Biofuels novel

Transportation Biofuels Novel Pathways for the Production of Ethanol, Biogas and Biodiesel... 

Chemical Reactions and Processes under Flow Conditions Radical Reactions in Aqueous Media Aqueous Microwave Chemistry The Future of Glycerol 2nd Edition 9 Transportation Biofuels Novel Pathways for the Production of Ethanol, Biogas and Biodiesel... 

Hoogendoom, A., van Kasteren, H., 2011. Transportation Biofuels. Novel Pathways for the Production of Ethanol, Biogas an Biodiesel. RSC Green Chemistry, ISBN 978-1-84973-043-3 no 9 (Chapter 2), ISBN 978-1-84973-043-3, 190 pp. 

Cereals can yield around 1500-3000 litres of gasoline equivalent (lge)/ha sugarcane, 3000-6000 lge/ha sugarheet, 2000-4000 lge/ha vegetable oil crops, 700-1300 litres of diesel equivalent (lde)/ha and palm oil, 2500-3000 lde/ha (IEA, 2007). In addition, there are novel biofuel production processes under development, for example biodiesel from marine algae, which are claimed to have a 15 times higher yield per ha than rapeseed. 

Recently, a novel microbial fuel cell harvesting energy from the marine sediment—seawater interface has been reported. Also, a novel photosynthetic biofuel cell that is a hybrid between a microbial and enzymatic biofuel cell has been reported for the very first time. More recently, reports of an unconventional biomass-fueled ceramic fuel cell can also be found in the literature. A new concept of Gastrobots —hybrid robots that utilize operational power derived from microbial fuel cells—has been introduced. Finally, the generation of electrical power by direct oxidation of glucose was demonstrated in mediatorless microbial fuel cells, which produced currents up to 3 fiA/cm at unknown cell voltage. ... 

We learned to formulate com ethanol way back— it s nothing more than moonshine. What makes the E3 Biofuels facihty so novel isn t its spectacular equipment but the way the equipment is fueled. The most important structures here happen also to be the least beautiful a pair of four-story milhon-gallon fuel tanks, each filled to the brim with cow manure. Historically, ethanol plants were fired by coal or natural gas. But methane, produced from manure, powers this operation. Not only do no fossil fuels go into the plant, very fitde pollution comes out. It s a nearly closed energy loop (some corn has to be bought from other farms). (Khosla)... 

A unique plant on many levels, the distinctive properties of the Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.) present novel answers to some of today s most pressing problems. Jerusalem artichoke is potentially a major source of inulin, a fructose polymer that provides dietary health benefits as a prebiotic that promotes intestinal health and as a low-calorie carbohydrate to combat obesity and diabetes. Inulin also has myriad industrial applications, including ethanol production — making Jerusalem artichoke a potential source of biofuel. With its ready cultivation and minimal pest and disease problems, Jerusalem artichoke is an underutilized resource that possesses the potential to meet major health and energy challenges. 

Figure 2.1.5 Potential platform chemicals considered for the controlled chemical transformation into fuel compounds and possible approaches to obtain novel biofuel motifs (5-HMF, 5-hydroxy methyl furfural LA, levulinic acid IA, itaconic acid EtOH, ethanol).

Controlled Transformations of Carbohydrates into Novel Biofuels... 

As mentioned previously, only a few approaches address the potential of novel oxygen-containing biofuel candidates. Nevertheless, such oxygenates may exhibit... 

Figure 2.1.7 Schematic illustration of controlled chemical transformations of 5-HMF and LA into potential novel biofuels.

Direct, unmediated electrochemistry of redox enzymes has interested many researchers in several aspects. Understanding of the thermodynamics, kinetics, stoichiometry, and interfacial properties of redox enzymes is obviously important. The most attractive aspect, however, is the use of enzyme electrodes as novel electrochemical biosensors and their applications to bioreactors and biofuel cells. Although the observation of direct electrochemistry of small redox proteins has become almost commonplace as the consequence of extensive research over the past decade, the corresponding study with larger redox enzymes has proved more elusive. The difficulty lies mainly in that the redox centers are located sufficiently far from the outermost... 

There has thus also been great interest recently in preparing novel solid base catalysts. One motivation is also given by the use of these basic catalysts in the production of biofuels. The most relevant example is the transesterification of vegetable oils (palm oil, soybean oU, jatropha oil, coconut oil, rapeseed oil, etc.). Figure 2.48 shows the scheme of the process. Transesterification reactions predominantly use homogeneous base catalysts, for example, sodium methoxide, sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide. The main differences between the commercial processes lie in the following ... 

For 3.8 billion years, enzyme evolution has occurred primarily in microbes exposed to novel environmental conditions. However, in the last two decades, new methods have been developed for laboratory evolution of enzymes for production of chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and biofuels. Directed evolution has been widely used to improve thermostability and alter substrate specificity. Current efforts aim to improve the catalytic abilities of evolved enzymes, which are usually considerably poorer than those of naturally occurring enzymes, and to evolve novel pathways using promiscuous activities of existing enzymes. These efforts will provide new insights into the adaptation of protein scaffolds for new functions that will both help us to understand the evolutionary history of modern enzymes and provide the basis for a wide range of applications in biotechnology. 

It has been demonstrated recently [4] that BLMs, after suitable modification, can function as electrodes and exhibit nonlinear electronic properties. These and other experimental findings relevant to sensor development and to biomolecular electronic devices will be described in more detail in the present chapter. Also, the potential use of the BLM system together with its modifications in the development of a new class of organic diodes, switches, biosensors, electrochemical photocells, and biofuel cells will be discussed. Additionally, this chapter reports also a novel technique for obtaining BLMs (or lipid bilayers) on solid supports. The presence of a solid support on one side of the BLM greatly... 

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