DEVELOPING SUSTAINABLE BIORESOURCES FROM LANDBASED INDUSTRY: A UK PERSPECTIVE

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DEVELOPING SUSTAINABLE BIORESOURCES FROM
LAND-BASED INDUSTRY A UK PERSPECTIVE

• Melvyn F. Askew
• Founder of Census-Bio
• Visiting Professor at Harper Adams University
  College
• Fellow of Central Science Laboratory

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DEFINITIONS

• Sustainable f(econs, environment,social/cultural
  aspects).
• Bioresources non-food products from land based
  industry.
• Biofuel liquid fuel from biomass resources.
• Bioenergy heat/electricity from biomass
  resources.

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WHAT ARE OR SHOULD BE OUR PRIORITIES?

• Adding value to the rural economy/land-based
  industry.
• Improving the environment thorough mitigating the
  effects of greenhouse gases.
• Creating new and diverse production from
  land-based industry.

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LET US LOOK AT BIOENERGY/BIOFUELS FIRST
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European Union strategies for biorenewables

• Heat Energy for the Future Resources of Energy
• Liquid biofuels A Strategy for Security of
  Energy Suppl

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Bioheat/electricity

• Whilst there appears to be less emphasis on this
  area at present it is the area with most
  potential to save energy and reduce GHGs.
• UK has strong potential in this area as a
  provider of systems and equipment. These include
  CHP units and novel low energy buildings.

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Hemp Lime Construction.
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Liquid Biofuels in UK

• UK already produces biodiesel from vegetable
  oils. Operational capacity is lt500,000 tpa.
• UK will produce bioethanol from simple sugars (
  grain sugar beet) soon.
• UK is likely to import some of its biofuel
  feedstocks or in the case of bioethanol, finished
  product e.g. From Brazil

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THE UK MARKET FOR VEHICLE FUELS

• UK uses approximately 20 million tonnes per annum
  each of diesel and gasoline
• NB The dieselgasoline split in private motoring
  in UK and wider EU is quite different from that
  of North America

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First Generation (Conventional) Biofuels.
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Imports of Biofuels to UK

• Currently primarily from Brazil
• In future
• Bioethanol from southern Africa
• Biodiesel ( from Jatropha) from for
  example India

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Jatropha species
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A WORD ON BIOBUTANOL

• More energy content than ethanol.
• Mixes easily with gasoline.
• Does not absorb significant amounts of water.
• Requires lower investment per tonne of capacity
  provided pipeline distribution is used

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PRODUCTION OUTSIDE OF UK

• It is imperative that we use our skills and
  capabilities to assist in the development of
  produce from outwith UK eg bioethanol from South
  America or Mozambique.

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The UK Arable Cropping Area

• UK arable area is relatively small at a little
  more than 5 million hectares
• Reaching EU targets of 5 biofuels for 2010 and
  that of 10 for 2020 will be challenging
• The food v. fuel debate is emerging

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Technology roadmap vision for biofuels for 2030.
A European Vision.
2005 1st Generation, e.g. biodiesel
2010/2020 2nd Generation, e.g. bioethanol and
sunfuel
2030 and 2030 Integrated biorefineries
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Second Generation Biofuels.
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Trees and Grassland.
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Second Generation Biofuels in UK

• Will not be commercialised until 2020 ?
• Will add value to the rural economy through the
  use of low level wastes.
• Could cause market conflicts with bio-heat.
• Will eventually lead to the introduction and
  commercialisation of fully integrated
  biorefining.
• Could help save uplands agriculture.

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THE MOTOR INDUSTRY IS CHANGING ITS FOCUS

• We need to be aware of what is going on !!
• -New power trains which demand synthetic fuels
  (BtL)
• -Biofuel vehicles eg (Ford and Saab E-85)
• -Lighter weight (lean) vehicles with lower fuel
  demands

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THE FUTURE

• If our target is to reduce fossil fuel demand
  reduce net CO2emissions/environmental impact of
  vehicles, then we must integrate our approaches
  and prioritise demands for land use.

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Optimising Use of Bio-Resources.
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Current Uses
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Reduced speed Reduced fuel consumption
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Non-food and non-energy markets

• These are significant and very diverse.
• Some overlap with biofuels eg biosolvents.
• Some may give better benefits to the environment
  than first generation biofuels.
• We need some integrated forward thinking.

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INTEGRATING OUR APPROACHES

• This will offer maximum exploitation of biomass
  resources.
• It will have maximum beneficial impact on the
  environment?
• It will probably create most jobs in the rural
  economy.
• Should we focus on the development of integrated
  biorefineries for the future?

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MY VIEW FOR UK

• Integrated biorefineries focussing on the most
  sustainable products from biomass.
• Provision of public goods (eg water management)
  being integrated into the production systems.
• Integrated approaches for development of land
  use strategies.

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Environmental Business Opportunities programme
(EBOP)Biofuels Special Interest Group
Participants

• SMEs
• Frome Valley Biofuels
• GB Waste Care
• Green Biodiesel
• BHR Biofuels
• Greener Fuels
• Harvest Biofuels
• Longma Biofuels
• West Midlands Biofuels
• SD Environmental
• Greenwatt Ltd
• TIN Technology
• ASR Electrical
• Brindley Biofuels
• Black Country Housing
• Ecotec Resources
• CLA West Midlands
• Marches Energy Agency
• Sunrise Biodiesel

• Larger Organisations
• Birmingham City Council
• Worcestershire County Council
• Staffordshire County Council
• Environment Agency
• Wardell Armstrong
• Balfour Beatty Power Networks
• Grace Davidson
• Harper Adams University College
• Aston University
• Cranfield University
• Staffordshire University
• Advantage West Midlands
• Nu-way Ltd
• Riello Burners Ltd
• CLA West Midlands

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