AE Biofuels Opens Integrated Cellulosic Ethanol Commercial Demonstration Facility
11 August 2008
AE Biofuels Inc. held the grand opening of its integrated cellulosic ethanol commercial demonstration facility in Butte, Montana. (Earlier post.) The 9,000 ft2 facility is one of the first such cellulosic demonstration plants in the US, and the first to integrate the use of both cellulose- and starch-based feedstocks.
The plant uses Ambient Temperature Cellulose Starch Hydrolysis (ATCSH) enzyme technology to convert cellulose and starch to fermentable sugars to optimize process conditions for multiple feedstocks. Non-food ethanol feedstocks used at the facility include switch grass, grass seed straw, small grain straw, sugarcane bagasse, and corn stalks either alone or in combination with a variety of traditional starch and sugar sources such as corn, wheat, barley, and sugarcane. By utilizing multiple feedstocks, AE Biofuels can produce ethanol through a cellulose-only or cellulose / starch combination, thus reducing the risk of commodity availability and pricing uncertainty.
In 2007, AE Biofuels acquired enzyme technology from Renewable Technology Corporation and formed its ethanol technology subsidiary, Energy Enzymes. AE Biofuels utilizes patent-pending ambient temperature enzymes to eliminate the up-front “cooking” process that occurs in traditional starch ethanol production. Eliminating the initial cooking and cooling process significantly reduces energy and water consumption.
Great. Congratulations and good luck.
Posted by: gr | 11 August 2008 at 06:46 PM
Pursuit Dynamics has invented and tested and installed a low energy fast cooking process that increases the yield of ethanol from starch by a large percent.
There is not enough biomass of any kind to meet any substantial portion of the demand for fuel for US transportation use. Coal must become a major source of liquid fuels for the US.
All ethanol production facilities and oil refineries should be built along side nuclear power plants that can provide super cheap clean heat and steam to the production and distillation processes. Hydrogen can be produced from any excess cheap electricity.
Eventually heat from nuclear reactors could operate chemical factories for the production of liquid fuels.
Current reators could provide much of the heat now needed and coal or coke combustion can provide only the final high temperature boost. Nuclear reactors provide the cheapest heat when no high pressure steam equipment and generators are used.
Uranium and thorium are not fossil fuels; they never got their energy from the sun, but are remnants of exploded stars. There is enough nuclear fuel in the spent fuel pools of US reactors to provide all the electricity the US needs for the next hundred years. These spent fuels retain 95% of their original energy. Reactors that can burn such "used fuels" effectivly are already in operation in other parts of the world. There is enough known, cheap enough, uranium in the ocean to provide all the energy needed for millions of years. To this must be added, thorium, that is three times more abundant. Much lead comes from decayed uranium and thorium but it still retains 75% of the energy originally available in the uranium or thorium. Yes lead can be a nuclear fuel, but there is no known way yet to economically get the energy. The natural decay of U-235 robs civilization of a great deal of energy every day that could be used for electric power. By the time these sources are depleted, economical fusion might be working.
The one source of biomass that should be used up for energy or fuel production is all the biomass and other organics including plastics that now go into land fills. ..HG..
Posted by: Henry Gibson | 11 August 2008 at 11:01 PM
Henry,
Which lead isotope(s), as opposed to native lead residues from exploded stars do you suggest for these reactors.
Posted by: arnold | 12 August 2008 at 05:17 AM
In the meanwhile there is a simple, inexhaustible supply of seawater that when radiated with microwaves at the right frequencies, splits H2O bonds.
And there is Mills' patented hydrino process. And low voltage resonant heat pumps. And Steorn magnetic motors and... no radiation!
Posted by: fewchaE | 12 August 2008 at 01:28 PM
"...sugarcane bagasse..."
I did not know that they cut a lot of cane in Montana, but I could be wrong. :)
Posted by: sjc | 14 August 2008 at 08:56 PM