Biofuels are currently in the middle of a heated academic and public policy debate. Biofuel production has increased fivefold in the past decade and is expected to further double by 2020. Most of ...this expansion will happen in developing nations. This volume is the first of its kind, providing a comprehensive overview of the biofuel debate in developing countries. The chapters are written by a multidisciplinary team of experts, exposing the key drivers and impacts of biofuel production and use. The book covers impacts as diverse as air pollution, biodiversity loss, deforestation, energy security, food security, greenhouse gas emissions, land use change, rural development, water consumption and other socioeconomic issues. Its wide focus accommodates examples from countries in Africa, America and Asia. As such, this book will become an indispensable companion to academics, practitioners and policy makers who wish to know more about biofuel issues in the developing world.
A series of bifunctional catalysts, MoSsub.2/Alsub.2Osub.3 (70 wt.%), zeolite (30 wt.%) (zeolite—ZSM-5, ZSM-12, and ZSM-22), and silica aluminophosphate SAPO-11, were synthesized for hydroconversion ...of methyl palmitate (10 wt.% in dodecane) in a trickle-bed reactor. Mo loading was about 7 wt.%. Catalysts and supports were characterized by different physical-chemical methods (HRTEM-EDX, SEM-EDX, XRD, Nsub.2 physisorption, and FTIR spectroscopy). Hydroprocessing was performed at a temperature of 250–350 °C, hydrogen pressure of 3.0–5.0 MPa, liquid hourly space velocity (LHSV) of 36 hsup.−1, and an Hsub.2/feed ratio of 600 Nmsup.3/msup.3. Complete conversion of oxygen-containing compounds was achieved at 310 °C in the presence of MoSsub.2/Alsub.2Osub.3-zeolite catalysts; the selectivity for the conversion of methyl palmitate via the ‘direct’ hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) route was over 85%. The yield of iso-alkanes gradually increases in order: MoSsub.2/Alsub.2Osub.3 < MoSsub.2/Alsub.2Osub.3-ZSM-12 < MoSsub.2/Alsub.2Osub.3-ZSM-5 < MoSsub.2/Alsub.2Osub.3-SAPO-11 < MoSsub.2/Alsub.2Osub.3-ZSM-22. The sample MoSsub.2/Alsub.2Osub.3-ZSM-22 demonstrated the highest yield of iso-alkanes (40%). The hydroisomerization activity of the catalysts was in good correlation with the concentration of Brønsted acid sites in the synthesized supports.
Food versus fuel Rosillo-Calle, Frank; Johnson, Francis
2010., 2010, 2013-04-04, 2010-09-23, 20100101
eBook, Book
Presents an introduction to the science and economics behind a well-worn debate, that debunks myths and provides quality facts and figures for academics and practitioners in development studies, ...environment studies, and agricultural studies.
Developing efficient catalysts for biomass hydrodeoxygenation into high-quality biofuels and chemicals is a current topic of great interest. In this study, Ni.sub.2P catalysts supported on different ...zeolites (MCM-41, HY, Hbeta) were fabricated for vanillin hydrodeoxygenation by one-pot method instead of temperature-programmed reduction (TPR). The prepared catalysts were characterized using XRD, XPS, NH.sub.3-TPD and N.sub.2 physisorption. The results showed that the support has a significant influence on the reactivity of the Ni.sub.2P-based catalyst. The Ni.sub.2P/HY catalyst contains a higher acid site density, which leads to the almost complete conversion of vanillin to the quantitative yield of 2-methoxy-4-methylphenol (MMP) via direct hydrogenolysis path at 220 °C, 5 h and 2 MPa of H.sub.2.
The yield potential of switchgrass was verified by testing seven cultivars in a small-scale experiment carried out from 2018 to 2022 on Gleyic Fluvisol under Central European conditions. The ...treatments are as follows: pre-sowing (i/HA) soil humic preparation Humac AGRO (based on leonardite) with an ameliorative dose of 1000.0 kg hasup.−1 or (ii/NPK) basic nutrition with a dose of 220.0 kg hasup.−1 NPK; an annual dose of 70 kg hasup.−1 N was applied to both treatments (HA, NPK) and compared to (iii/UC) untreated control. A dry matter (DM) yield of 9.02 t hasup.−1 was achieved in the total average, which varied from 0.05 t hasup.−1 to 60.64 t hasup.−1. The yield was affected mainly by years (F-ratio 106.64), then by nutrition (F-ratio 79.03), followed by cultivars (F-ratio 56.87), and finally by replications (F-ratio 0.00). Switchgrass productivity increased according to the utility year; however, the driest year (2020-388 mm, 2021-372 mm, and 2022-288 mm) changed the order of the three full utility years (12.44, 19.13, and 7.73 t hasup.−1 DM, respectively). HA gives the highest DM yield of 13.69 t hasup.−1 on average with values of 9.19 and 4.19 for NPK and UC, respectively. The cultivars order was EG 1101 ˃ BO Master ˃ EG 1102 ˃ Kanlow ˃ Alamo ˃ Carthage ˃ NJ Ecotype (21.15, 12.48, 8.14, 7.70, 6.34, 4.47, and 2.89 t hasup.−1 DM when ranking average yield or 60.64, 45.20, 29.92, 29.15, 17.87, 9.86, and 5.93 t hasup.−1 DM when ranking maximal yields).
Biofuels play an important role in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, but their production results in greenhouse gases such as nitrous oxide (Nsub.2O), mainly from nitrogen (N) fertilization. ...Brassica carinata (carinata) is an unexplored winter crop in the world's main cropping areas, with multiple applications (cover crop, jet biofuel, and animal feed, among others). We analyzed a set of on-farm fertilization experiments (2016-2018) in southern South America using quantile regression to establish a baseline for both seed yield (Ysub.SEED) and the different components of nitrogen-use efficiency (NUE). Maximum Ysub.SEED for the 50th and 90th percentiles ranged from 2.5 to 3.5 Mg hasup.−1, with a N availability of 150-160 kg hasup.−1 (soil + fertilization). The NUE ranged from 3 to 13 kg seed per kg of N available. Carinata, in the absence of other limiting factors, had a high N uptake (Nsub.UPT) capacity (1.0 to 1.5 kg hasup.−1 Nsub.UPT per kg hasup.−1 N available soil + fertilization). The explored N fertilization rates had no significant influence on oil concentrations (455 to 517 g kgsup.−1) and protein concentrations (192 to 253 g kgsup.−1). The region has a high potential for carinata production, with a high capacity to take up available N.
Prickly pear is a species that shows great capability to grow in harsh environments with potential for being used as an energy resource. The aim of this paper was to characterize prickly-pear mature ...cladodes in terms of chemical, proximal, and fuel properties, as well as to study the drying kinetics of this biomass after pretreatments destined to expose the internal tissues of mature cladodes to different temperatures. The results show that prickly-pear biomass was a poor-quality solid biofuel due to a low calorific value (12.9 MJ/kg d.m.b.) and a high ash content (25.8 wt.%). When drying prickly-pear biomass, cutting the cladodes to expose the internal tissues significantly increased the drying rate, especially when temperatures of 60 °C and above were employed. Double exponential (three parameters) and Midilli were the models that best fitted the experimental curves of prickly-pear cladodes cut into straps and cubes when dried at 50–70 °C. Finally, the bulk density of the prickly-pear biomass was similar to the one obtained for herbaceous biomasses, thus suggesting that further densification will enhance the usability of this feedstock.