NEW OPTIONS FOR BIOENERGY

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NEW OPTIONS FOR BIOENERGY In the Mediterranean
Region
Antonio PiccoloLink Campus University
 Rome  www.unilink.it 
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TM

• What are aquatic biofuels?
• Why produce aquatic biofuels?
• Conversion systems
• Growth and harvesting
• Potential for the Mediterranean Region
• Challenges and Opportunities

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WHAT ARE AQUATICBIOFUELS?
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• Why ALGAE?
• Does not compete with agriculture
• High yield per acre
• Contains no sulphur therefore no SO2 emissions
• Non toxic and highly biodegradable
• Does not require soil for growth
• Uses as little as 30cm of water per year per
  hectare (open pond system)
• Adaptable anywhere even at great distances from
  water
• Abatement of CO2 carbon neutral

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Oil yield per hectare of microalgae significantly
exceeds other common oil sources such as soya
and rapeseed
33 times more than rapeseed
88 timesmore than soya
39 500
39 500 PBR
1190
1 190
446
448
PBR Photo Bio-Reactor
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• Photo Bio-Reactors?
• Using Photo Bio-Reactors (PBR) is expensive but
  it is a State of the Art Technology, it produces
  higher yields than other systems. Recent and up
  to date technologies demonstrate that
  somePBRs are not as expensive to produce and
  could be a solution for developing countries

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Microalgae Biofixation Process with wastewater
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Open pond wastewater has demonstrated
productivities of 100 tonne/ha/yr tonne per
hecatre per year.
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AVIATION INDUSTRY
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• Aquatic Biofuels Challenges, Opportunities and
  Gains
• Algae
• Cost intensive especially for Photo Bio-Reactors
  may be suitable for Higher Income Countries.
• Open pond systems are much more viable although
  real costs are still not available,
  by-products can however make the process
  completely viable.
• Abatement of CO2 Mitigation from the conversion
  of the algal biomass to renewable fuels
  directly substituting fossil fuels coal and gas
• Each tonne of microalgae biomass produced
  about a tonne of CO2 abated
• Both algal to bio-fuel technologies are therefore
  completely Carbon Neutral

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Adaptability to Mediterranean Region Algae
production with Photo Bio-Reactors (PBR) More
suitable for Higher Income Countries (due to
higher start-up costs) Algae production with
MBP (Microalgae Biofixation Process) More
suitable for Lower Income Countries (due to
lower start-up costs)
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• FISH WASTE From Aquaculture Farms
• Press the fish waste
• Oil is extracted through a water separation
  process at 90o C
•  
• Manganese (Mn), methanol (9) and caustic soda is
  added.
• The by-product glycerine is sold to the cosmetic
  industry and the residues are made into
  fishmeal.
• 1kg of fish waste can produce just over 1lt of
  bio-diesel.

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Aquafinca - Honduras
Agifish Viet Nam
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(No Transcript)
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• Fish Waste - Key points and feasibility for
  Mediterranean Region
• Technology is adaptable and transferable in many
  regions of the Mediterranean .
• It can provide livelihoods through the
  production of fish, and produce local energy
  free from GHG emissions.   
• Relatively little investment required.
• Fish waste could also promote more efficient
  utilization of aquatic living resources and
  generate additional income for fishers' and fish
  farmers
• communities.
• Adaptable on large fishing trawlers.   
• Fishing Ports

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• Fish waste Advantages and Disadvantages
• The oil produced for bio-diesel is already
  marketable as fish oil, more fish oil would
  have to be produced to cater for the demand in
  bio-diesel this may disrupt fish oil markets.
• The technology is in place (Viet-Nam and
  Honduras) and is transferable to regions of
  the Mediterranean as pilot project studies.
  Mississippi State University is experimenting
  using the waste from shrimp, but using a
  slightly different process.

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Aquatic Biofuels An Integrated Energy
Aquaculture System (IEAS)
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Thank you for your kind attention. www.aquaticbio
fuel.com tony.piccolo_at_gmail.com