Fuelishness! Feed: Airlines Finds Biofuel More Efficient; Curtailing Ethanol Carbon Loss; Pryolysis-Gasification of Bio-Mass; Venezuela heading for collapse.

February 10, 2009 · Filed Under Ethanol, FuelClinic, Fuelishness!, Oil Industry, Twitter

Earlier in the month Continental Airlines completed a test flight using biofuels, and now a few weeks later Japan Airlines has joined a (slowly) expanding number of airlines trying to green their fuel usage. The fuel used was a mixture of jatropha oil, algae oil, and camelina oil (the first time that feedstock has been employed in a jet fuel).
Scientists at Michigan State University are finding ways to curtail carbon loss when transforming plant waste into ethanol…“These results demonstrate that bio-energy cropping systems, particularly those integrating livestock manure into their management scheme, are a win-win option on both alternative energy and environmental fronts,” Thelen said. “Under proper management, livestock manure can replace carbon lost from corn stover removal and actually provide an environmental benefit, both in terms of greenhouse gas mitigation and the improved soil properties associated with increasing (soil carbon) levels, such as increased water retention.”
Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) think they have a winner with Bioliq, a fuel produce by pyrolysis-gasification processing of wood, straw, or other substances. They are constructing a pilot plant, to be completed in 2012. process to create relatively affordable biofuels out of common plant wastes, such as waste wood. They hope the technology will yield fuel that costs €0.50 a liter or $2.49/gallon USD.
The collapse in oil prices has hit OPEC nations hard, but perhaps none more so than Venezuela. Hugo Chavez apparently put more of his profits into his socialization programs than in paying contractors for their work. Now they have stopped working altogether as Chavez has no money to pay their past-due notices, which will curtail production just when Chavez needs it most…