Fuel change breakthrough: biodiesel-powered speedboat Earthrace, around world in 60 days, beats record set in 1998 by 14 days

Team Earthrace, led by New Zealand Skipper Pete Bethune, has smashed the world circumnavigation record for a speedboat by almost 14 days. Almost five years of preparation, planning and two record attempts have paid off leaving the bio-diesel powered Earthrace team to claim the round the world speedboat record.

Possibly the coolest powerboat on the planet, the space age, wave piercing trimaran Earthrace took bio-fuel into history as the 78 foot, (24 metre) boat crossed the 'Round the World' finish line in Sagunto, Spain. In just 60 days Earthrace has powered almost 24,000 nautical miles around the world. Earthrace left Spain on Sunday April 27th at 14:35 local time (1325 GMT) and headed west on the long voyage around the world. The previous record for a powerboat to circumnavigate the globe was 74 days 20 hours 58 minutes 30 seconds, set by the UK boat ‘Cable & Wireless Adventurer’ in 1998.

Flying both the New Zealand and Spanish flags Earthrace thundered across the finish line, powered by her twin 540 horse powered Cummins-Mercruiser engines, in front of a large spectator fleet and awaiting media at 14.24 CET (13.24 GMT). The finish in Spain by Earthrace was monitored by D. Jaime Pérez López, Presidente de la Federación Territorial Motonaútica de la Comunidad Valenciana.The new record is 13 days, 21 hours and 9 minutes inside the old one.

For the visionary skipper behind the Earthrace campaigns the last sixty days is just one step in a journey that has, so far, taken five years. In 2003 living in Sydney Australia, Aucklander Pete Bethune was working on his MBA when he wrote a 20,000 word paper on the use of renewable energy for road transport. Convinced by his research, he set out to prove that sustainable bio-fuels were a practical step in the replacement of hydrocarbon fuels.

‘Sustainability is the key. We cannot cut down rainforests to plant palm trees for palm oil that is not renewable at all. We will need new technology and ideas, such as using marine algae to convert the suns energy into bio-fuel, while making sure we use animal fats more efficiently. We need to grow plants like Jatropha in marginal agricultural areas, where they can be used for animal fodder, as well as having bio-fuel value.’

The determination and grit of the Earthrace team is ultimately what led to the taking of the round the world speedboat record. Skipper Pete Bethune was unwilling to hear the words 'delay' or 'precaution'. Bethune's tenacity to take the record infected the crew with a scene of 'must do, can do, and will do.’ It is this determination that drove the ground team to sleep two out of every twenty-four hours and remain focused during the delays, and lack of resources. Determination is direction to a point. In this case the point was completing the world's longest race. But was that the 'point' of Earthrace? Simply taking a record. A name, typed in small print, on page 74 of a yearly publication.

I have to ask myself what is the point? My wife and I donated almost a year of our life to the last race attempt and have steadily consulted through this attempt. We are just two of the many team members. Why the commitment of time and energy by such a wide array of marine technicians from around the world? What is the point?

The point is change. The Earthrace boat grabs one's attention, and the crew are treated as B grade celebrities. Being a minor grade celebrity has the advantage that people around the world are willing to listen to what we have to say, if only for a minute. Allow me to present a few examples.

Last year when Earthrace arrived in one Pacific island, we found a ship exporting 240 tons of coconut oil while a small tanker sat at the dock offloading fuel. In our couple of minutes of 'B grade' celebrity status the team was able to meet with the coconut exporter and ask 'Why not change that coconut oil into diesel fuel and sell it on the island?' This year when Earthrace returned that same island was using locally grown coconuts to power vehicles. A small change, but one that would not have happened if the Earthrace team had not been given the right ear, if only for a minute.

On another island an official explained how they were considering a new electrical generation plant. In our two minutes of fame the team was able to quote the advantages of wind, solar and minimizing consumption. We heard later that a wind plant was in the consideration phase. One Earthrace engineer was able to use his 'two minutes of fame' to make a presentation on a Caribbean island. That presentation has brought three businesses together who are preparing to collect forty thousand gallons a month of used deep fry oil to process into bio-diesel.

To me that was always the point of Earthrace - the ability to effect change. The ability to take a small stand to prevent forty thousand gallons of month of toxic waste from entering a land fill in exchange for producing forty thousand gallons a month more income to an island nation.

Positive change is not often seen on today's new reports. This is change that may not have happened if Skipper Pete Bethune had not laid his future on the line to build the first link of a chain that ends in a web of small events adding up to a slightly better world. This is the real long-term record that can be claimed by the team - the claim to a better future! Congratulations to the Earthrace team and its sponsors.

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Photos courtesy of David Perez, Jim Burkett, Caroline Gautron1, and Earthrace Media

Original Source - Powerboat-World: Earthrace - a vehicle for fuel change andEarthrace - New Record Round the World in 60 days

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Geese point the way to saving jet fuel

Planes flying in V formation are more efficient and produce less carbon dioxide, say scientists

• Robin McKie, Science Editor
• The Observer, Sunday 27 December 2009
• larger | smaller

Scientists have proposed an unusual method for cutting aircraft fuel consumption – they want to fly jumbo jets in formation like geese.

The prospect of flotillas of airliners soaring across the sky in V-shaped flocks, like migrating birds, is startling. Nevertheless, research by aviation experts has shown that it could lead to major reductions in aircraft fuel consumption.

The work follows research carried out almost 100 years ago by a German researcher, Carl Wieselsberger. In 1914, he published a paper in which he calculated that birds flying in V-formations use less energy to flap their wings than those on solo flights. Birds in flocks can therefore fly for longer periods than those travelling on their own.

Wieselsberger showed that when a bird flaps its wings it creates a current known as upwash; essentially, air lifts up and rises round the tips of the wings as they flap. Other birds, flying in the first one's wake, experience an updraft, allowing them to fly further.

This idea is supported by observations by French scientists who studied great white pelicans trained to fly behind an aircraft. The team – from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Villiers-en-Bois – strapped instruments and transmitters to individual birds. These revealed that the birds' heart rates went down when they were flying together, and also showed that they were able to glide more often when they flew in formation. "They fly in formation to save energy," said team leader Henri Weimerskirch.

Such experiments suggest that 25 large birds – such as pelicans or geese – flying in a V-shaped formation can travel 70% further than solo birds. Many of the great migratory journeys, some covering thousands of miles, made by birds would be impossible without the energy-saving effects of group flight, scientists say.

But aviation engineers have now taken these discoveries to their logical conclusion and have proposed that aircraft fly in V-shaped groups so they can benefit from similar energy-saving effects. This idea is the brainchild of researchers led by Professor Ilan Kroo, of Stanford University, California, who say airlines could make substantial cuts in the amount of aviation fuel they use.

In one calculation, the team envisaged three passenger jets leaving Los Angeles, Las Vegas and San Francisco airports en route to the east coast of the US. In the hypothetical exercise, the planes rendezvoused over Utah, then continued their journeys travelling in a V, with planes taking turns to lead the formation. The group found that the aircraft used 15% less fuel and produced less carbon dioxide when flying in formation compared with solo performances.

Such an approach could make significant inroads into the amount of carbon dioxide that is pumped into the atmosphere by planes. The aviation industry is expected to become a major emitter of greenhouse gases over the next two decades, and airline chiefs are desperately looking for ways to cut fuel consumption. Formation flights could be the answer, says Kroo and his team.

However, critics have pointed to problems. Safety could be compromised by craft flying in tight formation, while co-ordinating departure times and schedules could become a major headache. Kroo and his team say such difficulties can be overcome by more detailed work on their scheme.

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BioFuels Everything You Need to Know

As more environmentally conscious drivers search for ways to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions and therefore reduce their negative impact on the environment, many are considering biofuel. However, what is biofuel and can it be used in any vehicle? Do biofuels really boost the environment and save you money, or are there negative effects too? This guide to biofuel will examine the pros and cons to help you make an informed choice. What is biofuel? Broadly speaking, biofuel refers to any solid, liquid or gas fuel that has been derived from biomass. It can be produced from any carbon source that is easy to replenish - such as plants.One of the main challenges when producing biofuel is to develop energy that can be used specifically in liquid fuels for transportation. The most common strategies used to achieve this are: Grow plants – Plants that naturally produce oils include oil palm, jatropha, soybean and algae. When heated resistance (viscosity) is reduced they can be burned within a diesel engine or they can be processed to form biodiesel. Grow sugar crops or starch – These include sugar cane, sugar beet, corn and maize which are then turned into ethanol through the process of yeast fermentation. Woods – By-products from woods can be converted into biofuels including methanol, ethanol and woodgas. What are the different types of biofuel? There are many different biofuels available in the UK. One of the most common worldwide is E10 fuel, which is actually a mixture of 10% ethanol and 90% petroleum. This formula has been improved in recent years with the introduction of E15 fuel (15% ethanol, 85% petroleum); E20 fuel (20% ethanol, 80% petroleum); E85 fuel (85% ethanol, 15% petroleum); E95 fuel (95% ethanol, 15% petroleum) and E100 fuel which is ethanol with up to 4% water. In Europe, biodiesel is the most popular form of biofuel - it can be used in any diesel engine when mixed with mineral diesel. This is produced from oils and fats and is now readily available at many petrol stations. There are many other types of biofuel available including vegetable oil, which is used in many older diesel engines; butanol, which is seen as a replacement for petroleum; and biogas which is produced from biodegradable waste materials. This technology has been expanded with the introduction of 'second generation' biofuels - which use biomass to liquid technology. Examples include biohydrogen, biomethanol and mixed alcohols. Third generation biofuels are also known as algae fuels. They have many advantages including have a low input and a high yield level – they produce 30 times more energy per acre than land – and are also biodegradable. As a result, they are relatively harmless to the environment if spilled. Where are biofuels used? Biodiesel can, in theory, be used in all diesel engines. However, due to the parts attached to the diesel engine, some manufacturers do not approve engines running on 100% biodiesel. Volkswagen, SEAT, Audi and Skoda all approved their cars built from 1996-2004 running on 100% RME biodiesel - that is biodiesel made from rapeseed - on the condition that it meets specification EN14214. Generally speaking, it is recommended that you use a combination of biodiesel blended with regular diesel. Indeed at the majority of petrol stations, a 5% biodiesel mix is used. It is also worth bearing in mind that biodiesel made from waste cooking oil can freeze in the winter - and so no more than a 50% blend is recommended. Between 2000 and 2005 ethanol production doubled, and biodiesel production quadrupled, so biofuels are clearly on the rise. The British Government's Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation currently requires 2.5% of fuels sold at the pump to be biofuels. This will increase to 5% by 2010, while the EU has a target of 5.75% of all transport fuels to be from biological sources, also by 2010. What are the advantages of biofuels? The aim of all biofuels is to be carbon neutral. They reduce greenhouse gas emissions when compared to conventional transport fuels. In reality, biofuels are not carbon neutral simply because it requires energy to grow the crops and convert them into fuel. The amount of fuel used during this production (to power machinery, to transport crops, etc) does have a large impact on the overall savings achieved by biofuels. However, biofuels still prove to be substantially more environmentally friendly than their alternatives. In fact, according to a technique called Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) first generation biofuels can save up to 60% of carbon emissions compared to fossil fuels. Second generation biofuels offer carbon emission savings up to 80%. This was backed by a recent UK Government publication which stated biofuels can reduce emissions by 50-60%. Another advantage of biofuels is that they save drivers money. The UK Government in particular has introduced many incentives to drivers of 'green cars' based on emissions - with reduced taxation dependent on how environmentally friendly your vehicle is. With petrol prices on the rise, replacing petroleum with a renewable energy source should also offer significant savings at the pump in the long term, particularly when biofuels are more readily available. There are arguments too that biofuels are helping to tackle poverty around the world. For example, the Overseas Development Institute has pointed to wider economic growth and increased employment opportunities along with the positive effect on energy prices, as reasons to back biofuel production. This is debated due to the pressures it places on agricultural resources but biodiesel could be a long term solution as it uses simpler technology and lower transportation costs alongside increased labour. What are the disadvantages of biofuels? There are several concerns about biofuels - and particularly including: Biodiversity - A fear among environmentalists is that by adapting more land to produce crops for biofuels, more habitats will be lost for animals and wild plants. It is feared for example, that some Asian countries will sacrifice their rainforests to build more oil plantations. The food V fuel debate - Another concern is that if biofuels become lucrative for farmers, they may grow crops for biofuel production instead of food production. Less food production will increase prices and cause a rise in inflation. It is hoped that this can be countered by second generation biofuels which use waste biomass - though again, this will impact the habitat of many organisms. The impact is particularly high in developing countries and it is estimated that around 100million people are at risk due to the food price increases. Carbon emissions – Most LCA investigations show that the burning of biofuels substantially reduces greenhouse gas emissions when compared to petroleum and diesel. However, in 2007 a study was published by scientists from Britain, the USA, Germany and Austriawhich reported the burning of rapeseed or corn can contribute as much to nitrous oxide emissions than cooling through fossil fuel savings. Non-sustainable biofuel production – Many first generation biofuels are not sustainable. It is necessary to create sustainable biofuel production that does not effect food production, and that doesn’t cause environmental problems. The production of non-sustainable biofuels has been criticised in reports by the UN, the IPCC and many other environmental and social groups. As a result many governments have switched their support towards sustainable biofuels, and alternatives such as hydrogen and compressed air. During 2008, the Roundtable of Sustainable Biofuels is developing principles for sustainable biofuel production. Are biofuels worthwhile? After examining the pros and cons of biofuels earlier in this guide, you may be left wondering if they are really worthwhile and right for you. On one hand they massively reduce carbon emissions and can help you save cash too; but on the other hand they could negatively effect the habitat of many species and aren't necessarily energy efficient at the production stage. Perhaps the biggest hope for biofuels is that the arrival of second and third generation alternatives should lead to more efficient production and diversify the plants and plant wastes used - therefore limiting the effects to any particular habitat. Biofuels are very much a work in progress. If you prefer to look into alternatives to reduce your environmental impact, look at the merits of the hybrid cars and electric cars available at Source : http://www.allgreencars.co.uk/GreenGuides/BioFuels/tabid/114/Default.aspx

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Biofuel plant to open in 2010

A biofuel manufacturing plant will open in Thomaston in early 2010, bringing jobs with it.

“Georgia is striving to be a world leader in biofuels,” said Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue in a press release. “Our plentiful supply of raw materials to manufacture biofuels enables private industry to develop alternative energy technologies and create jobs. By opening their biorefinery plant, Diamond Alternative Energy and API (American Process Inc.) will further cement Georgia’s leadership in the alternative energy industry.”

Ken Stewart, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, also said the plant is a good fit for Georgia because of the state’s abundance of raw materials needed to produce biofuels.

“The opening of this new facility in Thomaston represents Georgia’s continued growth in the alternative energy sector,” he said in the release.

According to the release, the plant will bring 25 to 30 jobs when it opens in the first quarter of 2010. As many as 10 of the jobs will be engineering positions in Atlanta; the remainder will be jobs at the plant itself.

“It’s going to be a demonstration plant that will show the technology behind creating biofuels out of cellulose,” said Bill Day, executive director for media relations at Valero Energy Corp., which owns Diamond Alternative Energy.

He said cellulose is found in wood pulp, grasses and other plant material. He emphasized that these are non-food sources of fuel.

“This is one of a series of investments that Valero has made in small companies that are working on technologies l ike this,” he said.

He said Valero is primarily a fuel company but has recently been investing in companies making renewable fuels such as API.

Thomaston Mayor Hays Arnold is glad the plant is coming to his city.

“I proudly welcome Diamond Alternative Energy and API as our newest corporate citizens, and look forward to the positive economic impact this new facility will have for our area,” he said in a press release.

In a later interview, Arnold said he expects to have a ribbon-cutting ceremony with state officials present when the plant officially opens. He said people are already being employed to help get the plant set up.

He said the plant will manufacture ethanol from wood chips rather than corn or soy, which is less controversial because it does not compete with human consumption of food crops.

Source : http://romenews-tribune.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Biofuel+plant+to+open+in+2010%20&id=5318958&instance=home_news_lead_story

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China adopts law to boost renewable energy industry

BEIJING: China's national assembly Saturday signalled the country's commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by adopting a law supporting its renewable energy industry.

The new law, an amendment to one on renewable energy adopted by the National People's Congress standing committee, obliges electricity grid companies to buy all the power produced by renewable sources.

It also empowers the State Council's energy department, the electricity regulatory agency and its finance departments to determine the amount of renewable energy available in the country's overall power generating capacity.

Power companies will be obliged to take up all of that capacity, and those refusing to do so will be fined an amount up to double that of the economic loss of the renewable energy company, Ni Yuefeng, vice-president of the assembly's environmental affairs commission, told reporters.

The law was adopted after China was criticised for obstructing the adoption of a treaty on climate change during last week's international summit in Copenhagen.

The new law in fact showed China's commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Ni said.

"The new law will help China reduce its emission of greenhouse gases in a voluntary manner," Ni told a briefing.

Source : http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/1027053/1/.html

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Making New Enzymes to Engineer Plants for Biofuel Production

UPTON, NY — Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have created a new enzyme and demonstrated its potential ability to interfere with the production of lignin, a key cell-wall component in plants. This approach to enzyme engineering, described in the January 1, 2010, issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry(available online December 25, 2009), could be used to further understand the mechanisms of lignin biosynthesis, and may lead to the production of plants that are easier to convert to biofuels.

Chang-Jun Liu

“Increasing the ‘digestibility’ of plant matter is one main approach to making plants a viable alternative energy source,” said Brookhaven biochemist Chang-Jun Liu, lead author on the paper. “Our group has been working to achieve that goal by elucidating the catalytic mechanisms of plant enzymes, and then using that knowledge and the tools of molecular biology and protein engineering to influence the way plant cell walls are constructed.”

Their main targets have been enzymes that synthesize key cell-wall components, such as lignin. Plants with less lignin in their cell walls are easier to break down and convert to fuel products.

“We understand relatively well how lignin precursor molecules are synthesized. They have very specific patterns of chemical modification known as methylation, which appear to be essential to their ability to link up to form the lignin polymer,” said Liu. “From this knowledge, we came up with the hypothesis that changing the methylation pattern on these precursor molecules could be one way to inhibit lignin synthesis.”

The scientists first looked for natural plant enzymes with different methylation patterns — that is, enzymes that methylate at different chemical locations than those typically involved in lignin synthesis. The trick is that these enzymes normally work on different substrates, not the lignin precursors. So the scientists’ goal was to change the parts of the enzyme that recognize the substrate so it would work on lignin precursors — while retaining the desired methylation location.

Lignin, a key component of plant cell walls, is normally synthesized from three simple monolignols (top). The hydroxyl group (OH), shown in red, must remain unmodified for these precursors to link up. Liu's team created a novel enzyme (green "ribbon" structure) that can methylate this specific hydroxyl group. This enzyme may therefore lead to ways to interfere with lignin biosynthesis in plants to make them easier to break down for biofuels.

To identify the parts of the enzyme to change, the scientists used computational tools to examine structural models of the enzyme and its genetic code — the pattern of DNA bases known as A, T, G, and C that tells cells which amino acids should be linked up to form the final protein. They compared these data with the same information for the enzymes involved in lignin synthesis. This process led them to discover seven possible amino acid sites that might need to be changed to alter the enzyme’s specificity so it could act on the lignin precursors.

Through a tedious process of systematically modifying the gene for the enzyme and then screening the products, the scientists found that changes at two of the seven sites could make new enzymes that were able to methylate the lignin precursors in the desired way. Additional modifications and testing revealed that the combination of these two changes produced the most effective enzyme.

The scientists then used the original enzyme structure to build a model of the new version docked with the lignin precursor molecules as they would be during methylation. This helped them identify additional amino acid sites to modify to strengthen the interaction and activity.

The final enzyme shows nearly ideal activity for methylating the lignin precursors at the desired location. Test-tube based biochemical tests showed that when this new enzyme was used to methylate the lignin precursors, the modified precursors were no longer able to link up to form lignin polymer. This provided direct experimental evidence for the long-proposed lignin synthesis mechanism described above.

The next step will be to see if it works in plants. The scientists will engineer plants with the gene for the new enzyme to see if it reduces the amount of lignin in the plant cell walls.

“Our hope is that this will introduce a new step at the end of the normal lignin biosynthetic pathway and redirect synthesis from the conventional lignin precursors to the specifically methylated ‘dead’ products to yield less lignin. This work will also help us further understand the lignin polymerization process in planta,” said Liu.

“Since we know less lignin makes cell walls easier to digest, this may be an effective biochemical approach to engineering plants for more efficient biofuel production,” Liu said.

This work was done by Liu and his postdoc Mohammad Bhuiya. The work was funded by the DOE Office of Science.

Source : http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/pubaf/pr/PR_display.asp?prID=1021

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