05
October 2011
A Biorefinery Centre that will investigate new ways to use of waste plant material from food processing and agriculture has been launched at the UK's Institute of Food Research (IFR).
In collaboration with Lotus Engineering, and other partners, the Biorefinery says that it is planning on addressing the challenge of producing fuel with a lower carbon footprint, and could also combine a performance advantage.
"Once the food part of a crop has been exploited, there is a mass of plant material left behind that is often discarded as waste," explains Professor Keith Waldron, head of sustainability in the food chain exploitation platform at IFR.
The facility is centred around a steam explosion pilot plant that is used to blow apart plant cell walls and extract useful natural products.
The steam explosion pilot plant is located within the Centre and will modify biomass using a thermal/hydrolysis process which operates at up to 230 degrees C. This weakens, pre-degrades and ruptures the cell walls of the plant material.
Researchers at the centre say that they will use the pilot plant to extract sugars that are normally locked into the cell walls of straw and woody plants by lignin, the substance that gives these plants their strength. Once freed, these sugars can be treated with enzymes and fermented with yeast to produce bio-alcohol.
The aim of the research is to turn residual, inedible bio-waste into transport fuel, and useful material for fibre processing, natural fibre development, releasing phenolics - such as the antioxidant ferulic acid.
Fast fuel
Scientists at the Biorefinery Centre say they can complete the process in four to six days, with the bio-alcohol generated being tested by Lotus - a global automotive engineering consultancy company which has been conducting its research into sustainable future fuels in its bi-fuel and tri-fuel engines.
Lotus engineers will experiment with optimising combustion and efficiency, and other industry partners will test the commercial viability of the material produced for different sectors.
"Just about any type of alcohol can be used to fuel a car and if it is optimised can even give a performance advantage," said Dr Richard Pearson, senior technical specialist at Lotus Engineering.
"For example, we see significant improvements in torque at low and high speed."
According to Lotus, the its bi- and tri-fuelled Exige can do zero to 60 in 3.9sec
Cultural benefits
The Centre will also house a yeast screening facility and yeast propagator to generate sufficient bulk yeast for processing. For example, specialist yeast strains from IFR's National Collection of Yeast Cultures will be used in the fermentation used to create the bio-alcohol.
According to IFR, the centre has grown out of its knowledge of plant cell wall structure which stems from Waldron's research into water chestnuts' unique ability to keep their crunch after processing and cooking.
With millions of tonnes of residual plant material generated during food processing and by agriculture, the professor saw an opportunity to find new uses for it that would not compete with food production.
For example, East Anglian brewer Adnams, a partner in the research, generates about 2400 tonnes of brewer spent grain a year. Other waste will include waste rape and wheat straw, hemp and waste cereal grain from milling.
Scientists at the John Innes Centre are researching ways to breed crop varieties that combine optimum traits in a plant stem for biomass exploitation as well as optimum traits for food.
"The holy grail for biomass exploitation is to break down the structure of wheat and other currently grown crops," said Richard Parker from Renewables East, the renewable energy agency for Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Essex - the East of England and one of the project's funders.
Funding
Funding for the Biorefinery Centre has come from Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the East of England Development Agency (EEDA).
Recent and on-going research is being funded by BBSRC, Defra, the Technology Strategy Board (TSB), the HGCA - the cereals and oilseeds division of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), the Horticultural Development Company (HDC) and Renewables East.
Collaborating Industrial partners include Lotus, Vireol - which will be the operator of a 200 million litre per annum wheat-to-ethanol facility in the North of England - Adnams, and Biocatalysts Ltd.
Collaborating academic partners include the University of East Anglia, the John Innes Centre and Brunel University.
A Biorefinery Centre that will investigate new ways to use of waste plant material from food processing and agriculture has been launched at the UK's Institute of Food Research (IFR).
In collaboration with Lotus Engineering, and other partners, the Biorefinery says that it is planning on addressing the challenge of producing fuel with a lower carbon footprint, and could also combine a performance advantage.
"Once the food part of a crop has been exploited, there is a mass of plant material left behind that is often discarded as waste," explains Professor Keith Waldron, head of sustainability in the food chain exploitation platform at IFR.
The facility is centred around a steam explosion pilot plant that is used to blow apart plant cell walls and extract useful natural products.
The steam explosion pilot plant is located within the Centre and will modify biomass using a thermal/hydrolysis process which operates at up to 230 degrees C. This weakens, pre-degrades and ruptures the cell walls of the plant material.
Researchers at the centre say that they will use the pilot plant to extract sugars that are normally locked into the cell walls of straw and woody plants by lignin, the substance that gives these plants their strength. Once freed, these sugars can be treated with enzymes and fermented with yeast to produce bio-alcohol.
The aim of the research is to turn residual, inedible bio-waste into transport fuel, and useful material for fibre processing, natural fibre development, releasing phenolics - such as the antioxidant ferulic acid.
Fast fuelScientists at the Biorefinery Centre say they can complete the process in four to six days, with the bio-alcohol generated being tested by Lotus - a global automotive engineering consultancy company which has been conducting its research into sustainable future fuels in its bi-fuel and tri-fuel engines.
Lotus engineers will experiment with optimising combustion and efficiency, and other industry partners will test the commercial viability of the material produced for different sectors.
"Just about any type of alcohol can be used to fuel a car and if it is optimised can even give a performance advantage," said Dr Richard Pearson, senior technical specialist at Lotus Engineering.
"For example, we see significant improvements in torque at low and high speed."
According to Lotus, the its bi- and tri-fuelled Exige can do zero to 60 in 3.9sec
Cultural benefitsThe Centre will also house a yeast screening facility and yeast propagator to generate sufficient bulk yeast for processing. For example, specialist yeast strains from IFR's National Collection of Yeast Cultures will be used in the fermentation used to create the bio-alcohol.
According to IFR, the centre has grown out of its knowledge of plant cell wall structure which stems from Waldron's research into water chestnuts' unique ability to keep their crunch after processing and cooking.
With millions of tonnes of residual plant material generated during food processing and by agriculture, the professor saw an opportunity to find new uses for it that would not compete with food production.
For example, East Anglian brewer Adnams, a partner in the research, generates about 2400 tonnes of brewer spent grain a year. Other waste will include waste rape and wheat straw, hemp and waste cereal grain from milling.
Scientists at the John Innes Centre are researching ways to breed crop varieties that combine optimum traits in a plant stem for biomass exploitation as well as optimum traits for food.
"The holy grail for biomass exploitation is to break down the structure of wheat and other currently grown crops," said Richard Parker from Renewables East, the renewable energy agency for Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Essex - the East of England and one of the project's funders.
FundingFunding for the Biorefinery Centre has come from Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the East of England Development Agency (EEDA).
Recent and on-going research is being funded by BBSRC, Defra, the Technology Strategy Board (TSB), the HGCA - the cereals and oilseeds division of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), the Horticultural Development Company (HDC) and Renewables East.
Collaborating Industrial partners include Lotus, Vireol - which will be the operator of a 200 million litre per annum wheat-to-ethanol facility in the North of England - Adnams, and Biocatalysts Ltd.
Collaborating academic partners include the University of East Anglia, the John Innes Centre and Brunel University.
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Waste to Biofuel and Renewable Chemical Research Facility Opens in Alberta
Biofuels and chemical specialist Enerkem Inc. has opened the Advanced Energy Research Facility located in Edmonton, Alberta.
Next Generation Waste to Biofuel Process Wins DOE Funding
A waste to biofuels technology developed by a Michigan State University researcher has been awarded a $4.3 million competitive federal grant for development.
Lufthansa Lifts Off With Waste Based Biofuel
Lufthansa has launched a six-month trial of Finnish refining company, Neste Oil's NExBTL renewable aviation fuel, refined from waste fats trial on regular scheduled flights.
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