Sustainable Design Update

Termite + Cellulose = Biofuels!

Biofuel startup ZeaChem has begun building a biofuel pilot plant that will turn cellulosic feedstocks such as switch grass and wood chips into ethanol via a novel biomimetic process that uses microbes found in the guts of termites. It makes perfect sense to use the termite model to turn hard to digest cellulosic materials into simple sugars.  Termintes have been happily munching wood millions of years.  They have a proven process.

The company says the ethanol yields from the sugars of its cellulosic feedstocks are significantly higher than the yields from other biofuel production processes. ZeaChem says its process also has the potential to produce a plastic feedstock.

From Technology Review:

Bugging out: A pilot scale cellulose to ethanol plant is under construction by ZeaChem and partner Hazen Research in Golden, CO. The plant will soon pump out 250,000 gallons of fuel per year.

ZeaChem employs a hybrid approach that uses a combination of thermochemical and biological processes. It first uses acid to break the cellulose into sugars. Then, instead of fermenting the sugars into ethanol with yeast, as is typically done, the company feeds the sugars to an acetogen bacteria found in the guts of termites and other insects. The bacteria converts the sugar into acetic acid, which is then combined with hydrogen to form ethanol.

“It’s a little more complicated than a conventional process. It’s not the obvious, direct route, but there is a high yield potential,” says Jim McMillan of the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, CO.

In more conventional biofuel processes, much of the carbon content locked up in the sugars is lost to the formation of carbon dioxide when the sugars are fermented into ethanol. Converting the sugars into acetic acid and then ethanol, however, yields no carbon dioxide. As a result, this method has the potential to raise biofuel yields by as much as 50 percent, according to ZeaChem.

Via: Technology Review

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Are Biofuels Economically Feasible?

Dr. Muller Explains Engine

I’ve worked with Dr. Norbert Muller on a variety of projects.  (Note: my role on these projects has always been modest).  But what I have noticed about Norbert’s work over the years is the intellectual rigor that goes into his designs and his absolute dedication to creating a sustainable future.  Norbert is one person you should watch.  A variety of very cool, affordable and sustainable technologies are in the works in his labs.

Last Fall he showed me a sketch for an engine that uses shock waves instead of pistons to compress a fuel-air mixture.  An engine that takes the best from “wave rotor” technology and turbine engines such that the engine has only one moving part, it doesn’t need water cooling and it uses fuel much more efficiently than anything on the market.  Check it out:

From Michigan State University:

Associate professor of mechanical engineering Norbert Mueller believes his wave disk engine could signal a breakthrough for hybrid electric vehicles. Mueller leads a team of Michigan State University engineers and scientists that recently received a $2.5 million federal stimulus grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to build and develop their engine.

The engine uses turbo combustion “shock wave” technology to convert either liquid fuel or compressed natural gas or hydrogen into electrical power. Fuel efficiency for hybrid vehicles could increase five times compared to internal combustion engines while reducing costs by 30 percent.

“Well, it’s lighter than an (internal combustion) engine, it’s smaller and it’s cheaper to produce because it’s all you need to produce,” Mueller said.

“It has no valvetrains, it has no overheads, it has no radiator, and all these things, and no water cycle, it’s pretty easy and simple. You only need to connect a generator on the back, which we call a pot-sized generator and that would be, basically be the engine which drives your full utility vehicle.”

The goal of Mueller’s team is to produce an engine that would give hybrid vehicles a 500-mile driving range and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 95 percent.

“That’s what we want to do, and we are committed to do in the next two years,” Mueller said. “I want to see you in three years, driving this full or hybrid electric vehicle with this engine in there.”

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Avion X-Prize Car

While we all wait for the X-Prize car to be announced we should remember that a couple of students at Western Washington University managed to create a high efficiency car with off-the-shelf parts more than two decades ago.  From their website:

The Avion was developed as a lightweight and aerodynamic and very fuel-efficient sports car. The prototype was completed in 1984 and set the Guinness world record for fuel economy in 1986 at 103.7-mpg average driving from the Mexico border to British Columbia Canada border.

The plan at that time was to manufacture the Avion but at the time fuel economy was not as big a concern 20 years ago and we lacked the expertise and the money to tool up and produce the cars.

The car has been designed to be manufactured in small volume using recycled components from the automobile recycling yards. Utilizing standard engines and drive trains installed in the Avion’s light weight and aerodynamic body we can achieve significant improvements in fuel efficacy and performance making the Avion both fun to drive and while getting great mileage. In our testing the car we were able to achieve 80mpg At 70 mph and an astonishing 114mpg at 55mph driving from Eugene Or. To Portland OR.

An Idea twenty years before its time.

From the Rocky Mountain Institute:

Transportation uses 28% of our energy and produces 30% of our GHGs. Three quarters of this comes from cars and trucks. These numbers can be reduced by 30-35% or more with technologies that exist today. The real question is how quickly these new technologies can penetrate the market in significant numbers. Programs like cash for clunkers can help accelerate this, though analysis shows that the savings achieved came with a high price tag.

Amory Lovins endorses the idea of using “feebates” in the book Winning the Oil Endgame.  A feebate system using a combination of rebates and fees to help reduce the average fuel economy of our fleet. New vehicles with fuel economy above the target level receive a rebate, while those below the target are assessed a fee, which helps to fund the program. Proponents claim that a feebate of $70 per mpg above or below the target would be sufficient to improve the national fuel economy by one percent annually.

I like the idea of taxing “bads” like fuel guzzling cars and supporting the purchase of fuel efficient cars.  Kind of like Robin Hood.  I’d even support a couple of hundred dollars per MPG over the set point to help low income families pay for fuel efficient cars.

Your Thoughts?  Click on the comment button.

More at: Avion

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BlueCar by Italy’s Pininfarina and France’s Bolloré

BlueCar –  An Electric Car With Lithium-Polymer Batteries and Ultracapacitors

The BlueCar created by Italy’s Pininfarina and France’s Bolloré looks cool, it has a photovoltaic roof and it should be available in 2010 – if you live in Europe.  Note: batteries are made in Canada!  Its battery should recharge in a few of hours from a standard domestic outlet (U.S. or Europe?).  It should have a range of  153 miles (250 km). The BlueCar will have a top speed limited to 80 mph (130 km/h) and like most electric vehicles, it will feature punchy acceleration.

Don’t count on running the vehicle from the solar panel roof, under best circumstances the roof can only get 200 watts per square meter – and that is if you have the car mounted on a sun-tracker.

Also worth a look is the Aptera – Check out Jay Leno’s test drive below.

The Aptera

The Aptera has been on our list of “Next Big Things” for several years now.  They need to get cars on the road in 2010 otherwise they run the risk of becoming a perpetual “almost car”.

Check Out: BlueCar

Aptera: Aptera Motors

Previous Posts:

Aptera at TED

Aptera Rolls Into NYC

Automotive X-Prize Contender

Automotive X-Prize

Aptera Electric Hybrid Car – Revisited

“A 330 mpg car for everyone”