16.1

Greenhouse Gases

Aviation’s supporters point out that flying is responsible for just 2% of global carbon dioxide emissions. Even so, the industry is in the process of making a remarkable turnaround, fostered by external regulation and internal determination.

The science is simple — every tonne of aviation fuel burned produces 3.15 tonnes of greenhouse gas. Aviation’s industry body, the International Air Transport Association (IATA; www. iata. org), has responded in a number of ways, including programs to reduce fuel burned and testing renewable biofuels. Encouraged by past success in cutting carbon dioxide emissions, IATA recently increased its former target to use 6% of renewable source fuel by 2020 to 10% by 2017.

16.2

Seed oil can be extracted either hydraulically using a press or chemically using solvents. Chemical extraction can only be achieved in large industrial plants. Several types of mechanical equipment are available: screw presses (hand-or engine — powered), spindle presses, and hydraulic presses, which are distributed widely throughout developing countries for the extraction of seed oils for nutrition pur­poses. Hydraulic presses are widely used in Ghana, West Africa.

Take a country like Ethiopia, one of the poorest countries in Africa. The country spends yearly $800 million in oil imports, and could become completely self­sufficient in energy if it could attract sufficient capital and investors to cultivate Jatropha and castor.

3.1.11

Biokerosene

Another development is the hydrogenation of Jatropha crude oil to produce bio jet fuel or biokerosene. Basically, this process requires the extraction of oxygen and the addition of 30 kg hydrogen per tonne of Jatropha crude oil in order to lower the freezing point to —60°C and still be liquid. Chapter 17 deals exten­sively with biokerosene.

3.1.12

My company Mother Earth Investments AG is a bigger Friend of the Earth than the NGO "Friends of the Earth.” However, I think a discussion about Jatropha should highlight all of the pros and cons of the argument!

• Negatives. Biofuel demand is certainly driving a new "land grab” in Africa, with at least 5 million hectares (19 300 square miles) acquired by foreign firms to

grow crops in 11 countries, according to a study by the Friends of the Earth reported by Reuters in 2010. The contracts by European and Asian companies for land to grow sugarcane, Jatropha, and palm oil to be turned into fuel will involve clearing forests and vegetation, taking land that could be used for food and creating conflicts with local communities, Friends of the Earth said. Proponents of biofuels argue they are renewable and can help fight climate change because the growing plants ingest as much carbon dioxide from the air as the fuels made from them emit when burned. Critics say there is a risk of the crops infringing on land that could be used for growing food, and that destruction of rainforests to make way for palm oil and sugar outweighs any carbon benefits gained from the use of such fuels. Very often a distinction between existing agricultural land and forests, on the one hand, and new plantations on marginal land, on the other hand, is not being made. NGOs often state that forests and natural vegetation are turned into fuel crops, taking away food-growing farmland from communities and creating conflicts with local people over land ownership. The competition for land and the competi­tion for staple food crops such as rice, cassava, and sweet sorghum to produce biodiesel is likely to push up food and land prices.

• Positives. Other studies have suggested biofuel expansion would not be harmful and could even be beneficial for African agriculture. Researchers from Britain’s Imperial College, carbon trader CAMCO, and the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA; www. fara-africa. org) have stated that biofuels would boost investment in land and infrastructure. They said this could have a positive effect on food production and, if properly, managed would not mean destroying natural forests.

3.4.3

A halophyte is a plant that grows in salty water or can survive salt sprays, such as in saline semideserts, mangrove swamps, marshes and sloughs, and seashores.

Relatively few plant species are halophytes — perhaps only 2% of all existing plants in nature; 98% of all plant species are damaged fairly easily by salinity.

Salicornia is a promising halophyte for use as an oil-bearing crop. In the Middle East — especially in Qatar — a lot of research is concentrated in Salicornia as a source for biokerosene.

Adaptation to saline environments by halophytes may take the form of salt tolerance or salt avoidance. In other words, some plants can absorb the salt and others simply neglect it.

4.11

Sugarcane

Sugarcane is so inherently connected with Brazil that we have taken the liberty to describe all the ins and outs of sugarcane in Chapter 13 that is specifically devoted to biofuels in Brazil.

4.12

Miscanthus

The US Southeast and many parts of the Midwest are optimal regions for biomass production from high-yielding perennial grasses, and a renewable fuel sourced from Freedom Giant Miscanthus could easily meet this growing need. The grass can be pelletized (i. e., turned into energy pellets). The pellets can then be used by coal-fired electricity-generating plants as a source of low-emissions fuel. Currently, power plants from all over the world are buying pelletized Miscanthus. Europe is an especially strong market.

There are around 15 varieties and the plant can grow to heights of more than 3.5 meters per season. Its dry weight annual yield can reach 25 tonnes per hectare (10 tonnes per acre). It is sometimes called "Elephant grass.” Its rapid growth and high biomass yield makes it a favorite choice as a biofuel.

Miscanthus can be transformed into ethanol. It can also be burned to produce heat and steam for power turbines. It can be pelletized and it is usually not consumed by humans. When blended in a 50/50 mixture with coal, Miscanthus biomass can be used in some current coal-burning power plants without modifications.

4.13

As a member of the European Union, Poland is part of the EU ETS, aiming to reduce the European Union‘s greenhouse gas emissions and to stimulate the deployment oflow-carbon energy technologies. Poland is also bound by the Energy and Climate Package, which sets renewables and emissions reduction targets for 2020. However, Poland is also known to be the main advocate of a balanced approach towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Europe as it fears negative economic impacts.

In the European Union around 40% of all carbon dioxide emissions are affected by the EU ETS cap. Poland, however, depends totally on energy from coal and 60% of the country’s total emissions are covered by the EU ETS. Thus, Poland is expected to bear a disproportionally high cost for mitigating EU carbon dioxide emissions. By gradually closing the coal mines Poland fears an extra unemploy­ment of 100 000 people, which would cause a revolution in this country. Coal is a hugely strategic asset for the country so Poland is very much in favor of phasing out emissions gradually instead of drastically.

In June 2011, the Polish Government under the leadership of its re-elected Prime Minister Donald Tusk decided to block the European Commission’s Low-Carbon Roadmap for 2050. The proposed Roadmap sets intermediary emis­sions reduction targets up to 2050, aiming at an EU-wide emissions reduction target of 80-95% by 2050 and a specific target of 93-99% greenhouse gas emis­sions reduction for the power sector. In March 2012 Poland vetoed a second time the EU’s long term plans to cut carbon emissions. The Polish government fears a substantial increase in unemployment if thousands of jobs in the coal sector would be eliminated. Despite the veto the EU’s executive commission still wants to realize a low-carbon economy despite Poland’s objections.

Poland has one of the most carbon-intensive energy portfolios in all of Europe. Poland is vastly more reliant on coal for energy than most EU countries, meaning its emission difficulties are that much more challenging to overcome.

Currently, the carbon credit permits handed out to Poland and the Czech Republic are still free. However, this might change in 2013, when the EU’s new proposed ETS would force pollution emitters to buy carbon credit permits. Also, the new ETS would force up costs in Poland’s chemical, paper, and cement industry by about one-fifth. The costs may become so high that one major che­mical producer would probably leave Poland for a country with cheaper energy costs should the new ETS take effect.

8.11

13.1

introduction: Biofuel industry Leader

If we write about biofuels and bioenergy we must dedicate a chapter to the country that pioneered it all: Brazil. After the United States, Brazil is the world’s second largest producer of ethanol fuel. In 2011 Brazil produced 21.1 billion liters (5.57 billion gallons), representing 24.9% of the world’s total ethanol used as fuel. In addition Brazil imported in 2011 395.6 million gallons from the USA, up 300% from 2010. Brazil is considered to have the world’s first sustainable biofuels economy and be the biofuel industry leader, a policy model for other countries, and its sugarcane ethanol “the most successful alternative fuel to date.” However, some authors consider that the successful Brazilian ethanol model is sustainable only in Brazil due to its advanced agri-industrial technology and its enormous amount of arable land available.

Brazil’s 30-year-old ethanol fuel program is based on the most efficient agricultural technology for sugarcane cultivation in the world, uses modern equipment and cheap sugarcane as feedstock, and the residual cane waste (bagasse) is used to process heat and power, which results in a very competitive price and also in a high energy balance. In 2010, the US Environmental Protection Agency designated Brazilian sugarcane ethanol as an advanced biofuel due to its 61% reduction of total lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions, including direct indirect land-use change emissions (“EPA deems sugarcane ethanol an advanced biofuel;” domesticfuel. com).

Ethanol as a gasoline really took off in Brazil when the “flex-fuel car” was invented. A flex-fuel car runs on any blend of hydrous ethanol (E100) and gasoline (E20 to E25). There are no longer any light vehicles in Brazil running on pure gasoline. Since 1976, the government has made it mandatory to blend anhydrous ethanol with gasoline. Since 1 July 2007, the mandatory blend has been 25% of anhydrous ethanol and 75% gasoline (“E25 blend”).

A key to the development of the ethanol industry in Brazil was the investment in agricultural research and development by both the public and private sector. The work of EMBRAPA (www. embrapa. com), the state-owned company in charge of applied research on agriculture, together with research developed by other state

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.

institutes and universities, especially in the state of Sao Paulo, have allowed Brazil to become a major innovator in the fields of biotechnology and agronomic practices, resulting in the most efficient agricultural technology for sugarcane cultivation in the world. Efforts have been concentrated on increasing the effi­ciency of inputs and processes to optimize output per hectare of feedstock, and the result was a nearly 3-fold increase of sugarcane yields in 29 years, as Brazilian average ethanol yields went from 2024 liters per hectare in 1975 to 5917 liters per hectare in 2004. Brazilian biotechnologies include the development of 600 sugarcane varieties that have a larger sugar or energy content — one of the main drivers for high yields of ethanol per unit of planted area. I am convinced the same yield increase and plant varieties will happen with Jatropha.

13.2

Nuclear energy is not an option for many countries. In Asia, nuclear energy is big in Japan and China. In Europe, more and more resistance pops up against the use of nuclear energy, with the exception of France, where nuclear power has been traditionally the largest source of electricity generation. We witness an increase of electricity use in cars and all kinds of devices like mobile phones and laptops. Put simply, electricity is an increase in molecules speeding around themselves, and if the electricity is not used the speed slows down and electrical power “evaporates.” If you do not use your mobile phone for a week your battery has emptied con­siderably. The same phenomenon occurs with hydrogen — a powerful source of energy, but difficult to store. Even when you store hydrogen in a tank, the gas manages to escape and evaporate over time.

The investment strategy of one of the world’s largest commodity traders, with whom we work closely together, goes clearly towards energy generation and trading from renewable, second-generation biofuels and cultivate plants and bushes like Jatropha, Pongamia (Millettia Pinnata), Cranbe, and Camelina, which all basi­cally grow on marginal uncultivated land in order to produce liquid fuels. In addition, biotechnology plays a major role and enzymes can change the arrangements of molecules, so that waste, wood, and sugars can become bioker­osene. I will describe in this book how we can move towards a low-carbon society. This is the big future and this is the area where the big commodity companies are making big investments. You can do this for your portfolio as well.

1.11

There are several traditional propagation methods: direct seeding, precultivation of seedlings, transplanting ofspontaneous wild plants, and direct planting ofcuttings. What are the factors that influence the best propagation methods?

• Direct seeding. Important factors are the quality of the soil, and thus the seeding depth and quality of the seeds.

• Transplanting. This means transferring a plant from a nursery into a plantation. Here, type and length of precultivation are important plus the planting date. In practice: can a Jatropha plant, bred in a nursery in China grow well in a plantation in a different country like Laos or Indonesia?

• Cuttings. Here, the growing process starts in a nursery. As soon as the small plants or “stacks” are strong and resistant enough after a few months of growing, they are transplanted into the plantation.

Not all factors are of equal importance. The better the small plants are cultivated in the nurseries in the first 2 months, the higher the oil yields will be later on. Successful precultivation is characterized by high germination rates of seeds, irrigation, high sprouting rates of cuttings, and survival. Basing the propagation method on rainfall conditions eventually combined with irrigation in the first 2 months plays an important role in the survival of the plant in the field. There­fore, it is important to collect and analyze rainfall data for the future plantation before any investments are made.

To establish quick hedges and plantations for erosion control, directly planted cuttings are best suited.

How much space should there be between plants? Satisfactory planting widths are 2 x 2, 2.5 x 2.5, and 3 m x 3 m. This is equivalent to crop densities of 2500, 1600, and 1111 plants per hectare. Ideally, the stem of a tree should not grow vertically, but branch out quickly as soon as it comes above ground to generate as many branches and bunches of fruits as possible. This can only be realized when there is enough growing space between trees. Plants propagated by cuttings show

a lower longevity, and possess a lower drought and disease resistance, than plants propagated by seeds.

The plants set widest apart have the best vegetative development and the highest seed yields.

Algae have been studied for many years as a potential renewable energy feedstock to produce motor fuels. Several aspects make algae an attractive fuel in the future, but there are many technological and economic challenges in algae cultivation, harvesting, and oil extraction that must be addressed before algae-based fuels can be commercially produced on a large scale.

Algae are plant-like organisms that convert light, carbon dioxide, water, nitro­gen, and phosphorus into oxygen and biomass. This includes lipids — the generic name for the primary storage form of natural oils. Single-cell algae (“microalgae”) are a compelling case of clean energy generators, because of the speed and effi­ciency with which they produce these lipids.

However, this green slime we know as algae can be very delicate, because algae are sometimes contaminated by bacteria, viruses, and even other undesirable algal species. These negative influences can reduce the quality and yield of the lipids.

Each Cell is a
Tiny Ethanol
Factory

Algae are like "free radicals” and they are not domesticated. Research today is concentrated on developing algal species efficient at lipid production and resistant to contamination.

Figure 4.2 provides a schematic overview of how algae can produce ethanol using sunlight through the process of photosynthesis.

The big attraction of algae is energy storage. Algae can produce more lipids per acre or hectare of harvested land than terrestrial plants because of this high lipid content and extremely rapid growth rates. In the United States, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) estimates that the oil yield for a moderately productive algal species could be about 1200 gallons per acre (compared to 48 gallons per acre for soybeans) (www. nrel. gov/docs/fy08osti/42414.pdf).

The high productivity of algae could significantly reduce the land use associated with the production of biofuels. For example, it would take 62.5 million acres of soybeans (an area approximately the size of Wyoming) to produce the same 3 billion gallons of oil that could be produced from only 2.5 million acres of algae (an area approximately 70% the size of Connecticut). Three billion gallons of biodiesel represent about 8% of all the diesel fuel used for on-road transportation in the United States in 2008.

Algae have other desirable properties. Some can be grown on non-arable or non­productive land. They grow in brackish, saline, and fresh water, and can thrive in wastewater. Although algae can also produce valuable products such as vitamins and dietary supplements, they are not themselves a human food source so there is no direct competition between food and fuel. They do, however, compete with some of the nutrients required for growing food. Since they require carbon dioxide for growth, algae can also sequester carbon dioxide from power plants or other carbon dioxide sources.

Currently, there are “open” and “closed” approaches to cultivating algae. Open cultivation essentially grows algae much like it grows in nature. Open systems usually consist of one or more ponds exposed to the atmosphere, or protected in greenhouses. Although open systems are the cheapest of the current cultivation approaches, they create more risk for contamination. Other disadvantages include lack of temperature and light control, requiring that open systems must be located where the climate is warm and sunlight is abundant, such as in California.

Closed systems, called photobioreactors, typically comprise enclosed translucent containers that allow photosynthesis to occur. The plastic or glass containers are arranged to maximize algae exposure to light. Indoor systems require artificial light, while outdoor systems can use natural sunlight or a combination of sunlight and artificial illumination. In closed systems, temperature, evaporation loss, light intensity, and contamination by other algal species can be controlled better. However, elements needed for algal growth, such as water, carbon dioxide, and other minerals, must be artificially introduced. Scaling these input requirements for commercial production is difficult and expensive. Capital costs for closed systems are generally substantially higher than for open systems. Algae can be grown in closed systems anywhere in the world.

Scalability remains a major obstacle. Harvesting and oil extraction are relatively costly. Large volumes of water are needed to be managed and recycled in the processing of algae. In addition, the use of chemical solvents for extracting the oil and energy requirements for each phase of the harvesting and oil extraction process add cost to the process. Once the oil has been extracted, various conversion pathways exist for transforming the oil into a liquid fuel. Just like with Jatropha crude oil, “transesterification” is the pathway from algae oil to biodiesel. Alter­natively, you can refine crude oil of algae oil into jet fuel, very similar to fuels produced from petroleum.

Currently, most estimates of the production cost of algal oil range from $4 to $40 per gallon depending on the type of cultivation system used. Despite the many challenges, however, the US government, large energy companies, and venture capitalists are continuing to fund demonstration projects and research to develop large-scale algae-based biofuels for commercial application.

According to the German newspaper Der Spiegel (15 April 2009), Billy Glover, managing director of Environmental Strategy for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said that Jatropha and Camelina represented the strongest near-term options; algae were described as technically acceptable, but “not quite ready for prime time” in

terms of developing a means of delivering large quantities of algae-based fuels on a commercial scale at the present time. Boeing has also commented that they believe algae-derived jet fuel will be the mainstay in the 2030-2050 time period.

Among the attractive characteristics of algal fuels are that they do not affect freshwater resources, can be produced anywhere in the world using ocean and wastewater, and are biodegradable and relatively harmless to the environment if spilled. Algae cost more per kilogram, yet can yield over 30 times more energy per hectare than other, second-generation biofuel crops. During photosynthesis, algae and other photosynthetic organisms capture carbon dioxide and sunlight, and convert them into oxygen and biomass. Up to 99% of the carbon dioxide in solution can be converted. The production of biofuels from algae does not reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide, because any carbon dioxide taken out of the atmosphere by the algae is returned when the biofuels are burned. They do, however, eliminate the introduction of new carbon dioxide by displacing fossil hydrocarbon fuels.

4.2.2

Jatropha plants naturally attract a large bee population as their flowers are polli­nated by bees. SORESIN purchases and assists communities in the construction and installation of bee hives in strategic locations within a project area. Tending the hives as well as selling the harvested honey provides an additional source of lasting income to the communities while helping our Jatropha trees thrive and prosper.

6.7.3

Company-Community Committees

Before SORESIN begins work on any parcel of land, SORESIN works in concert with governmental and tribal authorities as well as the members of the commu­nity to assure the project is successful not simply from a profit-return standpoint, but also that is undertaken in a way that truly benefits the people directly affected by its presence in a region. SORESIN asks questions and listen, and then works with community leaders to develop a specific plan to address everything from farmland protection and fire safety to health issues and child welfare.

Then, to assure the plan is followed and that the lines ofcommunication remain open, Community Committees are formed for each community in the project area, as well as a Company-Community Committee that includes representatives from each of the Community Committees, members of both local tribal and govern­mental bodies, youth and women’s groups representatives, opinion leaders, and company representatives. This primary committee is responsible for handling any issues, concerns, grievances, requests, and needs, and for passing along informa­tion and announcements to ensure understanding of all company undertakings.

6.7.4