Development Of Biofuel Technologies Research Articles

Large Scale Microalgae Biofuel Technology—Development Perspectives in Light of the Barriers and Limitations

Microalgal biomass can be used to derive many different types of biofuels. In order to widely commercialize this technology, its limitations and weaknesses must be eliminated. Many technical and economic issues also need to be clarified and unknowns answered. Microalgae-based technologies have been shown to be versatile, efficient and suitable for practical and commercial use. However, the current technological readiness level (TRL) of most microalgae-based bioenergy production systems precludes their quick and widespread implementation. Their development is limited by a combination of factors that must be precisely identified, after which their negative impact on scale-up prospects can be eliminated or minimized. The present study identifies the main barriers to the development of industrial microalgae-production and microalgae-to-biofuel systems. In addition, it proposes measures and efforts necessary to achieve a higher TRL, which will provide investors with sought-after performance and cost-efficiency data for the given project. The main barriers to the development of microalgae cultivation and processing systems have been identified to include: the complex nature of the cultivation process with multiple variables involved; lack of sufficient data from pilot-scale and near-full-scale plants, which often precludes reliable life cycle assessment (LCA); and insufficient legal assistance, advisory assistance, subsidies and funding for innovative projects. Potential ways of improving performance and competitiveness of microalgae-based systems include: process optimization techniques, genetic engineering, yield improvement through advanced process control and monitoring, use of waste as feedstock and dedicated support programs. The presented summary of the current stage of microalgal biofuel production technology development indicates the directions for further research and implementation work, which are necessary for the final verification of the application potential of these solutions.

Comparative Analysis of Biotechnology Market Development in the BRICS Countries under the World Economy Decarbonization

Subject. Rising prices for mineral fuels, their depletion, dependence of many countries on energy imports are the main factors for countries to switch to alternative fuels. Biofuels provide energy security, reduce environmental damage, and contribute to agriculture development. Objectives. Our aim is to analyze the BRICS countries policies on bioenergy development, to assess the degree of their compliance with the roadmap for decarbonization of the world economy by 2050. Methods. The study employs methods of bibliographic analysis, descriptive statistics, and comparative analysis. It applies statistical materials of the World Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the UN Climate Program, recent works by Russian and foreign scientists on bioenergy economics. Results. The analysis of time series of data on generation of bioenergy and capacities for bioenergy production in the BRICS countries revealed that Brazil was a leader in bioenergy development until 2019. Then it was replaced by China that increased the production capacity in bioenergy. Both these countries have had a steady growth of bioenergy capacities for ten recent years. The growth is also observed in India, but in Russia and South Africa, bioenergy is poorly developed, and no growth occurs. Conclusions. With competent implementation of the State policy to support biofuels, the development of biofuel technologies can bring significant economic and social benefits. However, the development of biofuel production requires a legal framework, clarity in the implementation of biofuel policies, and incentive mechanisms, like mandatory standards for fuel blends.

DEVELOPMENT OF BIOENERGY AS A PRIORITY DIRECTION OF GRAIN MARKET ACTIVATION IN UKRAINE

The article examines the role and importance of bioenergetics as a priority area of the grain market activation, outlines its state and problems, identifies approaches of its development considering current challenges and demands. The need to develop bioenergetics is associated with the rapid growth of the production of grain and grain-legume crops, which generates additional challenges and problems. It is worth noting among these: intensification of competition in global markets; reduction of the world prices and, consequently, the decrease in export revenues; lack of capacity and warehouses for reliable storage and high-quality processing of grain and their obsolescence; low logistical capacity of domestic ports and railway transport; limited distribution channels; increasing unemployment in rural areas due to the application of modern innovative agricultural technologies with high productivity; low capacity of processing plants; deformation of traditional production chains. This research clarifies the role of bioenergetics as a priority area for activation of the grain market, outlines its state and problems, and identifies the approaches to its development considering current challenges and demands. The greatest threats to the implementation of plans concerning the development of biofuel technologies in Ukraine are the following: 1) steady tendency towards a decrease in energy prices on the world market is the risk of the unprofitability of biofuel technologies; 2) unstable tax legislation poses financial investment risks; 3) non-market prices for competing fuels for the population (in particular, electricity and gas) results in the lack of population’s incentive to turn to alternative energy sources; 4) lack of sufficient capacity to store the required volumes of guaranteed sources of raw materials; 5) shortcomings in effective mechanisms to stimulate renewable energy, etc. Elimination and overcoming of the above-mentioned barriers will intensify biomass involvement in country’s energy balance and contribute significantly to strengthening Ukraine’s energy independence. Thus, in the near future, it is necessary to solve all the problems that hinder bioenergy development, which intensifies the progress of the grain market and directly affects the energy independence of our country.

Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) for Traits Related to Fodder Quality and Biofuel in Sorghum: Progress and Prospects

The main focus of this review is to discuss the current status of the use of GWAS for fodder quality and biofuel owing to its similarity of traits. Sorghum is a potential multipurpose crop, popularly cultivated for various uses as food, feed fodder, and biomass for ethanol. Production of a huge quantity of biomass and genetic variation for complex sugars are the main motivations not only to use sorghum as fodder for livestock nutritionists but also as a potential candidate for biofuel generation. Few studies have been reported on the knowledge transfer that can be used from the development of biofuel technologies to complement improved fodder quality and vice versa. With recent advances in genotyping technologies, GWAS became one of the primary tools used to identify the genes/genomic regions associated with the phenotype. These modern tools and technologies accelerate the genomic assisted breeding process to enhance the rate of genetic gains. Hence, this mini-review focuses on GWAS studies on genetic architecture and dissection of traits underpinning fodder quality and biofuel traits and their limited comparison with other related model crop species.

Recommendations for green development of motor biofuel industry in China: A review

Motor biofuel is one kind of clean and sustainable fuel extracted from living organisms or obtained by the transformation of organisms, which can be used to replace fossil fuels. Nowadays, motor biofuel is an important direction for the development and utilization of renewable energy. More attention has been given to the development and promotion of motor biofuel and relative technologies all over the world. This research introduced the history of motor biofuel, the classification of motor biofuel as well as the strategies and policies made domestically and internationally in order to promote the development of motor biofuel, and also pointed out some of the urgent problems faced during the development of motor biofuels and put forward some suggestions for the future development of motor biofuel in China. Keywords: green development, motor biofuel, biodiesel, bioethanol, emission, renewable energy replacement DOI: 10.25165/j.ijabe.20201305.3862 Citation: Zhang Z X, Li G, Zhang Y H, Zhang J, Song C Z, Zhou Y G. Recommendations for green development of motor biofuel industry in China: A review. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2020; 13(5): 218–225.

ABOUT DEVELOPMENT OF BIOFUEL TECHNOLOGIES

The article reviews the world experience of technological diversification in the fuel hydrocarbons production sphere. It is shown that the lost classical technologies, such as coals destructive hydrogenation and coals gasification, are reviving on a new technology basis. Some technological methods of receiving liquid fuels from biomass of various origin are analyzed. The technological schemes of production of biofuels of three generations using a natural vegetable material, various productions wastes, as well as biomass of water organisms as a carbon source are presented. The estimation was made of production outputs and costs of synthetic fuels (dimethyl ether, biodimethyl ether, biodiesel, gasoline and others). The conditions for development of biofuel technologies were formulated.

Consolidated bioprocessing of highly concentrated jerusalem artichoke tubers for simultaneous saccharification and ethanol fermentation

Consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) of Jerusalem artichoke tuber (Jat) for ethanol production is one of the most promising options for an alternate biofuel technology development. The technical barriers include the weak saccharolytic enzyme (inulinase) activity of the fermentation strain, and the well mixing of the high viscous fermentation slurry at the highly concentrated Jat loading. In this study, Saccharomyces cerevisiae DQ1 was found to produce relatively large amount of inulinase for hydrolysis of inulin in Jat, and the helical ribbon stirring bioreactor used provided well mixing performance under the high Jat loading. Even a highly concentrated Jat loading up to 35% (w/w) in the helical ribbon bioreactor for CBP was allowed. The results obtained from this study have demonstrated a feasibility of developing a CBP process technology in the helical ribbon bioreactor for ethanol production at a high yield 128.7 g/L and the theoretical yield 73.5%, respectively. This level of ethanol yield from Jat is relatively higher than others reported so far. The results of this study could provide a practical CBP process technology in the helical ribbon bioreactor for economically sustainable alternate biofuel production using highly concentrated inulin containing biomass feedstock such as Jat, at least 35%.

Operational flexibility: A key factor in the development of biofuel technologies

Research on biofuels has been focused on improving yield of the conversion process while reducing the capital cost. Currently, 88% of the US ethanol production capacity and 96% of the planned expansion of capacity utilizes a dry milling process, which has a higher ethanol yield and a lower capital cost per gallon capacity than a wet milling process. However, the fact that all the corn ethanol plants that were bankrupted or idled during the 2008 economy recession used dry milling processes while all the plants that used wet milling processes had survived suggests that the efficiency driven approach may be flawed. This paper compares the economic performances of a typical dry milling plant with those of a typical wet milling plant under scenarios when market conditions are favorable or unfavorable to the corn ethanol production. The results show that the wet milling plant exhibits better performance under both scenarios due to its operational flexibility (e.g. having starch, high fructose corn syrup, gluten meal, gluten feed, and corn oil in its product portfolio). It is argued that the development of biofuel technologies should take operational flexibility into consideration in order to absorb disruptions from unexpected feedstock supply and volatile market conditions.

Technological evolution and interdependence in China's emerging biofuel industry

This study uses the European Patent Office worldwide patent database and applies two-stage interactive data collection methods to reveal the evolving technological interdependence for China's emerging biofuel industry. Three findings are excerpted from our empirical results. First, due to dominant patterns of business ownership, China's biofuel technology is seen as largely based on the evolutionary strength of the foodstuff and chemical fields. Second, China's biofuel technology development has evolved in the mode of ‘forward engineering’, led by Chinese universities rather than initiated by the public research institutes as in the experience of other East Asian latecomers. Third, our patent map and technology trajectory analyses illustrate that China's biofuel technology tends to be application-oriented and highly intertwined with the pharmaceutical industry since the 2000s, which evidences the development of biofuel industry as reciprocally reinforcing China's innovation capability deriving from its prominent chemical sector. By examining endogenous technology capability embedded in the national innovation capacity, this study uncovers public implications for other technology latecomers attempting to build an emerging industry while facing technology uncertainty in a transitional society.

China–U.S. workshop on biotechnology of bioenergy plants

The China and U.S. economies are the globally dominantdrivers of fossil fuel consumption and release of green-house gases and are thus strategically linked to the sus-tainable development of sustainable, alternative, andrenewable energy sources. Because of the dynamics andspatial interdependence between human activities andnatural ecosystems, a major challenge arises: how tooperate a renewable-energy economy within the ecologicalconstraints of the biosphere. Renewable energy utilizesbio-based energy technology and other renewable sourcesas a substitute for fossil fuels. Although current levels andtypes of pollution associated with our present energy useswill decline, renewable energy technologies will introducenew environmental challenges that at present are onlypartly understood or defined. Therefore, a strategy is nee-ded to address the uncertainty of these new activities, whileattempting to protect natural ecological processes in orderto sustain biological resources. Thus, we presume that thecombination of more intensive growth of agriculture andthe production of bioenergy plants coupled with moresustainable management practices is an end goal worthy ofscientific pursuit. The biotechnology of bioenergy plantswill be an important component of this strategy as fasterplant growth, pest resistance, and many other plant char-acteristics that will be required to meet these goals, manyof which cannot be achieved in a reasonable time frame viaconventional breeding.China and the U.S. are natural partners for the devel-opment of biofuel technologies. Although there are dif-ferences in some aspects of their agriculture, naturalresources, economy, and society, the two nations sharemany interests with respect to the environment, climatechange, and scientific pursuits. In both the U.S. and China,it is hoped that the emerging bioenergy industry will giverise to a robust new rural economy in which ethanoland other biofuel and bioproduct production will meet