Biobutanol

piraka

Biobutanol would appear to be a better biofuel than ethanol. BP and Dupont are working in conjuction with British Sugar to produce this fuel.

Instead of closing the Irish Sugar plants, feasibility studies should have be completed to see if they could produce biofuels. Apparently Greencore are not interested in doing it!!

http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/dupont/24656/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biobutanol

SeanW

but we have a useless gov't that stood by and let the Irish sugar industry die.

piraka

SeanW wrote:

but we have a useless gov't that stood by and let the Irish sugar industry die.

Whatever about the government letting the sugar industry die in the face of cheaper imports. There is another alternative to the industry that could be a win win for the farmers, sugar workers, politicians and the general public …is there a touch of greed here by certain sectors of the industry? (€130m set aside of taxpayers money to close the plants.)

SeanW

I agree that the old subsidy system had to go because it was costing the taxpayers a bundle and having a devastating effect on the developing world.

But that didn't mean we had to throw the Irish sugarbeet sector in the bin.

The government could have mandated that all petroleum gasoline fuels sold in Ireland contain X% Irish sugarbeet ethanol, where X is (was) the latent capacity in the sugar farming sector to produce the stuff. This would have reduced Ireland's need for imported fossil fuel, cut CO2 emissions, and kept the Irish sugarbeet sector alive. Best of all, the cost would not be borne by the taxpayer but the petrol user. The Americans do this with corn all the time - and corn isn't even as good for the job AFAIK.

piraka

SeanW wrote:

The government could have mandated that all petroleum gasoline fuels sold in Ireland contain X% Irish sugarbeet ethanol, where X is (was) the latent capacity in the sugar farming sector to produce the stuff. This would have reduced Ireland's need for imported fossil fuel, cut CO2 emissions, and kept the Irish sugarbeet sector alive. Best of all, the cost would not be borne by the taxpayer but the petrol user. The Americans do this with corn all the time - and corn isn't even as good for the job AFAIK.

Good point, the government are required to implement EU Directive 2003/30/EC On the promotion of the use of biofuels or other renewable fuels for transport.

Note Article 3

(b) (i) A reference value for these targets shall be 2 %, calculated on the basis of energy content, of all petrol and diesel for transport purposes placed on their markets by 31 December 2005.

(ii) A reference value for these targets shall be 5,75 %, calculated on the basis of energy content, of all petrol and diesel for transport purposes placed on their markets by 31 December 2010.


http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/pri/en/oj/dat/2003/l_123/l_12320030517en00420046.pdf

It is estimated that Ireland will only achieve the 2% in 2008!!, five years after the implementation of the directive. The earth will have a climate like Venus by the time we achieve the 5.75%.

Instead of vigorously pursuing the directive they have shutdown a means of making biofuels and spent a rake of money at the same time.

piraka

Ireland has a sugar industry that is being allowed to die on its feet with no effort to provide an alternative. Meanwhile in the UK, the sugar industries forges ahead with alternatives.

http://business.edp24.co.uk/content/Guide/FarmFood/story.aspx?brand=BIZOnline&category=gFarmFood&tBrand=BIZOnline&tCategory=gFarmFood&itemid=NOED16%20Aug%202006%2008%3A10%3A35%3A917

Mucco

What sort of purity is needed for the butanol?

I remember reading somewhere that ethanol is not a good alternative fuel as it needs to be distilled to purify it, and therefore the energy in to energy out ratio is only 1:1.1 or thereabouts. Butanol has a higher boiling point than ethanol, therefore less efficient?

I could be barking up the wrong tree here though, especially as Brazil uses ethanol routinely.

M