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Sweet future in renewable fuel sources?

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Also by Emily Bradley:

City says no to 18-officer plan (November 16, 2007)

by Emily Bradley

Friday, December 7, 2007

Seminar on green businesses

Sugar may now be OK to put in your gas tank.

In a Gilson Discovery evening seminar Thursday, president and CEO of Virent Energy Systems Eric Apfelbach presented current developments in converting biomass, including sugarcane, into hydrocarbon fuels, providing renewable energy as a replacement for oil products.

Since its inception in 2002, Virent Energy Systems has envisioned "a world in which renewable carbon neutral energy drives global commerce and industry," Apfelbach said, adding Virent hopes to use alternative fuels to successfully compete with, and eventually replace, gasoline.

In having a viable business, Apfelbach said, "we can have a material impact on a very, very critical problem."

Virent has secured $21 million in funding to produce low-temperature catalytic processes that convert biomass into hydrocarbon fuels, chemicals or hydrogen, including plans to use sugar as feedstock to create "green gasoline."

Calling corn ethanol a "legacy fuel" with many issues, Apfelbach stressed Virent's biofuels as having "a very low CO2 footprint [and] a very competitive cost," and calling them "second-generation biofuels" which can truly provide a solution to the energy problems the world faces today.

Second generation biofuels, Apfelbach said, are important now because they compete directly with petroleum in cost.

Virent's process converts sugar from biomass in sugarcane directly into gasoline "which can basically be put right into an engine," Apfelbach said. The "green gasoline" — which expels little carbon dioxide into the atmosphere during production — provides a cost-effective alternative to traditional gasoline, especially as prices for crude oil continue to rise.

"In five or 10 years from now, you'll probably see … a displacement of petroleum from plant and many other renewable resources," Apfelbach said.

Apfelbach stressed the need for all renewable resources in order to create economically viable processes that can obtain the environmental results the world needs.

But the president of Energy Xperts, David Redick, doubted Virent's developments would produce a viable product. He felt external, steam-powered combustion engines were a better alternative for the future, as "they are very tolerant of anything you can burn" and therefore much cheaper than biofuels, which require extensive processing.

Other attendees of the seminar, however, strongly supported Virent's biofuel developments. University of Wisconsin zoology professor James Pawly thought Apfelbach's thoughts on conservation paralleled his own environmental efforts.

Niels Wolter of Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corporation said WECC provided the first outside grant for Virent Energy Systems, adding "there are a lot of great ideas out there … and I think we're going to see some amazing things happen."

The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation hosts the Gilson Discovery Seminars to "bring together the university with the larger Madison community," WARF Communications Director Janet Kelly said.

"Virent is one of those startup companies that really seems to be well-positioned for success … and it seemed like a logical choice" to share with the community, Kelly added.

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Anonymous (December 8, 2007 @ 10:34am):

"corn ethanol" is the biggest scam in a LONG time. Without the governemnt hand-out it would make no sense as it costs more to make that it's worth.

That doesn't even consider the barbarity of burning food when people are staving.

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