Biodiesel: An Alternative Fuel to reduce CO2

Biodiesel: An Alternative Fuel to reduce CO2

• 1.
   Biodiesel: mono-alkyl estergoodness John Bell, George Hornung, Chris Intharansy, and Kyle Miller
• 2.
  What is biodiesel? Biodiesel is a clean burning alternative diesel fuel, produced from domestic, renewable sources. Biodiesel contains no petroleum, is simple to use, biodegradable, and non-toxic.  Produced by a process called transesterification  Fatty acid methyl esters  Requires only a few ingredients  Feedstock oil  Methanol  Catalyst
• 3.
  How is itmade?
• 4.
  Advantages of biodiesel Biodegrades as fast as sugar  Less toxic than table salt  Reduces emissions  Any diesel vehicle can run biodiesel  Made from renewable resources  Sourced locally  Decreases foreign oil dependence
• 5.
  Advantages of biodiesel Can be made from waste cooking oil  3 billion gallons of waste oil produced per year  Contains no sulfur  Increases lubricity  Can be used as heating fuel  Biodiesel is the only alternative fuel to have fully completed and satisfied the health effects testing requirements of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments.
• 6.
  Why do weneed it?  94% of all goods in the United States are transported by vehicles powered by diesel engines  A renewable, clean-burning diesel replacement  Reduces U.S. dependence on foreign oil  Creates new jobs  Made from an increasingly diverse mix of resources such as agricultural oils, recycled cooking oil and animal fats, that does not compete with the food supply
• 7.
  Why do weneed it?  Biodiesel results in significantly lower emissions of particulate matter, carbon monoxide, toxic contaminants, sulfur dioxide, hydrocarbons, visible smoke and noxious odors than petroleum diesel.
• 8.
  Biodiesel feedstock sources Unlike ethanol, the highest yield sources of vegetable oil are not chiefly food crops.  Top five: Open pond algae, Millettia pinnata, Copaifera langsdorffii, oil palms, and the Chinese tallow tree.  Bottom five: Maize (corn), cashew nut, oats, lupin, and kenaf.  Chinese tallow tree is actually considered invasive in the U.S., accounting for 23% of all trees in the Houston area.
• 9.
  For whom dowe need it?  Financial, Ethical, and Ecological Stakeholders  Public and private freight operators  Municipalities  Taxpayers  Consumers  Vehicle manufacturers  Oil and gas companies  Soil & Water: the environment and everything it contains
• 10.
  Required expertise  Agriculturalist – identifies and cultivates regionally appropriate feedstock  Mineralogist – identifies local reserves of necessary catalyst minerals  Chemist – investigates new methods of extraction and production  Logistics Expert – explores most efficient & practical methods of delivery  Transportation Planner – examines existing infrastructure and trends  City Manager – negotiates code and coordinates with local politicians/orgs  Economist – examines local/regional/national/global trends in fuel use  Political Scientist – interpret the political climate and legislative feasibility
• 11.
  Implementation: Stage 1 Identify potential market  City of Fort Worth and her diesel fleet  Code Compliance  Fire  42 stations  8,066 calls taken in November of 2011  Housing and Economic Development  Parks and Community Services  Planning and Development  Police  Transportation and Public Works
• 12.
  Implementation: Stage 2 Assess political will and funding potential  The City of Fort Worth has taken steps to curb fuel costs since 2002, when it established the Fort Worth Fuel Consortium.  The Consortium coordinated purchasing efforts across departments, providing for reduced rates.  Interest in the Consortium grew, and the City welcomed adjacent cities and other agencies to join the cooperative.  Monthly fuel budget for the City is nearly $1 million.  Over $40,000 was saved by the FWWC scheme in 2010.  We believe much more can be saved by embracing biodiesel.
• 13.
  Implementation: Stage 3 Pilot project proposal  Onsite production by the City’s Equipment Services Dept.  Springboard BioPro 380 Processor [$14,995.00]  Producing 750 gallons per month (half capacity)  Reclaimed cooking oil [Free + cost of transport]  Methanol [$2.85/gal]  Sulfuric acid [$6.00 for 380ml]  Electricity [$0.15/kWh for 50kWh]  Water [$0.09/gal for 90gal]  Return on investment: 275 days
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  Implementation: Stage 4 Expansion to other departments  Maintain onsite production whenever possible  Establishment of grease abatement and collection program, similar to Cease the Grease in Dallas  Coordinate with area farmers to acquire locally produced vegetable oils
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  Implementation: Stage 5  Evaluate cost savings and reassess outlook  Invest in centralized biodiesel processing facility  Establish strategic reserve  Transform the Fort Worth Fuel Consortium into a regional biodiesel marketplace and cooperative—the first of its kind in the United States.
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  Projected timeline  Sucha proposal could theoretically be completed within a period of 3-5 years, however, the timeline is highly contingent on a number of variables:  Political expediency  Is the Fuel Consortium a friend or a foe?  Progressive political climate?  A willingness to invest?  Economic outlook  Anticipated tax revenues  Fuel price (petroleum diesel)  Materials price (lye, methanol, sulfuric acid, etc.)
• 17.
  Other factors toconsider  Biodiesel production is on the rise, correlating with the rise in price of conventional petroleum based diesel.  The National Biodiesel Board has released the following production volume estimates for the U.S., per calendar year: 2011 802 million gallons 2010 315 million gallons 2009 545 million gallons 2008 691 million gallons 2007 500 million gallons 2006 224 million gallons 2005 112 million gallons
• 18.
  Other factors toconsider  802 million gallons for 2011 is a record high.  A result of the federal tax incentive for biodiesel that was reinstated this year (H.R. 2238).  In danger of expiring on December 31, 2011 without congressional action.
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  Other factors toconsider  Public–Private Partnership  Texas ranks first in the country for biodiesel production  More than 20 commercial biodiesel plants, with more under construction, producing over 100 million gallons each year  Texas ranks first among the fifty states for railroad miles, with over 14,006 miles of track in use (Primarily diesel engines)  Texas is also home to the highest number of owner-operator independent truck drivers in the country, with 14,634. (OOIDA)  Meaningfully integrating all of these private sector industries, from agriculture to freight logistics, is key to a successful regional biodiesel initiative.
• 20.
  Program Evaluation  Keyperformance indicators for success  Social  Overall community satisfaction with initiative  Psychosocial metrics: self-affirmation and contentment with workforce (being a part of the solution, rather than the problem)  Environmental  Air quality: emission levels  Risk aversion  Economic  Taxpayer investment return  Municipal investment return  Efficiency and overall cost-savings
• 21.
  Conclusion  A Cityof Fort Worth biodiesel initiative could serve as an extraordinary model for the benefits of regionalized energy self- sufficiency, and could be easily adaptable to other communities throughout the world.  Having demonstrated previous leadership with the Fuel Consortium, we hope that the City of Fort Worth will embrace our proactive framework for deploying biodiesel in our community and beyond.
• 22.
  Questions/ Contacts?  JohnBell john.bell@mavs.uta.edu http://2011sustainability.blogspot.com/  George Hornung george.hornung@mavs.uta.edu http://georgetx.blogspot.com/  Chris Intharansy chanthala.intharansy@mavs.uta.edu http://blog.uta.edu/~cci8940/  Kyle Miller kyle.miller@mavs.uta.edu http://kylemillermsis.wordpress.com/