Oil-rich United Arab Emirates looks to biodiesel

It is 11am in Dubai and already 42 degrees Celsius outside. Inside the warehouse it is barely any cooler.

Although workplaces in the United Arab Emirates are normally fitted with air conditioning, here they have purposefully restricted it to the offices. "It's the chemical reactions," Karl Feilder, chairman of Neutral Fuels explains.

"They happen at 65 degrees so by keeping the factory temperature higher we expend less energy on the process. That makes it more efficient. That's better for the environment and it cuts costs."

He is pointing at the thirty metre long collection of industrial tanks and pipes through which the firm's main product is being made. The room smells a bit like a chip shop. There is a reason for that.

These tanks are used to produced biodiesel that can be used by any normal diesel engine They are making biodiesel - converting vegetable oil from local McDonald's restaurants so that it can be used to fuel trucks.

Conversion rate

The biodiesel they produce can be used by any normal diesel engine. That makes it distinct from less processed vegetable and waste oils, which can only be used by converted engines.

Because the palm oil they get from McDonald's is the waste from food preparation, when it is burned the carbon emissions are reduced by 60-80% versus traditional diesel fuel.

Any carbon dioxide released is recaptured by trees McDonald's says are grown sustainably on certified farms in the Far East, providing the next batch of palm oil for use by the fast-food chain.

The oil comes from fast food restaurants like McDonalds Similar biodiesel programs from re-used cooking oil are already in operation by McDonald's in Germany, the UK and also in areas of Brazil and the United States. In the UAE, though, the process works better.

"Biodiesel has an issue depending on what its made from that at low temperatures it will clog up, form a gel and eventually freeze," according to Robin Mills, a Dubai-based energy analyst.

"Of course, low temperatures aren't a problem in this part of the world so it has performance benefits."

But it is not all smooth sailing.

The United Arab Emirates, like most of its neighbours in the Gulf, subsidises and caps the price of fuel at the pump.

That should make it trickier for companies like Neutral Fuels to compete and make a profit.

Karl Feilder: "[The fuel cap means] we have to be even more efficient" "It is challenging but that means we have to be even more efficient and even more competitive," Mr Feilder says.

"The great thing is McDonald's oil is so predictable in terms of high quality and quantity that it makes our job of making biodiesel easier. That helps make us a profitable business."

Still, McDonald's has changed its entire fleet of 22 trucks in the country to use the biofuel.

They pick up the leftover vegetable oil from restaurants when they drop off fresh supplies of food during the day in bright-red converted wheelie bins.

Later, they stop off at the Neutral Fuels, leaving behind the full bins and taking on empty ones. They also top up their tanks from the biodiesel pump by the parking bay. McDonalds used to sell their palm oil to a third party in India who recycled it.

After dropping off the old oil, the McDonalds trucks fill up with biodiesel "Now we sell our oil to Neutral Fuels at the same price we used to sell it for before and we buy the biodiesel from them at the market price of diesel in the UAE, says Rafic Fakih managing director of McDonalds UAE.

"So we are no worse off and gain from the environmental benefits."

Local backing

Given that the United Arab Emirates is the world's eighth largest oil producer, it is perhaps a surprise that the biodiesel project is gaining traction. Other restaurant chains are already expressing an interest in the program.

In this instance, it is perhaps an even bigger surprise that the programme is also backed by Emiratis.

"Nowadays companies are becoming more environmentally conscious and they want to, as much as they can, be environmentally sustainable," says Abdulla Al Jallaf, managing director of Neutral Fuels.

"I think it is a very interesting proposal to make use of waste materials."

Currently, McDonald's is Neutral Fuels only client and they have restricted the project to the UAE. But there are hopes to expand across to the wider region.

With the process profitable for Neutral Fuels and likely to save McDonald's money in the longer run if diesel prices continue to rise, it seems likely its spread will be inevitable.

Good news for the environment, company profits and anyone interested in running their vehicle on the power of French Fries.

Going green reaches new heights with the Aviation Industry!

PARIS, France : Green aviation was a hot topic at the Paris Air Show this year.

With volatile oil prices fuelling the need for alternative energy, several solutions were presented to tackle the environmental question. And Asia's largest aviation event next year, the Singapore Airshow, should deliver more answers.

Making its debut at the Paris Air Show was the Solar Impulse - powered by solar cells with zero emissions. The goal of it’s innovators was to guide masses towards a revolutionary mindset – that of renewable energies, energy saving in clean technology allowing the world and daily lives to be much cleaner. This in turn opens doors to more job opportunities while improving the quality of life and reducing the impact on the environment.

Some environmentalists said the biofuel business is green aviation's future, with this possible future presenting itself at the Singapore Airshow 2012.

This is definitely something to look forward to – see you at next year’s Airshow!

Pentagon turns green to cut fuel bill

THE US military has been told to go green to cut costs after the Pentagon's annual fuel bill hit $US20 billion. The biggest energy-saving campaign by the Pentagon is forcing the armed services to look at alternative ways of powering aircrafts, ships and armoured vehicles. Algae, vegetable oil and even animal fat are coming to the rescue.

First in the line of the accountants' fire is the Air Force. Fighter aircraft use up 3,000 to 5,000 gallons of fuel on an average mission - at the current price of $2.18 a gallon. The Air Force's transport service, which ferries troops and cargo around the world, is the largest fuel-guzzling organisation on the planet.

The US Navy is planning to have a green carrier strike force by 2016, with every aircraft on board and all the escort ships being powered by a 50-50 mix of petrol and biofuel. The carriers are nuclear-powered "so that's already alternative", Admiral Philip Cullom, the head of the Navy's Task Force Energy, said.

In April the US Navy showed off a Green Hornet, a FA18 that has completed more than a dozen flights with half of the fuel tank containing an oil extracted from camelina, a member of the mustard family.

"When I spoke to the pilots they said they didn't know whether they had petroleum or biofuel ... it flew just the same," Admiral Cullom said. He plans to use the equivalent of eight million barrels of biofuel by 2020.

Jeff Braun, the director of the US Air Force alternative fuels certification office, said that on August 26 a C17 transport aircraft would attempt to fly on tallow (animal fat) fuel. "What's left over from the meat process is what we call yellow grease and you extract the oil from it," he said.

Alan Shaffer, the Pentagon's principal deputy director of defence research and engineering, said that an alternative oil source with potential was algae.
"The beauty with algae is that you can grow it anywhere and to grow it it needs to absorb carbon dioxide, so it's not only a very effective fuel, in theory it's also a carbon sink. That's a pretty good deal," he said. Mr Shaffer believes that with investment - the big airlines are interested - algae could take off.

Using grass to run your car?

No, they are not planning to pluck out grass from the Earth to change it to biofuel.

That wouldn't be environmentally friendly right, using precious land to farm grass. And plus it'll be weird looking at bald patches on the ground. The Carbon Trust is working together with the University of York to research how using microwave technology could turn garden and wood waste into biofuel. The process of using microwave to heat the waste without oxygen is called pyrolysis. The research will look at how this process could be used to produce a biofuel to blend with fossil fuel or as a fuel on its own. The carbon footprint of this new pyrolysis biofuel could potentially save 95% of carbon compared to fossil fuels.

The trust also announced the creation of a new consortium of British businesses led by Axion Energy, which will aim to enhance existing pyrolysis technology to produce biofuels created from organic waste materials en masse. The consortium aims to produce its first biofuel from a pilot plant in 2014 and estimates that this will save seven million tonnes of carbon, the equivalent to the annual emissions of three million cars. If this research goes through then it will be great for Singapore with the many grass cutting days they have here, which is done every other week. Wakes my son up from his sleep and makes my kitties scurry for safety!

Tip of the day: If you have a cold, go old skool and use a handkerchief instead of disposable tissues :) Maybe you'll start a new fashion statement!

ExxonMobil to make fuel from algae

ExxonMobil and biotech firm Synthetic Genomics (SGI) have announced a new alliance to produce alternative fuel made from photosynthetic algae. ExxonMobil expects to spend more than $600 million on the project--$300 million internally and another $300 million to SGI if key R&D milestones are met.

Under the partnership, SGI will research and develop systems to grow large amounts of algae and convert them into biofuels. ExxonMobil will provide engineering and scientific talent throughout different phases of the project, from increasing the level of algae production to manufacturing the final product.

"Meeting the world's growing energy demands will require a multitude of technologies and energy sources," said Emil Jacobs, vice president of research and development at ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company. "We believe that biofuel produced by algae could be a meaningful part of the solution in the future if our efforts result in an economically viable, low net carbon emission transportation fuel."

In an economic climate that has made life tougher for alternative-energy companies, ExxonMobil is wading into biofuel waters that recently swallowed a once promising algae-minded start-up, GreenFuel Technologies, which said in May that it had run out of funds and would be shutting down. Still, other smaller companies such as PetroAlgae and Aurora Biofuels remain hopeful about commercial production of algae biofuel.

Algae is one of a number of potential alternative fuel sources, though many of the others, like ethanol, are derived from plants also used for food. Algae also can thrive in a variety of conditions.

Based in California, Synthetic Genomics is a privately held company that develops energy solutions based on genomics research.

SGI says it's spent several years working on a way to harvest the oil produced by photosynthetic algae. Past methods have proven costly and time consuming, but SGI says its process for collecting the oil has so far proven more efficient and cost-effective, though work remains to be done.

"The real challenge to creating a viable next generation biofuel is the ability to produce it in large volumes which will require significant advances in both science and engineering," J. Craig Venter, CEO of SGI, said in a statement. "The alliance between SGI and ExxonMobil will bring together the complementary capabilities and expertise of both companies to develop innovative solutions that could lead to the large scale production of biofuel from algae."