THE Biofuel Thread pt 3 (merged)

[eXpat]

There are not that many alligators you know? Human fat on the other hand

[pup55]

average weight of an american male 191 pounds
averge weight of an american female 164 pounds
US Population 300,000,000
Average body fat, Men 25 percent
Average body fat, Women 30 Percent
"essential" body fat, Men 5 percent
"essential" body fat, women 12 percent
"available" body fat, men 20 percent
"available" body fat, women 18 percent
Extractable fat per man 38.2 pounds
Extractable fat per woman 29.52 pounds
Extractable Fat, Male Population 5730000000 pounds
Extractable Fat, Female Populaton 4428000000 Pounds
Total Extractable Fat 10,158,000,000 pounds
Pounds Per Gallon 8
Gallons of Fat 1,269,750,000 gallons
Gallons per Barrel 42
Barrels of Fat Available 30,232,143 barrels
Diesel Fuel, Daily Consumption 3,600,000 barrels per day
Days Consumption of Diesel 8.40 days


http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/healthcar ... butfat.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_fat_percentage

[Pops]

Days Consumption of Diesel 8.40 days

We gotta cover all the bases, thanks Pup!

[Pretorian]

average weight of an american male 191 pounds
averge weight of an american female 164 pounds
US Population 300,000,000
Average body fat, Men 25 percent
Average body fat, Women 30 Percent

May be that was the case when USP was at 300 mln... Now people are older and fattier.
Anyway, I am scared to imagine how much meat and offal they have to eat to make 1 pound of their fat. I mean crocodiles of course. For humanoids, 1 pizza will do.

[JRP3]

I'd bet it would be more efficient and you'd get more "miles per gallon" if you simply burned the fat in a generating plant to produce electricity and charge EV's. Biomass and natural gas are both better used to charge EV's than burning in an inefficient ICE vehicle, I'd expect the same from waste fat.

[AdTheNad]

To be fair, why is it all being dumped in the first place anyway? Surely there is some other use for alligator fat.

What happens to cow and pig fat? I thought it found its way into sausages or cheap meat products.

I know this isn't farmers weekly forum or anything like that, but I am kind of curious what the answers are to the above questions. I honestly am quite shocked there isn't another use for the fat already, and I would like to know why it can't be used like pig and cow fat, and would like confirmation what cow and pig fat is used for if anyone will indulge me?

[Pretorian]

It's probably too toxic to use as lard or tallow. As for those, yes, you eat'em up.

[Keith_McClary]

I'd bet it would be more efficient and you'd get more "miles per gallon" if you simply burned the fat in a generating plant to produce electricity and charge EV's.

Things must be getting desperate!

Panda poop may be a treasure trove of microbes for making biofuels

[JRP3]

I'd bet it would be more efficient and you'd get more "miles per gallon" if you simply burned the fat in a generating plant to produce electricity and charge EV's.

Love it, road rage incidents could get interesting.

Things must be getting desperate!

Panda poop may be a treasure trove of microbes for making biofuels

I'm sure that will scale up quite well

[MD]

Yeah, so can whale oil. Didn't that ship sail already?

[pup55]

What happened to the Thermal Depolymerization thread?
We followed these guys for a couple of years:

http://www.changingworldtech.com/who/index.asp

http://gigaom.com/cleantech/biofuel-maker-changing-world-files-for-bankruptcy/

they were trying to turn turkey fat into fuel, turkey fat presumably being more plentiful than alligator fat, and they were not able to do it without going broke.

It turned out to be a nice science fair project, but there were a lot of problems, for one, it stunk to high heaven and the citizens of Carthage MO just hated it. It was all down hill from there. I think Tyson or one of the other Agri-giants owned part of them for awhile.

Anyway, it is obviously technically possible to turn just about anything carbon based into fuel... at some cost. The biggest experiment of its type obviously was a FAIL.

[pup55]

the-thermal-depolymerization-thread-merged-t3118-30.html

Here we go. The last post was 2009 but the TDP/CWT conversation started in 2004

[Keith_McClary]

Scientists Developing Fuel Cell that Generates Power While Cleaning Nuclear Waste

Researchers at Michigan State University (MSU) have isolated and explained the phenomenon that causes microbes to generate electricity while cleaning up nuclear waste. The team is hoping to use their findings to create a microbial fuel cell that is capable of generating renewable energy while it cleans up environments exposed to nuclear waste. The bacteria the team studied is a kind of geobacter that is covered in a coat of tiny, natural nanowires that protect the bacteria from the toxic materials. The nanowires are also the essential elements in immobilizing radioactive material and preventing it from seeping into the groundwater. While completing the complex task of stabilizing radioactive spills, the bacteria simultaneously creates energy that can be harnessed and used as a zero-emissions power supply

This seems much better than alligator fat as a solution to our energy problems.

[prajeshbhat]

This seems much better than alligator fat as a solution to our energy problems.

I like the cleaning up the toxic waste part, but couldn't understand the energy generation part. The waste is dispersed on the ground. How will they collect the energy produced by the bacteria?

[vaseline2008]

The U.S. Air Force is set to certify all of its 40-plus aircraft models to burn fuels derived from waste oils and plants by 2013, three years ahead of target, Air Force Deputy Assistant Secretary Kevin Geiss said. The Army wants 25 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2025. The Navy and Marines aim to shift half their energy use from oil, gas and coal by 2020.

Fat Replaces Oil for F-16s

[dolanbaker]

They mustn't be planning on doing much so!

[pstarr]

I imagine we'll be moving our troops out of the middle east. And then we'll invade Saskatchewan for the rapeseed.

[Graeme]

Negative-Carbon Gasoline? Cool Planet BioFuels Ready to Road Test

Despite a hot 2011 for biofuels, startup Cool Planet BioFuels flew mostly under the radar. That's surprising considering that the company has a number of marquee backers. It's also about to change, thanks to an announcement that the California Air Resources Board approved road tests of Cool Planet's “negative-carbon” gasoline.

Cool Planet is an intriguing case because the firm has skipped the ethanol game altogether. Instead, the company has developed a drop-in replacement for gasoline. Cool Planet claims its synthetic gas is chemically identical to regular dino juice, and unlike high-ethanol blends, is compatible with any gasoline-powered vehicle in the fleet.

Cool Planet produces its synthetic gasoline from low-grade, non-food cellulosic feedstock using proprietary tech it calls a biomass fractionator. As of now, Cool Planet is still producing at a very limited scale, and it's unclear as of yet how much trouble the company faces in ramping up production as compared to other cellulosic biofuel competitors.

But what about that “negative-carbon” claim? Cool Planet's production process comes with a twist: A byproduct of the reaction is a solid form of carbon that can be converted into fertilizer. The firm says that the fertilizer can sequester carbon dioxide. Thus, combined with the carbon-sequestering plants growing in said fertilizer, Cool Planet's fertilizer can offset the carbon released from burning its fuels. Of course, it's a claim that's subject to accounting, but on paper it's a neat idea.

greentechmedia

[TheAntiDoomer]

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2012/02 ... 20222.html

CoolPlanet’s cellulosic gasoline is chemically identical to fossil gasoline. The only way it can be detected is by carbon 14 isotope analysis which determines the ratio of carbon from biomass versus carbon from fossil sources in a fuel mixture. Since this gasoline has no oxygenates, it is not subject to the ethanol blend wall and can be seamlessly mixed with pump gas.

CoolPlanet’s fuel has been tested by independent laboratories as well as four of the top ten gasoline producers in the world. The company has received California (CARB) and US EPA approval for fleet testing as a splash blend with conventional pump gasoline.

CoolPlanet’s pilot facilities can support several fleet tests. CoolPlanet has started fabrication of a mass production ready modular refinery, a design that facilitates rapid deployment around the US and the world. The company plans to install several plants over the next two years with rapid build out thereafter.

Investors in CoolPlanet include BP, Shea Ventures, General Electric, Google Ventures, ConocoPhillips, NRG and North Bridge Venture Partners.

[davep]

That sounds really good. But like all these claims, I'll wait until they start producing it commercially before giving it the thumbs up. There are just too many of these claims by start-ups that end up nowhere (except with the founders getting lots of VC funding).