Posted by admin on January 18th, 2010 10 Comments
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Honeywell, the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, Boeing and Etihad Airways have announced an agreement to establish a research institute in Abu Dhabi dedicated to pioneering bioenergy research.The institute, the Sustainable Bioenergy Research Project (SBRP), will use integrated saltwater agricultural systems to support the development and commercialization of biofuel sourcess for aviation and co-products.The SBRP will undertake research projects that combine the arid and salt-rich environment of Abu Dhabi with innovative and promising saltwater farming practices.The Masdar Institute will host the SBRP and provide laboratory and demonstration facilities both within and outside of Masdar City, the world’s first zero-carbon city.The SBRP team will focus on an integrated seawater agriculture systems (ISAS) approach, which is a highly efficient system for producing liquid and solid biofuels, capturing and holding carbon from the atmosphere, enlarging habitats to increase biodiversity, and simultaneously releasing fresh water for higher value uses such as drinking water. ISAS also has the potential to reduce the impacts of sea level rise on coastal communities.The integrated approach uses saltwater to create an aquaculture-based farming system in parallel with the growth of the mangrove forests and Salicornia, a plant that thrives in salty water. These biomass srouces can be sustainable harvested and used to generate clean energy, aviation biofuels and other products. The closed-loop system converts aquaculture effulent into an affordable, nutrient-rich fertilizer for both plant species.Developing low-cost, non-petroleum fertilizers is a key to achieving reductions in carbon emissions from any biofuel source. This technology has been pioneed by Dr. Carl Hodges of Global Seawater Inc., who has been engaged as special advisor to the project.The integrated saltwater farming approach uses saltwater to create an aquaculture-based farming system, in which fish and other seafood are produced using scientific best practices.This closed-loop system converts what would otherwise be problematic aquaculture effluent in seawater into an affordable and nutrient-rich fertilizer that can used to irrigate and fertilize mangrove forests and Salicornia, a salt-tolerant plant. The mangrove and Salicornia can then be harvested and, using UOP process technology, converted into sustainable aviation biofuels.The development of low-cost, non-petroleum fertilizers is one of the keys to achieving genuine carbon emissions reductions from any biofuel source.This revolutionary seawater farming concept has been successfully implemented in Mexico and Northern Africa by Global Seawater Inc., who will provide advice and insight to support the SBRP in Abu Dhabi.
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Airlines are know to be great polluters, so I really hope that biofuel in airlines becomes a reality soon.
On a side note, I have seen on Discovery Channel and also read on the newspaper that research is being carried out on algae biofuel. According to several scientists, algae biofuel could be the fuel of the future.
Timothy Cassar
Website Admin of Cash Advance Loans
@Timothy I don’t think we will be seeing the availability of biofuel in airlines anytime soon though I also wish it were so.
If this collaboration between Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, Boeing and Etihad Airways be successful then the future looks better. Less pollution, greener enviroment who wouldn’t want that?
Kimberly Harris
Atlanta, GA
SEO Company Imagine Consultation
Of course we would want that to happen. I know it would be a remarkable break through, but many countries will try to deliberately put their hands in the situation to take for their own. We as a whole world need to GO GREEN. No more carbon emissions. The world is ours to help it; not to hurt it.
All people want green environment. But the possibility of avoiding activities leading to global destruction is very low. Our technology is improving because of the great researchers. We can benefit from new technologies but it also harms our environment as well.
Pollution in our environment is being increased very highly and we are in need of such kind of research for getting green and healthy environment. I have also read many articles on Internet and news papers about how our environment is being polluted with the passage of each day. And i believe such kind of research is very essential for getting the green and health environment.
Biofuel research is a necessary use of resources for the planet.
The key, though, is taking discoveries and placing them into sustainable systems versus much of the knee jerk reaction, doing something for the sake of doing something, approaches that come out of the green movement.
That’s what’s also hard about research and discovery. When you come up with something, are you pushing its use towards the greater good or are you just trying to get someone to use for the 1) fame, 2) coin, etc., regardless if it’s really going to make any type of difference or even potentially create other problems
All these researches that are happening today…. we all hope that they materialize sooner… we only have so little time left to save Earth and try to live more like on ancient times did, a lot of things happened and changed through technology. I hope that we can use this technology to bring back all things we lost from day one of discovering it. A lot of biofuel research have been done and are useful to us now keep on going..
With the kind of things described in this article it is clear that the potential exists to create useable biofuels in quantity with the right type of research. Let’s hope that the right type of research is carried out. Meanwhile, my neighbour runs his Peugeot on diesel mixed with chip oil from a local hotel (where his wife works). The upside: daily commute costs vastly reduced. The downside: ribbing from colleagues about his car smelling like a chip shop.
Sadly, biofuel could only lower the bad air emitted to the air, How I wish this could lower costs too…
It seems as if we are stuck in a research mode on biodiesel from Salicornia and not able to move into a commercial enterprise mode. What is the problem? Does anyone know of a place where biodiesel is succesfully produced from Salicornia on a commercial scale