Belgian, Dutch investors convert methanol facility into world's largest biomethanol plant; glycerol as feedstock
A consortium of Belgian and Dutch investors announces it has bought a methanol plant in the Netherlands to transform it into the world's first biomethanol plant, producing a staggering 1 billion liters (264 million gallons) of green petrol per year. This makes it one of the world's largest biofuel plants. The feedstock to be used: glycerine, the byproduct of biodiesel production which has sharply dropped in value because of the large quantities of biodiesel produced in the EU.
The investors Econcern (a European consortium of diversified green energy companies), NOM N.V., OakInvest, and engineers S. Doorn and P. Hamm, united as the BioMethanol Chemie Holding, have bought the plant in Delfzijl in the North-east of the Netherlands from Akzo Nobel, DSM and Dynea. The plant was taken it out of production a few months ago due to competition from oil-producing nations which use their excess natural gas to produce low-cost fossil methanol.
"In the coming nine months we'll make the necessary changes and after that it will produce only biomethanol, which will make it the world's first biomethanol plant of substantial capacity," said Chief Executive of BioMethanol Chemie Paul Hamm. Production will start at 100 kilotonnes of biomethanol, 100 million liters, and rise to 1 million kilotonnes soon afterwards, said Hamm.
The European Union demands that by 2010, 5.75 percent of its 50 million-tonne petrol consumption should come from biofuels, and Hamm said the Delfzijl plant alone can contribute 2 percentage points of that requirement.
The plant will use a new and very efficient process to make biomethanol from glycerine, a byproduct of biodiesel which is yet another kind of renewable green fuel made from oil-containing plants. The price of glycerol has dropped sharply due to the increasing production of biodiesel in the European Union.
More efficient than ethanol
Biomethanol can double as a direct in-blend and a replacement for the petrol additive MTB, currently used as a lead replacement, Hamm said. Biomethanol can also be produced from synthesis gas derived from biomass, and Hamm said the process to make biomethanol is several times more efficient than bioethanol, derived from sugar-containing crops such as corn and biomass. "It is a better, more cost-effective and certainly more environmentally friendly way to add bio-components compared to the usage of ethanol," Hamm said.
Aside from use as a transport fuel, biomethanol could also be utilized in direct-methanol fuel cells. These fuel cells, which might power the consumer electronics of the future, have received considerable R&D investments lately:
biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: methanol ::biodiesel :: glycerol :: biomethanol ::
Methanol, also known as methyl alcohol, wood alcohol or wood spirits, is a chemical compound with chemical formula CH3OH. It is the simplest alcohol, and is a light, volatile, colourless, flammable, poisonous liquid with a distinctive odor that is somewhat milder and sweeter than ethanol (ethyl alcohol). It is used as an antifreeze, solvent, fuel, and as a denaturant for ethyl alcohol.
Modern methanol production is based on steam reforming synthesis gas, itself most often derived from natural gas. The synthesis gas can also be produced from coal or light petroleum products, but today, most attention is going towards using renewable, non-fossile feedstocks.
The alcohol is used on a limited basis to fuel internal combustion engines, mainly by virtue of the fact that it is not nearly as flammable as gasoline.
Biomethanol fuel cells
Direct-methanol fuel cells are unique in their low temperature, atmospheric pressure operation, allowing them to be miniaturized to an unprecedented degree. This, combined with the relatively easy and safe storage and handling of methanol may open the possibility of fuel cell-powered consumer electronics. There are now plans to use the chemical in eco-friendly fuel cells for laptop computers, the cells will break down methanol via an electrochemical process.
Article continues
The investors Econcern (a European consortium of diversified green energy companies), NOM N.V., OakInvest, and engineers S. Doorn and P. Hamm, united as the BioMethanol Chemie Holding, have bought the plant in Delfzijl in the North-east of the Netherlands from Akzo Nobel, DSM and Dynea. The plant was taken it out of production a few months ago due to competition from oil-producing nations which use their excess natural gas to produce low-cost fossil methanol.
"In the coming nine months we'll make the necessary changes and after that it will produce only biomethanol, which will make it the world's first biomethanol plant of substantial capacity," said Chief Executive of BioMethanol Chemie Paul Hamm. Production will start at 100 kilotonnes of biomethanol, 100 million liters, and rise to 1 million kilotonnes soon afterwards, said Hamm.
The European Union demands that by 2010, 5.75 percent of its 50 million-tonne petrol consumption should come from biofuels, and Hamm said the Delfzijl plant alone can contribute 2 percentage points of that requirement.
The plant will use a new and very efficient process to make biomethanol from glycerine, a byproduct of biodiesel which is yet another kind of renewable green fuel made from oil-containing plants. The price of glycerol has dropped sharply due to the increasing production of biodiesel in the European Union.
More efficient than ethanol
Biomethanol can double as a direct in-blend and a replacement for the petrol additive MTB, currently used as a lead replacement, Hamm said. Biomethanol can also be produced from synthesis gas derived from biomass, and Hamm said the process to make biomethanol is several times more efficient than bioethanol, derived from sugar-containing crops such as corn and biomass. "It is a better, more cost-effective and certainly more environmentally friendly way to add bio-components compared to the usage of ethanol," Hamm said.
Aside from use as a transport fuel, biomethanol could also be utilized in direct-methanol fuel cells. These fuel cells, which might power the consumer electronics of the future, have received considerable R&D investments lately:
biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: methanol ::biodiesel :: glycerol :: biomethanol ::
Methanol, also known as methyl alcohol, wood alcohol or wood spirits, is a chemical compound with chemical formula CH3OH. It is the simplest alcohol, and is a light, volatile, colourless, flammable, poisonous liquid with a distinctive odor that is somewhat milder and sweeter than ethanol (ethyl alcohol). It is used as an antifreeze, solvent, fuel, and as a denaturant for ethyl alcohol.
Modern methanol production is based on steam reforming synthesis gas, itself most often derived from natural gas. The synthesis gas can also be produced from coal or light petroleum products, but today, most attention is going towards using renewable, non-fossile feedstocks.
The alcohol is used on a limited basis to fuel internal combustion engines, mainly by virtue of the fact that it is not nearly as flammable as gasoline.
Biomethanol fuel cells
Direct-methanol fuel cells are unique in their low temperature, atmospheric pressure operation, allowing them to be miniaturized to an unprecedented degree. This, combined with the relatively easy and safe storage and handling of methanol may open the possibility of fuel cell-powered consumer electronics. There are now plans to use the chemical in eco-friendly fuel cells for laptop computers, the cells will break down methanol via an electrochemical process.
Article continues
Friday, November 03, 2006
Symposium: Is the world ready for a 'Green Revolution' in Africa?
A major symposium to be held on november 13 in Indianapolis will focus on "The African Green Revolution". Agronomists, social scientists and health researchers convene to take the United Nations Secretary General's call for a "uniquely African Green Revolution for the 21st Century" as the focus of their research and to report on progress made. The original Green Revolution of the 1960-80's essentially bypassed sub-Saharan Africa. Unlike this green revolution, which emphasized improved crop germplasm in an environment with good soils and much irrigation, the African green revolution is envisioned to be far more holistic, integrating five main components: agriculture, nutrition, markets, environment, and policies.
These components form the core of the UN's Millenium Villages Project. The Millennium Villages seek to end extreme poverty by working with the poorest of the poor, village by village throughout Africa, in partnership with governments and other committed stakeholders, providing affordable and science-based solutions to help people lift themselves out of extreme poverty.
Earlier, we referred to several studies showing that an integrated approach to rural development is both a precondition for and a result of the creation of a viable bioenergy and biofuels industry in Africa. Separate studies about such basic issues like fertilizer use, small investments in improved seed use or enhanced market access show that in theory production, yields and incomes in Africa can easily be increased with truly minor investments. Africa has tremendous agricultural potential, but a combination of internal and external factors, ranging from disease, war, trade barriers, or lack of education and infrastructures, has made it difficult to exploit this potential. Many scientists think that tackling these factors in a systematic and integrated way will result in a true Green Revolution that will change the black continent and the world.
12 Millennium Villages established in Africa already demonstrate how effective such an integrated approach to rural development can be. For example, after one year, the people in one village have eliminated hunger by tripling their grain production, increased their health by building a clinic and sleeping under treated bed nets, and improved their soil by planting 5.5 million trees and shrubs. This was achieved with minimal investment. The United Nations Millennium Project estimates that targeted investment of the equivalent of €80/US$110 per capita, per year for the next 10 years will be needed to achieve all of the Millennium Development Goals in Africa:
bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: fertilizer :: Millenium Development Goals :: Millenium Villages :: rural development :: Africa ::
Dr. Pedro Sanchez, Director of Tropical Agriculture and Senior Research scholar at the Earth Institute of Columbia University, and Co-chair of the Hunger Task Force of the United Nations' Millennium Project, is one of several speakers participating in the symposium. "The African Green Revolution" event is part of the Annual Meetings of the American Society of Agronomy-Crop Science Society of America-Soil Science Society of America in Indianapolis. Dr. Sanchez will be joined by six other speakers, who will report on the progress and strategies of the U.N.'s Millennium Development Project.
Other presentations during the symposium include, "Solving Africa's Fertilizer Crisis: The Africa Fertilizer Summit," presented by Akin Adesina, Rockefeller Foundation; and "Balancing Agriculture, Environment, and Health Sciences in the Millennium Villages," presented by Cheryl Palm, Earth Institute at Columbia University.
Article continues
posted by Biopact team at 5:05 PM 0 comments links to this post