An intern of Biofuel Research at the firm's biodiesel plant in Singapore, June 2006. Photo: Reuters
An international coalition of environmental groups says European demand for biofuels has driven local communities off their land in Africa and curbed the production of staple foods. In an effort to protect communal land in Africa,Friends of the Earth, an international network of environmental groups, is criticizing the European Union for driving land acquisition by foreign companies across sub-Saharan Africa. Report: Africa land for sale According to a report released by the group last week, entitled "Africa: Up for Grabs," more than five-million hectares of land across Africa, an area roughly the size of Denmark, has been sold to European companies in recent years to meet a growing demand for biofuels. Companies have been moving into African markets in recent years to produce palm oil, sugar cane and other crops that can be used as alternative sources of fuel in developed countries. The group warns the increasing demand for biofuels has diverted land from food production, straining already limited food supplies and raising food prices in the region. While Friends of the Earth has described the acquisitions as "land-grabbing," the group told VOA that many of the purchases are legal.
Enerkem's waste-to-ethanol process uses a gasifier to make synthesis gas and a catalyst to make chemicals, such as ethanol. (Credit: Enerkem) Canadian company Enerkem broke ground on a facility Tuesday that plans to convert 100,000 tons of household trash a year into ethanol.
The $75 million plant in Edmonton, Alberta, is expected to be completed in late 2011. By 2013, the city will be able to divert 90 percent of its residential waste, Mayor Stephen Mandel said in a statement.
Enerkem hosted a groundbreaking for the waste-to-ethanol plant, which it said will be the first industrial-scale project of this kind. The facility will sort recycled and compostable material and convert the remaining into about 10 million gallons of ethanol a year. It has a 25-year agreement with Edmonton for the supply of municipal solid waste.
There are also companies experimenting with municipal waste in the making of biodiesel, and we are talking about “second generation” fuel, no food crops have been offset to get this fuel.
Propel Fuels, a west coast retailer of ethanol and biodiesel, has received $11 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Energy and the California Energy Commission to build and operate 75 self-serve alternative fuel stations across the state over the next two years.
This article in the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal says the effort will reduce the amount of non-renewable oil used and greenhouse gases given off, while putting more people to work:
The statewide station project, or the Low Carbon Fuel Infrastructure Investment Initiative, has the potential to create more than 450 jobs, while displacing 39 million gallons of petroleum and 187,500 tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year, according to Propel.
About 7 million of funding for the project was awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s petroleum reduction program. Another $4 million was granted through the state of California’s Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology program. California has the largest fleet of alternative fuel fleet vehicles in the country.
There should never be a problem finding the fuel for your biodiesel or ethanol vehicle, and it looks like California is going to show the country how to get people to wait in line for biofuel.
Photo from: http://www.astrosurf.com/luxorion/terre-devel-durable3.htm
Komatsu Ltd., the world’s second- largest maker of mining trucks and excavators, plans to seek more customers for bio-diesel fuel from a joint venture pilot project in Indonesia that’s due to start output this year.
The Kalimantan plant will use bio-diesel made from jatropha shrubs to produce fuel for Komatsu’s dump trucks, Senior Executive Officer Masao Fuchigami said in an interview. Komatsu aims to market the carbon-reducing fuel in Southeast Asia and Africa as soon as production stabilizes, he said.
“We’ve got inquiries from companies interested” in bio- fuel-powered trucks, Fuchigami said yesterday at Komatsu’s headquarters in Tokyo. “We see big potential.”
Companies from Boeing Co. to Daimler AG are trying to develop alternative energy sources to cut carbon-dioxide emissions amid a global push to combat climate changes. Jatropha, which is inedible and grows faster than sugar or corn, can be cultivated in less-fertile soil and its fuel derivative is suited for use in warm climates. Low temperatures can cause bio- diesel to coagulate.