When can we fill up with oil from algae? - Biopress

Fifth volume24th issueJune 2008 i

Bioenergy research

Convert the hay balerinto an oil press 5

Germany is convertingwood into diesel 6

– the Swedes wantto do the same 7

– and Shell is going totest the fuel in theLe Mans race 7

Massive support forDONG's ethanol project 8

Newly developedgasification plantprepared for scrapping 10

How does researchbecome business? 12

Completed projects 14

From algae to petrol 16

By Torben Skøtt

As the criticism against the more traditionalbiofuels is coming to a head, the interest indeveloping fuels produced on the basis ofalgae is growing. The advantage is that,with a raw material like algae, you do nothave to occupy farm land that can be usedfor food products, and unlike other plants,algae are able to double their weight in avery short time – usually a day or two, butunder very special circumstances, it canhappen within a few hours. This is for ex-ample possible in plants where you add am-ple amounts of CO2 from the flue gas fromthe power plants and manure in the shape ofsurplus slurry from farming.

Thus, the perspectives of using algae forproduction of fuel are significant; but howrealistic is it, and when can the first com-mercial plants be established?

Commercial plant in 2008According to the Dutch company Algae-Link, oil from algae is no longer a distantdream of the future. The company hasstarted building ten commercial plants inSpain, of which the first two are supposedto be ready for production already this year.Each plant is supposed to be able to producetwo tons of dry matter per day.

On the company's web page, a number ofturnkey plants for production of algae arepresented, including power supply throughsolar cells, oil presses as well as equipmentfor harvesting the algae. The smallest plantis a small pilot plant at a price of EUR69,000 or about DKK half a million. It canproduce 2-4 kg of dry matter per day.

In addition to the pilot plant, the com-pany advertises with no less than 8 differentproduction plants that can supply from 1 to100 tons of dry matter per day. The pricesstart at EUR 125,000. No prices are quotedfor the largest plants that take up an area ofup to 56 hectares. All plants are deliveredcomplete with solar panels, which means

When can we fill up with oil from algae?It looks like bio-oil from algae isgoing to be a big hit, and alreadynow, several companies claim thatthey are close to a commercialbreakthrough. As the only coun-try, Denmark has chosen to focuson macro-algae for ethanol –other countries are focusing theirefforts on micro-algae for

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Biofuels

2 Bioenergy research no. 24 • June 2008

that they can run independently from theelectricity network.

Moreover, AlgaeLink has started coop-erating with the airline KLM on develop-ment of aeroplane fuel produced on thebasis of algae. In that connection, it is amatter of a more long-term strategy,where the two companies will promoteresearch within algae-based aeroplanefuel together over a period of 5-15 years.

Furthermore, AlgaeLink is negotiatingwith an unnamed shipyard about estab-lishing a plant on the world's largestcruise liner. The plan is to utilise the largeamounts of CO2 from the ship's enginesand also make use of the ship's waste-water. The plant must be so compact thatthe oil can be extracted, refined and usedin the ship's engines.

Six pilot plantsOne of the companies that currently havesignificant experience with production ofalgae is GreenFuel Technologies, whichhas its headquarters in Cambridge in thestate of Massachusetts, US. Since 2001,the company has established no less thansix pilot plants and has experience utilis-ing CO2 from gas-fired as well as coal-fired power plants.

According to the company's website,they are currently negotiating with a num-ber of interested plant hosts about estab-lishing the first commercial full-scaleplant. It is going to be a plant taking up atleast 100 hectares, and they hope to beable to build it within a few years.

GreenFuel Technologies works closelytogether with several American electriccompanies, including Arizona Public Ser-vice Company, which is the largest elec-

tric company in that state. At the com-pany's natural gas-fired power plant inPhoenix, GreenFuel Technologies has es-tablished a pilot plant that for exampleshows that the daily production of drymatter is at an average of almost 100grams/day. On some days, the productionreached 174 grams/day, which is consid-ered very satisfactory.

Oil companies want to join inToday, research and development withinalgae-based oil has reached a level wherethe large oil companies also want to joinin. Therefore, Shell is establishing a dem-onstration plant in Hawaii together with

HR Biopetrolium. The two companieshave established the company Cellana to-gether, with Shell as the majority share-holder. HR Biopetrolium, which is work-ing on development of plants for produc-tion of algae, is a small, local companyfounded by a group of marine biologists.

The Cellana plant will be placed closeto an existing industrial plant producingalgae for food products and pharmaceuti-cal purposes. A group of researchers willbe working at the plant, where they willcontinuously study which types of algaethat provide the best yield and whichtypes that contain the most oil.

The algae will be grown in open reser-voirs, and at first, the company will usemicro-algae, which occur naturally in thewaters around Hawaii.

How far are we?Offhand, it all sounds very simple. Algaegrow everywhere, there has been produc-tion of algae for food products for severaldecades, and micro-algae can rather easilybe converted into oil with an ordinary oilpress.

Here in Denmark, Energinet.dk has re-cently granted DKK 8.5 million for a con-sortium that is to investigate whether it ispractical and financially possible to usemacro-algae such as sea lettuce for pro-duction of ethanol. The consortium in-cludes several researchers from Risø,

www.algaelink.com

– Dutch company that sells turnkeyplants

www.oilgae.com

– debate page about oil from algae,filled with useful links and interestingdiscussions.

www.greenfuelonline.com

– company in Massachusetts that hasestablished six pilot plants since 2001and has experience utilising CO2 fromgas-fired as well as coal-fired powerplants.

Useful links

On the island of Mors in Denmark,

Danish researchers are investigating how

much energy you can extract from macro-

algae such as sea lettuce. From the right,

it is Anette Bruhn from the Danish

National Environmental Research Institu-

te, Peter Daugbjerg Jensen from Danish

Technological Institute and Michael

Bo Rasmussen from the Danish National

Environmental Research Institute.

Photo

:Lars

Nik

ola

isen/T

eknolo

gis

kIn

stitut

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Biofuels

Bioenergy research no. 24 • June 2008 3

DONG Energy, the Danish NationalEnvironmental Research Institute andDanish Technological Institute.

According to Peter Daugbjerg Jensenfrom Danish Technological Institute, whohas been appointed project manager, thereis hardly any experience growing thattype of algae, and there is only limitedknowledge of how the algae can be con-verted into ethanol.

– It is probably not going to be diffi-cult to get the process to work in a labora-tory or a smaller pilot plant, says PeterDaugbjerg Jensen. He suspects that themain problems will not occur until it istime to build a larger plant and ensurestable operation.

– One of the problems of growing al-gae is to keep them as a monoculture,where you only have this specific species.When you add CO2 and manure, you alsopromote other species that feed on the al-gae - particularly if you are dealing withopen plants. This corresponds to also fer-tilising the weeds when you are fertilisingthe plants in your garden, explains the

project manager, who is very scepticalabout whether the research in micro-algaeis close to a commercial breakthrough.

The manager of GreenFuel Technol-ogy, Cary Bullock, agrees that the mainproblems occur when you go from a pilotplant to a full-scale plant. For example, hesays the following in a presentation videoon the company's website:

It is easy to get algae to grow on asmall scale - on a larger scale, it is diffi-cult. Algae grow quickly, but so do theplants that feed on the algae. The goal isto find the right species and create an en-vironment where only those plants willthrive, says the manager.

Experience shows that you should takevarious predictions about when a technol-ogy is commercially available with apinch of salt. For example, a group ofresearchers concluded in 1995 that sixDanish gasification technologies were 1-2years from being commercially available.Not until today – 13 years later – is one ofthe technologies close to a commercialbreakthrough. ■

AlgaeLink's pilot plant, which can produ-

ce 2-4 kg of micro-algae per day. Price:

EUR 69,000 or about DKK half a million.

Photo

:Alg

aeLin

k

Gradually, several books have beenpublished about how to make your ownbiodiesel, and now, you can also getinstructions on how to become self-sufficient with biodiesel from algae.

And according to the publishing com-pany behind the book, it is a lot easierthan you would think.

– If you can make barbecue sauce, youcan make diesel. It is easy, it is inexpen-sive, and it is safe, writes the publishingcompany in a press release and states thatyou can even make bio-diesel in your ownkitchen.

However, judging by various com-ments about the book, it is probably not aseasy as the publishing company indicates.According to www.global-greenhouse-warming.com, it is definitely not forcissies. It is quite a challenge to ploughyour way through the 550 pages, but ifyou are up for it, the book is quite a goldmine, and it covers practically all topics,right from growing of the algae to press-ing the oil.

You can find further information aboutalgae-based bio-diesel and other types ofbio-diesel on the following address:

www.making-biodiesel-at-home.com

If you are planningto make an algae

pond in your back-yard and produceyour own fuel foryour car, you canfind plenty of tips

in the book Ma-king Algae Bio-diesel At Home

Recipe for algae oil

Algae can produce hydrogenUsing gene manipulation, Ameri-

can scientists want to promote

the properties that make some

algae produce hydrogen.

At Argonne National Laboratory, whichis the US Department of Energy'slargest research unit, they are constantlylooking for new ways to produce fuel.The latest initiative is genetically modi-fied algae that can be used to producehydrogen.

– We see major perspectives in beingable to utilise photosynthesis to produce

hydrogen through algae, says chemistDavid Tiede in a press release on theresearch centre's website.

The researchers want to exploit the factthat some types of algae contain an en-zyme that can produce small amounts ofhydrogen. According to David Tiede, it isnature's own way of regulating the”metabolism”, if the plant gets too muchsunlight, and he imagines that you canisolate the enzyme and use it to producehydrogen on a larger scale.

Source: www.anl.gov

Biofuels


A group of researchers at DTU(Technical University of Den-mark) are working on designinga mobile plant that can produceoil directly from the field. Theoil can be used as fuel at powerplants or be converted into die-sel, and the coke fraction will besuitable for carbon storage andimprovement of soil's fertility.

Convert the hay balerinto an oil press

By Torben Skøtt

– We still need to find the perfect methodfor converting biomass into liquid fuel,and therefore, we have to keep all ouroptions open.

These words come from lecturer PeterArendt Jensen from the Department ofChemical and Biochemical Engineering atDTU. He is part of a team of researchersthat have chosen to find new ways of pro-ducing oil on the basis of biomass. Insteadof a large factory plant, the researcherswant to construct a mobile plant that canconvert straw into liquid fuel directly onthe field. The process, which is calledflash pyrolysis, makes it possible to con-vert about half of the straw's energy con-tent into oil. The residual product mainlyconsists of coke, which can be used tostore carbon in the soil and improve thesoil's fertility.

Niels Bech from the Department ofChemical and Biochemical Engineeringis the instigator of the project. When hepresented the idea to the researchers atthe department about three years ago, hewas met with some scepticism at first.However, after a critical review, his col-leagues found it so interesting that he wasgiven the opportunity to write a ph.D. the-sis about the process, and today, the re-searchers at the Department of Chemicaland Biochemical Engineering agree thatthis is a project that can have very largeperspectives.

In connection with the ph.D. project,which Niels Bech is defending this June,he has created a plant that can treat 3 kgof straw per hour. This is currently being

scaled up to 300 kg per hour, and the nextstep will be an even larger plant, whichmust also be portable.

– The machine is intended to be a re-placement for the hay baler, but you couldalso imagine that it can be connected to acombine harvester in order to get a systemthat can supply grain, oil and coke forsoil improvement, all at the same time,explains Niels Bech. He sees great possi-bilities in being able to use the plant in acountry like Denmark, but he sees evenlarger perspectives in other countries. Inother countries, there are significant strawresources that are not being utilised be-cause of the high transport costs, but thatproblem will be solved if you can justtransport the oil instead of the bales ofstraw.

From biomass to oilDuring pyrolysis, a partial conversion oforganic material without supply of oxy-gen takes place. Conversely, you supplyso much oxygen during incineration thatthe material is completely converted. In agasification plant, you are somewhere inbetween – you supply limited amounts ofoxygen or steam, which means that the mainpart of the energy is converted into gas.

Flash pyrolysis is a special type of py-rolysis where heating of the biomass andcooling of the gas takes place within afew seconds. Thus, you can get up to 50percent of the heating value out in theshape of oil and up to 65 percent if youare using wood.

– That is not a process that we have in-vented. Our project is about constructinga mobile plant and finding the bestmethod of using the oil and coke fractionin Denmark, explains Niels Bech. He isfamiliar with the fact that several saw-mills in Canada use flash pyrolysis to pro-duce oil on the basis of wood waste, buthardly anyone has experience with strawas the raw material.

Oil for power plantsAt Risø DTU (national laboratory for sus-tainable energy), senior researcher HelgeEgsgaard is working on analysing the oilthat has been produced at the test plant atthe Department of Chemical and Bio-chemical Engineering.

– The oil is not comparable to diesel orordinary fuel oil. It contains some waterand oxygenous compounds, which canlead to corrosions, among other things.Furthermore, there are hundreds of differ-ent chemical compounds, which meansthat it is an extensive task to make a thor-ough analysis and find out what the oilcan be used for, explains the senior re-searcher. However, he has a good feel forwhat to look for based on the many expe-riences Risø DTU has with analysis ofvarious types of bio-oil.

Helge Egsgaard estimates that it wouldbe rather unproblematic to burn the oil inpower plant boilers. Another possibilitywould be to use it in large marine engines,but this is probably not as straightforward,as the water content can cause problems.

Finally, there is the possibility of refin-ing the oil in order to use it as a replace-ment for diesel or in the petrochemical in-dustry. However, this would require thatyou have very large amounts at your dis-posal, so at first, the researchers will pri-marily focus on power plants.

Carbon storage in the soilCoke has been used for soil improvementin South America before the arrival of theEuropeans. Back then, the Native Ameri-cans produced coke out of wood andworked it into the ground with livestockmanure in order to increase the fertility ofthe unfertile rain forest soil. Umber, as it

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Biofuels

is called, is still very fertile, and in severalplaces, it is being dug up and sold as pot-ting soil.

– When you add carbon to the soil in theshape of coke, hardly any decompositiontakes place, explains Erik Steen Jensen,who is the programme manager for theBiosystems Department at Risø DTU. Hebecame aware of the phenomenon whileNiels Bech was working on his ph.D.study, and now, they are working togetheron creating a concept that can provide themost optimal use of the straw for energyproduction and soil improvement.

Throughout the last 50 years, theamount of organic material in the soil hasbeen reduced, and it is regularly beingdiscussed whether it is irresponsible to re-move straw from the farm land, becauseyou reduce the humus content even fur-ther that way.

– From a climatic point of view, thehumus or carbon content of the soil is cru-cial when trying to avoid worsening thegreenhouse effect, says senior researcherHenrik Hauggaard-Nielsen from RisøDTU. He is responsible for the activitiesin the project that are related to supply ofcoke to soil, and he is also familiar withthe arguments for planting more forest,but this increases the conflict betweenproduction of food products and energyeven further.

According to Henrik Hauggaard-Nielsen, the effect of incorporatingstraw is rather limited. About half thecarbon content is converted into CO2

during the first year, but if you supplythe carbon in the shape of coke instead,only very limited decomposition takesplace, according to the literature on thesubject. In this way, you can build a

significant carbon pool in the soil.Furthermore, a number of studies indi-cate that the washing out of nutrientsis reduced, but this is not as well-documented as the building of carbonstorage in the soil.

Thus, there is significant indicationthat flash pyrolysis of straw and othertypes of biomass can be an unexpectedlysimple solution, but Erik Steen Jensenthinks that it is too early to recommend tothe farmers that they us coke on a largescale.

– We have to investigate whetherharmful compounds can occur when thestraw is converted into bio-oil and coke.In South America, this technique has beenused with great success, but we want to beabsolutely sure that it is not harmful be-fore being able to recommend it, says ErikSteen Jensen. ■

Biofuels


Germany is converting wood into dieselGermany has spent 800,000 manhours on developing and estab-lishing the world's first factorythat can produce diesel on thebasis of wood waste and woodchips. By using wood as the rawmaterial instead of oil-containingplants, the necessary area forcultivation can be reduced bytwo thirds.

By Torben Skøtt

While Denmark uses significant resourceson developing 2nd generation bio-ethanol,Germany has chosen a somewhat differ-ent route. In Germany, there is particularfocus on production of bio-diesel, and inthe middle of April, the German chancel-lor, Angela Merkel, could inaugurate anentirely new factory plant that is supposedto produce synthetic diesel through theso-called BTL method. This stands forBiomass to Liquid and briefly means thatthe biomass is first gasified, after whichthe gas is converted into liquid fuel.

The next phase will be running-in ofthe no less than 113 sub-processes that arenecessary in order to be able to convertwood into diesel. The goal is to be able toreach full production within 8-12 months,which corresponds to 18 million litres ofdiesel oil per year. This will require sup-ply of approx. 65,000 tons of wood chipsor wood waste.

The technology for production of syn-thetic diesel is well-known in many waysand was for example used by Germanyduring World War II. Back then, coal wasgasified and then converted into dieselthrough a catalytic process. Today, bio-mass is the product that is to be gasified,and this should result in a CO2 reductionof up to 90 percent compared to tradi-tional diesel oil.

The new factory plant, which belongsto the company Choren Industries, is lo-cated in Freiberg. Volkswagen, Daimlerand Shell are co-owners, and Shell alsohas shares in Choren Industries.

Pilot plantPrior to the inauguration of the plant inFreiberg lies very extensive development

work. Among other things, this includesestablishment and operation of a pilotplant for over 22,000 hours as well astesting of the fuel in a number of automo-bile engines that are produced by Daimlerand Volkswagen.

– The plant in Freiberg clearly showshow far we can get with the developmentof a new technology for protection of theclimate when government, industry andresearchers work together hand in hand,said the German chancellor, Angela Mer-kel, at the inauguration on the 17th ofApril 2008.

The establishment of the factory hasbeen a demanding process, which has in-volved about 150 sub-contractors. The firstphase consisted of establishing a low-tem-perature as well as a high-temperaturegasifier patented by Choren Industries. Af-

ter that, Shell started installing equipmentfor the so-called Fischer-Tropsch process,which converts the gas into liquid fuel. It isa chemical process that was invented bythe German researchers Franz Fischer andHans Tropsch in 1923. The process hasparticularly been used by Germany andSouth Africa, but the main part of the largeoil companies has now invested in thetechnology. The reason for this is that theemission of harmful substances is smallerthan for traditional diesel oil, just as theCO2 emission can be reduced significantlyif the production takes place on the basis ofbiomass.

Choren Industries estimates that thetotal development work comes to about800,000 man hours, and that they haveworked together with 600 different com-panies during the process. ■

Installation of low-temperature gasifier on the plant in Freiberg.

Photo

:Chore

nIn

dust

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Biofuels


– the Swedes want to do the same

The Swedes, who already have a signifi-cant production of ethanol as replacementfor petrol, now want to start producingdiesel on the basis of wood chips andhousehold waste. The technology will bepurchased in Germany, which could re-cently inaugurate the world's first factoryfor production of synthetic diesel on thebasis of wood and other types of biomass.

It is the environmental debate, the ris-ing oil prices and the significant resourceswithin biomass that have made the Swed-ish company Eco-Oil become interestedin synthetic diesel. The product is cur-

rently more expensive than traditionaldiesel oil, but Eco-Oil expects that it willbe the other way around when the plant isready in the autumn of 2009.

According to plan, the factory will beestablished in Åsele in Norrland, wheresignificant amounts of biomass are avail-able. This biomass is primarily various re-sidual products from forestry, such asbranches, twigs, top ends and roots, butalso household waste and waste from thepaper industry have been mentioned aspossible raw materials.

Already today, several trucks in Swe-den are running on synthetic diesel pro-duced on the basis of natural gas. It costsone Swedish krone more per litre than or-dinary diesel oil, but it provides a betterworking environment, cleaner exhaustand thereby a better image for the compa-nies that have chosen the natural gas-based fuel.

The Swedes are familiar with the pro-cess of converting gas into liquid fuel, butwhen it comes to gasification of biomass,there is still some way to go before the

technology can be considered fully com-mercially available. In Värnamo, workhas been carried out since 1994 onachieving stable operation of a large gasi-fication plant, in Piteå, a group of re-searchers are working on gasifying wastefrom the paper industry, and in Väster-norrland, they have the project BioFuelRegion, where 18 municipalities work to-gether on promoting the use of biofuels.

Sweden is not planning to use syn-thetic diesel to replace any of the othertypes of biofuels that they are currentlyworking with. Synthetic diesel based onbiomass is a supplement that is supposedto make the transport sector independentfrom fossil fuels.

Here in Denmark, a group of research-ers from DTU (Technical University ofDenmark), Dong Energy and HaldorTopsøe are investigating how gasificationgas is best converted into methanol andDME. This project, which is supposed tobe finished in 2009, has been given DKKthree million in support from the energyresearch programme EFP. TS

With help from German re-searchers, Sweden wants to es-tablish a factory for productionof synthetic diesel made fromwood chips and householdwaste. According to plan, thefirst factory is to be inauguratedduring the autumn of 2009 inÅsele in Norrland.

– and Shell is going to test the fuel in the Le MansAt the legendary 24-hour race inLe Mans on the 14th of June,Shell is going to test how dieselproduced on the basis of woodwaste will cope in a race for thefirst time.

Shell is working closely together withGerman Choren Industries on the devel-opment of new types of biofuels, wherethe biomass is first gasified, after which itis converted into liquid fuel, also calledBiomass to Liquid (BTL). Within a year,a large factory plant in Freiberg is sup-posed to be able to supply 18 million tonsof BTL per year, and the engineers are al-ready testing the fuel in various automo-bile engines.

And what could be better than testingthe fuel on the Le Mans race track inFrance when the legendary 24-hour raceis held on the 14th of June? It will not bepure BTL, but Audi is prepared to try amix of BTL and Shell V-Power Diesel intheir racing car.

In 2006, Shell and Audi made motor-ing history by being the first to win the LeMans race with a diesel-driven racing car.This success was repeated in 2007, andthis year, they will be trying out a mix ofBTL and traditional diesel, and they willalso be testing GTL, which stands for”Gas to Liquid”. In that case, it is not bio-

mass but natural gas that is converted intoliquid fuel.

Audi is part of the Volkswagen Group,which, just like Shell, has shares in the BTLfactory in Freiberg. The 14th of June will bethe first time that a 2nd generation biofuel isused on the Le Mans race track and proba-bly also the first time in a race at all. TS

On the 14th of June, Shell and Audi will be testing a mix of biofuel and Shell V-Power

Diesel in the 24-hour race on the Le Mans race track.

Photo

:Shell

Biofuels


By Torben Skøtt

DONG Energy's subsidiary Inbicon isnow speeding up the establishment of ademonstration plant for production of 2ndgeneration bio-ethanol at Kalundborg.This is happening after the company wasrecently awarded a grant of more thanDKK 54 million from EUDP (Programmefor Energy Technology Development andDemonstration). Simultaneously, one ofInbicon's business partners, the companyTerranol A/S, was given more than DKK11 million. Terranol A/S does research inthe development of new types of yeast,which for example Inbicon can use intheir plant.

However, Biogasol, which is responsi-ble for the establishment of a demonstra-tion plant on Bornholm, was not givenanything at all from the funds allocated for2nd generation bio-ethanol in 2008. Thus,everything seems to indicate that the com-pany will have to drop their plans of hav-ing a plant ready for the Climate Summit,because without public funds, it will be al-most impossible to find private investors.

– Denmark is missing out on an exportadventure by opting out of BioGasol'sdemonstration plant on Bornholm, it isstated in a press release from Biogasol. Inthat press release, the company's manag-ing director, Birgitte K. Ahring, is notmincing her words and for example ac-cuses EUDP's board of having made adecision that is not based on facts. In thatconnection, she is referring to the fact thatBioGasol has already developed the tech-nology in which Terranol is now givenmoney to do research.

The funds for 2nd generation bio-etha-nol come from the globalisation funds,

where DKK 200 million are allocated forthe area over a four-year period. In 2007,DKK 50 million were awarded, whichwere distributed almost equally amongInbicon and Biogasol. The funds wereprovided for project engineering of thetwo demonstration plants. After the cur-rent allocation of the 2008 funds, thereare approx. DKK 85 millionleft for distri-bution in 2009 and 2010.

Not enough independent fi-nancingObviously, the decision to support onlyone of the large ethanol projects has re-sulted in quite a bit of debate, and the TVstation Danmarks Radio recently chose toair a one-hour programme on DR1 withthe title: The elephant against the mouse.

In that programme, the chairman ofEUDP's board, Torkil Bentzen, said thatBiogasol's project is basically good, andthat they would like it to be supported.

– But we had to make a choice. Wehave received applications for a total ofDKK 240 million, and we have 50 millionto spend this year, said Torkil Bentzen.He said that the reason for the rejection ofBiogasol was that the company's inde-pendent financing for the project was notadequate, and they were worried aboutwhat would happen to the plant after thedemonstration phase.

– Basically, we were worried whowould be left to carry the can on Born-holm. If the plant ends up not working,

then who is supposed to deal with that,asked Torkil Bentzen referring to thefailed project in Gjøl, where a small heat-ing plant is left with a gasification plantthat is not working.

Torkil Bentzen was not given an an-swer to his question. However, he waspromised by the chairman of the DanishParliament's Energy Committee, JensKirk (from the Danish political partyVenstre), that he will work on expeditingthe grants for the ethanol area in order forthe EUDP programme to get more moneyto work with this year.

This point of view was fully supportedby Anne Grete Holmsgaard, who is theenergy policy spokesperson for the partySF:

– The money must be given early. Thatis what makes other investors step for-ward, said Anne Grete Holmsgaard. Sheargued that you should always have atleast two projects that can competeagainst each other. Otherwise, you willbe choosing a specific technology inadvance, without knowing if it is the bestsolution.

So maybe there is a chance after allthat BioGasol's plant on Bornholm willbecome reality. If further grants are giventhis year, and if the company can get thenecessary independent financing, Den-mark will have the opportunity to showtwo plants that each have a method ofproducing ethanol on the basis of wasteand residual products from farming. ■

Massive support for DONG's ethanolDONG Energy was given morethan DKK 54 million when thespecial funds for promotion of2nd generation biofuels weredistributed. Biogasol's project onthe island on Bornholm, how-ever, was not given anything atall, which means that Denmarkwill probably only be able toshow one demonstration plantat the Climate Summit in 2009.

DONG Energy's test plant for 2nd generation bio-ethanol at the power plant Skærbæk-

værket. The next phase will be establishment of a demonstration plant in Kalundborg.

Photo

:Torb

en

Skøtt/B

ioPre

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Short news


In April, a new research portal

called videnskab.dk was opened.

Thus, Denmark has a new web me-

dia providing popularly mediated

stories about what takes place in

the laboratories and behind the

books.

The primary target group for videnskab.dkis young people trying to choose theirpath in life. In a wider sense, it is for allcitizens that are eager to learn. Roughlyspeaking, the goal is to make it popular toknow something.

As something very important - and ex-traordinary for research communication -videnskab.dk covers a wide spectrum. Thefocus is not only on the natural sciences,but just as much on the research carried outin the culture and society areas.

Videnskab.dk is a content service withdaily news from the world of research aswell as large cross-disciplinary themesacross the sciences and entertainmentcontent such as quizzes, competitions andproblem pages. The page is also open for

debate and blogs, and several interactiveinitiatives are in the pipeline. In line withthe media development, sound and liveimages will also be cranked up onvidenskab.dk.

Videnskab.dk has an editorial staff offive journalists, and in addition to this,two journalists from the news departmentof Experimentarium will be contributingwith content. Apart from the editorialstaff's own material, videnskab.dk willalso be showing articles from the univer-sities and research institutes that wish toco-operate.

Financially, the project is supported bythe Danish Independent Research Council,the Danish Council for Strategic Research,the Danish Agency for Science Technol-ogy and Innovation as well as the DanishMinistry of Culture, and videnskab.dk alsohas to gather money from interested par-ties and funds. There is financing for threeyears, so already now, they are workingon a new business model that can makethe research portal sustainable in the longterm. TS

The technology centre CBMI is

getting DKK 6 million to create

networks and co-operation within

bioenergy from biomass and

waste from farming and industry.

The money comes from EU's RegionalFund and the Danish Enterprise and Con-struction Agency.

With these new funds, it will now be-come possible for Danish researchers andcompanies to participate in large interna-

A financial shot in the arm for centre for bio-energytional projects. This will provide knowl-edge and insight that can guarantee acontinued Danish leading position withinrenewable energy.

Apart from CBMI, the participants inthe project are the Faculty of Life Sci-ences at University of Copenhagen, theFaculty of Agricultural Sciences at theUniversity of Aarhus, Danish Technologi-cal Institute in Aarhus and Agro TechA/S. The project will continue until theyear 2010. TS

Course and seminarin business plans

The public support programmes fordevelopment of new energy tech-nologies are making increasingdemands on the business aspectsof the applications.

The demands are simple: If youcannot write a good business planfor your project, the probability ofyour application achieving any sup-port will decrease significantly.In co-operation with the EUDP sec-retariat and Energinet.dk, who areadministering the PSO scheme, 1stMile has now developed a courseand a two-day seminar aimed atthe applicants for the programmes.

1-day course in Søhuset,Hørsholm, 28th of August 2008Apart from increasing the quality ofthe applications through improvedcapabilities and understanding, thecourse will also save the partici-pants a lot of time in connectionwith the formulation of the applica-tions.

The price of the course is DKK6,900 excl. VAT. We recommendthat at least two people from thesame company or institute partici-pate in order to benefit optimallyfrom the work on own applications.There is a 10 percent discount forparticipant no. two and more.

2-day seminar at HelenekildeBadehotel, 1st and 2nd ofSeptember 2008On this 2-day seminar in the scenichotel Helenekilde Bade- hotel inTisvildeleje, the participants willbecome able to write the businessplans that have to be attached tothe applications for the EUDP andPSO programmes.

The seminar is placed 2½ weekbefore the deadline for applicationsof both programmes, which is the19th of September 2008.

Price: DKK 12,900 excl. VAT, incl.food, accommodations and allactivities.

1st Mile [email protected]

+45 4044 6714

New research portal


Gasification

By Torben Skøtt

– It is terribly frustrating, say the peoplein Gjøl as well as the supplier of the plantand the Danish Energy Agency's expert inthe area, Henrik Flyver Christiansen.They all agree that, technologically, theplant in Gjøl is brilliant. It is based on aso-called multi-step process that makes itpossible to produce pure tar-free gas onthe basis of biomass, which means thatyou can avoid expensive and complicatedgas purification. The process was origi-nally developed at the Technical Univer-sity of Denmark, and Gjøl was likely tobecome the first place in Denmark wherethe technology was really going to proveits worth.

But now, it seems that this is not goingto happen. The money has been spent, thelocal energy company cannot afford tofinance the running-in of the plant, thesupplier has backed out after having lostDKK 9 million on the project, and thereis no prospect of further support from theDanish Energy Agency, EU or the PSOfunds that Energinet.dk administers.

For the CHP plant Gjøl PrivateKraftvarmeværk, which has investedabout DKK 8 million in the project so far,

the situation is untenable. The company iscurrently firing with natural gas and hadhoped to be able to lower the price forheating, but now, it is most likely thatthey will have to increase the price signif-icantly instead in order to be able to payfor the natural gas and pay the debt for thegasification plant at the same time. Obvi-ously, the board is not happy about this,or as expressed by the deputy chairman ofthe company, Calle Østergaard:

– It is not fair that 300 consumers ina town in Northern Jutland have to payfor the development of a technology thatthe entire energy sector will benefitfrom. It must be the public sector thathas to perform that task, says the deputychairman.

What went wrong?At the Danish Energy Agency, they areperfectly aware that the situation is seri-ous, and therefore, they recently asked theconsultancy firm 1st mile to prepare anindependent report. This report makes itquite clear that a lot has gone wrongalong the way. A complicated structurewith many partners, lacking coherencebetween responsibility, competence andmoney flows as well as insufficient con-

Newly developed gasificationplant prepared for scrappingThe first commercial plant forproduction of tar-free gas as areplacement for natural gas isprepared for scrapping before ithas even been put to use. Thereason is that the running-in ofthe plant will cost DKK 19 mil-lion, and that money is simplynot available.

Installation of the gasification plant

during the spring of 2007.

300 heating consumers in

Gjøl had been looking for-

ward to a lower heating

bill with a newly develo-

ped gasification plant, but

now, it seems that it will

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Gasification • Grant


New grant scheme can give thegasification technology a liftOver the next four years, DKK100 million will be allocated fordemonstration of minor renew-able energy technologies. Assomething new, the scheme canbe used for operating grants,which will make it easier to getthe running-in of new demon-stration plants financed.

By Torben Skøtt

DKK 25 million per year over a four-yearperiod may not be much when it has tocover such diverse technologies as biogasification, wave power and solar cells;but still, the new scheme has created someoptimism among many small and me-dium-sized technology companies. Thereason for this is that, in the future, it willbe possible to apply for establishment aswell as operation grants for demonstrationplants, which will in turn make it easierto get the running-in of a new plantfinanced.

– The scheme is practically tailor-madefor our company, says project managerBjarne Skyum from the boiler factoryWeiss. In recent years, the company hasspent significant resources on the devel-opment of gasification plants, and beforelong, they are expecting to be able to es-tablish the first full-scale plant at a planthost.

– It is a step in the right direction thatpart of the grant will be dependent on suc-cessful operation. This keeps the supplierup to the mark and prepared to go to great

lengths to achieve a bonus in the end, saysJens Dall Bentzen from Dall Energy.He is working closely together with forexample Weiss on the development of thegasification technology and hopes that thenew scheme can prevent episodes like theone in Gjøl, where a gasification plantwill be scrapped before it has been putto use.

Part of the energy conciliationThe new grant pool, which is part of theenergy conciliation of this spring, isadministered by Energinet.dk under thename ForskVE. Formally, the legislationstill has to be passed, but it is expected tocome into place before the Danish parlia-ment takes its summer holiday. After this,the first pool of DKK 25 million for mi-nor renewable energy technologies willbe supplied during the summer months,and later this year, there will be anotherbidding round for the grants of 2009.

In the notes of the legislation, minorrenewable energy technologies are de-fined as solar cells, wave power, biomassgasification and stirling engines, and it ispointed out that the new scheme is aimedat a later phase than the support you canget from the ForskEL programme, whichis also administered by Energinet.dk.

According to research coordinatorSteen Vestervang from Energinet.dk,there are pretty broad limits to what themoney can be used for. No specific distri-bution of the funds for various technolo-gies has been determined, and there are nospecific limits to what can be used for es-tablishment support, operation grants andmediation.. ■

sultancy and project management arestated as the main reasons that the projecthas been thrown off the track. A specificexample of poor management is the con-struction of the building, which is muchtoo small to accommodate the many plantcomponents and a gas engine that isplaced in a completely wrong location.

The conclusion of the 40-page reportis unmistakable: Scrap the plant and makesure that Gjøl is given an opportunity toturn off the natural gas and switch to pureheat production based on wood chips in-stead. This would make it possible to keepthe heat price at an acceptable level, therewould be no need to put any furthermoney in the project, and in the best-casescenario, it will be possible to sell thepieces to a company that may want tocontinue the project somewhere else.

The problem with this solution is thatit gives the gasification technology a badimage. The thing is that it is not just thereputation of the companies that havebeen involved in the Gjøl project that istarnished. Other companies that want todevelop and market similar technologiescan easily be met with opposition, and itis not easy for them anyway.

Sorry about the developmentThe parties involved are sorry about thedevelopment, but they each find it diffi-cult to see how they could have handledthings differently:

– We have acted in good faith from thebeginning. We were given the impressionby our consultants and the Danish EnergyAgency that we were dealing with a tech-nology that there was broad interest inhaving tested, and that we could expectfull support from the public sector, saysCalle Østergaard. He had expected a cer-tain running-in period, but he is stunnedthat it is going to cost DKK 19 million toachieve stable operation of the plant.

The managing director of TK-Energi,Thomas Koch, on the other hand, thinksthat he played his cards face up during thewhole process:

– I have made no secret of the fact thatit was a development project, and it isstated clearly in the contract that wewould not guarantee the operation of theplant. If it had been a case of a fully de-veloped technology, there would havebeen no support from the Danish EnergyAgency or the EU – it is as simple as that,says the managing director. ■ 3th year2th year1st year

Establishment support

Operation support

Mediation

Pro

jectsu

pp

ort

Example of how the

support for a demon-

stration plant can be

distributed. Source:

Energinet.dk


Research

By Torben Skøtt

”Denmark has unutilised potential for

interaction between the business world and

public research. We have to utilise this po-

tential. We have to become even better at

getting research and knowledge out into

larger parts of the business world.”

The quote above comes from the pref-ace of the Danish government's publica-tion ”Nye veje mellem forskning ogerhverv” (new roads between researchand business). In this publication, thegovernment makes it clear that Denmarkhas to be able to compare with the best ofthe world when it comes to the interactionbetween companies and knowledge insti-tutions. Today, Denmark is in the middlefield among the OECD countries, and thatplacement has to be improved!

But how do you put this into practice?The story of the Gjøl project – where anewly developed gasification plant is

scrapped before it has been tested – showsthat one of the many preconditions forsuccess is tight management and clear dis-tribution of the various areas ofresponsibility.

– In Gjøl, there have been many devia-tions from the original project plan. Thelonger you wait before you intervene, themore expensive it becomes, says SørenHoumøller, who, as the managing directorof the consultancy firm 1st Mile, has par-ticipated in preparing a report about thegasification plant. He has also taken partin evaluating a number of applications forthe new EUDP programme, where muchstricter demands are made on organisationand project management than has been thecase in Gjøl.

Other demands todayAt the Danish Energy Agency, the officemanager of the EUDP secretariat, NicolaiZarganis, confirms that different demandsare made on demonstration projects todaycompared to earlier.

– We demand from the applicants thatthey have thought through the entire pro-cess. It is not enough to build a plant. Youalso have to be able to keep the plant inoperation, and this requires a certainstrength from the companies in question,says the office manager. In that connec-tion, he refers to the fact that a rejectionwas recently given to a large ethanol plan

How does research become business?Today, researchers not onlyhave to publish thick reports andparticipate in international con-ferences. Now, research has tobe turned into business, but howis that put into practice? Withthe Gjøl project as the point ofdeparture, we have asked anumber of technology compa-nies what it takes for researchto become good business.

on the island of Bornholm, because theywere not sure if the company behind itcould acquire the necessary independentfinancing and keep the plant in operation.

However, Nicolai Zarganis will not goas far as concluding that only financiallystrong companies can get support fordemonstration plants.

– That is an overly simplistic way ofputting it, he says, but you cannot getround the fact that small companies canimplement small projects and large com-panies can implement large projects.

”Jaws of death”The example from Gjøl is not unique. Ithas happened before that a demonstrationplant has been taken down before it hasbeen put into operation, and those typesof failed projects have even been giventheir own name: Jaws of death.

Many small and medium-sized tech-nology companies fear the phase theyhave to go through when the first demon-stration plant has be to established andrun in. The reason for this is that experi-ence shows that it is much easier to get agrant for development of the actual tech-nology than for demonstrating the tech-nology on a larger scale.

– There is a tendency that as soon asthe researchers have developed a newtechnology, it has become outdated. It isno longer ”in” to work with gasification

Success was achieved in Harboøre. After 15 years of development work, the supplier of

the gasification plant in Harboøre can now look forward to export worth billions of

Danish kroner.

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Research


plants. Now, biofuels and fuel cells are onthe agenda, says Søren Houmøller. Heoften wonders why everyone dives intonew areas instead of investing in the tech-nologies that we have spent decadesdeveloping.

Success was achievedin HarboøreNot far from Gjøl is Harboøre, where thelocal heating plant entered into contract in1993 with Vølund about delivery of agasification plant for production of elec-tricity and heat. Here, it took 4 years toget the gasifier to work optimally, 3 yearsto get the plant to produce electricity andanother 3 years before a number of prob-lems with the cleaning of wastewater hadbeen solved.

Thus, there have been plenty of techni-cal problems, but there has never beenany doubt as to who has the responsibil-ity: During the whole process, Vølund hasbeen responsible for the operation and hasguaranteed that the heating plant wouldnever have to pay more for heat than if ithad chosen to install a traditional woodchip-fired boiler plant.

According to Ole Kristensen, who wasthe development manager at Vølund dur-ing the years that the company was re-sponsible for the establishment and run-ning-in of the gasification plant, you haveto have at least half the developmentfunds in reserve when starting up theplant for the first time.

Political understandingThe Harboøre plant is a good example ofhow it is worthwhile to be persistent, sowhy has it not been possible to repeat thesuccess in Gjøl? In many ways, the con-cept is brilliant, because, unlike the plantin Harboøre, the gasifier will be able toproduce pure tar-free gas that can be usedin an engine without previous purifica-tion.

– When the Harboøre plant was built,there was a completely different politicalunderstanding and goodwill with regardto new energy technologies, says ThomasKoch, who is the managing director ofTK-Energi, which has supplied the plantfor Gjøl.

– The philosophy of the Danish EnergyAgency was ”in for a penny, in for apound”. It was not just establishment sup-port, like in Gjøl. You kept supporting theproject until the goal had been achieved.

That is the type of strategy that gives re-sults, and it could also give results in Gjølif the Danish Energy Agency or otherswould make the necessary resourcesavailable, says Thomas Koch.

The plant in Gjøl has been establishedwith support from the EU, Energinet.dkand the Danish Energy Agency. The latteracquired means through the pool calledVærkpuljen, but that does not exist any-more, and according to Nicolai Zarganis,there are no other schemes that the agencycan make use of.

– We cannot support the general opera-tion, just as we cannot support plants thatcan be perceived as production plants,says Nicolai Zarganis. However, he men-tions the possibility that the EUDPprogramme can provide support for spe-cific test projects that are carried out onexisting plants. That model was used ex-tensively at the Harboøre plant, whereVølund was given grants several times

from various grant schemes in order tocomplete specific development projects.

Distance is importantAt the boiler factory Weiss in Hadsund,they are currently testing a new gasifica-tion plant that has been developed at theTechnical University of Denmark. Theplant has been built in connection with thefactory in order to make the running-ineasier and make it easier to overcome anyteething troubles.

– It is going well. Obviously, there areminor things that have to be corrected, butall in all, it is working as it should, saysproject manager Bjarne Skyum fromWeiss. He makes no secret of the fact thatit has been a great advantage to have thefirst plant right outside the factory.

– You should not underestimate thisadvantage. There are many challenges,and it would have been difficult to sparethe necessary staff if the plant had beenlocated far away, says the project man-ager. He is already in contact with a num-ber of interested plant hosts and expectsthe company to be able to start establish-ing a plant at a district heating plant be-fore long. ■

– It is going well, says project manager

Bjarne Skyum from the boiler factory

Weiss. The company has started the run-

ning-in of a new gasification plant, which

they have a lot of expectations for. The

reason for this is that the plant can pro-

duce pure tar-free gas, which can be used

immediately in a gas engine that is con-

nected to an electric power generator.

Contract worth billions for Babcock & WilcoxAfter 15 years of development

work, Babcock & Wilcox Vølund

have entered into an agreement

with an investment company

about establishing 25 gasification

plants at a total value of DKK 2.2

billion.

– Our plant in Harboøre is the reason thatwe have been able to convince investorsthat the technology is now viable, saysJohn Veje Olesen, who is the managing di-rector of Babcock & Wilcox Vølund. Herefers to the fact that there are only 2-3

plants ready for production worldwide, andnone of them get anywhere near the100,000 hours of operation that theHarboøre plant has currently achieved.

The engineers have already startedplanning the first plant in Italy. It will bea so-called Combined Cycle plant, whereyou incorporate a small steam circuit thatutilises the exhaust heat from the enginesand the tar content that exists in the gas.Thereby, you can achieve an electricalefficiency of 45 percent, which is aboutthe same as the largest and most modernsteam turbine plants can manage. TS

Completed Projects • 1 – 2008


Information meeting about researchWednesday the 20th of August 2008

Trinity Konferencecenter – Fredericia

The energy research programmes invite you to a joint infor-mation meeting on the 20th of August 2008 from 9.30 AMto 4.00 PM at the conference centre Trinity Hotel ogKonferencecenter, Gl. Færgevej 30, Snoghøj, Fredericia.

The day will include:• News and focus areas in the energy research

programmes.• Theme: "The energy conciliation of the 21st of February

2008", including presentation of the new ForskVEprogramme.

• Theme: "Innovation in the energy sector" with a generalintroduction to innovation processes and specific exam-ples from companies within the energy sector.

• Information stands for each programme, where there willbe plenty of opportunities to ask questions to case work-ers about application procedures and rules.

• Possibility to network and make agreements with otherpotential applicants. Five meeting rooms are made avail-able for this, they can be booked according to the "first in,first served" principle on the day.

Participation is free and the final programme will beadvertised on: www.ens.dk - www.elforsk.dk - www.fist.dk -www.energinet.dk

Registration on the 6th of August 2008 at the latest on:www.danskenergi.dk/Uddannelse/Konference.aspx

Further information can be acquired from:Hanne Thomassen, [email protected], tel. +45 3392 6778Jørn Borup Jensen, [email protected], tel. +45 3530 0934Inger Pihl Byriel, [email protected], tel. +45 7622 4416

Seminar on biogas researchThursday the 28th of August 2008

Energinet.dk – Fredericia

The research and development programmes EUDP andForskEL are inviting to a seminar about biogas researchand development. The seminar will take place on the 28thof August 2008 at Energinet.dk in Erritsø at Fredericia.

The purpose of the seminar is to get input from players inand around the biogas industry in order to develop a strat-egy for finding the best way to use research and develop-ment funds in the biogas area in the future. The strategywork is intended to be carried out together with playerswithin the biogas area in order to ensure the best possiblerelevance and anchoring. This also includes discussion ofhow the utilisation of the agricultural resources for produc-tion of biogas can achieve the best possible usefulness forthe Danish society.

In the energy conciliation of the 21st of February 2008, itwas agreed that the subsidy for electricity produced on thebasis of biogas should be increased from the current DKK0.60 to DKK 0.745 per kWh. Therefore, there is a specialneed to identify the barriers of spreading and utilisation ofbiogas which it may be possible to influence throughgoal-oriented research and development work.

At the seminar, there will be brief presentations from the in-vited introductory speakers. The presentations will form thebasis of discussion and dialogue with the participants of theseminar.

Invitations and programme are being prepared and will besent out as soon as possible. Keep up-to-date on the webpages: www.energistyrelsen.dk and www.energinet.dk

For further information, please contact: Jeanette MøllerJørgensen, Energinet.dk ([email protected]) and JanBünger, Danish Energy Agency ([email protected])

Lower CO emission through addition of sulphur

Title: 6540 – Emission control through sulphur addition

Responsible: Department of Chemical and BiochemicalEngineering, Technical University of Denmark,Peter Glarborg, � +45 4525 2840

Grant: PSO – DKK 499,962

The project has shown that addition of sulphur during incinerationof natural gas can lead to extensive CO reduction in the flue gas.

Characterisation of biofuels

Title: 5297 – Biofuel characterisation 2004– method development

Responsible: DONG Energy, Rudolph Blum,� +45 7923 3333

Grant: PSO – DKK 11,771,000

In Europe, there are a number of standards that are intendedto promote the trade with biofuels under development. Thepurpose of the project has been to maintain a Danish platformwithin the area in order to be able to influence the future stan-dards. Work has been carried out on developing new meth-ods and techniques for characterisation of biomass. The pro-ject has result in seven guides and a technical report.

Touchless gas analysis

Title: 6382 – Online touchless gas analysis inbiomass plant

Responsible: Risø DTU, Christian Pedersen� +45 4677 4677


Touchless quick optical measurements of NO and other gasconcentrations at high temperature in boiler room, flames andengines is of great interest. In connection with this project,measurements have for example been carried out at theAvedøre plant and in a high-temperature gas cell from roomtemperature to 1400-1500°C.

The project about gas analyses has for example included a num-

ber of measurements at the Avedøre plant

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Completed Projects • 1 – 2008


Grate firing of biomass

Title: 4792 – Grate firing of biomass - measuring, val-idation and demonstration

Responsible: Dong Energy A/S, Rudolph Blum� +45 7923 3333


This project has included verification of the so-called CFDmodelling of grate-fired boilers in two power plants that arefired with straw. The incineration process has been described,and documentation divided the incineration into individual ele-ments, distributed in separate zones above the grate. Further-more, a model for asymmetrical incineration and flow in theboiler has been described. The developed models can beused in connection with calculations at future wood chip- orwaste-fired plants.

Dioxins from incineration plant

Title: 5731– Investigation of dioxin formation and de-composition mechanisms in incineration plantwith a view to improving residual productquality

Responsible: Rambøll, Thomas Rand, � +45 4598 8610


The project is one out of a total of five projects that are to leadto a better understanding of how dioxins form in a waste in-cineration plant. The purpose is to be able to design better in-cineration plants in order to reduce the emission of dioxin.During phase 1 of the project, the fuel and incineration param-eters that have the greatest influence on the formation of di-oxin have been quantified. These parameters are sulphur andchloride content of the fuel, afterburning temperature and in-complete incineration. The work will be continued in ForskELproject 7170.

Trade with biofuels

Title: 33031-0058 – Efficient trade with biofuels andanalysis of fuel supply. Description of e-tradebusiness models.

Responsible: Danish Technological Institute, Lars Nikolaisen,� +45 7220 1302

Grant: EFP – DKK 263,000

The purpose of the project has been to describe existing andfuture market conditions for trade with biomass in Europe, as-sess the usefulness of the CEN 335 standard with regard totrade with biofuels, give an assessment of the fuel supply in2010, support trade with biofuels and technology transferthrough net-based information analysis and select and de-scribe the most useful trade and business models for biofuels.The results of the project have been achieved through co-op-eration in EUBIONET II, which is a network that has achieveda high professional profile in the European biomass sector.Furthermore, there has been close co-operation with the Eu-ropean biomass organisation AEBIOM, CEPI with close con-tact to the woodworking industry as well as IEA BioenergyTask 40. Mediation of the project's results has taken placethrough conferences, articles, information sheets, researchtrips and teaching material. On www.eubionet.net, you canfind two reports and a knowledge sheet about the project. Anapplication has been made to continue the project inEUBIONET III.

Tar content of gasification gas

Title: 5774 – Manual tar method

Responsible: Danish Technological Institute, Industry andEnergy, Ken Friis Hansen, � +45 7220 1330


In connection with thermal gasification of solid biomass, it isoften necessary to determine the pollution level of the gas.Unwanted components in the gas can be solid material, fluidas well as a large number of organic components - as a wholereferred to as tar. The project has for example tested aso-called GC analysis method in ten European laboratories.The results are still inadequate, but the tar analyses arebetter than they used to be.

Five projects are now going to lead to a better understanding of

how dioxins form in a waste incineration plant.

Among other things, the network EUBIONET works to promote

the international trade with biofuels.

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The American company Sapphire

Energy claims that it is now able

to produce 91 octane petrol di-

rectly from algae.

– It is our goal to become the world's lead-ing manufacturer of renewable petrochem-ical products, states Jason Pyle from Sap-phire Energy in a press release. He is oneof the three researchers that have foundedthe company about a year ago, and he isnot particularly keen on biofuels like etha-nol and bio-diesel:

– Why does the industry spend so muchtime and energy on producing bio-ethanol,which is basically a completely wrongfuel, is the statement on the company'swebsite. Completely different technolo-gies are needed in order to make us inde-pendent of fossil fuels in a sustainableway, is the opinion of Sapphire Energy.

The solution is to use algae as the rawmaterial. They can produce 10-100 timesas much biomass as farming crops, theyonly require CO2 and sunlight, and theythrive in wastewater as well as salt water.

This is not really news. Everywhere,researchers are working at full throttle tofind the most brilliant way of convertingalgae into bio-diesel and bio-ethanol, andseveral companies think that the technol-ogy is close to being commerciallyavailable.

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From algae to petrol

But Sapphire Energy takes it one stepfurther. They claim that they are alreadycapable of producing 91 octane petrol us-ing algae. How this is actually done is noton record, but the company makes it clearthat they are using an entirely new tech-nology and a product that fully lives up tothe current standards in the area.

And the investors seem to be thrilled.The managing director of ARCH VenturePartners, Robert Nelsen, who has put USD50 million in the project so far, says thefollowing:

– When we realised which results Sap-phire Energy had achieved in only threemonths, we sat down across from themand said: The cheque book is open – tellus what you need!

This must have been music to the re-searchers' ears, because ARCH VenturePartners control seven funds at a totalvalue of no less than USD 1.5 billion.

Thus, Sapphire Energy is probably notgoing to be short of capital, and every-thing indicates that they have also beenable to attract some of the best employees.For example, Brian Goodall has recentlybeen appointed head of development.Among other things, he is known forheading the team that has developed thebiofuels for the aeroplane industry thatwere tested earlier this year on a Boeing747-400 plane from Virgin Atlantic. TS

FiB – Bioenergy Research is

published with support from

Denmark’s Energy Research

Programme. The newsletter,

which is free of charge, is pub-

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Both versions can be down-

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Documents

When can we fill up with oil from algae? - Biopress