Effects of ethanol (E85) versus gasoline vehicles on cancer and mortality in the United States

Ethanol use in vehicle fuel is increasing worldwide, but the potential cancer risk and ozone-related health consequences of a large-scale conversion from gasoline to ethanol have not been examined. Here, a nested global-through-urban air pollution/weather forecast model is combined with high-resolution future emission inventories, population data, and health effects data to examine the effect of converting from gasoline to E85 on cancer, mortality, and hospitalization in the United States as a whole and Los Angeles in particular. Under the base-case emission scenario derived, which accounted for projected improvements in gasoline and E85 vehicle emission controls, it was found that E85 (85% ethanol fuel, 15% gasoline) may increase ozone-related mortality, hospitalization, and asthma by about 9% in Los Angeles and 4% in the United States as a whole relative to 100% gasoline. Ozone increases in Los Angeles and the northeast were partially offset by decreases in the southeast. E85 also increased peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) in the U.S. but was estimated to cause little change in cancer risk. Due to its ozone effects, future E85 may be a greater overall public health risk than gasoline. However, because of the uncertainty in future emission regulations, it can be concluded with confidence only that E85 is unlikely to improve air quality over future gasoline vehicles. Unburned ethanol emissions from E85 may result in a global-scale source of acetaldehyde larger than that of direct emissions.     

Full chain energy analysis of fuel ethanol from cassava in Thailand

An assessment of net energy and supply potentials was performed to evaluate cassava utilization for fuel ethanol in Thailand. Just recently, the Thai government approved the construction of 12 cassava ethanol plants with the total output of 3.4 million liters per day by the next 2 years (2007 and 2008). The cassava fuel ethanol (CFE) system involves three main segments: cassava cultivation including processing, ethanol conversion, and transportation. All materials, fuels, and human labor inputs to each segment were traced back to the primary energy expense level. Positive Net Energy Value and Net Renewable Energy Value, 8.80 MJ/L and 9.15 MJ/L, respectively, found for the CFE system in Thailand proved that it is energy efficient. Without coproduct energy credits, CFE in Thailand is even more efficient than CFE in China and corn ethanol in the United States. Regarding supply potentials, about 35% of the national cassava production would be used to feed approved CFE factories. A shift of cassava to ethanol fuel rather than its current use for chip/pellet products could be a probable solution.     

Determination of biodiesel blending percentages using natural abundance radiocarbon analysis: testing the accuracy of retail biodiesel blends

Blends of biodiesel and petrodiesel are being used increasingly worldwide. Due to several factors, inaccurate blending of these two mixtures can occur. To test the accuracy of biodiesel blending, we developed and validated a radiocarbon-based method and then analyzed a variety of retail biodiesel blends. Error propagation analysis demonstrated that this method calculates absolute blend content with +/- 1% accuracy, even when real-world variability in the component biodiesel and petrodiesel sources is taken into account. We independently confirmed this accuracy using known endmembers and prepared mixtures. This is the only published method that directly quantifies the carbon of recent biological origin in biodiesel blends. Consequently, it robustly handles realistic chemical variability in biological source materials and provides unequivocal apportionment of renewable versus nonrenewable carbon in a sample fuel blend. Analysis of retail biodiesel blends acquired in 2006 in the United States revealed that inaccurate blending happens frequently. Only one out of ten retail samples passed the specifications that the United States Department of Defense requires for blends that are 20% biodiesel (v/v; referred to as B20).     

Evaluation of life-cycle air emission factors of freight transportation

Life-cycle air emission factors associated with road, rail, and air transportation of freight in the United States are analyzed. All life-cycle phases of vehicles, infrastructure, and fuels are accounted for in a hybrid life-cycle assessment (LCA). It includes not only fuel combustion, but also emissions from vehicle manufacturing, maintenance, and end of life, infrastructure construction, operation, maintenance, and end of life, and petroleum exploration, refining, and fuel distribution. Results indicate that total life-cycle emissions of freight transportation modes are underestimated if only tailpipe emissions are accounted for. In the case of CO2 and NOx, tailpipe emissions underestimate total emissions by up to 38%, depending on the mode. Total life-cycle emissions of CO and SO2 are up to seven times higher than tailpipe emissions. Sensitivity analysis considers the effects of vehicle type, geography, and mode efficiency on the final results. Policy implications of this analysis are also discussed. For example, while it is widely assumed that currently proposed regulations will result in substantial reductions in emissions, we find that this is true for NOx, emissions, because fuel combustion is the main cause, and to a lesser extent for SO2, but not for PM10 emissions, which are significantly affected by the other life-cycle phases.     

Fuel miles and the blend wall: costs and emissions from ethanol distribution in the United States

From 1991 to 2009, U.S. production of ethanol increased 10-fold, largely due to government programs motivated by climate change, energy security, and economic development goals. As low-level ethanol-gasoline blends have not consistently outperformed ethanol-free gasoline in vehicle performance or tailpipe emissions, national-level economic and environmental goals could be accomplished more efficiently by concentrating consumption of gasoline containing 10% ethanol (i.e., E10) near producers to minimize freight activity. As the domestic transportation of ethanol increased 10-fold in metric ton-kilometers (t-km) from 2000 to 2009, the portion of t-km potentially justified by the E10 blend wall increased from less than 40% to 80%. However, we estimate 10 billion t-km took place annually from 2004 to 2009 for reasons other than the blend wall. This "unnecessary" transportation resulted in more than $240 million in freight costs, 90 million L of diesel consumption, 300,000 metric tons of CO(2)-e emissions, and 440 g of human intake of PM(2.5). By 2009, the marginal savings from enabling Iowa to surpass E10 would have exceeded 2.5 g CO(2)-e/MJ and $0.12/gallon of ethanol, as the next-closest customer was 1600 km away. The use of a national network model enables estimation of marginal transportation impacts from subnational policies, and benefits from policies encouraging concentrated consumption of renewable fuels.     

美国国内使用酒精汽油的情况(二)

美国乙醇进口占总供应量的7 % ,允许免税。国家决定乙醇混合油免税以此保证国内酒精工业持续发展。减税酒精汽油中不得超过10%的酒精。含85 %酒精、15%汽油的E85混合燃料也正在美国试用 ,一种加入添加剂结合乙醇的产品与柴油燃料混合对冷起动性能有所改进。乙醇与异丁烯结合生产增氧剂的环保替代品 ,是最经济的增氧剂。(孙悟)     

Uncertainty in life cycle greenhouse gas emissions from United States natural gas end-uses and its effects on policy

Increasing concerns about greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the United States have spurred interest in alternate low carbon fuel sources, such as natural gas. Life cycle assessment (LCA) methods can be used to estimate potential emissions reductions through the use of such fuels. Some recent policies have used the results of LCAs to encourage the use of low carbon fuels to meet future energy demands in the U.S., without, however, acknowledging and addressing the uncertainty and variability prevalent in LCA. Natural gas is a particularly interesting fuel since it can be used to meet various energy demands, for example, as a transportation fuel or in power generation. Estimating the magnitudes and likelihoods of achieving emissions reductions from competing end-uses of natural gas using LCA offers one way to examine optimal strategies of natural gas resource allocation, given that its availability is likely to be limited in the future. In this study, the uncertainty in life cycle GHG emissions of natural gas (domestic and imported) consumed in the U.S. was estimated using probabilistic modeling methods. Monte Carlo simulations are performed to obtain sample distributions representing life cycle GHG emissions from the use of 1 MJ of domestic natural gas and imported LNG. Life cycle GHG emissions per energy unit of average natural gas consumed in the U.S were found to range between -8 and 9% of the mean value of 66 g CO(2)e/MJ. The probabilities of achieving emissions reductions by using natural gas for transportation and power generation, as a substitute for incumbent fuels such as gasoline, diesel, and coal were estimated. The use of natural gas for power generation instead of coal was found to have the highest and most likely emissions reductions (almost a 100% probability of achieving reductions of 60 g CO(2)e/MJ of natural gas used), while there is a 10-35% probability of the emissions from natural gas being higher than the incumbent if it were used as a transportation fuel. This likelihood of an increase in GHG emissions is indicative of the potential failure of a climate policy targeting reductions in GHG emissions.     

世界燃料酒精工业发展现状与展望

巴西是目前世界上年产燃料酒精最多的国家，以甘蔗为主要原料生产含水酒精和无水酒精。实现了酒精相对于汽油的经济竞争力。美国是世界第二大酒精生产国。其中80％为燃料酒精。预计2010年年产量将超过50亿加仑。主要以玉米为原料，3t原料能产1t酒精。还能产1t蛋白饲料和1t CO2。我国石油年消费以13％的速度增长，若按车用油量的10％比例添加燃料酒精，每年则需燃料酒精381万吨。而至2005年底，我国燃料酒精的生产能力将达到132万吨／年。燃料酒精具有广阔的市场前景。(陶然)     

Life cycle assessment of greenhouse gas emissions from plug-in hybrid vehicles: implications for policy

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), which use electricity from the grid to power a portion of travel, could play a role in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the transport sector. However, meaningful GHG emissions reductions with PHEVs are conditional on low-carbon electricity sources. We assess life cycle GHG emissions from PHEVs and find that they reduce GHG emissions by 32% compared to conventional vehicles, but have small reductions compared to traditional hybrids. Batteries are an important component of PHEVs, and GHGs associated with lithium-ion battery materials and production account for 2-5% of life cycle emissions from PHEVs. We consider cellulosic ethanol use and various carbon intensities of electricity. The reduced liquid fuel requirements of PHEVs could leverage limited cellulosic ethanol resources. Electricity generation infrastructure is long-lived, and technology decisions within the next decade about electricity supplies in the power sector will affectthe potential for large GHG emissions reductions with PHEVs for several decades.     

Natural and anthropogenic ethanol sources in north america and potential atmospheric impacts of ethanol fuel use

We used an ensemble of aircraft measurements with the GEOS-Chem chemical transport model to constrain present-day North American ethanol sources, and gauge potential long-range impacts of increased ethanol fuel use. We find that current ethanol emissions are underestimated by 50% in Western North America, and overestimated by a factor of 2 in the east. Our best estimate for year-2005 North American ethanol emissions is 670 GgC/y, with 440 GgC/y from the continental U.S. We apply these optimized source estimates to investigate two scenarios for increased ethanol fuel use in the U.S.: one that assumes a complete transition from gasoline to E85 fuel, and one tied to the biofuel requirements of the U.S. Energy Indepence and Security Act (EISA). For both scenarios, increased ethanol emissions lead to higher atmospheric acetaldehyde concentrations (by up to 14% during winter for the All-E85 scenario and 2% for the EISA scenario) and an associated shift in reactive nitrogen partitioning reflected by an increase in the peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) to NO(y) ratio. The largest relative impacts occur during fall, winter, and spring because of large natural emissions of ethanol and other organic compounds during summer. Projected changes in atmospheric PAN reflect a balance between an increased supply of peroxyacetyl radicals from acetaldehyde oxidation, and the lower NO(x) emissions for E85 relative to gasoline vehicles. The net effect is a general PAN increase in fall through spring, and a weak decrease over the U.S. Southeast and the Atlantic Ocean during summer. Predicted NO(x) concentrations decrease in surface air over North America (by as much 5% in the All-E85 scenario). Downwind of North America this effect is counteracted by higher NO(x) export efficiency driven by increased PAN production and transport. From the point of view of NO(x) export from North America, the increased PAN formation associated with E85 fuel use thus acts to offset the associated lower NO(x) emissions.     

Emissions of regulated pollutants from a spark ignition engine. Influence of fuel and air/fuel equivalence ratio

A spark ignition engine is used to determine the influence of fuel composition and air/fuel equivalence ratio on the exhaust emissions of regulated pollutants. Two specific fuel matrices are used: the first contains eight hydrocarbons and the second contains four oxygenated compounds. A specific experimental design is used for these tests. Fuel aromatics increase the exhaust CO, HC, and NOx at stoichiometry, lean and rich conditions. Lambda is more important than fuel composition in the case of CO and HC. At stoichiometry, the addition of oxygenated compounds can decrease exhaust CO, HC, and NOx up to 30%, 50%, and 60%, respectively. Under these conditions, the addition of 5% of 2-propanol is the most effective for the reduction of CO, the addition of 20% of ethanol forthe reduction of HC, and this of 5% of methyl tributyl ester (MTBE) for the NOx. The addition of oxygenated compounds can decrease CO by 30% at lean conditions, while no decrease is observed at rich ones; HC and NOx can decrease up to 30% and 80%, respectively, under lean conditions and 50% under rich ones. At all lambda tested, exhaust NOx increases with the addition of 20% of 2-propanol.     

Wet deposition of fission-product isotopes to North America from the Fukushima Dai-ichi incident, March 2011

Using the infrastructure of the National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP), numerous measurements of radionuclide wet deposition over North America were made for 167 NADP sites before and after the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Station incident of March 12, 2011. For the period from March 8 through April 5, 2011, wet-only precipitation samples were collected by NADP and analyzed for fission-product isotopes within whole-water and filterable solid samples by the United States Geological Survey using gamma spectrometry. Variable amounts of (131)I, (134)Cs, or (137)Cs were measured at approximately 21% of sampled NADP sites distributed widely across the contiguous United States and Alaska. Calculated 1- to 2-week individual radionuclide deposition fluxes ranged from 0.47 to 5100 Becquerels per square meter during the sampling period. Wet deposition activity was small compared to measured activity already present in U.S. soil. NADP networks responded to this complex disaster, and provided scientifically valid measurements that are comparable and complementary to other networks in North America and Europe.     

低值海藻浒苔乙醇发酵条件的研究

通过单因素试验及正交试验,采用硫酸水解法,以酸解液中还原糖产率为检测指标,考察适宜的浒苔酸解条件;之后采用浒苔酸解液直接发酵法,以发酵液中乙醇产率为检测指标,研究浒苔酸解液乙醇发酵条件。结果表明,优化的浒苔酸解条件为：浒苔悬液质量浓度40 g/L、硫酸体积分数4%、80 ℃酸解2 h。在此条件下,还原糖产率最高可达40.05%。优化的浒苔酸解液乙醇发酵条件为：酿酒高活性干酵母、接种量10%、初始pH6.0、30 ℃发酵48 h。在此条件下,乙醇产率最高可达16.46%。结果为浒苔生物质燃料乙醇生产提供一定的理论依据与试验数据。     

混合燃料中生物柴油掺混比例对发动机性能影响的研究

为了研究高原环境下生物柴油-乙醇-柴油混合燃料中生物柴油对柴油发动机性能的影响,选用纯柴油、B15E3(生物柴油体积分数为15%,乙醇体积分数为3%和柴油体积分数为82%)和B25E3(生物柴油体积分数为25%,乙醇体积分数为3%和柴油体积分数为72%)在柴油发动机YN30CR上进行试燃,在最大扭矩转速工况下比较3种燃料的燃烧性、经济性和排放性差异。结果表明:燃烧混合燃料的发动机动力性下降,B25E3下降明显,缸内压力峰值下降1 MPa,压力升高率峰值下降0.14 MPa/°CA;燃烧B15E3和B25E3的瞬时放热率峰值较纯柴油低4.8%、5.6%;当量燃油消耗量低于纯柴油,燃油经济性有一定改善;中低负荷下,纯柴油当量燃油消耗量最高,B25E3的当量燃油消耗量低于B15E3,高负荷下,燃烧B25E3的当量燃油消耗量稍高于B15E3;燃用B15E3和B25E3后,碳烟排放低于燃烧纯柴油,B25E3改善幅度大于B15E3,随着负荷的增加,碳烟排放性的改善较为明显。     

餐厨废油和醇/酮添加物共裂化制备生物基燃料油

以HY、HZSM-5、MCM-41分子筛为催化剂,通过向餐厨废油中添加5%的乙醇或丙酮进行共裂化反应制备生物基燃料油,对液体产物的品质指标进行了测定,并对其成分进行了GC-MS分析。结果表明:在HY和MCM-41催化条件下,添加醇/酮后裂化反应优化效果明显,液体产物密度、酸值、皂化值均降低,产率升高,催化剂结焦率和产气量均降低,而在HZSM-5催化条件下,优化效果不明显;GC-MS分析表明,在添加乙醇后液体产物中烷烃含量增加到24.93%,添加丙酮后液体产物中芳香烃含量增加到70.27%,含氧化合物含量降低至2.38%。研究表明催化裂化时加入醇/酮可以在不同程度上改善生物基燃料油的产品品质,并对生物基燃料油的成分种类起到很强的选择性。     

Impact of estimated genetic correlations on international evaluations to predict milk traits

The Interbull procedure for combining dairy bull evaluations uses estimated genetic correlations between countries. It is important to know whether the resulting difficulties from differences in ranking in each country are justified by improved accuracy relative to a system assuming unity correlations. Data submitted for the May 2001 yield and somatic cell score (SCS) Interbull evaluations were processed once with the usual estimated genetic correlations (E01) and again assuming these correlations to be essentially unity (0.995; U01). The 2 sets of resulting evaluations were compared with August 2004 national evaluations (N04) for bulls not having local evaluations used in the 2001 evaluations. Thus, the examination was of Interbull evaluations from foreign data in predicting national evaluations. Countries in the study for yield were Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United States. Countries included for SCS were Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, The Netherlands, and the United States. For most countries’ evaluations, standard deviations of differences between E01 or U01 and N04 were smaller for E01 by about 5 to 7% and correlations between E01 and N04 were higher by 0.01 or the same as for U01 and N04. Although use of estimated correlations tended to improve prediction, the advantage was small. A previous study had concluded no difference in accuracy for yield but did not include Australia and New Zealand, countries with the lowest correlations with other countries. Excluding bulls from those countries produced results for the other 8 countries more like the previous study, but still favoring E01 slightly. Those 2 countries were not in the SCS data. Estimated genetic correlations improved the prediction of future national evaluations slightly in most countries but more substantially for the evaluations and bulls of Australia and New Zealand.     

Life cycle assessment of automobile/fuel options

We examine the possibilities for a "greener" car that would use less material and fuel, be less polluting, and would have a well-managed end-of-life. Light-duty vehicles are fundamental to our economy and will continue to be for the indefinite future. Any redesign to make these vehicles greener requires consumer acceptance. Consumer desires for large, powerful vehicles have been the major stumbling block in achieving a "green car". The other major barrier is inherent contradictions among social goals such as fuel economy, safety, low emissions of pollutants, and low emissions of greenhouse gases, which has led to conflicting regulations such as emissions regulations blocking sales of direct injection diesels in California, which would save fuel. In evaluating fuel/vehicle options with the potential to improve the greenness of cars [diesel (direct injection) and ethanol in internal combustion engines, battery-powered, gasoline hybrid electric, and hydrogen fuel cells], we find no option dominates the others on all dimensions. The principles of green design developed by Anastas and Zimmerman (Environ. Sci. Technol. 2003, 37, 94A-101A) and the use of a life cycle approach provide insights on the key sustainability issues associated with the various options.     

Emission of alcohols and carbonyl compounds from a spark ignition engine. Influence of fuel and air/fuel equivalence ratio

A spark ignition engine was used to study the impact of fuel composition and of the air/fuel equivalence (lambda) ratio on exhaust emissions of alcohols and aldehydes/ketones. Fuel blends contained eight hydrocarbons (n-hexane, 1-hexene, cyclohexane, n-octane, isooctane, toluene, o-xylene, and ethylbenzene (ETB)) and four oxygenated compounds (methanol, ethanol, 2-propanol, and methyl tert butyl ether (MTBE)). Exhaust methanol is principally produced from fuel methanol and MTBE but also from ethanol, 2-propanol, isooctane, and hexane. Exhaust ethanol and 2-propanol are produced only from the respective fuel compounds. Exhaust formaldehyde is mainly produced from fuel methanol, acetaldehyde from fuel ethanol, and propionaldehyde from straight-chain hydrocarbons. Exhaust acroleine comes from fuel 1-hexene, acetone from 2-propanol, n-hexane, n-octane, isooctane, and MTBE. Exhaust crotonaldehyde comes from fuel 1-hexene, cyclohexane, n-hexane, and n-octane, methacroleine from fuel isooctane, and benzaldehyde from fuel aromatics. Light pollutants (C1-C2) are most likely formed from intermediate species which are quite independent of the fuel composition. An increase in A increases the exhaust concentration of acroleine, crotonaldehyde, methacroleine, and decreases these of the three alcohols for the alcohol-blended fuels. The concentration of methanol, formaldehyde, propionaldehyde, and benzaldehyde is a maximum atstoichiometry. The exhaust concentration of acetaldehyde and acetone presents a complex behavior: it increases in some cases, decreases in others, or presents a maximum at stoichiometry. The concentration of four aldehydes (formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, propionaldehyde, and benzaldehyde) is also linked with the exhaust temperature and fuel H/C ratio.     

木质纤维素转化燃料乙醇研究现状与前景(下)

2 纤维素发酵生产乙醇工艺研究 2.1 直接发酵法 本方法的特点是基于纤维分解细菌直接发酵纤维素生产乙醇,不需要经过酸解或酶解的前处理过程.吕福英[22]等分离出能直接发酵纤维素生产乙醇的高纯富集物,利用此富集物能直接将木质纤维素材料发酵成乙醇.     

Environmental performance of algal biofuel technology options

Considerable research and development is underway to produce fuels from microalgae, one of several options being explored for increasing transportation fuel supplies and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). This work models life-cycle GHG and on-site freshwater consumption for algal biofuels over a wide technology space, spanning both near- and long-term options. The environmental performance of algal biofuel production can vary considerably and is influenced by engineering, biological, siting, and land-use considerations. We have examined these considerations for open pond systems, to identify variables that have a strong influence on GHG and freshwater consumption. We conclude that algal biofuels can yield GHG reductions relative to fossil and other biobased fuels with the use of appropriate technology options. Further, freshwater consumption for algal biofuels produced using saline pond systems can be comparable to that of petroleum-derived fuels.