Prospect of biodiesel in Pakistan

Developing countries like Pakistan need continuous supply of cheap energy. It is common fear in today’s world that fossil fuels will be depleted soon. The cost of energy is increasing continuously and is expected to be at its peak by 2050. Many technologically advanced countries are successfully using renewable energy sources for their energy needs, however, they still believe in the importance of fossil fuel. In renewable energy field, Pakistan is using hydropower for energy needs successfully, whereas project regarding solar and wind energy is in progress. Biomass, a renewable energy source, is gaining interest in many researchers because it produces similar type of fuel extracted from crude oil. Energy from biomasses only depends upon the availability of cheap raw material.Biodiesel, which is produced by the reaction of vegetable oil and alcohol, can be used with same or with better performance in diesel engine. It is a clean fuel that causes less environment pollution as compared to petro diesel. High cost and non-continuous supply of vegetable oil is the main hurdle for its general acceptance. Many advanced countries have developed strategy for continuous supply of cheap price energy crops (source of biomass). Biodiesel is the only possible reciprocal to petro diesel or otherwise diesel engine will be useless after the depletion of crude oil.In this study, biodiesel as an energy source has been discussed; this is indigenous diesel engine fuel and is beneficial for our environment, economy, and more importantly will increase the income of our farmers.     

Technical aspects of production and analysis of biodiesel from used cooking oil—A review

The increasing awareness of the depletion of fossil fuel resources and the environmental benefits of biodiesel fuel has made it more attractive in recent times. The cost of biodiesel, however, is the major hurdle to its commercialization in comparison to petroleum-based diesel fuel. The high cost is primarily due to the raw material, mostly neat vegetable oil. Used cooking oil is one of the economical sources for biodiesel production. However, the products formed during frying, can affect the transesterification reaction and the biodiesel properties. This paper attempts to review various technological methods of biodiesel production from used cooking oil. The analytical methods for high quality biodiesel fuel from used cooking oil like GC, TLC, HPLC, GPC and TGA have also been summarized in this paper. In addition, the specifications provided by different countries are presented. The fuel properties of biodiesel fuel from used cooking oil were also reviewed and compared with those of conventional diesel fuel.     

Comparison of palm oil, Jatropha curcas and Calophyllum inophyllum for biodiesel: A review

The world today is faced with serious global warming and environmental pollution. Besides, fossil fuel will become rare and faces serious shortage in the near future. This has triggered the awareness to find alternative energy as their sustainable energy sources. Biodiesel as a cleaner renewable fuel has been considered as the best substitution for diesel fuel due to it being used in any compression ignition engine without any modification. The main advantages of using biodiesel are its renewability and better quality of exhaust gas emissions. This paper reviews the production, performance and emission of palm oil, Jatropha curcas and Calophyllum inophyllum biodiesel. Palm oil is one of the most efficient oil bearing crops in terms of oil yield, land utilization, efficiency and productivity. However, competition between edible oil sources as food with fuel makes edible oil not an ideal feedstock for biodiesel production. Therefore, attention is shifted to non-edible oil like Jatropha curcas and Calophyllum inophyllum. Calophyllum inophyllum oil can be transesterified and being considered as a potential biodiesel fuel. Compared to Palm oil and Jatropha biodiesel industry, biodiesel from Calophyllum inophyllum is still in a nascent state. Therefore, long term endurance research and tribological studies need to be carried out before Calophyllum inophyllum oil base biodiesel can become an alternative fuel in future.     

Analysis of blended fuel properties and engine performance with palm biodiesel–diesel blended fuel

Depleting fossil fuel sources accompanied by continuously growing energy demands lead to increased interest in alternative energy sources. Blended biodiesel–diesel fuel has been approved as a commercial fuel at a low blending ratio. However, problems related to fuel properties are persistent at high blending ratios. Hence, in this study, the feasibility of biodiesel produced from palm oil was investigated. Characterization of blended fuel properties with increasing palm biodiesel ratio is conducted to evaluate engine performance test results. The qualifying of blended fuel properties was used to indicate the maximum blending ratio suitable for use in unmodified diesel engines according to the blended fuel standard ASTM D7467. The property test results revealed that blended fuel properties meet blended fuel standard requirements at up to 30% palm oil biodiesel. Furthermore, blending is efficient for reduction of the pour point from 14 °C for unblended biodiesel to less than 0 °C at a 30% biodiesel blending ratio. However, the energy content reduces by about 1.42% for each 10% increment of biodiesel. Engine test results demonstrated that there was no statistically significant difference for engine brake thermal efficiency among tested blended fuels compared to mineral diesel, and the lowest engine cyclic variation was achieved with blended fuel B30.     

A comprehensive review on biodiesel as an alternative energy resource and its characteristics

As the fossil fuels are depleting day by day, there is a need to find out an alternative fuel to fulfill the energy demand of the world. Biodiesel is one of the best available resources that have come to the forefront recently. In this paper, a detailed review has been conducted to highlight different related aspects to biodiesel industry. These aspects include, biodiesel feedstocks, extraction and production methods, properties and qualities of biodiesel, problems and potential solutions of using vegetable oil, advantages and disadvantages of biodiesel, the economical viability and finally the future of biodiesel. The literature reviewed was selective and critical. Highly rated journals in scientific indexes were the preferred choice, although other non-indexed publications, such as Scientific Research and Essays or some internal reports from highly reputed organizations such as International Energy Agency (IEA), Energy Information Administration (EIA) and British Petroleum (BP) have also been cited. Based on the overview presented, it is clear that the search for beneficial biodiesel sources should focus on feedstocks that do not compete with food crops, do not lead to land-clearing and provide greenhouse-gas reductions. These feedstocks include non-edible oils such as Jatropha curcas and Calophyllum inophyllum, and more recently microalgae and genetically engineered plants such as poplar and switchgrass have emerged to be very promising feedstocks for biodiesel production.It has been found that feedstock alone represents more than 75% of the overall biodiesel production cost. Therefore, selecting the best feedstock is vital to ensure low production cost. It has also been found that the continuity in transesterification process is another choice to minimize the production cost. Biodiesel is currently not economically feasible, and more research and technological development are needed. Thus supporting policies are important to promote biodiesel research and make their prices competitive with other conventional sources of energy. Currently, biodiesel can be more effective if used as a complement to other energy sources.     

A review on microwave-assisted production of biodiesel

Energy is the most important necessity for human existence on the earth. Limited crude petroleum resources and increasing awareness regarding the environmental impacts of fossil fuels are driving the search for new energy sources and alternative fuels. Biodiesel is a fuel which is renewable, biodegradable, environmentally friendly, and non-toxic in nature and has attracted considerable attention during the past decades. The costs of feedstock and the production process are two major hurdles to large-scale biodiesel production in particular. Various technologies have been developed to reduce the production cost. This paper attempts to extensively review microwave-assisted technology for biodiesel production. Additionally, different types of feedstocks for biodiesel production have been summarized in this paper. It is concluded that the microwave-assisted technique reduces the reaction time significantly in comparison with conventional methods. In addition, a high quality biodiesel can be obtained from microwave-assisted transesterification of different kinds of oils. Finally, the energy payback for 1kg biodiesel produced by microwave-assisted technology is calculated in this paper and it indicated that the system is sustainable. Therefore it can be a suitable method of decreasing the cost of biodiesel and can also help the commercialization of this fuel.     

Comparative life cycle assessment of hydrogen pathways from fossil sources in China

Emissions of multiple hydrogen production pathways from fossil sources were evaluated and compared with that of fossil fuel production pathways in China by using the life cycle assessment method. The considered hydrogen pathways are gasoline reforming, diesel reforming, natural gas reforming, soybean‐derived biodiesel (s‐biodiesel) reforming, and waste cooking oil‐derived biodiesel reforming. Moreover, emissions and energy consumption of fuel cell vehicles utilizing hydrogen from different fossil sources were presented and compared with those of the electric vehicle, the internal combustion engine vehicle, and the compression ignition engine vehicle. The results indicate both fuel cell vehicles and the electric vehicle have less greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption compared with the traditional vehicle technologies in China. Based on an overall performance comparison of five different fuel cell vehicles and the electric vehicle in China, fuel cell vehicles operating on hydrogen produced from natural gas and waste cooking oil‐derived biodiesel show the best performance, whereas the electric vehicle has the worse performance than all the fuel cell vehicles because of very high share of coal in the electricity mix of China. The emissions of electric vehicle in China will be in the same level with that of natural gas fuel cell vehicle if the share of coal decreases to around 40% and the share of renewable energy increases to around 20% in the electricity mix of China. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Combined impact of varying biogas mass flow rate and rice bran methyl esters blended with diesel on a dual-fuel engine

ABSTRACT

For fetching day-to-day energy needs, current energy requirement majorly depends on fossil fuels. But ambiguous matter like abating petroleum products and expanding air pollution has enforced the experts to strive for another fuel which can be used as an alternative or reduce the applications of fossil fuels. Considering the issues, the main objective of the present study is to find the feasibility by using blends of rice bran oil biodiesel and diesel which are used as pilot fuels by blending 10% and 20% biodiesel in fossil diesel and biogas, introduced as gaseous fuel by varying its mass flow rate in a dual-fuel engine mode. An experimentation study was carried out to find the performance and emission parameters of the engine relative to pure diesel. The results were very much similar to the majority of researchers who used biodiesel and gaseous fuels in a dual-fuel engine. Brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) of the engine was noticed to have increased, while brake thermal efficiency was on the lower side in dual fuel mode in comparison with regular diesel. In relation with conventional diesel, it was noticed that combined effect of rice bran methyl esters and varying mass flow rate of biogas showed a decrement in NO _x and smoke emissions, whereas HC and CO exhalations were on higher side when biogas and biodiesel were utilized collectively in dual-fuel engine. Hence, it was concluded that combination of blends of biodiesel and diesel and introduction of biogas in the engine can be a promising combination which can be used as a substitute fuel for addressing future energy needs.     

A multi-actor multi-criteria framework to assess the stakeholder support for different biofuel options: The case of Belgium

The multi-actor multi-criteria analysis (MAMCA) is a methodology to evaluate different policy measures, whereby different stakeholders’ opinions are explicitly taken into account. In this paper, the framework is used to assess several biofuel options for Belgium that can contribute to the binding target of 10% renewable fuels in transport by 2020, issued by the Renewable Energy Directive (RED). Four biofuel options (biodiesel, ethanol, biogas and synthetic biodiesel (also referred to as “biomass-to-liquid” or BTL)) together with a reference fossil fuel option, are evaluated on the aims and objectives of the different stakeholders involved in the biofuel supply chain (feedstock producers, biofuel producers, fuel distributors, end users, vehicle manufacturers, government, NGOs and North–South organizations). Overall, the MAMCA provided insights in the stakeholder’s position and possible implementation problems for every biofuel option. As such, it helps decision makers in establishing a supportive policy framework to facilitate implementation and to ensure market success, once they have decided on which biofuel option (or combination of options) to implement.     

Integration and economic viability of fueling the future with green hydrogen: An integration of its determinants from renewable economics

The volatility of fossil fuel and their increased consumption have exacerbated the socio-economic dilemma along with electricity expenses in third world countries around the world, Pakistan in particular. In this research, we study the output of renewable hydrogen from natural sources like wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal power. It also provides rules and procedures in an attempt to determine the current situation of Pakistan regarding the workability of upcoming renewable energy plans. To achieve this, four main criteria were assessed and they are economic, commercial, environmental, and social adoption. The method used in this research is the Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchical Process (FAHP), where we used first-order engineering equations, and Levelized cost electricity to produce renewable hydrogen. The value of renewable hydrogen is also evaluated. The results of the study indicate that wind is the best option in Pakistan for manufacturing renewable based on four criteria. Biomass is found to be the most viable raw material for the establishment of the hydrogen supply network in Pakistan, which can generate 6.6 million tons of hydrogen per year, next is photovoltaic solar energy, which has the capability of generating 2.8 million tons. Another significant finding is that solar energy is the second-best candidate for hydrogen production taking into consideration its low-cost installation and production. The study shows that the cost of using hydrogen in Pakistan ranges from $5.30/kg to $5.80/kg, making it a competitive fuel for electric machines. Such projects for producing renewable power must be highlighted and carried out in Pakistan and this will lead to more energy security for Pakistan, less use of fossil fuels, and effective reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.     

Biodiesel production and de-oiled seed cake nutritional values of a Mexican edible Jatropha curcas

The scarcity of fossil fuels, in addition to environmental damage due to fossil fuel use and exploration, promotes research into alternative energy sources such as biofuels. Biodiesel has attracted considerable attention in recent years as an alternative to fossil fuels, since it is renewable, biodegradable and non-toxic. Biodiesel can be obtained from animal fat, vegetable oils including cooking oil. In this work, a method of producing biodiesel from seed cake waste from the edible Jatropha curcas L. plant was developed. Oil extraction using hexane gave the best oil quality. Transesterifications of approximately 95% were obtained by alkali or acid catalysis, and the obtained biodiesel products were successfully corroborated with NMR techniques. Since J. curcas is a non-toxic plant, the remaining de-oiled cake was tested for its nutritional properties. Nutritional analysis showed a content of 43% and 33% of protein and carbohydrate, respectively; suggesting that this waste can be used as an attractive protein and carbohydrate source for fermentation processes and/or for formulations for animal feeding. In conclusion, this work provides evidence that the oil from an edible and non-toxic species of J. curcas is an attractive option for biodiesel production with nutritional applications and negligible wasting.     

Prospects of biodiesel production from microalgae in India

Energy is essential and vital for development, and the global economy literally runs on energy. The use of fossil fuels as energy is now widely accepted as unsustainable due to depleting resources and also due to the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the environment. Renewable and carbon neutral biodiesel are necessary for environmental and economic sustainability. Biodiesel demand is constantly increasing as the reservoir of fossil fuel are depleting. Unfortunately biodiesel produced from oil crop, waste cooking oil and animal fats are not able to replace fossil fuel. The viability of the first generation biofuels production is however questionable because of the conflict with food supply. Production of biodiesel using microalgae biomass appears to be a viable alternative. The oil productivity of many microalgae exceeds the best producing oil crops. Microalgae are photosynthetic microorganisms which convert sunlight, water and CO₂ to sugars, from which macromolecules, such as lipids and triacylglycerols (TAGs) can be obtained. These TAGs are the promising and sustainable feedstock for biodiesel production. Microalgal biorefinery approach can be used to reduce the cost of making microalgal biodiesel. Microalgal-based carbon sequestration technologies cover the cost of carbon capture and sequestration. The present paper is an attempt to review the potential of microalgal biodiesel in comparison to the agricultural crops and its prospects in India.     

Recent trends in biodiesel production from commonly used animal fats

Changes in climate due to the enormous amount of carbon dioxide emissions have really encouraged the development of energy sources that are renewable, sustainable, and eco‐friendly. The development of alternative energy sources can also be attributed to the rapid decrease in resources of fossil energy. Biodiesel has gained significant interest in recent years due to its fossil fuel–like properties and sustainable and eco‐friendly characteristics. However, most biodiesels are expensive because of the high cost of feedstock largely based on edible vegetable oil sources. The use of animal fats waste as cost effective feedstock in biodiesel production has gained considerable attention in recent years. Although, most studies regarding the use of animal wastes as feedstock in biodiesel production are still in the early stages, the advantages of this type of feedstock have been highlighted in the literature. However, most studies have not focus on the recent advances in the use of animal fats waste. The studies on the use of novel approach have been reported in isolation. Therefore, this current study attempts to highlight recent developments of the most commonly used animal fats waste in the production of biodiesel. In addition, emphasis was given to the most appropriate production technique, catalyst, energy requirement, and optimum reaction conditions.     

Toward a clean energy economy: With discussion on role of hydrogen sectors

This study analyzes how advances in clean energy production technology have facilitated related economic development and intensified competition between clean energy sources and fossil fuels. A forecasting model, the Taiwan general equilibrium model–Clean Energy (TAIGEM-CE), is adopted to elucidate the role of wind, solar, tidal current, geothermal, algal biodiesel, biohydrogen, hydrogen fuel cell, biodiesel and bioethanol. Baseline results indicate that biohydrogen, hydrogen fuel cell, biofuels and wind perform satisfactorily when external support is unavailable. Additionally, strong governmental investment in clean energies significantly contributes to development of biodiesel, wind, biohydrogen and hydrogen fuel cell sectors. Results of this study provide feasible means of allocating resources to achieve a smooth transition to a clean energy economy, in which biohydrogen and fuel cell will play a prominent role.     

Prospects of biodiesel from Jatropha in India: A review

The increasing industrialization and modernization of the world has to a steep rise for the demand of petroleum products. Economic development in developing countries has led to huge increase in the energy demand. In India, the energy demand is increasing at a rate of 6.5% per annum. The crude oil demand of the country is met by import of about 80%. Thus the energy security has become a key issue for the nation as a whole. Petroleum-based fuels are limited. The finite reserves are highly concentrated in certain regions of the world. Therefore, those countries not having these reserves are facing foreign exchange crises, mainly due to the import of crude oil. Hence it is necessary to look forward for alternative fuels, which can be produced from feedstocks available within the country.Biodiesel, an ecofriendly and renewable fuel substitute for diesel has been getting the attention of researchers/scientists of all over the world. The R & D has indicated that up to B20, there is no need of modification and little work is available related to suitability and sustainability of biodiesel production from Jatropha as non-edible oil sources. In addition, the use of vegetable oil as fuel is less polluting than petroleum fuels. The basic problem with biodiesel is that it is more prone to oxidation resulting in the increase in viscosity of biodiesel with respect to time which in turn leads to piston sticking, gum formation and fuel atomization problems.The report is an attempt to present the prevailing fossil fuel scenario with respect to petroleum diesel, fuel properties of biodiesel resources for biodiesel production, processes for its production, purification, etc. Lastly, an introduction of stability of biodiesel will also be presented.     

Necessity of biodiesel utilization as a source of renewable energy in Malaysia

In recent decades, the energy crisis and environmental issues have become a crucial problem. The rapid industrialization has lead humankind to deplete the fossil fuels and consequently the pollutant emissions have increased in the world. Many investigations have been done to find an alternative fuel to fulfill increasing energy demand. Recently, biodiesel has been introduced as an economical renewable and sustainable fuel which is cited as an environment-friendly resource. Around 350 oil-bearing crops were analyzed and some of them were capable to be considered as potential alternative fuels for diesel engines. These include virgin vegetable oils and waste vegetable oils. Rapeseed, jatropha, soybean, and palm oil are mentioned as the most common sources of biodiesel. Many countries have invested in biodiesel as an acceptable source of energy not only in research area but also in production and export. It has been proven that the biodiesel combustion characteristics are similar as petroleum. Higher ignition pressure and temperature, shorter ignition delay and higher peak release were reported in experimental combustion of biodiesel blends. Also, the efficiency of biodiesel base catalysts is more than enzymes and acid catalysts. This article is a literature review on necessity of biodiesel production as alternative fuel recourse in Malaysia and tries to illustrate the combustion characteristics and pollutant formation in biodiesel application.     

Accurate modeling of biodiesel production from castor oil using ANFIS

Research for finding alternative fuel sources has been concluded that the renewable fuels such as biodiesel can be used as an alternative to fossil fuels because of the energy security reasons and environmental benefits. In this contribution, transesterification of castor oil with methanol to form biodiesel has been modeled by using artificial neural network fuzzy interference system (ANFIS) approach. Methanol to oil molar ratio, catalyst amount (C), temperature (T), and time (S) were used as input parameters and fatty acid methyl ester yield was used as output parameter for modeling the efficiency of biodiesel production from castor oil. Obtaining low value of absolute deviation (2.2391), high value of R-squared (0.98704), and other modeling results proves that ANFIS modeling is an effective approach for biodiesel production from castor oil. In conclusion, comparison between our model and other previous predictive models reported in open literature indicates the priority of our model.     

Production characterization and efficiency of biodiesel: a review

Vegetable oil is one of the main first generation liquid biofuels. The fuel characteristics of vegetable oil such as viscosity and atomization cannot be accommodated by existing diesel engines. An alternate process has been developed to improve the fuel characteristics of vegetable oils through the process of alcoholysis to produce a fuel called biodiesel. It can be used in engines as substitute for fossil fuel. This paper reviews the characteristics of different oils available for biodiesel production and the production technologies, engine performance using vegetable oil and biodiesel, and emission studies. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Use of bioethanol for biodiesel production

Faced with the energy crisis and environmental degradation, due to the massive use of fossil energy sources, biodiesel is an attractive alternative to diesel fuel. With a view to developing local biodiesel production, using bioethanol as a sustainable reactant for biodiesel production, rather than methanol, is leading to increasing interest, notably in emerging countries. Indeed, bioethanol, which is less toxic than methanol, is produced from local and renewable agricultural resources, being more sustainable and providing access to greater energy independence. However, some issues are limiting the process like purification problems, or the presence of water in bioethanol leading to a drop in yield. Although several studies have already been published on ethyl ester production, most of them primarily focus on homogeneous alkaline catalysis, and report various data. Therefore, this paper aims at presenting a review of previous studies on the subject.