First Dedicated Biorefinery Could Wean Hawaii Off Imported Oil

[xchrom]

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=first-biorefinery-could-wean-hawaii-military-off-imported-oil


BIOREFINERY: Much like a typical oil refinery, this demonstration facility will take raw plant material, treat it, turn it to oil and, ultimately, turn it into a full suite of transportation fuels.
Image: Courtesy of Honeywell / UOP

On former pineapple fields outside of Honolulu, an industrial tube has been erected, ensconced in a steel scaffold. Dwarfed by the nearby oil refinery, the modest tube represents an attempt to one day wean Hawaii from imported oil. It is the nation's first dedicated biorefinery, employing high heat to turn plant matter into oil, followed by chemical catalysis to upgrade that oil into a useable fuel, just like the much larger refinery down the road.

The biorefinery "makes a fuel which is usable in generator sets, boilers and also possibly in marine engines," says chemical engineer Jim Rekoske, vice president of renewable energy and chemicals at Honeywell's UOP, the company responsible for building and operating the facility. By next year, UOP hopes to have the full biorefinery in place, which will be able to make almost any transportation fuel.

As the company has demonstrated elsewhere in the world, it is possible to make jet fuel from plant oils—whether they come from jatropha seeds, the flowering weed camelina or any other oil-producing plant. The same is true for other forms of transportation fuel, whether corn ethanol for cars or algal oil to power ships. The new facility in Hawaii will be the first integrated biorefinery dedicated to churning out bio-based versions of the full range of fuels more commonly made from petroleum.

[CanonRay]

1. Anybody know what generates the "high heat" in this process?

If it is a non-renuable fuel, what's the point.

[tech3149]

2. The intelligent source would be a solar furnace

A simple almost totally passive unit could easily generate temps over 1000 deg K.

[jpak]

4. Or geothermal - in volcanic Hawaii

n/t

[NYC_SKP]

3. As we speak, several large turbines are going up on the west slopes of Maui

It's a sight to see!

Presently, something like 74% of Hawaii's electricity is coming from petroleum (far less on the big island), so it's encouraging to see progress.