There is a biomass market for applications in obtaining bio-energy. Liquid products such as ethanol and vegetable oil for bio-diesel production are included in this market, as well as solid materials in the form of pellets (wood).
The current circumstances operate as a force that influences and favors the expansion in the use of biomass as a renewable energy resource. This force has generated in many countries, policies to stimulate the use of biomass. The biomass market is still in an emerging condition and will take some time to stabilize. Thus, it is expected that in the near future new products such as the oil from the Jatropha tree seeds for bio-diesel production will enter this market.
The introduction of biomass on a large scale creates a new market for agricultural products.
Biomass crops for energy will influence the current agricultural market. The prices of some agricultural products will increase. The agricultural market will be determined by three products:
- Crops for energy; Food crops; Other crops.
Producers and their organizations could have benefits related to this impulse, as long as the projects are carried out in a sustainable way, without neglecting food production.
Preliminary
Currently the biomass market is not very large compared to that of petroleum products, but its expansion is being rapid. Every day a part of the biomass is transported around the world, the other part is left for national energy production. The reason for the development and expansion in this market worldwide is due to the pressure to change and diversify our energy sources.
Among the reasons to change and diversify our energy sources are the following:
- Interdependence and vulnerability related to fossil fuels (oil); it is required to ensure the availability of energy. Climate change; It is necessary to reduce the levels of CO2 emissions. Problems in agricultural markets due to overproduction and subsidies in developed countries; crops are required for energy production. Regional rural development; new activities are required. Decrease in oil reserves; New sources of energy are required.
This is the basis for stimulating new policies that promote the use and production of biomass. In the European Union they have introduced regulations to promote the use of "green liquids" at a rate of 2% in 2005 and 5.75% for 2010 of the total liquid fuels used for transport. Sweden wants to avoid the use of fossil fuels entirely by 2020. The market for biomass exists and is expanding rapidly, even though it is in the development phase.
Biomass
Pellets:
New possibilities allow to improve the properties of the pellets. One of them considers applying heat to the pellets (200-250 ° C). In this way, a higher density is obtained (compared to wood), and the energy efficiency in the process is 95% or greater.
Ethanol:
Specialists prefer cellulosic ethanol, rather than that which comes from corn and sugar cane. One of the reasons for this preference is because cellulosic ethanol can be produced in soils unsuitable for efficient food production. However, the production of cellulosic ethanol is for now far from being widely implemented.
The ethanol market produced with corn and sugar cane is mainly directed towards Brazil and the United States.
Vegetable oil:
Regarding sunflower, palm and rapeseed oils, there is controversy about the negative ecological effects due to the production and use of these oils, which are generally used to make bio-diesel through esterification. Bio-diesel is produced and sold mainly in the European Union and the United States, while oils for bio-diesel production are produced in developing countries in these countries.
Oil - Pyrolysis:
By heating the wood quickly to temperatures around 400 ° C, oil is obtained by pyrolysis. This oil has more or less the same chemical characteristics as wood.
There is a plant in Malaysia that produces this type of oil, but its success is still unsure.
Jatropha Tree Oil
The seeds produced by the Jatropha tree, which can be grown in soils unsuitable for efficient food production, are a good option to obtain vegetable oil that can be converted into bio-diesel. Jatropha plantations minimize desertification and environmental degradation. The bio-diesel obtained from Jatropha seeds could be used in machinery to produce food.
There are several million hectares in the world that are not used for food production, and that could be used to establish Jatropha plantations in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Species of this plant develop in the wild, without human intervention. Jatropha plantations under favorable conditions can produce around 5.0 tons of seed per hectare, equivalent to 1.7 tons. of oil and 1.6 ton. bio-diesel.
The calorific value of biodiesel is between 15,700 and 17,900 btu / kg. Large-scale Jatropha plantations would supply an enormous amount of renewable energy from the sun, rainwater, and elements in soil and air. Jatropha plantations catch around 6.0 ton. of CO2 per hectare during its development. An assumed price of 0.40 Euro / Kg. of Jatropha oil would be equivalent to 680 Euros per hectare.
In one hundred thousand hectares 68 million Euros. And in a million hectares, 680 million Euros. Jatropha oil production can be convenient through cooperatives. In this way it would be possible to carry out global projects related to bio-energy and ecology, and at the same time developing countries would be capitalized.
Energy and Food
A new philosophy in food and energy production is emerging. The reasons for this new philosophy are based on the changes required in the energy sector and related to the overproduction of food that destabilizes the markets.
Most real prices for agricultural products are extremely low in almost all countries. The agri-food market in countries with emerging economies subsists by accepting low prices, and in developed countries it subsists by means of high subsidies. Thus, new non-food crops are required in current farming systems.
In other words, a philosophy of two agricultural products: food and non-food. In this sense, it is necessary to understand that the energy market is huge, and that food production should not be neglected. In bio-energy production, experiences in Brazil and in the common oil market created by fourteen African Nations should be considered.
Today oil prices are perhaps low, but the price could increase according to demand. However, we should not be overly optimistic about the price increase in the short term. Governments must play an important central role in sustainable bio-energy production and ecological conservation, but government intervention in some of the countries with emerging economies has so far been rather weak on this issue.
References
1. C. Daey Ouwens -Eindhoven University of Technology & FACT
2. WEA, World Energy Assessment; Energy and the Challenge of Sustainability, UNDP, New York, 2000,
3. Renewables 2005, Global status report, prepared for the REN21 Network by The Worldwatch Institute.
4. Daey Ouwens C., E. Lysen and G. Kupers, Biomass based transportation fuels: The optimal choice, Proceedings 2nd World Conference and Exhibition on Biomass,
5. Rome, 10-14 May 2004, pp. 1916-1919, ed. by W. van Swaaij et al, ISBN 88-89407-04-2
6. Faaij et al, Opportunities and barriers for sustainable international bio-energy trade: towards a strategic advice of IEA task 40, 14th European Biomass Conference, 17-21 October 2005, Paris, France, 1979-1982.
7. Daey Ouwens C., W. Schonewille and G. Kupers, Large-scale production of biomass derived Fischer-Tropsch liquids in the Rotterdam Harbor area - a case study,
8. Proceedings conference, The future for pyrolysis and gasification of biomass and waste, pp 445-457, Strasbourg, 29 September - 1 October 2002, ISBN 1 872691 77 3.
9. Daey Ouwens C., A. Faaij and HP Ruyter, Flexible, Competitive Production of Electricity, Heat, Bio-Fuels and Ethanol by Tri-Generation, M. Kyritsis, A.
10. Beenackers, P. Helm, A. Grassi, D. Chiaramonti (eds.), Proceedings 1st World Conference on Biomass for Energy and Industry, James & James Ltd, London, pp. 1483-1485, 2001.
11. Daey Ouwens C., G. Kupers, Cost reduction of Fischer-Tropsch diesel by efficient use of energy and system optimization, 14th European Biomass Conference, Paris October 2005, p 1492
12. Daey Ouwens C., M. Roeling J. de Jongh and K. Raghavan, Plant oils: A renewable energy source for rural energy supply, Proceedings 2nd World Conference and
13. Exhibition on Biomass, Rome, 10-14 May, 2004, 2484-2486, edited by W. van Swaaij et al, ISBN 88-89407-04-2.
14. Oil from seeds for the energy supply in Developing and other countries, C. Daey Ouwens, FACT Foundation, Bamako, Mali, January 2006.
