ABSTRACT
The article presents the results of a survey carried out in the European Union (EU) regarding the production and use of biogas from different sources. The EU is a world leader in the field of biogas, with a production of 10,085.8 ktoe y-1 (in 2011) in terms of primary energy, accounting for about 60% of the world's production. Germany is the EU country that has made the greatest progress in this field with a production of as much as 5,067.6 ktoe y-1, of which a share of 4,414.2 ktoe y-1 results from anaerobic digestion (and co-digestion) processes of selected organic matrices. UK is the second largest producer with 1,764.8 ktoe y-1, determined for 84% by landfill biogas and the remainder by biogas produced in sewage treatment plants (sludge digestion). Italy (1,095.7 ktoe y-1) and France (349.6 ktoe y-1) follow in the list of the largest producers. The trend of biogas production, in accordance with the action lines of the EU, is characterized by a progressive increase from anaerobic digestion (and co-digestion) of selected organic matrices and a progressive decrease from landfills. Production in 2020 is estimated at 28.0 Mtoe y-1 in accordance with the EU Renewable Energy National Plans. The uses of biogas are mainly directed to the production of electricity and heat. There are, however, several cases of conversion of biogas into biomethane injected into the natural gas grids or used as biofuel in vehicles. In this last direction, worthy of note are a few north-central EU countries which have implemented an effective policy to promote the use of biomethane for public and private transport.
scielo
Vitruivan crowd-sourcing funding for novel biofuel from sewage treatment bio-solids
Vitruvian Energy is trying to crowd-fund its novel biofuel EEB (ethyl 3-ethoxybutyrate). EEB is produced from organic waste, including (and initially) sewage treatment bio-solids—the leftover, dirt-like organic material that remains after a community’s wastewater is treated. With 20 days left in the campaign, the company has raised $3,500 of a targeted $200,000.
EEB has higher energy content than ethanol: 26-29 MJ/L compared to 23. It can be used as a fuel additive to displace and clean up existing fossil fuels, and to lower their carbon footprint. Vitruvian has performed five years of research and development on EEB including combustion tests at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Testing showed that blending EEB with diesel significantly reduces soot emissions, similar to how ethanol reduces emissions when blended with gasoline. EEB can also be blended with gasoline or burned to produce electricity.
EEB is produced in a complex reaction mixture along with at least 2 high-value chemicals used as intermediates in several manufacturing sectors; the resulting biofuel is a mix of products from esterification of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) with ethanol. This process when combined with a related technology to produce alcohols from complex feedstock can realize an integrated biorefinery that sustainably and cost effectively converts low-value, high-volume feedstocks into a suite of bioproducts and biofuels.
The technology has received a California Energy Commission (CEC) grant to develop the process for production of EEB (also called E-xtra by Vitruvian) from WWTP (waste water treatment plant) biosolids and a National Science Foundation (NSF) SBIR Phase 1 grant to characterize EEB as a fuel additive/oxygenate for both gasoline and diesel.
Vitruvian has modeled production costs at $2.58-3.73 per gallon. The WWTP economics as a biorefinery become very favorable with an estimated potential net profit of $2.2 million per year at a 200,000 person WWTP when the crude product is further separated into purified chemicals, these are then sold and the chemical sales’ revenues are used to subsidize the cost of the biofuel.
greencarcongress