Future sources, other

Lower efficiencies as a future renewable fuel from sources other than (fairly limited) biomass. 

Both in the USA and the EU, the introduction of renewable fuels standards is likely to increase considerably the consumption of bioethanol. Lignocelluloses from agricultural and forest industry residues and/or the carbohydrate fraction of municipal solid waste (MSW) will be the future source of biomass, but starch-rich sources such as corn grain (the major raw material for ethanol in USA) and sugar cane (in Brazil) are currently used. Although land devoted to fuel could reduce land available for food production, this is at present not a serious problem, but could become progressively more important with increasing use of bioethanol. For this reason, it is important to utilize other crops that could be cultivated in unused land (an important social factor to preserve rural populations) and, especially, start to use cellulose-based feedstocks and waste materials as raw material. 

Impurities in the drying atmosphere are exhausted in the air and have been referred to as "blue haze." One company has made substantial progress in collecting the blue haze emissions in a duct where they are directed through a series of water showers, filters and other equipment. Then the water is evaporated leaving a heavy liquefied residue which is collected on a stainless steel belt and deposited in storage vats. Currently this residue is being used as a fuel supplement, but some feel that it may be a future source for development of new chemicals. Apparently, this process meets Environmental Quality Standards with reference to air pollution. 

Biomass can also be converted to a liquid fuel, such as ethanol, which is then used as a gasoline blend. Today, the major biofuel is ethanol produced from corn, which yields only about 25 percent more energy than was consumed to grow the corn and make the ethanol.32 The future holds the promise of ethanol from sources other than corn, dedicated energy crops such as switchgrass, which can be grown and harvested with minimal energy consumption so that overall emissions are near zero (see Chapter 8). 

An increasing number of investigators are interested in the propagation of cyclic monomers without carbon. The reasons are theoretical interest and anticipation of the future need of monomer sources other than the fossil fuels. Theoretically siloxane units can be arranged into lamellae or bundles (an analogy of mica or asbestos) yielding thermoplastic materials. Another possibility could be the application of the cyclic esters of phosphoric acid [326], phosphazenes, etc. 

The discovery of the ECD dates back to a sensitive anemometer based on ions generated from a radioactive source made from radium extracted from the luminous dials of discarded aircraft instruments. This device was very sensitive but its response was perturbed by cigarette smoke. This was a drawback in the device and to discover its source, other compounds, such as halocarbons were tested. However, in 1948, this was something to merely note for the future. Looking back I realized that the key to invention is need. We did not at that time need a device to detect low levels of chloro-fluorocarbons and so the electron capture detector was in a sense prematurely invented. [2]... 

Deep-sea manganese nodules at depths of 4-6 km is a manganese ore which grew on a nucleus of very small pieces of stone and shark teeth by 1—lOmm/lO y. Mn (1.3—35%) and Fe (4.8—42%) are the main components and the others are Ni, Cu and Co. Several multinational private consortia were formed in the 1970s to explore and develop the mining and extraction processes for deep-sea nodules. In the mid-1990s, however, none have a short-term development plan. It is a potentially important future source of manganese [2—3a]. 

Aramids are formed through step growth polymerization of aromatic diacid chlorides with aromatic diamines in a polar aprotic solvent such as N, -dimethylformamide pMF) to a DP of 100-250. The meta- and para-substi-tuted benzene dicarboxylic acid chlorides and diamines are characteristically used for aramid fibers presently in production, but other fully aromatic ring systems are possible future sources of aramid polymers for fi bers ... 

Chromatographic detection using plasma mass spectrometry exhibits tremendous potential however, further studies are necessary. Multielement detection and isotope ratio determinations on eluting peaks are of considerable interest. In addition, the use of plasma sources other than the argon ICP should prove beneficial for the determination of non-metal species separated by HPLC. Finally, both sample introduction to the plasma and the interface between the chromatograph (both HPLC and GC) and plasma mass spectrometer should be areas of future research. 

The vibrationally excited states of H2-OH have enough energy to decay either to H2 and OH or to cross the barrier to reaction. Time-dependent experiments have been carried out to monitor the non-reactive decay (to H2 + OH), which occurs on a timescale of microseconds for H2-OH but nanoseconds for D2-OH [52, 58]. Analogous experiments have also been carried out for complexes in which the H2 vibration is excited [59]. The reactive decay products have not yet been detected, but it is probably only a matter of time. Even if it proves impossible for H2-OH, there are plenty of other pre-reactive complexes that can be produced. There is little doubt that the spectroscopy of such species will be a rich source of infonnation on reactive potential energy surfaces in the fairly near future. 

Groundwater monitoring is a necessary component in any investigation of subsurface contamination. A wide variety of information can be gleaned from the data including groundwater velocity and direction, and contaminant identification and concentration. These data can be combined with other observations to infer various characteristics of the contamination. Examples are source and timing of the release, and future location of the contaminant plume. 

There are other commercial processes available for the production of butylenes. However, these are site or manufacturer specific, eg, the Oxirane process for the production of propylene oxide the disproportionation of higher olefins and the oligomerisation of ethylene. Any of these processes can become an important source in the future. More recentiy, the Coastal Isobutane process began commercialisation to produce isobutylene from butanes for meeting the expected demand for methyl-/ rZ-butyl ether (40). 

---