China Resources Alcohol Corporation (CRAC) is the second largest ethanol producer in China and the owner of the only cellulosic ethanol pilot demonstration plant in the world which operates continuously, 24-hours per day. SunOpta BioProcess Group provided the necessary systems and technology to CRAC in September 2006 and the plant began production of ethanol from local corn stover (stalks and leaves) in October 2006. [1]
CRAC's goal is to install 5,000 tonnes per year (1.7 Million US gallons per year) of cellulosic ethanol capacity by the end of 2007 and 1,000,000 tonnes per year (330 Million US gallons per year) by 2012. [2]
Ethanol fuel is fuel containing ethyl alcohol, the same type of alcohol as found in alcoholic beverages. It is most often used as a motor fuel, mainly as a biofuel additive for gasoline.
Panicum virgatum, commonly known as switchgrass, is a perennial warm season bunchgrass native to North America, where it occurs naturally from 55°N latitude in Canada southwards into the United States and Mexico. Switchgrass is one of the dominant species of the central North American tallgrass prairie and can be found in remnant prairies, in native grass pastures, and naturalized along roadsides. It is used primarily for soil conservation, forage production, game cover, as an ornamental grass, in phytoremediation projects, fiber, electricity, heat production, for biosequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide, and more recently as a biomass crop for ethanol and butanol.
Cellulosic ethanol is ethanol produced from cellulose rather than from the plant's seeds or fruit. It can be produced from grasses, wood, algae, or other plants. It is generally discussed for use as a biofuel. The carbon dioxide that plants absorb as they grow offsets some of the carbon dioxide emitted when ethanol made from them is burned, so cellulosic ethanol fuel has the potential to have a lower carbon footprint than fossil fuels.
Iogen Corporation is a Canadian company based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and was founded by Patrick Foody Sr. in 1975.
Xethanol AMEX: XNL was one of the smaller producers of corn ethanol in the United States, and one of the few publicly traded companies developing technology for producing cellulose ethanol. Ethanol fuel will have increased production from a current level of about 5 billion US gallons (19,000,000 m3) per year to over 20 billion US gallons (76,000,000 m3) annually. Potentially 60 to 100 billion US gallons of ethanol could be produced annually in a sustainable manner from domestic biomass resources. To achieve these goals some believe it will be necessary to develop and commercialize technology for the production of ethanol from cellulose and hemicellulose. Xethanol says it plans to increase production and profitability with new technology it has under development.
The United States became the world's largest producer of ethanol fuel in 2005. The U.S. produced 15.8 billion U.S. liquid gallons of ethanol fuel in 2019, and 13.9 billion U.S. liquid gallons in 2011, an increase from 13.2 billion U.S. liquid gallons in 2010, and up from 1.63 billion gallons in 2000. Brazil and U.S. production accounted for 87.1% of global production in 2011. In the U.S, ethanol fuel is mainly used as an oxygenate in gasoline in the form of low-level blends up to 10 percent, and, increasingly, as E85 fuel for flex-fuel vehicles. The U.S. government subsidizes ethanol production.
The United States produces mainly biodiesel and ethanol fuel, which uses corn as the main feedstock. The US is the world's largest producer of ethanol, having produced nearly 16 billion gallons in 2017 alone. The United States, together with Brazil accounted for 85 percent of all ethanol production, with total world production of 27.05 billion gallons. Biodiesel is commercially available in most oilseed-producing states. As of 2005, it was somewhat more expensive than fossil diesel, though it is still commonly produced in relatively small quantities, in comparison to petroleum products and ethanol fuel.
Renewable fuels are fuels produced from renewable resources. Examples include: biofuels, Hydrogen fuel, and fully synthetic fuel produced from ambient carbon dioxide and water. This is in contrast to non-renewable fuels such as natural gas, LPG (propane), petroleum and other fossil fuels and nuclear energy. Renewable fuels can include fuels that are synthesized from renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar. Renewable fuels have gained in popularity due to their sustainability, low contributions to the carbon cycle, and in some cases lower amounts of greenhouse gases. The geo-political ramifications of these fuels are also of interest, particularly to industrialized economies which desire independence from Middle Eastern oil.
On April 25, 2006, Executive Order S-06-06, the Bioenergy Action Plan was issued by the then governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, outlining a set of target goals which would establish the increasing use and production of biofuels and biopower for both electricity generation and substitution of natural gas and petroleum within the state of California. The plan asked multiple state agencies to work towards the advancement of biomass programs in California. The order would also help provide statewide environmental protection, mitigation and economic advancement. The plan was passed on July 7, 2006, with progress reports issued in 2007 and 2009.
Treethanol is an ethanol fuel made from trees.
Second-generation biofuels, also known as advanced biofuels, are fuels that can be manufactured from various types of non-food biomass. Biomass in this context means plant materials and animal waste used especially as a source of fuel.
VeraSun Energy Corporation was a leading producer of renewable fuel. Founded in 2001, the company at one time had a fleet of 16 production facilities in eight states, of which one was still under construction. VeraSun Energy was scheduled to have an annual production capacity of approximately 1.64 billion US gallons (6,200,000 m3) of ethanol and more than 5 million tons of distillers grains by the end of 2008. The company also had begun construction at its Aurora, South Dakota facility to extract oil from dried distillers grains, a co-product of the ethanol process, for use in biodiesel production.
China has set the goal of attaining one percent of its renewable energy generation through bioenergy in 2020.
The renewable-energy industry is the part of the energy industry focusing on new and appropriate renewable energy technologies. Investors worldwide are increasingly paying greater attention to this emerging industry. In many cases, this has translated into rapid renewable energy commercialization and considerable industry expansion. The wind power, solar power and hydroelectric power industries provide good examples of this.
Coskata, Inc. was a Warrenville, Illinois–based energy company incorporated in 2006 by serial entrepreneur Andrew Perlman's GreatPoint Ventures group. The company was developing processes for the production of cellulosic ethanol from woodchips. Coskata's process combines both biological and thermochemical processing. The estimated cost of production via this technology was reported as under $1 per gallon, as opposed to corn-based ethanol costing approximately $1.40 per gallon
The use of biofuels varies by region. The world leaders in biofuel development and use are Brazil, United States, France, Sweden and Germany.
BlueFire Renewables is a biofuel company that produces a cellulose-to-ethanol solution using wood waste, agricultural residue and municipal waste. The company is headquartered in Irvine, California and is publicly traded in the U.S. on the OTC Bulletin Board under the ticker symbol "BFRE".
Ethanol is not presently manufactured in Hawaii. Between April 2, 2006, and June 26, 2015, Hawaii State law required all gasoline sold for vehicles to contain 10% ethanol (E-10). In 2015, the requirement was repealed. In 2010, E-85 became available on a military base for flex fuel use. About 45,000,000 US gallons of ethanol were imported from the Caribbean or continental US in 2009.
United States policy in regard to biofuels, such as ethanol fuel and biodiesel, began in the early 1990s as the government began looking more intensely at biofuels as a way to reduce dependence on foreign oil and increase the nation's overall sustainability. Since then, biofuel policies have been refined, focused on getting the most efficient fuels commercially available, creating fuels that can compete with petroleum-based fuels, and ensuring that the agricultural industry can support and sustain the use of biofuels.
BP Biofuels Highlands was a subsidiary of BP developing cellulosic ethanol project in Florida. It was formerly known as Vercipia Biofuels. The company headquartered out of Tampa, Florida.
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