In this work, we propose and demonstrate the concept of atmospheric CO2 capture for algae cultivation (and horticulture) as alternative to flue gas derived CO2. A supported amine sorbent was prepared and found able to capture CO2 at atmospheric conditions (around 400 ppm, 2-2.5 mole CO2/kg sorbent) and releasing it at higher pressures and purity. Adsorption capacities were determined for CO2 concentrations from 200 ppm to 10 vol% and temperatures up to 55°C. Regeneration was...

Pelletization as a previous stage for thermal use of solid biofuels is an excellent option for the management and removal of residues. However, not all materials are suitable for their use as pellet precursors, because of densification drawbacks, formation of ashes or because their combustion gives rise to emissions. Agroindustrial residues, such as olive waste, are adequate for their use as fuels in biomass stoves, but their densification and emission characteristics are not fully satisfactory....

Due to the current scarcity of fossil fuels (among other drawbacks), renewable energy sources have recently gained prominence. Thus, nowadays biomass plays a more and more important role. There are many agricultural wastes that can be used as energy sources in Extremadura region, such as Grape pomace and Pyrenean oak. On the other hand, commercial biomass feedstock is widely used, being its composition quite heterogeneous compared to the latter raw materials. During pyrolysis, some pollutants...

The cork industry generates a large amount of waste in different processes. These residues are mainly cooking water, cork dust, sludge and mill lands or funds boiler firing. The use of agro-industrial waste for energy is increasing mainly due to the environmental benefits that are obtained: zero CO2 balance, reduced emissions of sulphur and nitrogen oxides, reduced emissions of particles, etc. Preparation and processing industries of cork generate a large amount of biomass waste, thus...

The main purpose of this work is to show opportunities for production of pellets and briquettes for low¬ emission combustion of biomass resources, partly containing high concentrations of chlorine and ash melting point decreasing substances, like alkaline metals. Hay and flour mill by-products were thermally and chemically preprocessed to enable the use as fuels in small and middle-sized heating systems, pursuant to the German First Federal Immissions Control Ordinance (1.BImSchV). Biomass leaching, torrefaction and additivation...

The production of 2nd generation bioethanol has reached a pilot stage. Some bioethanol plants are under construction around the world. Among them, one is being built in North-West of Italy by Chemtex. The planned yearly production is 40,000 t/year of bioethanol. The crop being selected as biomass is the Giant Reed (Arundo donax), that is a perennial crop; do not require irrigation and its cultivation require much less inputs than corn for biomass. Farmers need...

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is an important perennial energy crop. In this work, the uptake of NO -3-N by switchgrass as an index of soil quality improvement was studied in a pot experiment. Totally 24 pots with a peat-soil substratum of 1 kg were prepared receiving NO -3–N up to a concentration of 44 ppm. In half pots, a zeolite-bentonite 3:1 mix was added (total 10 gr per pot). Switchgrass variety Alamo was sown in...

Nitrogen is a key input for sustaining high yields in several crops, but the fertilizer N uptake efficiency in sunflower is relatively low (< 35%). A 2-year field experiment with sunflower was conducted in central Greece (Larissa area, Thessaly plain) in the years 2007 through 2009. The study soil is characterized by high clay content and vertic properties. The experiment was a factorial split plot design in three blocks. The first factor concerns the cultivation...

The utilization of agricultural crop residues in anaerobic digestion is a very promising biomass conversion pathway enabling efficient and sustainable energy production, contributing to the mitigation of green house gases (GHG) and leading to a sustainable nutrient cycle. Effective production of biogas from feedstock rich in lignocelluloses requires the application of pretreatment and development of the entire logistics chain. The project "BIO(GAS)FINER" aims to develop and optimize the process chain starting with the harvesting of...

Energy crops offer ecological advantages over fossil fuels by contributing to reduction of greenhouse gases and acidifying emissions. However, there could be ecological shortcomings related to the intensity of agricultural production. There is a risk of polluting water and air, losing soil quality, enhancing erosion and reducing biodiversity. In the scope of the project Optimization of perennial grasses for biomass production (OPTIMA), supported by the European Union, an environmental impact assessment study is being developed...

Based on a brief overview of barriers to the success of sustainable biofuels, a selection of important standardisation and certification (S&C) schemes for biofuels is presented. A possible approach for the evaluation of prominent challenges and difficulties is discussed with focus on crucial socio-economic aspects like stakeholder participation, overall legitimacy and transparency. Complementary to this, technical aspects like verifiable GHG savings, proof of compliance, traceability and enforceability of principles and criteria are explicated as well....

This paper presents results of the surveys on permitting procedures and financing options for biogas projects, conducted among the market stakeholders in seven CEE countries (Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Latvia, Romania and Slovenia) as well as among investors from other EU countries with experience in CEE. In total, the survey encompassed about 200 stakeholders. The results reflect similarities and differences among the agricultural biogas markets in the assessed countries. Farmers and investors share the...

Sugarcane straw represents, under Brazilian conditions, approximately one third of the total primary energy of sugarcane in the field. Today, its use for energy is incipient and it is mostly wasted by either burning in the pre-harvest or left on the ground to decay. Besides its potential use as feedstock for energy production, there are several possible agronomic benefits of the straw blanket left on the ground such as soil protection against erosion, increase of...

In Portugal, several industrial sectors, such as sawmill, furniture, pulp and paper and cork, are the major consumers of forest biomass. Some of these industries already use biomass residues from the industrial processes of production and from operations of the maintenance of the forest, to produce heat and power. The combustion of these residues gives rise to the production of considerable amounts of ashes. The characteristics of these ashes are influenced by the biomass properties,...

Future optimal valorisation of biomass will not be a uni-dimensional model anymore. To make use of all intrinsic values present in the biomass, conversion systems need to evolve from simple bio-energy systems towards synergy using bio-refineries in order to better reflect the scarcity of certain types of biomass and to counter the demand for a more desired biomass resource. Within the project ‘Energy conversion park' (ECP) a consortium of Belgian and Dutch research institutes analyses...

Five promising biomass fuels, namely Mischanthus, Cardoon, Jatropha Cake, Sunflower Cake, and Willow were gasified in a 100 kWth atmospheric circulating fluidised bed gasifier (CFBG) using quartz and olivine as bed inventory materials and air as gasification medium. The fuels used were collected across Europe and span different biomass sources i.e. woody materials, residual cakes from first generation biodiesel production, as well as lignocellulosic material. These materials represent potential fuel mixes of a future biorefinary....

Combined heat and power production from biogas may be a profitable solution for large agricultural farms or co-operatives of several farms, provided that an adequate supply of cattle manure or biomass of another type is available for the biogas reactor, and if the farms can sell their extra heat and electricity to external consumers. In Finland, farm-scale biogas plant investments are restricted by their high cost level compared to the plants' energy sales income. This...

One of the controversial aspects of adopting biofuels as a global warming mitigation strategy is the land use change (LUC) due to the expansion of feedstock production. Thus, the LUC due to the sugarcane expansion in Brazil in 1996-2012 was evaluated, using national statistics and remote sensing data. In this period, soybean was the major crop regarding expansion (13 Mha), while the cattle density increased from 0.86 to 1.08 heads per hectare in 1996-2006, which...

In large scale industrial processes, such as iron production, or in gasification based process chains (coal/biomass to synthesis gas, fuel, or power, etc.), the separation of CO2 (Carbon Capture ¬CC) can lead to ecological and procedural benefits. Chemical absorption of CO2 is a well proved technology for CC with comparatively low electrical energy demand. However, the high heat demand, absorption kinetics, CO2 capacity and sorbent degradation are limiting factors for the industrial application. Further investigation...

In the last years sampling at various gasification plants has been performed at Bioenergy2020+. The equipment, which is based on the recommendations of the tar guideline, has been further developed and adjusted to specific needs. For an evaluation of the procedure different parts of the equipment were tested with a new developed gas¬ generating unit. Most effort has been performed at the absorption of BTXE¬S and PAH in 2¬propanol. Additionally new characterisation¬ methods for pyrolysis...

Due to the increasing number of different online and offline methods and procedures for sampling at gasification and pyrolysis plants a comparison of the measured values is difficult. About the sampling of tars already a number of detailed guidelines and a common approach are established [2]. In terms of discrete chemical impurities the missing of a guideline for sampling at biomass¬ plants is an obstacle for implementing sampling systems in new plants or experimental assemblies....

Biomass can be used as raw material for (i) energy¬content transformation/utilization (usually after a change of the initial phase, (ii) supporting the food chain mainly by introducing several kinds of fodder, and (iii) producing new materials enabling economic substitution of several old ones (e.g., as sorbents or packaging media). Since biomass is the common raw material, there is some kind of competition as regards the biomass quantities used for each one of these categories. The...

Biomass energy is attracting more and more attention because it is a potentially CO2 neutral and renewable energy source. Nonetheless biomass combustion is reported to be an important source of ambient fine particulate matter (PM). Though large scale combustion installations such as power plants have efficient flue gas cleaning systems and are continuously monitored for stack gas conventional PM mass concentrations, ultrafine (UFP: dp <100 nm) and nanoparticle (NP: dp < 50 nm) number emissions...

Torrefaction is a thermal pretreatment of solid biomass to create a biomass based fuel with improved properties compared to untreated biomass. In the context of the project „Torrefaction of solid biomass" a test rig to investigate the time¬resolved mass loss behaviour of "large" single biomass particles up to 30 mm was designed at the Department of Energy Plant Technology (LEAT) at the Ruhr¬University Bochum. Time¬resolved mass loss of biomass particles in the millimetre scale is...

For wood combustion in small appliances where incomplete combustion occurs, it is very important to distinguish between flue gas methane and non methane hydrocarbons to give a good evaluation of nanoparticle emissions. While non methane hydrocarbons are gaseous at stack temperature they may contribute to the formation and growth of nanoparticles in the atmosphere. For this purpose, a study is carried out to investigate the influence of non methane hydrocarbons in the formation of nanoparticles...