When the harvesting of sugarcane was done manually, the straw of sugarcane was burned to eliminate snakes and flies. Now, however, with about a 50% mechanical harvest, the sugarcane straw is preserved and its energy can be harnessed in one of two ways:

• More electricity. The straw can be burned alongside bagasse in high-efficiency boilers to produce even more bioelectricity. Experts estimate that sugarcane bioelectricity could reach 11 500 average MW by 2015 if all potential sources are fully developed. That would be enough energy to cover 15% of Brazil’s electricity needs. Or looked at another way, it could power an entire country the size of Sweden or Argentina.

• More ethanol. Straw can also be used as an input to produce the biofuel called cellulosic ethanol. Once perfected at a commercial scale, cellulosic ethanol holds the potential to double the volume of fuel available from the same amount of land planted with sugarcane.

13.14

Bioplastics

With volatile oil prices and growing concerns about greenhouse gas emissions, the chemical industry is looking for renewable alternatives to diversify its sources of raw materials. Sugarcane ethanol has emerged as an important ingredient to substitute for petroleum in the production of plastic. These so-called “bioplastics” have the same physical and chemical properties as regular plastic (the most com­mon type is known technically as PET) and maintain full recycling capabilities.

13.16 Cautionary Notes | 167

The benefits of bioplastics are that they are:

• Renewable. Sugarcane replaces 30% or more of the petroleum that would otherwise be used to manufacture the plastic.

• Lower carbon footprint. Each tonne of bioplastic produced avoids the emission of 2-2.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide on a lifecycle basis.

The use of bioplastics is still developing. A number of leading companies have already established themselves as major players in this emerging area. In 2009, The Coca-Cola Company launched PlantBottle™ — a bioplastic made with Brazilian sugarcane that the company billed as containing up to 30% plant material and being 100% recyclable. Since then, Coca-Cola has shipped more than 2.5 billion beverages worldwide using PlantBottle packaging.

The production of bioplastic in Brazil is led by national petrochemical giant Braskem. The company has invested around $290 million to produce 200 000 tonnes of sugarcane-based polyethylene annually in southern Brazil.

Another form of bioplastic is polyhydroxybutyrate manufactured by PHB Industrial S/A using 100% Brazilian technology. This bioplastic, which goes by the branded name Biocycle, is produced entirely from sugarcane bagasse or municiple waste, making it completely biodegradable and compostable. Biocycle can be used in autoparts, cosmetics packaging, toys, credit cards, cutlery, agricultural parts, and more.

13.15

"Second-generation biofuels” can be derived from plants like Jatropha, Pongamia, and Camelina. Also in this category is seaweed (“algae”) and straw or switchgrass.

As stated above, biodiesel can be made from vegetable oils, animal fats, or recycled greases. Biodiesel can be used as a fuel for vehicles or cruise ships, or backup power in its purest form, but it is usually used as a diesel additive to reduce levels of particulate matter, carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons from diesel-powered vehicles. Biodiesel is produced from oils or fats using transesterification and is the most common biofuel in Europe. Figure 2.2 shows average yield rates per hectare under optimal conditions. However, bear in mind that these extraction rates can vary greatly, due to global warming, droughts, floods, fertilizer use, pesticide use, and so on. As can be seen in Figure 2.2, it is remarkable that palm oil has by far the biggest yield: 7133 liters per hectare. A lot of money and research is going into Jatropha, and I am convinced that the yield of Jatropha will be doubled in the coming 5 years. It is also remarkable how small the oil yield from soybeans or corn is, compared to Jatropha!

2.5

Active carbon can be produced from the seedcake. Active carbon is a form of carbon that has been processed to make it extremely porous and thus to have a very large surface area available for adsorption or chemical reaction. Due to its high degree of microporosity, just 1 g of activated carbon has a surface area in excess of 500 m2.

Activated carbon has many applications, and is used in gas purification, gold purification, metal extraction, water purification, medicine, sewage treatment, air filters in gas masks and filter masks, filters in compressed air, and in many other applications. One major industrial application involves the use of activated carbon in the metal-finishing field. It is very widely employed for purification of elec­troplating solutions. For example, it is a main purification technique for removing organic impurities from bright nickel-plating solutions.

Activated carbon also has environmental applications and is usually used in water filtration systems. Carbon adsorption has numerous applications in removing pol­lutants from air or water streams both in the field and in industrial processes, such as:

• Spill cleanup.

• Groundwater remediation.

• Drinking water filtration.

• Air purification.

• Volatile organic compound capture from painting, dry cleaning, gasoline dispensing operations, and other processes.

In addition, activated carbon has important medical applications, and is used to treat poisonings and overdoses following oral ingestion. Activated charcoal has become the treatment of choice for many poisonings. Tablets or capsules of activated charcoal are used in many countries as an over-the-counter drug to treat diarrhea, indigestion, and flatulence. There is some evidence of its effectiveness as a treatment for irritable bowel syndrome.

A lot of research is going into various types of active carbon in terms of fuel storage to test its ability to store natural gas and hydrogen gas. The inner layer of hydrogen tanks are tubes of active carbon. The porous material acts like a sponge for different types of gasses and the gas is attracted to the carbon material.

Gas storage in activated carbon is an appealing method because the gas can be stored in a low-pressure, low-mass, and low-volume environment, which is much safer then storage in big compression tanks, where the danger of explosions is much higher.

Filters with activated carbon are usually used in compressed air and gas pur­ification systems to remove oil vapors, odors, and other hydrocarbons from the air. The most common designs use a one — or two-stage filtration principle in which activated carbon is embedded inside the filter media. Activated charcoal filters are used to retain radioactive gases from boiling-water reactor turbine condensers in the nuclear industry. The air vacuumed from the condenser contains traces of

radioactive gases. The large charcoal beds absorb these gases and retain them while they rapidly decay to non-radioactive solid species. The solids are trapped in the charcoal particles, while the filtered air passes through.

In the distilled alcoholic beverage industry, activated carbon filters can, for instance, be used to filter vodka and whiskey of organic impurities that can affect the color, taste, and odor. Passing an organically impure vodka through an activated carbon filter at the proper flow rate will result in vodka with an identical alcohol content and significantly increased organic purity, as judged by odor and taste.

More and more products use ultra lightweight active carbon, like tennis rackets, car bodies and so on. The Formula 1 racing car designer McLaren has constructed an ultra light car made of active carbon.

The good news is that Indonesia’s deforestation rate has fallen in the last decade from 1.7% in the 1990s to 0.5% between 2000 and 2010, according to World Growth, an NGO (www. worldgrowth. org).

The latest data from the United Nations has significantly revised Indonesian deforestation rates downwards, demolishing many claims that Indonesia has the world’s highest deforestation rates. The new data has come as a solace for the sustainable palm oil campaigners who argue that the palm oil industry can grow without harming the environment or adding to global warming.

In 2005, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)’s Forest Resources Assessment reported that there were 88.5 million hectares of forested land in

Indonesia and an annual deforestation rate of 1.8 million hectares or 2% per year between 2000 and 2005. In 2005, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)’s Forest Resources Assessment reported that there were 88.5 million hec­tares of forested land in Indonesia and an annual deforestation rate of 1.8 million hectares or 2% per year between 2000 and 2005.

The good news is that Indonesia’s deforestation rate has fallen in the last decade from 1.7% in the 1990s to 0.5% between 2000 and 2010, according to World Growth, an NGO (www. worldgrowth. org).

These latest data have significantly revised Indonesian deforestation rates downwards, demolishing many claims that Indonesia has the world’s highest deforestation rates. For instance Greenpeace claimed, that Indonesia has the highest rate of deforestation of any country in the world, equivalent to the dis­appearance of 300 football fields every minute.

The new data has come as a solace for the sustainable palm oil campaigners who argue that the palm oil industry can grow without harming the environment or adding to global warming.

While these figures are regularly reshuffled based on new data, it is clear that the environmental campaigns against development based on claims of "rampant deforestation” are grossly overstated.

Will environmental campaigners acknowledge the new data? The numbers have a significant impact on many of the claims made in the campaigns against Indone­sian forestry and agriculture, the key one being that Indonesia is the world’s third — largest greenhouse gas emitter, World Growth said.

Table 4.2 shows that palm oil is the vegetable oil with the largest world consumption.

4.3.7

It is a small step from biofuels to biomass. “Bio” means life and biomass is bio­logical material in great volume derived from living organisms.

The feedstock of biomass can be plants, vegetables, animals, or wood. Mankind has been burning wood to create heat for thousands of years and this is still done today all over the world. To go a step further, the heat from burning biomass can also be used to boil water and create steam. This steam can be used to generate electricity in steam turbines. Biomass as a feedstock for heat and the electricity contributes to a significant reduction in net carbon emissions, compared with fossil fuels.

The latest technology is using enzymes to change the structure of the biomass molecules out of which renewable, low-carbon sustainable fuels can be produced, such as biodiesel or biokerosene.

Amazingly, the major part of biomass in our world is not used. It is lying around in nature, on garbage dumps, or just rotting away. Most humans are not conscious of the fact that biomass can be recycled and used as an environmentally friendly heating, electricity, or fuel source. The most striking example of wasted biomass are the branches of palm trees in Indonesia and Malaysia. Indonesia has around

5.5 million hectares of palm plantations and Malaysia around 4.5 million hectares. The fruit of the palm tree is supported by two or three huge tree branches called “fronds.” To get the fruit out of the tree, the fronds are cut off, and fruits and fronds fall down below the tree. The fruits are loaded on trucks and transported to the palm mills. The fronds, however, are left behind and are just rotting away. For the Malays and Indonesians this is waste, for me it is it worth more than gold! The green leaves of the fronds contain a high degree of cellulosic fibers, which can be converted into ethanol with the help of enzymes and microbes. The leftovers can be pelletized into agripellets.

Second Generation Biofuels and Biomass: Essential Guide for Investors, Scientists and Decision Makers, First Edition. Roland A. Jansen. r 2013 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.

Published 2013 by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.

8.2

Key industries that will gain from Beijing’s 4 trillion Yuan injection in the new 5-year plan are:

• New energy.

• New materials.

• Information technology.

• Biology and new medicine.

• Energy conservation and environmental protection.

• Aerospace.

• Marine.

• Advanced manufacturing.

• Hi-tech services.

China’s investment in environmental protection, which includes wastewater treatment and pollution control, reached more than $224 billion during the past 11th 5-year plan (2006-2010). China’s 12th Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development (2011-2015) aims for an installed solar energy capacity of 10 giga­watts by the end of the period. China plans to to spend $473.1 billion on clean energy investments in the next five years.

Much of the funding will come from the Bank of China, which recently signed a memorandum with the Ministry of Environmental Protection undertaking to increase its support for environmentally friendly, profit-oriented projects, and the development of suitable technology and equipment. Loans for energy-intensive or polluting industrial projects will be cut.

China may start levying a carbon tax and further boost prices of fossil fuel for the next 5 years as a crucial incentive to cut greenhouse gas emissions and help realize green targets. We expect China will start to levy various taxes only if they are helpful in mitigating greenhouse emissions and developing a low-carbon economy.

Apart from a carbon tax, the government may begin also to levy environmental and resource taxes. Meanwhile, China will greatly boost subsidies to support low — carbon technology research and development.

The government is serious about realizing its target of cutting carbon intensity by 40-45% by 2020 from 2005 levels and the government will implement "tougher measures” in the coming 5 years to realize the green goal. China will possibly surpass the United States between 2020 to 2025 in terms of research and devel­opment investment, and become a world leader low-carbon technology.

12.6

Figure 15.1 shows the main global emitters of carbon dioxide. Indeed, the airlines emit a surprisingly low 2%, but they are very visible and I think they can reduce their carbon dioxide output substantially further in the future.

About 15 000 aircraft service nearly 10 000 airports and operate over routes approximately 15 million km in total length. More the 2.2 billion passengers flew on the world’s airlines for vacation and business travel, and in excess of a third of the value of the world’s manufactured exports were transported by air. Further, as already mentioned, the aviation industry generates 32 million jobs worldwide and contributes nearly 8% to world gross domestic product. It goes without saying that air transportation has a big economic footprint. However, the aviation industry is not immune to the impact it has on climate change. As the aviation skies continue to crowd, so does the impact of carbon dioxide emissions.

Air travel is the world’s fastest growing source of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (http://www. scielo. cl/pdf/jotmi/v5n2/art06.pdf). Globally, the world’s commercial jet aircraft fleet generates more than 700 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2011.

Land use change & forestry 25% Building light and heat 20%

Industrial processes 3%

Other electricity and heat 12%

Other transport 2% Chemicals 6%

Air travel 2% Cement 5%

Road 13% Other industry 2%

Figure 15.1 Total global carbon dioxide emissions. Source: www. sascargo. com.

One person flying a return trip between Europe and New York generates between 1.5 and 2 tonnes of carbon dioxide. This is approximately the amount a European generates at home for heating and electricity in 1 year. Crowded skies translate to more flights, which equates to more consumption and waste. Con­suming more in the aviation industry equates to more greenhouse gas emissions, which negatively adds to global warming. Most experts believe that air travel could double within 15 years if current trends persist. By 2050, the IPCC believes that aircraft could account for up to 15% of the global warming impact from all human activities.

While much of the carbon dioxide is absorbed on Earth in plants and the ocean surface, a huge amount goes into the atmosphere, where it and other gases create a kind of lid around the globe — the so-called greenhouse effect. Heat that would normally escape into space is thus reflected back to Earth, raising global tem­peratures. Apart from engine efficiency and improvement of aircraft design, lighter composite materials, and better aerodynamics, finding an alternative fuel is part of the challenge for the aviation industry.

Like Boeing, Airbus has partnered with Honeywell Aerospace, International Aero Engines, and Jet Blue Airways in the pursuit of developing a sustainable second-generation biofuel for commercial jet use, with the hope of reducing the aviation industry’s environmental footprint. Alternative fuel research is a core tenet of the ecoefficiency initiatives of Airbus.

Aviation consumes approximately 240 million tonnes of kerosene a year. Replacing the current aviation fuel with biofuels from productive arable land that does not compete with food production would take almost 1.4 million km2, which is greater than twice the area of France. I do not think this is a good solution and a feedstock range of energy providers, such as waste, grass, woodchips, and algae, should complete the second-generation fuels, such as Pongamia, Crambe, Jatropha, and Camelina.

178 | 15 General Aviation and Biofuels

15.8

Some of the greatest advances come from taking old ideas or technologies and making them accessible to millions of people who are poor and underprivileged. One area where this is desperately needed is access to electricity. In the age of the iPad and Facebook, it is easy to forget that roughly a quarter of the world’s population — about 1.5 billion — still lack electricity. This is not just an incon­venience — it takes a severe toll on economic life, education, and health. It is esti­mated that 2 million people die prematurely each year as a result of pulmonary diseases caused by the indoor burning of fuels for cooking and light. Close to half are children who die of pneumonia.

In vast stretches of the developing world, after the sun sets, everything goes dark. In sub-Saharan Africa, about 70% of the population lack electricity. However, no country has more citizens living without power than India, where more than 400 million

people, the vast majority of them villagers, have no electricity. The place that remains most in darkness is Bihar, India’s poorest state, which has more than 80 million people, 85% of whom live in households with no grid connection. As Bihar has nowhere near the capacity to meet its current power demands, even those few with connections receive electricity sporadically and often at odd hours, like between 3:00 a. m. and 6:00 a. m., when it is of little use.

An “off-grid” solution can be Jatropha. The fruits of Jatropha contain oil that can be burned in lamps. Jatropha as a provider of light is the very first simple appli­cation, and comes way before biodiesel and biokerosene. When in the near future we will profit from huge Jatropha plantations, the leaves of the plant will be a valuable biomass. Fed into a power plant, electricity can be generated indepen­dently from central grids and light up the lamps.

3.1.9

The United States has good reasons, on economic grounds alone, to look to bio­fuels to offset its dependence on fossil-based oils for transportation fuels. In addition, there is energy security to consider, as well as the global effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

With respect to energy security, it is estimated that 10% of all US military casualties come from the delivery of fuel. Even if it were true that none of the deployments of US troops had anything to do with the protection of Middle Eastern oil fields and the sea lanes that connect the West to them — even if it were untrue that the cost of fuel in forward military areas reaches $418 per gallon — the cost of delivering military fossil fuels is far too high in terms of human life.

The casualties are a direct outcome of the distance between oil fields and for­ward military areas. Biofuels have the potential to shorten supply lines, reduce costs, and save lives, not to mention the reduction in the strategic value of certain bloody corridors the West feels obligated to defend, clear, or secure.

3.4

Moringa trees grow easily from seeds or cuttings. They grow quickly even in poor soil and bloom 8 months after planting. After the trees have stopped producing fruits each year, the branches need to be cut off so that fresh branches can grow again. These loose branches are excellent cuttings or stacks for growing new trees. The seeds do not have dormant periods and can be planted throughout the year.

4.8.2

Medicinal Applications

There are a number of medical conditions where a treatment with Moringa has been very effective, also in ancient times: anemia, asthma, blood pressure, bron­chitis, cholera, diabetes, diarrhea, fever, gonorrhea, malaria, respiratory disorders, skin infections, stomach ulcers, tuberculosis, and tumors.

Nutritional analysis has shown that Moringa leaves are extremely nutritious. In fact, they contain larger amounts of several important nutrients than the common foods often associated with these nutrients. These include vitamin C, which fights a host of illnesses including colds and flu; vitamin A, which acts as a shield against eye disease, skin disease, heart ailments, diarrhea, and many other diseases; cal­cium, which builds strong bones and teeth and helps prevent osteoporosis; potassium, which is essential for the functioning of the brain and nerves, and proteins, the basic building blocks of all our body cells.

Here are some comparisons:

We know of Moringa fields that are harvested every 35 days — nine crops per year — with a total yield of 650-700 tonnes of green matter per hectare! The yield has been consistent from the same plants for 7 years.

4.8.3