Biofuels are the New Black Gold: PART TWO

Louis Egbe Mbua

I am keeping my promise to return to Biofuels to add to the first part of this very relevant commodity. As reported in part one, Biofuels, a renewable form of energy, appear to be the answer to the dwindling and often hotly disputed supplies of the Black Gold -- crude oil.; and that this new technology, if responsibly harnessed, may serve as a springing point for the down-trodden deprived; and the solution to the already unchecked energy crisis and the Global Warming warnings of impending doom of the earth and hence a threat to both humanity and Biodiversity.

Biofuels Technology holds the advantage that it can be manufactured from any green plant. This said, it is a more than happy position to realise that even green grass may be used to produce ethanol, one of the fuels as an additive to petrol so as to reduce, significantly, its toxic Carbon oxides that cause global warming; and that this fuel had the potential to deliver similar power as fossil fuel. This finding had been realised as far back as 20 years ago at Middlesex University; and other institutions in the UK.

On the other hand, the findings were based on standard ethanol from conventional plants such as sugar cane. So if, cellulose, a form of carbohydrate, that constitutes the walls of all green plants can be used to produce fuel, it follows that we will be saved from the present struggle for future survival in energy want. The reason for this plausible optimism is borne out of the common knowledge that cellulose is the most abundant plant material in the entirety of biodiversity; and that it is renewable because it can be farmed and planted; and also it grows wild. In this case, therefore, a Masai cattle herder in the Masai Mara grass plains in Kenya, or the Fulani dweller in the grasslands of the Cameroons will now become a tenured estate property holder if he has a designated ancestral land with grass. Further, straw, plant stem remains from harvests of rice, corn, banana etc. can also be converted to ethanol. In another light, having easy and ready raw material for production of energy is only but one aspect of the process: converting this raw material to high quality standardised and safe liquid fuel is a completely different, expensive and complicated matter altogether.

In the local level, many tribesmen in developing countries have been brewing alcohol for years using a local process. Since ethanol is alcohol, the same process can be used to produce fuels for local use at less than nothing. The process is simple: the crop is crushed, and dependent upon the quantity of crushed crop, water is then added to the crushed crop in a process known as hydrolysis whereby the water is used to break down the starch by means of enzymes from bacteria or algae. The product is then heated at a very high temperature so as to fully liquefy the product; and then cooled slowly while adjusting the acid level. After cooling, a fermentation agent is added convert part of the resultant liquefied product into alcohol. This is then followed by distillation to extract the ethanol in a locally designed refinery. The ethanol can then be sold to a fuel wholesaler, as long as it meets legal standards defined by the country in charge.

The process is not much different in the industrial scale where millions of tons of ethanol can be produced from sugar cane, maize stalk and cassavas or Biodiesel being produced from palm fruits, groundnuts and other crops highly rich in vegetable oil. Biodisel, on the other hand is basically vegetable oil and has absolutely no petrol or minerals but it can also be blended with petroleum to form biodiesel blend to run in diesel engines in motor vehicles or industrial scale engines, generators, trains and jet engines for Airline travel. Since Biodiesel contains no sulphur, it produces less dangerous oxides that are harmful to humans and the environment. Further, it is biodegradable than the diesel created from crude oil. Furthermore it has a pleasant aroma as opposed to crude petroleum diesel. Biodiesel is produced by a chemically induced process known as transesterification: first the palm fruit is separated from the palm nut. The fatty fruit is now crushed, chemically treated and refined to separate the biodiesel fuel from other organic products resulting from the refining process. Another typical byproduct of this process is glycerin that may be used to manufacture skin products like baby oil, soap. Another by product is used as vegetable oil for food.

While other countries are leading in this field, one hopes developing countries will also join in this noble endeavour for solutions to the energy problem. In Europe and the UK, the government and venture captitals are backing and promoting biofuels as an answer to sustainable and reliable future energy source. This, and other factors have aided the renewable energy company Ensus to go ahead to build Europe's biggest bioethanol plant at Wilton, Teeside, England. Ford Motor company has also joined the biofuel energy promotion selling, so far, up to 15o cars that run on 85 % biodiesel fuel. African and Asian countries with experience (Cameroon, Malaysia, Nigeria, India, Brazil) in refining both crude oil and crude vegetable oil or starch are now better placed to join the production of the New Black Gold so as to transform the lives of their citizens as well as help the world to overcome the constant threat of energy crisis. The next issue will examine the environmental, social, political and economic impact of Biofuels in international and National levels.