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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-CA link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Dear Anil and Roger Samson (of Switchgrass fame)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>The University of Illinois has been looking at making bioethanol from grasses instead of corn (which I suppose is still a form of grass!) and concluded that Roger is in the right track: use Switchgrass for more productivity.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Now, all they have to do is convince themselves that burning switchgrass pellets is better than bothering to make liquid fuels from it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Ignore the part of the paper that says there will be a reduction in greenhouses gases of 473%. Not all researchers are good at math.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Regards<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Crispin<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>From <a href="http://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/07/12/the-grass-is-greener-on-the-ethanol-model-side/#more-43344">http://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/07/12/the-grass-is-greener-on-the-ethanol-model-side/#more-43344</a> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:15.6pt;background:white'><b><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>The grass is greener on the ethanol model side<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:18.0pt;background:white'><span class=meta-prep><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#888888'>Posted on</span></span><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#888888'> <a href="http://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/07/12/the-grass-is-greener-on-the-ethanol-model-side/" title="8:30 pm"><span class=entry-date><span style='color:#888888'>July 12, 2011</span></span></a> <span class=meta-sep>by</span> <span class=author><a href="http://wattsupwiththat.com/author/wattsupwiththat/" title="View all posts by Anthony Watts"><span style='color:#888888'>Anthony Watts</span></a></span> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:18.0pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:#333333'>From the <a href="http://www.uiuc.edu/">University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:18.0pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white'><strong><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:#333333'>Switch from corn to grass would raise ethanol output, cut emissions</span></strong><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:#333333'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:18.0pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:#333333'>CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Growing perennial grasses on the least productive farmland now used for corn ethanol production in the U.S. would result in higher overall corn yields, more ethanol output per acre and better groundwater quality, researchers report in <a href="http://www.esajournals.org/toc/fron/0/0">a new study</a>. The switch would also slash emissions of two potent greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:18.0pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:#333333'>The study used a computer model of plant growth and soil chemistry to compare the ecological effects of growing corn (<em><span style='font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>Zea mays L.</span></em>); miscanthus (<em><span style='font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>Miscanthus x giganteus</span></em>), a sterile hybrid grass used in bioenergy production in Western Europe; and switchgrass (<em><span style='font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>Panicum virgatum L.</span></em>), which is native to the U.S.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:18.0pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:#333333'>The analysis found that switching 30 percent of the least productive corn acres to miscanthus offered the most ecological advantages.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:18.0pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:#333333'>“If cellulosic feedstocks (such as miscanthus) were planted on cropland that is currently used for ethanol production in the U.S., we could achieve more ethanol (plus 82 percent) and grain for food (plus 4 percent), while reducing nitrogen leaching (minus 15 to 22 percent) and greenhouse gas emissions (minus 29 percent to 473 percent),” the researchers wrote in their report, published in the journal <em><span style='font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment</span></em>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:18.0pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:#333333'>[snip]<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:18.0pt;line-height:18.0pt;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:#333333'>The paper, “Impact of Second-Generation Biofuel Agriculture on Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the Corn-Growing Regions of the U.S.,” is available online or from the U. of I. News Bureau.</span><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:#333333'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>+++++++++<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#333399'>Thanks Crispin for the insight and details. In 1992 when pyrolysis oil R&D was in infancy I was involved little bit in its propagation and research. Since I left this field long ago I was interested in knowing whether somebody has been able to produce kerosene directly from biomass via the fast combustion process rather than going through pyrolysis oil route.</span><o:p></o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#333399'>Any published work on this? </span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#333399'>Warm regards. Anil</span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'>On Wed, Jul 13, 2011 at 7:38 AM, Crispin Pemberton-Pigott <<a href="mailto:crispinpigott@gmail.com">crispinpigott@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></p><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;color:#1F497D'>Dear Anil</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;color:#1F497D'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;color:#1F497D'>It will be a form of bioparaffin which is chemically the same as biodiesel but slightly ‘thinner’. If you assume that transesterification of the input materials makes an array of carbohydrogens from CH4 to C25H52 or so, then the faction between C9H20 and C20H42 will be ‘paraffin’ by general classification.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;color:#1F497D'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;color:#1F497D'>If it is already very thin oil (not like sunflower oil, for example) it may need polymerisation, not mild decomposition with caustic soda. If you have a) and ultimate analysis and b) some characterisation of the chain lengths perhaps the biodiesel or bioenergy association of some country could give you an estimated yield. For example <a href="http://www.saba.za.org/site" target="_blank">http://www.saba.za.org/site</a> One of their members (at least) makes a container-mounted sunflower to diesel unit that produces about 3 litres per second.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;color:#1F497D'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;color:#1F497D'>Regards</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;color:#1F497D'>Crispin</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;color:#1F497D'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='color:#333399'>Hello Stovers,<br clear=all></span><o:p></o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'> <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='color:#333399'>Is anybody in the group aware of any work on converting pyrolysis oil into kerosene? Any numbers on the yields (kg of kerosene/kg of residues or raw material).</span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'> <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='color:#333399'>Any references will be greatly appreciated.</span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'> <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='color:#333399'>Cheers. Anil</span><o:p></o:p></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>