Could this be done in Ireland with farm waste ?

zod

http://www.poet.com/innovation/cellulosic/projectliberty/index.asp

Project LIBERTY will be POET's first commercial-scale, cellulosic ethanol plant. Scheduled to begin operations in Iowa in 2013, it will produce 25 million gallons of ethanol per year from corncobs, leaves and husks, provided by farmers in the area around Emmetsburg, Iowa.

The plant will share infrastructure with the adjacent POET Biorefining -- Emmetsburg. Roads, land and other features will be shared, and the co-product from the cellulosic ethanol process will be biogas, enough to power both ethanol plants.

POET will expand cellulosic ethanol production within the POET network and license the technology to other ethanol producers. We will also work to tweak the technology so that it works for other forms of biomass, like grasses or woodchips. Altogether, POET plans to be involved in the production of 3.5 billion gallons of cellulosic ethanol.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc7VKTMlTbE

bob charles

it could, but we aint a major corn (maize) growing country. the tricky bit after combining maize is the collection of the corncob ie the piece the grains stick onto. Anyhow how many acres of Maize are combined in Ireland each year, I would say a good bit less than 500 acres. So all in all, it wouldnt be possible on commercial scale

zod

bob charles wrote: »

it could, but we aint a major corn (maize) growing country. the tricky bit after combining maize is the collection of the corncob ie the piece the grains stick onto. Anyhow how many acres of Maize are combined in Ireland each year, I would say a good bit less than 500 acres. So all in all, it wouldnt be possible on commercial scale

They use maize waste because they grow corn.

Cellulose is in all plant waste, example

Corsendonk

zod wrote: »

They use maize waste because they grow corn.

Cellulose is in all plant waste, example

True, but most of these plants work on a consistent raw material so you can't use waste carrots on monday. celery on tues etc Its a by product plant so you don't want to end up growing a crop specifically for ethanol production. So your looking at a high volume crop in Ireland with high waste levels. Parsnips would be good because typically waste levels are 40% but you wouldn't have the volume fo keep a plant running. Already produce waste crops are sold off as cattle feed or spread on the land.


Corn plants have always been a high waste plant because your lucky to get 4-5 cobs off a 7-9 feet high plant. Some research a few years back was done into using the stem to produce a cellulose based plastic.

blue5000

It could possibly be done but it won't be economically viable. I don't think anaerobic digestion would be viable either without some sort of Gov support to get the ball rolling. Does anybody on here know anything about ethanol from sugar beet, how viable would that be?

Suckler

Brazil use sugarcane, I imagine sugarbeet would suffice- open to correction.

bob charles

Corsendonk wrote: »

Parsnips would be good because typically waste levels are 40% but you wouldn't have the volume fo keep a plant running.

I didnt realise parsnips had such a rejection rate, Anyone got contacts for waste parsnips?

TheInquisitor

Maize production in Ireland is more like 12,000 ha!

500 acres!? Lads Ireland isn't that small!

blue5000

it could, but we aint a major corn (maize) growing country. the tricky bit after combining maize is the collection of the corncob ie the piece the grains stick onto. Anyhow how many acres of Maize are combined in Ireland each year, I would say a good bit less than 500 acres. So all in all, it wouldnt be possible on commercial scale

He said Combinable harvesting, big difference between that and harvesting maize for silage, which is what is normally done here in Ireland with Maize

TheInquisitor

Acutally i would say its much more than that. The majority of maize is produced in the south and east. There is none in the north and west. So its likely to be in a much more confined area than you are saying.

Dupont

blue5000 wrote: »

It could possibly be done but it won't be economically viable. I don't think anaerobic digestion would be viable either without some sort of Gov support to get the ball rolling. Does anybody on here know anything about ethanol from sugar beet, how viable would that be?

we done work for a couple of the anaerobic digestion in the north but the price of electric up there is dear enough to justify them but not in thr south

5live

TheInquisitor wrote: »

Acutally i would say its much more than that. The majority of maize is produced in the south and east. There is none in the north and west. So its likely to be in a much more confined area than you are saying.

Maize is grown in practically every county and as blue5000 said very little of it is grown for corn. 99.99% is harvested whole, chopped and ensiled as feed for cattle. There are practically no cobs available

Corsendonk

bob charles wrote: »

I didnt realise parsnips had such a rejection rate, Anyone got contacts for waste parsnips?

Yes, only about 4 large growers left mainly around North Co Dublin.

harry21

blue5000 wrote: »

It could possibly be done but it won't be economically viable. I don't think anaerobic digestion would be viable either without some sort of Gov support to get the ball rolling. Does anybody on here know anything about ethanol from sugar beet, how viable would that be?

Sugarbeet is as good as anyother feedstock for ethanol production. Good yields per acre far as I remember.

Corsendonk

harry21 wrote: »

Sugarbeet is as good as anyother feedstock for ethanol production. Good yields per acre far as I remember.

Yes but then you would be growing a crop specifically for ethanol production not using the unused waste from the crop as a fuel source, so only one cash stream.

bogman_bass

This is a cellulosic ethanol plant. its the next generation of ethonol production. It doesnt use sugar or starch from grain or cane but instead uses things like waste wood, straw or switchgrass. It breaks down the celulose in these cheaper feedstocks to produce the ethonol

if it was set up in ireland it would probably use straw or grass as a feedstock