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Biogas is the most effective biofuel

2016-04-12View Original

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The 2007 annual conference of the National Agricultural Contracts Association (NAAC) in the UK highlighted the important role of biofuels. At this conference, a report presented by Tim Evans left a deep impression on everyone; it described a \"MiniTest\" carried out by his company, RenewableZukunft, in which comparative tests using biofuels were conducted to show the distance that cars could travel using various biofuels produced from 1 hectare of energy crops, with biogas emerging as the clear winner. Evans believes that fossil fuels will become increasingly scarce, and out of concern for energy security (90% of the gasoline in the UK is imported), people are beginning to learn about various renewable energy sources. Evans, on the other hand, reminded farmers to carefully consider what crops to grow as energy sources. British farmers face great opportunities in terms of self-sufficient energy supply, but they should avoid focusing solely on producing raw materials for biofuels and thus falling back into the role of mere commodity producers. To this end, Evans proposed that farmers should control the entire energy value chain, from growing raw materials to supplying power to the national high-voltage transmission network. He also proposed a simple test method for the efficiency of renewable energy—a small test—to show how far a car can travel on fuel produced from 1 hectare of energy crops. Biodiesel performed the worst in the tests, with the vehicle covering only 20,000 kilometers (5,030 miles) ; Bioethanol enables vehicles to travel 30,000 kilometers per hectare (7,540 miles per acre) ; Artificial biodiesel (a next-generation biofuel produced from biomass gasification, which can be converted into liquid fuel using the Fisher-Tropsch process) shows a significant improvement, allowing vehicles to travel 70,000 kilometers (13,960 miles per acre) ; However, biogas produced by anaerobic fermentation of crops, sludge, and organic waste can enable vehicles to travel nearly 97,000 kilometers per hectare (24,390 miles per acre), which is almost five times that of biodiesel. Compared to second-generation biofuels (such as cellulosic ethanol and liquid biofuels), biogas is a mature technology. This comparative study is interesting and confirms some of the conclusions drawn in earlier research, but it is not sufficient to merely indicate the \"land use efficiency\" of fuels. This test requires taking into account many other factors, such as life-cycle emission assessment, fuel production costs, production scale, fuel distribution facilities, and vehicle improvements. Despite these problems, Evans is still pushing forward the idea of using farmland for biogas production for various reasons. He plans to use 400 hectares (1,000 acres) of arable land for growing crops to supply a farm-scale biogas plant, allowing farmers to earn an additional £10,000 in net profit by selling electricity. Evans said that in addition to the £2 million investment, a 1-megawatt power plant requires 1,000 acres of grassland, corn, and forage in order to generate a 20% return on capital. If **support for renewable electricity is increased, raising the price from 65 pounds per megawatt to 100 pounds per megawatt, then positive prospects can still be expected by 2009. Biogas is developing rapidly on the European continent, with countries such as Sweden, Germany, and Austria using it as a fuel for vehicles. When biogas is improved to have the same quality as natural gas, it can be integrated into the natural gas supply network. Biogas holds great potential for development in Europe; the most optimistic estimates suggest that by 2020, it could completely replace all natural gas imported from Russia.

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