Chapter 15

Question 1

ethanol

Answer 1

alcohol-based biofuels.

sugars of a plant can be extracted and fermented to produce an alcohol of extremely high purity. cna be used in appropriately designed ICEs

Question 2

biodiesel

Answer 2

oil-based biofuels

crushing oil-bearing plants delivers an oil-based feedstock that can be transformed into biodiesel through transesterification

can be used in diesel engines as a close replacement to traditional diesel

Question 3

co-products

Answer 3

valuable, residual outputs
from feedstock conversion into ethanol used to generate power, chemicals, plastics

e.g. food oils, cosmetics, animal feed, fertilizer

Question 4

crush spread

Answer 4

financial arbitrage opportunity b/w the value of the inputs to the biofuel production process (feedstocks) and the value of the outputs (oils, fuels, co-products)

crush = both physical process and financial arbitrage mechanism

commodity traders will look for a disparity between these values in either the spot market or futures market. can simultaneously buy the feedstock and sell the output — locking in a processing margin

example: for biodiesel from soybeans. would involve buying soybeans and selling a proportional mix of soybean oil and soybean meal, based on the volume mix expected from the crushing process

Question 5

E10

Answer 5

to limit potential repercussions of higher ethanol content, amount of ethanol in fuel for most vehicles have been capped at 10% by vehicle manufacturers.

E10 = commonly used in US as fuel requirement that still allows for safe, long-term performance (water and corrosion issues = downside of ethanol. upside = better engine performance and cleanliness of combustion parts)

Question 6

FFV

Answer 6

aka fuel-flex vehicles

can use E85 or 85% ethanol blend

(Brazil has been doing this since the 1970s)

Question 7

lifecycle emissions

Answer 7

conventional fuels typically have a modest reduction in lifecycle emissions of carbon on average.

A measure of life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions is an attempt to calculate the global-warming potential of electrical energy sources by doing a life-cycle assessment of each energy source and presenting the findings in units of global warming potential per unit of electrical energy generated by that source

Question 8

feedstocks

Answer 8

any renewable, biological material that can be used directly as a fuel, or converted to another form of fuel or energy product.

Biomass feedstocks are the plant and algal materials used to derive fuels like ethanol, butanol, biodiesel, and other hydrocarbon fuels.

Question 9

drop-in fuels

Answer 9

drop-in fuels are those renewable fuels which can be blended with petroleum products, such as gasoline, and utilized in the current infrastructure of pumps, pipelines and other existing equipment

Question 10

import displacement

Answer 10

For countries that import substantial amounts of crude oil or refined fuels, finding domestic sources of fuel replacements can have both economic and security implications.

improving the balance of trade, investing in capital and wages domestically, and reducing the potential impacts of physical supply disruptions = justifications for biofuels.

opposing argument = price of oil is globally established and the fuel and feedstock linkages suggest that any reduction in econ. risks of oil disruption is modest

Question 11

blending mandates

Answer 11

establish a certain quantity or percentage of biofuels into the refined fuel supply.

Brazil = 20% ethanol blending mandate

Question 12

Renewable Fuel Standard

Answer 12

US. 2005. Renewable Fuel Standard established a gross volume of ethanol requires based on estimates of future transit fuel supply and demand

obligated parties (refiners and importers) have to prove that they meet blending requirements by accumulating certs known as Renewable Identification Numbers RINs

Question 13

Renewable Identification Numbers

Answer 13

blending certificates that obligated parties accumulate by generating a blending activity or purchasing from other blenders with excess RINs

Question 14

Cellulosic Fuels

Answer 14

Cellulosic ethanol is a biofuel produced from wood, grasses, or the inedible parts of plants.

It is a type of biofuel produced from lignocellulose, a structural material that comprises much of the mass of plants.

most common = corn stover, woodchips, switchgrass. collectively, these = ceullulosic feedstocks.

Question 15

Algal Fuels

Answer 15

Algae fuel or algal biofuel is an alternative to liquid fossil fuels that uses algae as its source of energy-rich oils

Like fossil fuel, algae fuel releases CO2 when burnt, but unlike fossil fuel, algae fuel and other biofuels only release CO2 recently removed from the atmosphere via photosynthesis as the algae or plant grew

Question 16

Biocrude

Answer 16

a synthetic fuel under investigation as substitute for petroleum

manipulating strains of algae, nutrients, and production processes to produce direct gasoline and jet fuel ouputs – could theoretically create a drop-in fuel. this could be refined in a process similar to traditional crude oil.

Question 17

E85

Answer 17

gasoline blend with 85% ethanol

fuel-flex vehicles can accommodate E85

Question 18

Food vs Fuel Debate

Answer 18

he dilemma regarding the risk of diverting farmland or crops for biofuels production to the detriment of the food supply

Question 19

Bagasse

Answer 19

the dry pulpy residue left after the extraction of juice from sugar cane, used as fuel for electricity generators