Malaysia has urged its private sector to work with its counterpart in Brazil in developing biofuel as an alternative source of energy.
Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Rais Yatim said with the abundant natural resources in Mercosur member states which comprised Brazil, Argentina, Uruguary, Paraguay and Venezuela, Asean countries could work with their counterpart to develop these resources.
He said the proposed joint ventures would also work towards enhancing the prosperity of stakeholders in agriculture and commodity based industries of both groups through stable and remunerative prices.
Rais made the proposal at the Asean-Mercosur inaugural meeting Monday in Brasilia, Brazil, which was attended by ministers of member states of Asean and Mercosur.
In a statement which was faxed here Tuesday, Rais said the proposal was also in line with Malaysia�s National Biofuel Policy, which envisioned the use of environmentally friendly, sustainable and viable sources of energy in order to reduce dependency on depleting fossil fuel.
He also reiterated the need for immediate steps to be taken by the world body to curtail the rising crime of piracy and armed robbery at sea.
On the global food crisis, Rais said Asean-Mercosur needed to analyse all levels of the complex inter-relationship between climate change, increased use of biofuel and increasing price of agricultural products that were affecting today�s food supply.
The meeting also adopted a proposal by Rais for senior officials of Asean-Mercosur to meet in Kuala Lumpur in March next year to discuss issues of mutual interest.
Malaysia has raised its 2008 biodiesel export forecast to 200,000 tonnes, more than double that of last year�s 95,013 tonnes.
The Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) said Malaysia exported 128,527 tonnes of biofuel in the first nine months of this year.
Malaysia has expressed its interest in biofuel cooperation among D-8 member countries in the Working Group for Energy this year in Cairo, Egypt.
Source : http://www.developing8.org/2008/11/28/malaysia-to-increase-cooperation-in-biofuel/
We have previously introduced China�s Renewable Energy Law, so let�s now take a closer look at some of the policies and plans which support this law. The main policy pronouncement is found in the National Development and Reform Commission�s (NDRC) Medium and Long-Term Development Plan for Renewable Energy (the �Plan�)(see right sidebar under �Laws & Regulations�).
From the standpoint of a renewable energy project developer, the key components of the law itself are:
1. the establishment of a renewable energy target system which starts at the national level and eventually works its way down to individual energy-production entities;
2. a mandate that China�s state power grid companies purchase, favorably dispatch, and build transmission lines to renewable power sources and gasoline wholesale companies purchase liquid bio-fuels;
3. general guidance on establishing purchase prices for renewable energy that are based on the principles of benefiting renewable energy development and being economically reasonable; and
4. a description of the types of fiscal and tax incentives that will be developed to support the renewable power industry and specific projects.
As to the first point, the Plan provides specific 2010 and 2020 targets for a host of renewable energy types. It sets forth as a �Guiding Principles� (section 2) the �speed[ing] up [of] the development and deployment of hydropower, wind power, solar energy, and biomass energy.�
The Plan does not articulate many specific new requirements, but it does provides that:
Power generators with self-owned installed capacity of over 5 GW will be required to have a non-hydro renewable energy installed power capacity (self-owned) that accounts for 3 percent of their total capacity by 2010 and for over 8 percent of their total self-owned capacity by 2020. (section 5 (1))
The administrative authorities under the State Council responsible for the construction industry and the Standardization Administration of China will take responsibility for developing national standards for solar systems in buildings, and update the relevant construction standards, engineering specifications, and management regulations of urban construction to create good conditions for the development of solar systems in buildings. In the towns with rich solar resources, through the use of necessary policy measures, the market share of solar thermal technologies will be driven up. (section 5 (2))
The Plan also includes some cautionary language (section 2.1):
a lot of attention should be given in the case of the development of biomass energy to the relationship with both grain and the ecological environment. Cultivated land should not be illegally occupied, food grains should not be excessively consumed, and the ecological environment should not be destroyed.
This caution with respect to biomass energy has found its way into the Guidance Catalogue for Foreign Investment (as amended in 2007) (copy now attached under �Laws & Regulations� in the right sidebar). The 2007 version of the Catalogue moved to the �restricted� category the
Manufacture of biological liquid fuel (fuel ethanol, bio-diesel) (the Chinese party holds controlling share)
This Catalogue, of course, should be consulted when planning any investment in China. A number of investments in the renewable energy sector are, in fact, �encouraged,� including:
* Construction & operation of power plants using solar, wind, geothermal, wave/tidal, hydro and biomass remain on the encouraged list, with no ownership restrictions.
* Manufacture of parts or finished components for power generation in renewable energy fields, but in some cases investment limited to CJVs and EJVs.
As to items 2, 3, and 4 above, the Plan does not add much detail to the laws fairly vague pronouncements. Items 2 and 3, in particular, have been primarily addressed through regulations, and we will discuss those later.
Foreign investors should be aware that the Plan also makes it clear that China intends to encourage and strengthen the domestic renewable energy sector (section 5 (5)):
By 2010, a basic system of renewable energy technologies and industry will have been established, so that equipment capabilities based mainly on domestic manufacturing will have been established. By 2020, a relatively complete renewable energy technology and industry system will have been established, so that a domestic manufacturing capability based mainly on China�s own IPRs will have been established, satisfying the needs for deploying renewable energy on a large scale in China.
The NDRC issued the Renewable Energy Five Year Plan last month. I have not seen an English translation of this plan yet, but from the news reports it seems to parrot the Medium and Long-Term Development Plan for Renewable Energy (I know these plans can get confusing) except that it may have doubled the expected wind power production from 5 GW to 10GW by 2010. When I get a chance to read it, I�ll let you know.
Source : http://www.chinaenvironmentallaw.com/2008/04/13/china%E2%80%99s-renewable-energy-law-policies-plans/
What Is Biodiesel?
Biodiesel is an alternative fuel similar to conventional or �fossil� diesel. Biodiesel can be produced from straight vegetable oil, animal oil/fats, tallow and waste cooking oil. The process used to convert these oils to Biodiesel is called transesterification. This process is described in more detail below. The largest possible source of suitable oil comes from oil crops such as rapeseed, palm or soybean. In the UK rapeseed represents the greatest potential for biodiesel production. Most biodiesel produced at present is produced from waste vegetable oil sourced from restaurants, chip shops, industrial food producers such as Birdseye etc. Though oil straight from the agricultural industry represents the greatest potential source it is not being produced commercially simply because the raw oil is too expensive. After the cost of converting it to biodiesel has been added on it is simply too expensive to compete with fossil diesel. Waste vegetable oil can often be sourced for free or sourced already treated for a small price. (The waste oil must be treated before conversion to biodiesel to remove impurities). The result is Biodiesel produced from waste vegetable oil can compete with fossil diesel. More about the cost of biodiesel and how factors such as duty play an important role can be found here.
What are the benefits of Biodiesel?
Biodiesel has many environmentally beneficial properties. The main benefit of biodiesel is that it can be described as �carbon neutral�. This means that the fuel produces no net output of carbon in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2). This effect occurs because when the oil crop grows it absorbs the same amount of CO2 as is released when the fuel is combusted. In fact this is not completely accurate as CO2 is released during the production of the fertilizer required to fertilize the fields in which the oil crops are grown. Fertilizer production is not the only source of pollution associated with the production of biodiesel, other sources include the esterification process, the solvent extraction of the oil, refining, drying and transporting. All these processes require an energy input either in the form of electricity or from a fuel, both of which will generally result in the release of green house gases. To properly assess the impact of all these sources requires use of a technique called life cycle analysis. Our section on LCA looks closer at this analysis. Biodiesel is rapidly biodegradable and completely non-toxic, meaning spillages represent far less of a risk than fossil diesel spillages. Biodiesel has a higher flash point than fossil diesel and so is safer in the event of a crash.
Biodiesel Production
As mentioned above biodiesel can be produced from straight vegetable oil, animal oil/fats, tallow and waste oils. There are three basic routes to biodiesel production from oils and fats:
* Base catalyzed transesterification of the oil.
* Direct acid catalyzed transesterification of the oil.
* Conversion of the oil to its fatty acids and then to biodiesel.
Almost all biodiesel is produced using base catalyzed transesterification as it is the most economical process requiring only low temperatures and pressures and producing a 98% conversion yield. For this reason only this process will be described in this report.
The Transesterification process is the reaction of a triglyceride (fat/oil) with an alcohol to form esters and glycerol. A triglyceride has a glycerine molecule as its base with three long chain fatty acids attached. The characteristics of the fat are determined by the nature of the fatty acids attached to the glycerine. The nature of the fatty acids can in turn affect the characteristics of the biodiesel. During the esterification process, the triglyceride is reacted with alcohol in the presence of a catalyst, usually a strong alkaline like sodium hydroxide. The alcohol reacts with the fatty acids to form the mono-alkyl ester, or biodiesel and crude glycerol. In most production methanol or ethanol is the alcohol used (methanol produces methyl esters, ethanol produces ethyl esters) and is base catalysed by either potassium or sodium hydroxide. Potassium hydroxide has been found to be more suitable for the ethyl ester biodiesel production, either base can be used for the methyl ester. A common product of the transesterification process is Rape Methyl Ester (RME) produced from raw rapeseed oil reacted with methanol.
The figure below shows the chemical process for methyl ester biodiesel. The reaction between the fat or oil and the alcohol is a reversible reaction and so the alcohol must be added in excess to drive the reaction towards the right and ensure complete conversion.
The products of the reaction are the biodiesel itself and glycerol.
A successful transesterification reaction is signified by the separation of the ester and glycerol layers after the reaction time. The heavier, co-product, glycerol settles out and may be sold as it is or it may be purified for use in other industries, e.g. the pharmaceutical, cosmetics etc.
Straight vegetable oil (SVO) can be used directly as a fossil diesel substitute however using this fuel can lead to some fairly serious engine problems. Due to its relatively high viscosity SVO leads to poor atomisation of the fuel, incomplete combustion, coking of the fuel injectors, ring carbonisation, and accumulation of fuel in the lubricating oil. The best method for solving these problems is the transesterification of the oil.
The engine combustion benefits of the transesterification of the oil are:
* Lowered viscosity
* Complete removal of the glycerides
* Lowered boiling point
* Lowered flash point
* Lowered pour point
Production Process
An example of a simple production flow chart is proved below with a brief explanation of each step. (ref 1)
Mixing of alcohol and catalyst
The catalyst is typically sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) or potassium hydroxide (potash). It is dissolved in the alcohol using a standard agitator or mixer. Reaction. The alcohol/catalyst mix is then charged into a closed reaction vessel and the oil or fat is added. The system from here on is totally closed to the atmosphere to prevent the loss of alcohol. The reaction mix is kept just above the boiling point of the alcohol (around 160 �F) to speed up the reaction and the reaction takes place. Recommended reaction time varies from 1 to 8 hours, and some systems recommend the reaction take place at room temperature. Excess alcohol is normally used to ensure total conversion of the fat or oil to its esters. Care must be taken to monitor the amount of water and free fatty acids in the incoming oil or fat. If the free fatty acid level or water level is too high it may cause problems with soap formation and the separation of the glycerin by-product downstream.
Separation
Once the reaction is complete, two major products exist: glycerin and biodiesel. Each has a substantial amount of the excess methanol that was used in the reaction. The reacted mixture is sometimes neutralized at this step if needed. The glycerin phase is much more dense than biodiesel phase and the two can be gravity separated with glycerin simply drawn off the bottom of the settling vessel. In some cases, a centrifuge is used to separate the two materials faster.
Alcohol Removal
Once the glycerin and biodiesel phases have been separated, the excess alcohol in each phase is removed with a flash evaporation process or by distillation. In others systems, the alcohol is removed and the mixture neutralized before the glycerin and esters have been separated. In either case, the alcohol is recovered using distillation equipment and is re-used. Care must be taken to ensure no water accumulates in the recovered alcohol stream.
Glycerin Neutralization
The glycerin by-product contains unused catalyst and soaps that are neutralized with an acid and sent to storage as crude glycerin. In some cases the salt formed during this phase is recovered for use as fertilizer. In most cases the salt is left in the glycerin. Water and alcohol are removed to produce 80-88% pure glycerin that is ready to be sold as crude glycerin. In more sophisticated operations, the glycerin is distilled to 99% or higher purity and sold into the cosmetic and pharmaceutical markets.
Methyl Ester Wash
Once separated from the glycerin, the biodiesel is sometimes purified by washing gently with warm water to remove residual catalyst or soaps, dried, and sent to storage. In some processes this step is unnecessary. This is normally the end of the production process resulting in a clear amber-yellow liquid with a viscosity similar to petrodiesel. In some systems the biodiesel is distilled in an additional step to remove small amounts of color bodies to produce a colorless biodiesel.
Product Quality
Prior to use as a commercial fuel, the finished biodiesel must be analyzed using sophisticated analytical equipment to ensure it meets any required specifications. The most important aspects of biodiesel production to ensure trouble free operation in diesel engines are:
* Complete Reaction
* Removal of Glycerin
* Removal of Catalyst
* Removal of Alcohol
* Absence of Free Fatty Acids
Source : http://www.esru.strath.ac.uk/EandE/Web_sites/02-03/biofuels/what_biodiesel.htm
The largest hydroelectric dam in the world is Rogun in Tajikistan.(11) It stands over 1000 feet tall. Hydroelectric energy is one of many energy sources used in the world. In this report there is going to be information about how hydroelectric energy works, its pros and cons, where dams are built, and more about making electricity form water.
To make electricity this way, the water is held in a reservoir, behind the dam, The water close to the control gates is where the intake is, and when the control gates open, the water rushes through the penstock and turns the turbine. After the water does so, it goes through the outflow into the river. The turbine spins the generator, and the electricity goes to the transformer in the powerhouse. Then the transformer transforms the electricity into a usable form, and the electricity travels through the power lines and goes to homes and businesses.(2)
One more thing that is needed is location. To build a dam there has to be valleys and rivers. This will help with the building of the dam. There has to be great location or it won�t work. The land cannot be flat, or there is no way to build a dam. Canada, USA, the former USSR, Brazil, China, Norway, Japan, Sweden, India, and France all use hydroelectric energy. These countries are in order from the largest number of kilowatts in billions that are used each year.(12)
There are advantages and disadvantages of using hydroelectric energy. Here are some of the advantages. It is renewable, clean, non-polluting, and it prevents floods. Not all dams produce electricity, but they prevent flooding, and others do both.(13)
As said, there are advantages of using hydroelectric energy. There are disadvantages too. Here are some of the disadvantages. Hydroelectric dams can harm many species that live on the area, the land around the dam can be destroyed, and the furious turbines will kill the fish.
As said before, hydroelectric energy is one of many sources of electricity in the world. The future of hydropower is looking like it will still be used in the next century or more, because the world will still have plenty of running water and the need for lots of non-polluting energy.(13)
Sources
1. �Images of Dams�, Dams and Hydroelectric http://www.lcra.org/water/dams.html
2. �The Power of Water� �Simple Beginnings� How Hydropower Plants Work http://www.howstuffworks.com/hydropower-plantf1.htm
3. Where can I lean about hydroelectric dams? �What is a dam and how do they make hydroelectricity? �What is a Dam� Hydroelectric Power (Dams) http://www.ajkids.com
4.�Historical Timeline� Hydropower and Hydroelectricity http://environment.about.com/library/weekly/blrenew6.htm
5. Introduction to Hydropower http://www.nrel.gov/lav/pao/hydroelectric.html
6. �HYDROELECTRIC DAMS: How They Work� Hydroelectric Dams http://waterpower.hypermart.net/hdams.html
7. HydroElectricDams.com http://tempserver.com/hydroelectricdams.html
8. �Powering the World: The Energy that Fuels Us� Think Quest http://library.thinkquest.org/17531/hydro.html
9. �HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER� Energy Fact Sheet http://www.iclei.org/efacts/hydroele.htm
10. How Hydropower Plants Work http://www.howstuffworks.com/hydropower-plant.htm
11. Dam Multimedia http://encarta.msn.com/find/MediaList.asp?pg=6&mod=2&ti=761561327
12. �Energy� FACTS ABOUT HYDROPOWER http://wvic.com?hydro-facts.htm
13. �The future of hydropower� �Advantages of hydropower� �Hydropower�s effects on the environment �http://library.thinkquest.org/17531/hydro.html#future
http://www.webmutations.com/energy/reports/present/rephydro.html
Malaysia has urged its private sector to work with its counterpart in Brazil in developing biofuel as an alternative source of energy.
