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COPYRIGHT 2005 Hart Energy Publishing, LP.
Gasifying relatively abundant cellulose, then using Fischer-Tropsch synthesis to make biomass-to-liquids (BTL) diesel has much more potential than making "biodiesel" from rapeseed or similar food crops, according to studies for the European "Renew" project. Highlights from papers presented to this year's "1st European Summer School on Renewable Motor Fuels" (see: www.renew-fuel.com) in Germany: -- "Compared to other fuels, one can conclude that BTL's could reach much higher potentials than FAME [fatty acid methyl ester biodiesel] and ethanol under justifiable costs," according to a study by Institute for Energy & Environment (IEE), in Leipzig, Germany. "Considering European biomass potentials, one can conclude that there is a broad variety of biogenous sources that could be used as feedstock for energy provision," IEE researcher Alexander Vogel reported. Crucial to deciding which scheme to pursue should be "mainly based on economic aspects," he said. Trying to calculate the most economical scheme is difficult because all the BTL plants so far are pilot-scale rather than commercial-scale. However, the costs can be broken down into categories, including production costs, provision costs, conversion costs and comparison with other fuels. On farm production cost, potential BTL feedstocks including willow, wheat and miscanthus are far cheaper than rapeseed, the study shows. Getting these materials to a BTL plant (provision...
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