Economics biodiesel fuels

Ishikawa, T., Yamazaki, R., Iwamoto, S., Nabetani, H., Osakada, K., Miyawaki, O., and Sagara, Y. 2005. Economic assessment on practical application of noncatalytic alcoholysis for biodiesel fuel production. Jpn. J. Food Eng., 6, 113-120. (In Japanese.)... 

The passage of the American JOBS Creation Act of 2004 created economic incentive for use of biodiesel fuels, including use as heating fuels. This incentive reduces the heating fuel cost approximately one cent per percentage point of biodiesel used in fuel blends. A similar type of incentive for soybean oil use as heating fuel would certainly be beneficial in opening new markets for soybean oil utilization. 

Naphthalene is a key component of tars present in biomass gas. Its absorption efficiency in oily liquids can be ranked as follows diesel fuel > vegetable oil > biodiesel fuel > engine oil (Table 11.3). Diesel fuel however is expensive from an economic viewpoint, vegetable oil becomes the best option for biomass tar removal. 

The catalytic ozonation process offers a potentially simple and efficient chemical modification whereby the methyl soyate species are cleaved at the double bonds, thus eliminating ail unsaturation and reducing the overall molecular weight of the fuel. This one-step process is fast, selective and simple and is expected to provide an economical route to improve the quality of vegetable-based biodiesel fuels. 

There is considerable potential for ASEAN to produce and supply various biodiesel products to the rest of the world due to its natural resource base. However, the use of biodiesel still presents a number of problems which need to be resolved, especially the high price of raw materials and the quality of biodiesel fuels. In view of these limitations, seeking ways to combine various biodiesel raw materials (eg, edible and nonedible oils) is one strategy that could be used to solve the problems reducing the economic cost, utilizing the avaUabihty of raw materials and improving the quality... 

While the oils associated with vegetable matter and those pressed from algae used in waste treatment processes are most typically converted to biodiesel fuel, it is also possible to produce a broad range of products from vegetable oil and animal fats. These products can then once again serve as the basis for the production of chemicals from renewable resources (Figure 8.20). As with all bio-based products, it is important to complete a full economic and enviromnental life cycle analysis to determine the most viable routes for desired products. 

Biofuels such as biodiesel and bioethanol are, for now, the main alternatives to fossil fuels for the most polluting activities related to transportation. Presently, feedstocks for biofuels production are all of natural origin and as such are subject to uncontrolled seasonal variations. For economic reasons the purchase of these feedstocks from different parts of the world follows the dynamics of commodities markets. ... 

The production of aquatic biomass focusing initially only on energy production may represent a risky operation, taking into consideration today s large fluctuations in the price of fossil-based oil. As noted above, with fossil-oil prices currently below US 120 per barrel, algal biodiesel is barely competitive with diesel from fossil fuels. However, if the oil price were to exceed US 120 per barrel, then biodiesel from aquatic biomass may become economically viable [21, 22],... 

The U.S. bioethanol industry is growing rapidly. Production in 2007 was 6.5 billion gallons from 139 bioethanol refineries. A further 4 billion gallons of capacity are expected to come online by the end of 2008. In 2006,14% of the corn crop in the United States was used to produce ethanol and probably as a result, com prices increased by 25% in 2007. In the United States 90 plants operated in 2006 and 160 in 2007. Just in Iowa, 42 ethanol and biodiesel plants are in operation and an additional 18 are under construction. A study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development calculated that in order to meet 10% of the fuel requirements of the United States, Canada, and the EU, 30% to 70% of their crop area would have to be devoted to biofuels. 

Economic incentives and private interest in new opportunities are boosting the biofuels market at exceptionally high rates. The European Union gives a strong example. By 2010 the share of alternative fuels should rise to 5.75% by energy value and 6% by volume [14, 15]. Biodiesel is the preferred option in Europe. In contrast, in the USA and Brazil bioethanol is leading, but biodiesel has good... 

U. S. and Europe, respectively), petroleum diesel and methanol and may also be affected by the emphasis on food or fuel applications. Presently, rising soybean oil and declining diesel fuel prices have shaved about 25 cents per gallon off biodiesel profits and in actuality any fluctuation in the price of soybean oil, methanol, or petroleum diesel will affect the profit margins and ultimately the rate at which biodiesel can be produced economically. If oil prices rise to 65 per barrel again, biodiesel production could grow by another 250 million gallons, but if oil prices fall to 45 per barrel, companies may reconsider plans to enter the market (Tullo, 2007). 

In most parts of the world, the term biodiesel now denotes a diesel fuel that is produced by converting a vegetable oil to methyl (or ethyl) esters. In the United States soybean oil has been the primary feedstock for biodiesel, mainly becase it is commonly the least expensive and most abundant vegetable oil. Although there are economic reasons why corn oil (and other U.S. vegetable oils) has not been used as feedstocks for biodiesel, there are no technical reasons why a corn oil biodiesel could not be successfully developed (personal communication. M. Haas). 

Bio-fuels should be not in competition vith food. Therefore, new technologies need to be developed to efficiently convert cellulosic, fiber or wood-based, waste biomass into fermentable sugars. Similarly, to make biodiesel competitive as a transport fuel, efforts should be directed to diversify the use of raw materials and to improve the processes while making them more economic by developing added-value uses for by-products such as glycerol. Catalysis plays a critical role in achieving these objectives [9]. 

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