Biofuels: clean and green energy Basic process of biofuel production, some potent petro-crops, advantages of biofuels. Electricity generation from living plants

1. PLANTS AS SOURCE OF
RENEWABLE ENERGY
BIOFUELS: CLEAN & GREEN ENERGY
RASHMI ARORA
MSC BOTANY

2. GREEN ENERGY
• Obtainedfrom renewableresources
• Sunlight – ultimatesource of energy on earth
• Hydroelectric power
• Wind turbines
• Bioenergy: energy from biomass

3. FUEL & IT’S UTILIZATION
• Any substance that stores potentialenergy which can be convertedinto heat energy as and when
required
• Transportation:25% energy demand, about 62% of oil consumption
• Electricity production:more than 60% power is generated from fossil fuels

4. BIOFUELS
• MelvinCalvin’sstudies on Hydrocarbonproduction during photosynthesisentailedlaudableidea to use
plant sources as alternativesto fossil fuels.
• Most abundantsource of renewable fuels
• Types:
1. Ethanol& butanol – fermented plantproducts used as gasoline additives
2. Hydrocarbons-biodiesel

5. CLASSIFICATION OF BIOFUELS
First Generation Biofuels
Conversionof storage
carbohydratesin plantsinto
fuels
Second Generation Biofuels
Conversionof structural
carbohydratesinto fuels
Third Generation Biofuels
Extracts from algae (marine) as
substrate for fuel production

6. Basic process for biofuel production

8. PETROCROPS
• Also called Energy Crops or Energy Plantation
• Plants that yield hydrocarbonsthatcan be used in biofuel production at global scale
• What species of plants can yield biofuel to meet growing demands of transportation fuel and electricity?
General criteria for selecting bioenergy crop species are:
1. High sustainability for genetic improvement
2. High biomass accumulation
3. High harvestindex
4. High fraction of biofuel in harvested crop
5. Nutient partitioning to non harvested parts
6. Able to be grown on marginal lands
7. Easy storageof raw materials for biofuel synthesis
8. Low costof harvest

9. IMPORTANT PETROCROPS
1. Jatrophacurcas(Euphorbiaceae)
• Stress resistantperennial plant
• Its oil is used as –biodiesel
• Contains ~14% free fatty acids, 5% higher than soapnut
2. Sapindus mukorossi (Sapindaceae)
• Fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) from cold pressed soapnut seed oil
was envisaged as –biodiesel source for the first time
• Contains 9.1% free fatty acids, 84.43%triglycerides & 4.88%sterol
• Over 97% conversionto FAME has been achieved for both soapnut
and jatrophaoil.
Soapnut
seeds

10. 3. Parthenium argentatum (Asteraceae)
• Guayulea bushy, silver-grey plant nativeplant nativeto
Mexico & southwestern US
• In India- grown in arid regions of Rajasthan,Gujarat &
Maharashtra
• Contains25% rubber hydrocarbonsthat can be
converted to crude oil
• Biocrude is then convertedto liquidfuels by a process-
fluidized catalyticcracking (FCC)
4. Euphorbia spp
• E. laythyris & E. tirucalli – 2 most importantspecies
• Extensive research work at CAZRI Jodhpur, NBRI
Lucknow, IndianInstitute of Petroleum Dehradun&
Biocentre at Ahmedabad
• Hydrocrackingof biocrude using palladiumnickel
tungsten based catalystsyield liquidfuels

11. 5. Calotropis procera (Asclepiadaceae)
• Perennialshrub native to India, Iran & Africa
• Grown for energy productionin Australia,Western & Central Indianarid
tracts (Rajasthan)
• Dried latexcontains53-85% resins, 11-23% rubber hydrocarbons
6. Copaifera langsdorfii (Fabaceae)
• Commonly known as diesel tree
• Grows in tropicalrainforests
• On drilling, a clear ‘diesel like’ liquidis obtained
• This liquidcan be directly used to fuel cars
• Containssesquiterpenes: copaene, bergamotene & beta-
carophyllene
• Oil yield from mature tree is 40-60litres annually

12. 7. Pittosporum spp (Pittosporaceae)
• Nativeof Philippines
• Walnut sized fruits commonly called as petroleum nuts
• Sustainablesource of biofuel
• Oil is extracted from fruits by cold pressinng and distilation
• Gasoline substances include heptane, myrcene, alpha- pinene, limonene
8. Grass species (Poaceae)
• Majorcereal crops
• Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) – widely evaluatedasenergy
crop
• Miscanthus (silver-grass) – high yields obtained
• Sugarcane and related species (Saccharum, Erianthus)- high
yield potential.Sugarcanecan yield ~100 tonnes of dry
matter/ha/yr.
• Maize and Sorghum – model genomes for research on use of
grasses as bioenergy crops
Switchgrasss
Silver grass

13. 9. Woody biomass include species like
• Populus (Salicaceae)
• Salix (Salicaceae)
• Eucalyptus spp (Myrtaceae) – yield more than 100 tonnes /ha/yr
• Populus & Eucalyptus – model genomes for woody plant
developmentas bioenergy resources
10. Agave Americana & A. tequilana (Aspargaceae)
• Leaf tissues contain56-60% (Of dry wt) potentially fermentable
sugars
• Cost effective bioethanolproduction
• Agave extracts can be fermented with Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Poplar
tree
Salix
Eucalyptus
Agave tequilana

14. ALGAE BIOFUELS: THIRD GEN BIOFUEL

15. ADVANTAGES OF BIOFUEL
1. Greater energy contententas compared to fossil fuels
biodiesel 90% more efficient, bioethanol 50% more & biobutanol being80% high energy than Petroleum
diesel and gasoline.
2. Fewer emissions of green house gases and particulatematter
3. Biodegradable,less harmful if spilledaccidentally
4. Safe to handle and transport
5. Cheaper than Petroleum products

16. ELECTRICITY FROM LIVING PLANTS: EMERGING
CONCEPT
• Plant-microbialfuel cell = living plantsin associationwith microbes inhabitingrhizosphere are used to
produce electricity, while the plantremains alive
• Principle – the excess of photosynthatesproduced by plantsare eliminatedthrough roots, microbes
around the roots break these down which releases electrons. These electrons can be gathered using
electrodes and used to generate electricity.
• Capableof supplyinggreen Energy 24hrs a day, 7 daysa week.
• Direct current is of very low voltage, thus harmless to plantsand animals
• A max of 222mW/m2 of electric current productionhas been achieved by scientists
• Scientists haveproved that this productionof electricity doesn’t interfere with the growth of plant.
• Research is still in process to implement this technology for large scale production

17. REFERENCES
• https://www.nrel.gov
• PMC2859252
• PMC2635661
• PMC4549257
• Kochhar SL, Economic Botanyin the Tropics