubing (TFZ) have counted 577 German pressing facilities with an estimated annual production of approximately 700.000 tonnes of rape cake. Three years ago, production amounted to about 252.000 tonnes. In other European countries, the pressing of oil seeds is still a fairly marginal business. Luc Meinrad from the French agricultural organisation TRAME estimates that hundreds of farmers have started pressing their own rape seed, but mostly on a very small scale of a few kilos per hour. In the U.K., a number of on-farm enterprises are producing for the local market. David Proudley, non-food crops adviser at the British National Farmers Union, expects an increase with the establishment of decentralised biodiesel production. “At present, there is a great interest in the market”, he says. In the Netherlands, rape cake is imported from Germany. A Dutch trader estimates annual domestic production at about 40.000 tonnes, but sees it on the rise. F a t a n d p ro t e i n r i c h The most striking difference between rape cake (produced by pressing rape seeds) and rape seed meal (produced by solvent extraction) is the fat content. A single pressing leaves about 12 percent fat in the cake; products from small facilities contain up to 20 percent fat. A second pressing, sometimes with the help of steam, reduces the fat content to about 8 percent. In comparison, hexane extraction produces rape seed meal with only 1 to 3 percent fat. Also, rape
24-25-26•Florian:24-25-26
23-04-2007
15:43
Pagina 25
just a by-product cake is a largely untreated natural product. Nutrient content as well as antinutritive factors of the rape seed - such as glucosinolate content – considerably influence its quality. The largest market for rape cake is its use as animal feed. It contains high levels of Omega 3 fatty acids, and this is also true of milk and meat products from livestock fed with rape cake. Omega 3 fatty acids are valuable in human nutrition, making rape cake a beneficial ingredient in feeding stuffs used in the production of premium foods. Friedrich Schoene from the Thuringian State Institution for Agriculture (TLL) recommends rape cake as a source of energy and protein in the feeding of high-performing livestock. For dairy cows, about 2,5 kg per day are feasible, depending on the fat content of the ration. Its use is however limited in pig production by its glucosinolate content. Up to 10 percent rape cake produced from varieties with low glucosinolate content can be added to pig rations. Broilers can be fed about 5 percent rape cake. Many on-farm mills deal directly with local livestock farmers, but feed manufacturers are becoming increasingly active. Farmers who prepare their own feed rations prefer cake with low fat contents. With producers of compound feeds, this is not always the case. Miguel Diaz from the feed manufacturer Deuka sees a fat content of 12 percent as the upper limit, while a Dutch feed trader says: “Decent rape cake contains at least 10 percent fat.” In his view, rape cake with high oil content is a cheap source of energy. For unrestricted access to the feed market, oil-mills need to assure the quality and traceability of their produce. The quality assurance scheme QS offers a relatively simple approach: the >>
Rape cake or rape expeller makes up the bulk of an oil-mill’s output: one tonne of rape seed produces about 660 kg of rape cake. Picture: Christian Mühlhausen.
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New Energy April 2007
24-25-26•Florian:24-25-26
23-04-2007
15:43
Pagina 26
>> Rape cake, more than just a by-product
control requirements are adapted to small producers, with the German Federation of Decentralized Oil-mills (BDOel) coordinating the system. Rape cake used to be the ‘problem child’ of many a pressing facility as it sold at rock-bottom prices. In the wake of high prices for soy bean meal and rape meal, rape cake presently sells for up to 170 euros per tonne in Germany. However, with an increasing number of oil-mills, experts are already warning of overproduction and price deterioration in the future. “Rape cake will remain a product mainly for the regional feed market”, reckons Wiencke von Schenk, who monitors the sector for ZMP, the German information service on agricultural markets. Fuel Researchers and associations of oil producers are already starting to explore alternative market opportunities. There is currently a certain amount of research being carried out into the use of rape cake as a source of bioenergy. Due to its high fat content, the fuel value is high, at about 5.31 kWh per kilo compared to 4.00 kWh per kilo for firewood. Nevertheless, rape cake is not an easy fuel: large ash quantities and a low mel-
ting point of the ash require appropriate technology, while emissions of dust and nitrogen oxides exceed limits in some EU countries. Some options currently under discussion are the purification of waste gases and the co-firing of rape cake with other fuels. Heating stations and power plants, where exhaust gas purification is state of the art, show some interest in rape cake as an additional source of fuel, as Karl-Josef Gross, head of the feed department at the German Oil-mill Association has found out from a recent survey. Co-firing in a large coal power plant, for instance, may use about 20.000 tons of rape cake per year. The booming market for pellets as household fuels may offer a chance for rape cake as a component in so-called biomass pellets. But it's still early: "Before we can work on getting biomass pellets legally accepted for home use, we need to address the technological challenges”, says Janet Witt, who conducts research on the topic at the Institute for Energy and Environment in Leipzig. Moreover, a considerable gap exists between the prices that have been calculated for rape cake as fuel and the present value of the product as feed for livestock. Technically, rape cake is quite
The largest market for rape cake is its use as animal feed. It contains high levels of omega 3 fatty acids. Picture: Christian
well-suited to anaerobic digestion. About 460 m³ of methane per tonne of dry mass can be expected, a yield approximately 40 percent higher than that of maize silage as substrate. However, biogas plants generally have to count rape cake as a residue or byproduct rather than as a renewable raw material. In countries with schemes promoting agricultural biogas production, e.g. Germany and Austria, biogas plants using only energy crops pay for substrates whereas plants that are run with residues generally levy fees for accepting the material. If synergy effects are exploited well, a combination of biodiesel and biogas production may be economical. Suntechnics Bio-energy is planning a project for decentralised biodiesel production which feeds its by-products rape cake and glycerol into an onsite biogas fermenter. In return, the biodiesel facility draws its production heat from the biogas plant's energy unit. Economic potential In the future, technologies for processing rape cake into protein food for humans, may well yield premium prices for rape expeller. Researchers at Fulda University of Applied Sciences have successfully fermented rape cake to produce a substance comparable to tofu. At the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging, scientists intend to develop a system of fractionating rape cake and extract pure proteins for human and animal nutrition. For the time being, the feeding trough remains the most profitable destination for rape cake. Friedrich Schöne (TLL) has calculated the potential returns on the German market: while rape cake for animal feed sells for up to 180 euros per tonne, the same product used as fuel might fetch anything between zero and 80 euros. For biogas plants, the value is about 40 to 60 euros. Using rape cake as an organic fertiliser turned out to be particularly uneconomical: if the cost for transport and application are included, every tonne of rape cake would result in a loss of ten to thirty euros.
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Mühlhausen
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New Energy April 2007
27•adv:27
23-04-2007
14:16
Pagina 27
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28-29•Jatropha:28-29
23-04-2007
15:46
Pagina 28
Rapeseed, palm and soja are currently the main oil producing plants used for biofuel. But there are alternatives, and focus is now especially on Jatropha. Researchers from the University in Leuven have investigated the possibilities of this tree.
Biodiesel
Jatropha trees in India.
[Lourens Gengler]
Biodiesel from J “We can almost speak about a Jatropha hype”, says professor dr.ir. Bart Muys from the Department of Land Management & Economics, of the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium). “Recent plantations have been established in India, Indonesia, East Africa and Central America.” Jatropha, an Euphorbiaceae, is a small subtropical, semi deciduous, fruit bearing tree (up to 6 meter), native to Central and South America. Together with colleagues from Kenya and India, Muys analysed literature, studied socio economic impact in production and did a life cycle assesment (LCA) of Jatropha curcas L. (JCL). Lifecycle In order to make a LCA on the biodiesel production from JCL (well to wheel) all
LCA of Jatropha Life cycle assessment (LCA) can be considered the best instrument to investigate the environmental impact of a production system. It evaluates the positive and negative environmental effects throughout a products life from raw material acquisition through production, use and disposal and compares that with the same functional unit for a reference system (e.g. fossil diesel or biodiesel from palm oil). Relevant production scenarios for Jatropha curcas L. are small scale agroforestry plantations, medium-size community woodlots and industrial plantations. Inventory data are then evaluated, assessed and accounted for with respect to certain impact categories. For biodiesel production the energy balance (input and output of energy during the process) and impact on global warming (the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in tons CO equivalents by the use of biodiesel 2 compared to fossil diesel) are relevant impact categories, together with the impact of land use. In a land use impact assessment the impact of the production process on soil, water, vegetation structure and biodiversity are evaluated.
inputs and outputs of all different steps in its lifecycle – including seed production, cultivation, harvesting, pressing, esterification, distribution – should be identified and quantified. The prospects of Jatropha are said to be very good. The plant is drought resistent (minimum 200mm rainfall), has a large production potential with up to 8 t seeds/ha/yr and with good quality oil. It can combat desertification and all together help reduce poverty in rural areas. Not only the seeds can be used, but also other parts of the plant. “Now there is almost a hype going on for tropical biofuels. That is always a risky situation. Therefore we wanted a deeper investigation with a wide scope from the beginning until the end. For developing countries it can become very profitable to produce their own oil and become less dependent on commodities like coffee or cocoa. A country like Tanzania would just need 300.000 ha of palm oil to have sufficient fuel for their national need”, calculates professor Muys. But the question of sustainability arises fast. Muys points to the production of palm oil as an example of doubtful sustainability. “The balance can be positive when the product is used locally. But when the oil has to be shipped and processed into biodiesel, then the result becomes less clear. We also have to take into account the loss of biodiversity when natural forests will be destroyed. Often the impact of land use is forgot-
28-29•Jatropha:28-29
23-04-2007
15:46
Pagina 29
Lifecycle and environmental impact
m Jatropha “We can almost speak about a Jatropha hype”, says professor Muys from the Department of Land Management & Economics, of the Catholic University of Leuven.
ten when making calculations about sustainability”, says Muys. Conclusions The researchers conclude that the Jatropha hype is not sufficiently supported by hard data on crop production, production optimization and environmental impact. “We have no data that supports the expectation of 8 tons/ha. There is urgent need for research of testing and genetic improvement and optimization of crop production with a focus on water and fertilizer use. Also improvement can be made with optimization of pressing, transesterification and valorization of by-products. Nevertheless”, emphasises professor Muys, “there seems te be good potential for Jatropha.”
be reached at around eight years. The oil content in the seeds is more or less 30 percent. The viscosity of the oil is high with a low point of cristalization. The fatty acid content can be qualified between palm and canola. After pressing the cake is very suitable for animal feed, while fruit hulls and seed shells can be used very well as combustibles. After processing, the oil can also be used for making soap. Some substances are supposed to be anti carcinogenic, although other substances are carcinogenic. The Jatropha plant originates from
Central and South America but has now spread over other continents. Like many Euphorbia, the plant is poisonous and therefore hardly needs pesticides. On the other hand, for the same reason, it could become invasive. Jatropha is seen as a typical solution for poorer regions. “The nuts have to be harvested by hand. It can only compete when labour costs remain below two dollars a day. In general however they have to use other parts of the plant as well to make it profitable”, says Muys.
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Jatropha projects reported on the internet.
Oil quality Jatropha seems to have several positive side effects because it is well adapted to semi arid climates. “It can help preventing desertification, produce biodiesel and enhance socio economic development at the same time”, according to Muys. It has a rather unique root architecture (taproot plus four laterals) and prevents soil erosion. With just limited rainfall (200 mm) the production of seeds is more or less 1500 kilo. “When more water is available, the production can be twice as much.” However serious production will start when the bushes are five years old and the maximum will
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New Energy April 2007
30-31-32•Vogelbusch:30-31-32
23-04-2007
Bioethanol
16:30
Pagina 30
[Hans van Vliet]
‘Drink the best, d Wilhelm Vogelbusch was works manager in a common alcohol factory, when he founded his company in 1921. Vogelbusch
According to Josef Modl there is still a
GmbH is now the well known process specialist for ethanol and
long way to go before an installa-
alcohol installations. Machines and impressive installation
tion on industrial scale is delivering
designed and engineered by Vogelbush can be found world
ethanol, made from woody and
wide, where they produce bio ethanol an other related products.
fibrous products.
Figure 1: The alcohol production process.
A visit to Vienna on a sunny day in March reminds you automatically of the numerous famous songs which praise the springtime in that city and, of course its beautiful citizens (mainly female). Not a few of these songs also refer to the good wines of Vienna. This added to the fact that the Romans baptised it Vindobona (‘good wine’), make two good reasons to go to the Austrian capital, to study alcohol production, or rather ethanol, because it will be used as a fuel. It was the head office of
Vogelbusch GmbH, the well-known process specialist for ethanol and alcohol installations, we were heading for. Since the start of the renewed interest in bio ethanol for fuel in the early nineties, this company designed, manufactured and completed an impressive fifty installations for bio ethanol and related products worldwide. History The slogan ‘Drink the best, drive the rest’ in a way points to the roots of the
enterprise, a Viennese alcohol factory, which can trace its origins back to the nineteenth century. It was here in 1921 that Wilhelm Vogelbusch took up the position as a works manager. This young gifted engineer had a passion for efficiency, which he applied to the alcohol manufacturing process, starting with the development of a high efficiency evaporator. Many other inventions and improvements for the yeast and alcohol production processes would follow in his fruitful life, which gave him an international reputation in the field of chemical engineering. The then proprietor of the factory, very tolerantly, allowed Wilhelm Vogelbusch to found his own firm in 1921 with the freedom to market his products and services to third parties, while continuing his duties as a works manager. Some years later, Vogelbusch gave up his job as works manager, so that he could fully devote his time to work out the many ideas which crossed his mind. In 1956 he sold the company, which kept his name, to a malting group. But he remained in charge as the driving force and intellectual leader. From 1960
30-31-32•Vogelbusch:30-31-32
23-04-2007
16:30
Pagina 31
, drive the rest’ Vogelbusch GmbH designer and manufacturer of ethanol plants since 1921
the Vogelbusch firm changed ownership several times, but fortunately the firm stayed intact, because all new owners recognised its unique values. In 1996 Vogelbusch became a private company again through a management buy-out. Nowadays, Vogelbusch GmbH has two feet to stand on. Firstly bio commodities, which include products such as alcohol, yeast, vinegar, organic acids and sweeteners and secondly pharmaceuticals, which include process equipment and services for a wide range of applications as sterile fermentation and down stream processing of pharmaceutical agents. The two divisions have approximately the same turnover. International The friendly reception in the Vogelbusch head office in the Blechturmgasse 11 turned out to be a good beginning of an interesting discussion with Ing. Josef Modl, responsible for the Bio commodities Division, which focuses on systems for the production of alcohol/ethanol, yeast, vinegar, organic acids and sweeteners. The activities in the area alcohol/ethanol and yeast represent approximately 30 percent of the division. Vogelbusch employs 110 people in their Vienna office. Many of them are engineers, working in the design and testing department. The USA office is located in Houston and has a staff of ten people. Further their Hong Kong-based commercial and liaison bureau has three employees. “Our Bio commodities Division is able to offer all services from design and financing to turnkey supply for selected projects”, says Modl. The specific equipment needed for these
projects is manufactured by a number of pre-qualified subcontractors. E t h a n o l p ro d u c t i o n The core of the ethanol production is the fermentation and subsequent separation by distillation-rectification (see box) followed by dehydration, as indicated on the diagram. Alcohol or ethanol is formed by fermentation of sugars. The possible raw materials can be divided in three categories: sugar, starch and cellulose. Often the
sugar containing products, such as sugar beet, molasses and sugar syrup, can be fed directly into the fermentation as shown in figure 1. Starch containing products, for example grains, cassava and potatoes, require a pre-treatment, which consists of milling in the case of coarse products like wheat and maize, followed by the liquefaction and saccharification section. Here the starch is liquefied by enzymatic activity under sharply controlled conditions, followed by a partial conversion
The Molecular Sieve Dehydration Plant of EuroEthyl situated in Vogelbusch GmbH engineered the ethanol plant
Alfatar, Bulgaria is designed by Vogelbusch for the production of
Jilin Fuel Alcohol Co., bases in Jilin City, China.
120.000 litre dehydrated alcohol per day.
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New Energy April 2007
30-31-32•Vogelbusch:30-31-32
23-04-2007
16:31
Pagina 32
>> ‘Drink the best, drive the rest’
Fermentation and destillation Fermentation is the stage where glucose is transformed into alcohol by yeast. This process can be carried out in batch or continuous systems, batch for low outputs and continuous for the high volumes. The Vogelbusch continuous fermentation Multicont consists of a prefermentation and a number of fermentation tanks in series. The mash coming from the fermentation is fed into the distillation column, where the crude alcohol is stripped from the mash. The crude alcohol is purified in a series of columns. Vogelbusch Multi Pressure column system is working at various pressure levels to reduce steam consumption. Also a high level of process integration attributes to energy savings. After distillation the last drops of water are removed from the alcohol, for which Vogelbusch designed a molecular sifter. The heart of the sieve is formed by synthetic porous stones (zeolite). The size of the pores ranges from 3 to 10 Angstrom. By the size of the opening they can separate molecules of different dimensions, e.g. ethanol from water. The ethanol coming from the molecular sifter has a purity of 99,95 percent.
into glucose. This liquid goes to the fermentation stage. A valuable co-product when producing alcohol from grains is DDGS, distillers dried grains and solubles. This is not the case when the so-called wet milling is applied. This method gives a clean fibre free product, which can be fed directly to the liquefaction-saccharification section. Cellulose containing products, as wood, straw, maize cobs and husks materials, are the hope of many people -including the president of the United States of America- who do not want to see that ‘food is used for driving’. Rather optimistically it has been given a name already: ‘Ethanol production second genera-
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tion’. “It sounds well, because there is an abundance of cheap raw material available everywhere. But the cellulose needs a complicated and intensive pretreatment to open the cell structure, which makes the process far more expensive”, states Modl. According to this Austrian engineer there is still a long way to go before an installation on industrial scale is delivering ethanol, made from woody and fibrous products. “Also the slogan ‘food for fuel’ is out of proportion, since even as the EU has achieved the mark of 5,75 percent ethanol in the petrol, it will take only 3 percent of present cereal consumption.”
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New Energy April 2007
33•adv:33
23-04-2007
13:56
Pagina 33
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25-10-2004 09:35:25
34-35-36•Corneatingmonster:34-35-36
23-04-2007
15:34
Pagina 34
In august 2005 President Bush signed the Renewable Fuels Standard to promote the production of biofuels by tax credits. The growing demand of corn for ethanol production pushed up the corn price. Because of this ‘corn eating monster’, as Scott Steward calls the ethanol production, researchers in the USA are searching for alternative feed commodities.
Bioethanol
[Jef Verhaeren]
‘Corn eating monster’ USA ethanol production causes higher feed and food prices
The diet of American cows will change in the coming years and it will probably force up the milk and meat prices.
34-35-36•Corneatingmonster:34-35-36
23-04-2007
15:34
Pagina 35
Alternative feed commodities Prof. Charles Staples of the Department of Animal Sciences of the University of Florida and his team are searching for alternative feed commodities.
According to the US Grains Council the dependence of the United States on oil imports will rise from 62 percent today to 80 percent in 2020. That’s why President Bush signed in august 2005 the Renewable Fuels Standard to promote the production of bio fuels by tax credits. This law caused a spectacular growth of ethanol production, a growing demand for corn and a doubling of the corn price. A lot of farmers move from other crops like soybeans to corn which forces up the the soybean prices. This evolution will result in higher prices for feed and finally for food. The facts The Renewable Fuels Standard set a benchmark of 15,14 billion liters of renewable fuel in 2006 to 28,4 billion liters by 2012. The vast majority of the renewable fuel in this projection would be ethanol. Small producer tax credits were put in place for producers of up to 227 billion liters. Ethanol production
growth is already outpacing the government benchmarks with a production of over 20 billion liters by the 100 plants operating in 2006. At this moment the USA leads the world, producing 35,1 percent of the ethanol world production, followed by Brazil with 34,8 percent. Besides the 100 plants operational in 2006, 58 new plants are either under construction or are being expanded which represent 15,14 billion more liters per year. Meanwhile 150 additional plants have been proposed which, if all are built, would push total capacity to almost 80 billion liters per year as soon as 2008. That’s almost 300 percent more than the benchmark of the Bush administration for 2012. Most of the existing and coming plants are situated in and around the Corn Belt. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates that in 2006 over 20 percent of all US corn (77,5 billion tons), about the same amount that was exported, was
34
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Due to the growing demand for corn for ethanol production, researchers are looking for feed commodity alternatives. According to the Renewable Fuels Association, ethanol dry mills produced over 8 million tons of distillers’ grains. At the same time, ethanol wet mills produced 390.000 tons of corn gluten meal, 2,18 million tons of corn gluten feed and germ meal and 256 million kilos of corn oil. “In the US, where dairy cows usually stay inside, dairy production is a big consumer of dried distillers’ grains with solubles (DDGS). They consume 45 percent while beef cattle consume 37 percent”, according to professor Charles Staples of the Department of Animal Sciences of the University of Florida. Staples and his team are already looking for alternative feed commodities, as a lot of his colleagues do all over the USA.
used to produce ethanol. The USA was the largest exporter of corn, but it probably won’t be much longer. If all proposed new plants are built, the Corn Belt will be a net importer of corn. American farmers will produce 30 percent more corn in 2007 than in 2006. In 2006 the corn price doubled compared with the average corn price from 1998 to 2005. That’s why a lot of far-
New Energy April 2007
34-35-36•Corneatingmonster:34-35-36
23-04-2007
15:34
Pagina 36
>> ‘Corn eating monster’
mers move from other crops like soybeans to corn. Growers in the USA are sowing the fewest hectares of soybeans in 10 years. At the same time, demand is rising, creating conditions that traders say may double this year's average price and allow soybeans to replace corn as the best- performing farm commodity. And also soybean is a renewable fuel crop. In 2006 biodiesel production accounted for 13 percent of the total soybean oil use. Consequences Of course by stock-jobbing prices will go up and down. Insiders however think that the actual demand of corn for ethanol production plus a weather scare, can double the corn price once more. And a growth in demand can drive the price up five times it was before 2006. That’s why commodity marketer Scott Stewart calls the ethanol production ‘the corn eating monster’ in his book ‘New times, new rules’. Historically, low prices have allowed about half the US corn crop to go to livestock, primarely poultry, beef cattle and dairy cows. Those days appear to be over. As more corn moves to more ethanol plants, which makes corn prices rise, corn acreage is likely to rise and there will be ripple effects on agricultural commodity markets broadly. Less corn will be fed to animals. But also other crops will be concerned. Or they can also be useful for the production of renewable fuels like soybean or sucker cane, or the production decreases because farmers grow – for the production of renewable fuels - more profitable crops like corn. This evolution will inevitably push up feed prices. But this is not the end of the story. Because through government support of renewable fuels some feed commodities become more expensive, inevitably food prices will be forced up. Some analysts see consumer milk prices doubling. Scott Stewart too expects livestock product prices to lag behind but follow input prices’ upward trend. “Today’s $25 restaurant steak will likely cost $50”, he writes. Not only this consequences but also the reaction of the American livestock farmers will inevitably influence European agriculture, specially animal production.
Prior to World War II copra (dried coconut meat) was important in American dairy diet. After the war farmers quickly learned how to do without it. Today they use cottonseed instead.
E u ro p e As well farmers as other professionals and analysts concerned with livestock farming are not too pessimistic. Corn has been a basic ingredient for many special dairy rations almost forever. But prior to World War II copra (dried coconut meat) was as important in American dairy diet. After the war new consumer uses sent copra prices soaring and the farmers quickly learned how to do without it. Today they use cottonseed instead. Some think that, if dairy farmers have to cut back grain in the ration, it should cut milk production and cause milk pri-
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ces to go higher which is positive. “It’s a political decision”, we heard farmers say. “If the government wants low renewable energy prices it chooses for higher food prices.” No doubt that the evolution caused by the renewable fuel production in the US, specially ethanol, will influence European feed prices. Some commodities we import from the US will become more costly. But also the European demand for commodities for the production of renewable fuels will inevitably have comparable effects on the feed market prices.
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New Energy April 2007
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Pagina 37
DDGS decanters for bioethanol production Flottweg designes to meet whole stillage separation requirements Bioethanol In ethanol production based on grain feedstock, the whole stillage following distillation is separated by decanter centrifuges into wet grains and thin stillage. The thin stillage is concentrated into syrup Using the
by evaporation and this syrup is blended with the wet grains prior to thermal drying. The wet grains (DDG) or the DDGS (distiller dried grains and solubles) are utilized as protein enriched animal feed. The German company Flottweg manufactures decanter centrifuges especially designed to meet the whole stillage separation requirements for the ethanol industry. Flottweg makes DDGS decanters in sizes that can handle feed rates associated with 5, 10, 15 or 20 MMGY (million gallons per year) of ethanol production per decanter. According to Flottweg their technology has several advantages. “Using our DDGS decanter the cake dryness of ‘wet grain’ leaving is high, thereby reducing energy requirements and costs for further drying.” Due to high solids recovery the evaporator efficiency increases. As a result the evaporation costs are reduced. “Compared to conventional decanter designs, our DDGS decanter centrifuges have lower power consumption and can save the end user 20
to 40 percent in operating power and 20 to 50 percent in lower installed horsepower”, says Flottweg. Low power The low power consumption results from the innovative Flottweg Simp-Drive. This automatically controls the scroll differential speed depending on the torque load that the feed stream generates. Thus, the decanter adapts itself to varying operating conditions, such as solids load and feed rate, resulting in optimum cake dryness. “Our VFDs deliver power directly to the scroll while other decanter manufacturers’ VFDs utilize the motor as a generator brake. This ‘direct power in’ philosophy enables us to utilize standard ‘off-the-shelf’ VFDs and smaller motors, which will save
Company profile Flottweg is amongst the most successful manufacturers of a full range of centrifuges and belt presses. Flottweg has been developing and manufacturing decanters for over 50 years and is one of the world’s leading players in the field. Flottweg DDGS decanters are employed by major ethanol producers in Europe, North America, and Asia and are used for whole stillage separation of corn, milo (sorghum), wheat, barley and rice.The foundation of the present day business goes back to 1932, when Dr. Georg Bruckmayer acquired a motor engineering company, which in time became Flottweg GmbH now situated in Vilsbiburg in Bavaria. ISO 9001 certification was attained in 1994. In 2006, a turnover of nearly 90 million euro was generated with over 500 employees. Information: www.flottweg.com
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Flottweg DDGS
the end user money during installation and on operating power over the lifetime of the equipment.” Other design features of Flottweg DDGS decanters are the process specific wear protection, the simple and efficient air/oil lubrication system and the compact design allowing the end user to maximize plant space utilisation. New challenges Beyond conventional separation of stillage, Flottweg works on new challenges to meet the developing requirements of ethanol producers in the future. Changing process parameters also effect the composition of the stillage after fermentation and distillation. Therefore, there is a varying amount of suspended solids, especially very fine solids in the thin stillage after the decanter. Advanced reduction of these fine particles increases evaporator efficiency and reduces evaporation costs in terms of energy consumption and maintenance. The Flottweg sedicanter, a machine especially designed for separation of very fine solids, could be a starting point for this innovation. One of the features of this sedicanter is the high g-force for the separation of fine slowly settling solids, so-called soft products. Via the rotor geometry fine solids are constantly discharged. First tests using this machine were already performed and will now be confirmed in full industrial scale operations in an ethanol plant. In addition to the advantages for the evaporation unit, the use of the sedicanter also could be a possibility to provide valued added co-products from ethanol plants beside the well-known DDGS.
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New Energy April 2007
decanter the cake dryness of ‘wet grain’ leaving is high.
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Pagina 38
Growth in biogas seems u Biogas
[Jacqueline Wijbenga]
‘Wir geben biogas’ is the slogan of the German company EnviTec Biogas GmbH. The company specialises in biogas plants, from smaller scale farmsized units to larger projects initiated by investors. The basis of every project, no matter the size, are the same components: a feeding unit and mixer, a fermenter and a gas storage unit.
Envitec is building the largest biogas park in the world in Penkun.
Germany is one European country in which bio-energy has taken flight. The main focus is on biodiesel and biogas. At present this country counts over 2800 biogas installations and still more are being built. The total electricity production of these installations amounts to 600 MW and is still increasing. One of the companies contributing to the growth of the biogas production
throughout Europe is EnviTec Biogas GmbH. At present they finalise a project of 40 fermenters of 500 kWel each, situated in Penkun, on the border between Germany and Poland. This project is at present the world’s largest biogaspark. The project produces a total up to 20 MW per hour, sufficient to supply approximately 40.000 households with electricity.
Gas The basis of every project, large or small, is formed by three components: a feeding unit, a fermenter and a gas storage unit. As the gas produced can not directly be used in the gas transportation system, it is transformed into electricity. “A pity”, reckons Bernard Lugtenberg, farmer in the German county of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern,
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s unlimited in Germany Envitec Biogas GmbH ‘gives biogas’
“It’s a pity the gas from the biogas installation is not directly used. A lot
The surplus heat from the Sukow plant will be used to dry wood.
of energy is wasted because of this”, reckons Bernard Lugtenberg,
and owner of a 500 kW biogas unit. “I have the feeling a lot of energy is wasted by not directly using the biogas produced.” The biogas however is not suitable to put directly into the natural gas system. For a long time there was not a lot of initiative to develop the necessary techniques to make this possible in the near future. In many European countries the development of bio-energy is stimulated by co-financing the electricity output of a project. The financial support is given on the kW, not on the gas volume produced. “There are now some customers specifically interested in projects that focus on the gas production,” according to Envitec. Corn Until that moment, most biogas units are built to produce gas from manure in combination with raw materials such as corn or wheat, and this gas is transferred into electricity. In Europe the most common combination to produce biogas is by using manure and corn. The brothers Lugtenberg feed their unit with 18 tonnes of corn daily. “We had about 160 hectares last season. Due to a bad har-
vest especially for the unit, this year it is more likely to be 180 or 190 hectares’’, says Lugtenberg. According to him there is a big difference in the types of corn used. “The type we had last year produces less gas than was predicted.” His colleague, dairy farmer Rudie Denissen, encountered the same problems with the corn quality. “Last year, 2006, the quality was poor”, he states. This seems to be the experience of many farmers owning a biogas unit. The operator of the biogas plant in Sukow, a hog farmer with three biogas units of 500 kW each, also experienced great variety in corn qualities. “In 2007, I want to try several different corn types to test which one performs best with regard to biogas production. From experience I know now that the right choice in corn can make a huge difference in gas production”, he says. He has already stored several bags of seed corn from different suppliers. “What’s important is to find a type of corn that performs well on these dry, sandy soils.” Denissen: “Besides that, I like a spread in harvest time, so that’s also a criterion for my choice in corn types.”
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M a n u re The Lugtenbergs’ fermenter gets 50 cubic metres of manure daily to go along with the corn. The manure is transported from the barn to the fermenter by underground piping. Lugtenberg is satisfied with the production figures of his unit so far. The biogas plant has been running for a year now. The ratio manure/corn is relatively high. “This”, according to Lugtenberg, “is also the explanation for the fact that there is no floating layer which can be described as a foamy substance that covers the surface of the fermenter mixture.” Experts say such a layer is a sign of good
Envitec Biogas GmbH The company Envitec Biogas GmbH started in 2002 in a fast developing business. In the last decade, the Saerbeck based company became well-known for its biogas plants. The EnviTec Biogas plants are not only designed and build for the home market, but more and more the company is looking across the border. There are subsidiaries and projects in India, Hungary, Italia, Great Britain, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands.
New Energy April 2007
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Pagina 40
>> Growth in biogas seems unlimited in Germany
The feeding unit of a biogas installation.
operating conditions. “Keeping the material moving in the fermenter is a bigger contribution to the gas production”, says Denissen. He has a dairy farm with 600 cows and 1000 hectares of arable land. The unit of Denissen operates using on average 200 cubic metres of corn and 30 cubic metres of manure daily. Heat Denissen’s unit reuses some of the recirculating liquids from the fermenter content in the feeding unit. “This saves adding water and manure to the system.” Denissen grew about 200 hectares of corn for biogas last year and even bought some extra to make sure the supply was sufficient to take the biounit to the next harvest. Judging by the size of the stock, there is ample supply. But this might turn out extra useful now that Denissen wants to build a second unit, right next to the first one. The units will be identical to each other. Germany has a policy of stimulating such initiatives by supporting them with an extra financial incentive if the heat produced by the biogas unit is put to good use. Denissen uses the heat from the first unit for heating his own house, part of the barn and strawberry and asparagus beds to ensure early harvest. To put the heat of the second unit to
good use, he plans to build 11 hectares of greenhouses, next door to the units. Contrary to countries such as Belgium and The Netherlands, Germany offers long-term contracts with energy companies that buy electricity. Farmers get around 16 eurocents per kW for a 20 year contract. Putting the heat to good use makes another 2 eurocent per kW.
Fertilizer The material left over from the gas production is a valuable fertiliser. In Germany there are no rules hindering the use of this product as a fertiliser. In this respect it also differs from the neighbouring countries as those apply strict rules for organic manure; the biogas material is also considered to be organic manure. In Sukow there are also plans for the near future. At present they use the heat from the three units only partly to heat the barns. There are plans to build a drying installation for wood that will use the surplus heat. “This wood is pressed into woodpellets. One type of bioenergy to support another’’, concludes the hog farmer.
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“Last years corn, 2006, was of poor quality”, according to dairy farmer Rudie Denissen.
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New Energy April 2007
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April 2007
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