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Burn a NutFrom Biomass to Biofuel:

Burn a NutWhat is the energy in plants? How do we find it? How do we use it?

Where do we get energy? The same energy that you get from food can be used for fuel. What is a biofuel? Biofuels are made from renewable materials like plants rather than non-renewable sources like crude oil and coal. How much energy can you get from a plant—a nut? a soybean? Try this experiment. Note: Always wear eye protection and consult an adult when working with an open flame. Find a responsible adult that you trust to do this activity with you. Be sure to protect your clothing and hands and set up your experiment in an open area.

Minimum Completion Time45 minutes

Skill LevelIntermediate Ages 11-13

Learner OutcomesExplores how agricultural crops can be used to create fuel, Investigates ethanol-based fuels based on their biological properties.

Science Skills• Measure• Observe• Interpret/analyze/

reason

Life Skills• Reason• Acquire and Evaluate

Information

Educational Standards• Properties and changes

of properties in matter• Transfer of energy• Populations, resources,

and environment

Success IndicatorFollows the Scientific Method in an experiment to release energy from nuts and beans

• Bio Architecture Lab• Biotechnology and You• Biodiesel Basics

• Tour an ethanol plant• Willie Nelson on biodiesel• Burning a brazil nut on

YouTube• Cooking with an almond

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 1

Figure 2

1. Gather these materials: 1 nut (pecan, almond, or brazil nut), 1-2 soybeans, 2 large paperclips, stopwatch, empty aluminum can, small glass dish, masking tape, thermometer, ring stand, food or balance scale, safety glasses, grill lighter, copy of Burn a Nut Observation Log, glass fuel burner and lamp oil.

2. Arrange a nut on the unfolded paperclip. Tape to bottom of the dish (see figure 1). Measure the mass of the fuel, (nut or soybean), fuel holder (paperclip) and glass dish. Add this data to the Observation Log.

3. Pour 50 ml of water into the aluminum can. Record the temperature. Suspend from the ring clamp using an unfolded paper clip (see figure 2).

4. Ignite the nut or bean by holding a flame on it until it begins to burn on its own. Start the stopwatch when you apply the flame.

• Tracking Renewable Fuel (article and video)

• BP biofuels • Fuel and feed from

microalgae • Importance of enzymes

Acknowledgements: Robert L. Horton, PhD, Ohio State University Extension, Carol Warkentien and Jeanne Gogolski, EP&P LLC

Content adapted from DuPont (www2.dupont.com) and Pioneer (www.pioneer.com) web pages.Adapted with permission from the Ohio Soybean Council.

News & Careers

Virtual Fun

More Challenges

• Test other nuts or food sources. Make predictions about how much stored energy there is in some of your favorite foods.

• Learn about the fermentation process for making ethanol and the transesterification process for producing biodiesel. Compare the process of making ethanol made from plant starches to the process of making biodiesel made from the oil in oilseeds.

• Find out about other biomass sources such as switchgrass, algae, jahtropha that scientists and engineers are exploring for advanced biofuels in your home state.

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Do • • • 5. Adjust the can to hang directly over the burning

fuel source. Do not extinguish the flame! If the nut/soybean stops burning before it is completely consumed, try to relight.

6. Monitor the temperature of the water, but do not allow the thermometer to touch the bottom of the can.

7. Allow the fuel to burn until it is consumed. Record both the burning time and the temperature of the water on the Observation Log. Measure the mass of the glass dish, paperclip and any ashes.

8. Calculate the change in time, temperature and mass and record on the Observation Log.

9. Repeat steps 1-8 using the soybean. Record your data.

10. Repeat steps 1-8 using a glass fuel burner containing lamp oil instead of the nut/soybean. Allow the lamp oil to burn for exactly 3 minutes. Record your data on the Observation Log.

11. Calculate the change in temperature over the change in mass. Which fuel produced the greatest change in temperature compared to the mass? Which fuel has the most stored energy?

More than a century ago in 1892, Rudolph Diesel patented the diesel engine which he designed to run on vegetable oil. In 1925 Henry Ford, founder of the Ford motor company, told a reporter that fuel made from plant matter was the “fuel of the future.”

Today energy crop innovation is continuing to develop sources of sustainable biofuels. The development of advanced biofuels technologies is on course to begin mass, commercial use in this decade. Engineers and entrepreneurs believe that 10-25% of global agricultural wastes alone can provide a sustainable source of 12% of the global road transport fuels market in the near future.

The 4-H Name and Emblem is protected under 18 USC 707.Support for this resource was provided by:

No endorsement of a commercial entity or its products or services is intended or implied.

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Share • • • Which was the better fuel: the nut, the soybean or the lamp oil?

Reflect • • •Which contained the most “stored energy:” the nut, the soybean or the lamp oil?

Generalize • • •How could the expanded use of biofuels affect the future? What other crops should be considered as possible fuel sources?

Apply • • •Would you recommend the use of nuts, soybeans or other crops for food, fuel or both? How is it possible to use the same plant or biomass for both food and fuel?

Name ————————————————

Date ————————————————

Records—Intermediate LevelFrom Biomass to Biofuel: Burn a Nut

The 4-H Name and Emblem is protected under 18 USC 707.Support for this resource was provided by:

No endorsement of a commercial entity or its products or services is intended or implied.

Background Information

Glossarybiodiesel —diesel fuel made from renewable resources

biofuels—fuels developed from biomass or agricultural crops

biomass—organic material made from plants and animals that contains stored energy from the sun

ethanol—an alternative fuel to gasoline made from a grain such as corn or sugarcane

feedstock—raw material required for an industrial process; biofuels start with feedstocks

fermentation process—biological processing in which sugars are converted into cellular energy, producing ethanol and carbon dioxide as a waste product; ethanol fermentation is the same process that occurs in the rising of bread dough

transesterification—process used in the production of biodiesel that involves reacting the vegetable oil with methanol or ethanol

Future Fuels Now

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Future Fuels NowMost of the world’s energy needs today are met with oil and natural gas, which come from fossil fuel. Every year America imports 3.67 billion barrels of oil. No one knows how long the supply can last. Renewable fuels have the potential to solve the problem.

How can we find the energy in plants to be the biofuels in the future? Scientific research and the development of biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel will help us to cut back on the amount of petroleum we use. Biotechnology is helping make alternative energy sources easier and more affordable to produce.

Biofuels are made from renewable sources. Along with corn, there are many other grains, grasses, trees, and even agricultural wastes being investigated for their usefulness. Biofuels include ethanol and biodiesel, which you may have heard of. They also include methanol, butanol, straight vegetable oil, syngas, and a seemingly endless array of other unconventional, often experimental fuels.

For example, one technology uses algae to convert the CO2 into a clean, renewable biofuel. Researchers are working on miniature fuel cells powered by methanol, butane, or even diesel fuel. These cells could replace the batteries in laptops and cell phones. Breakthroughs in the use of discarded agricultural waste and nontraditional crops like switchgrass have the potential to replace a large portion of the fossil fuels Americans now use.

Careers in this emerging field emphasize chemistry and engineering. Biofuel jobs can be thought of by the stages of production. Farmers grow the raw material, called feedstock or biomass. Agricultural researchers and scientists and microbiologists find ways to develop feedstock that will yield the most energy. Agricultural engineers focus on the overall manufacturing procedures, called bioprocessing. Animal nutritionists are needed to figure out how much of the co-products can be fed to animals. After the oil is extracted for biodiesel, the remaining soybean meal is processed into feed for livestock. The corn that remains after the starch is removed becomes animal feed prepared for exports around the globe.

Biofuel production involves more than a making a liquid to drive cars. Plastic that is now made from petroleum can be made out of biofuel. People will have to market the products

and help society accept bioproducts. Those with computer skills will be needed, along with office workers, and lab technicians as well as legislative and governmental regulatory agents.

The 4-H Name and Emblem is protected under 18 USC 707.Support for this resource was provided by:

No endorsement of a commercial entity or its products or services is intended or implied.

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Name ————————————————

Date ————————————————

Records—Intermediate LevelFrom Biomass to Biofuel: Burn a Nut

Fuel: Nut Initial Final Change

Temperature (°C) of water in can

Combined mass of fuel (g) holder, glass dish

Time (min.) 0

Fuel: Soybean Initial Final Change

Temperature (°C) of water in can

Combined mass of fuel (g) holder, glass dish

Time (min.) 0

Fuel: Lamp Oil Initial Final Change

Temperature (°C) of water in can

Combined mass of lamp oil and glass burner

Time (min.) 0 3:00 3 minutes

Compare change in mass to change in temperature.

FuelChange in

Temperature °CChange in Mass

Temperature °C Change in mass (g)

Nut

Soybean

Lamp oil

Look at the data. Which fuel is the best? Why?

Which fuel would you recommend for food? For fuel? Why?

What other factors should be considered when choosing a source of fuel?

What kinds of scientists are looking for new fuels? New foods?

ObservationLog