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An article on ScienceDaily.com points the way to a non-food source for a new Biodiesel type fuel. A scientist at the University of Georgia, Dr. Tom Adams, is working on a process to convert wood to Biodiesel. The process would convert wood into charcoal and Biodiesel by using an anaerobic heating process called pyrolysis. Every 100 dry pounds of wood produces about 33 pounds of charcoal and 15 pounds of fuel oil.

The obvious advantage to this process is that it uses a non-food source of biomass for the fuel production. Additionally, there is already an infrastructure in place in many areas of the United States to support the growing and harvesting of this biomass. The timber industry, particularly that portion of the industry that has been supporting the pulp and paper markets has been facing declining sales as more and more of the pulp and paper market has migrated off-shore. The use of wood as a source for biofuels could mean a major resurgence in this beleaguered industry.

According to a recent report prepared for the Georgia State Forestry Commission, the state of Georgia has more than 18 million dry pounds of forestry related biomass available each year for possible conversion to fuel. About 13 million dry pounds, based on a 20 year re-growth cycle, of this is unmerchantable stands of timber, trees too small or of too poor a quality for lumber or paper production. Additionally, there is 35 million dry pounds of merchantable timber currently available to the lumber and paper markets.

The 13 million dry pounds of wood only produces about a quarter million gallons of fuel oil, a mere drop in the bucket of the states fuel budget, but it would replace that amount of fossil fuels, so it would be a positive step in reducing the growing CO2 concentration in the atmosphere. Additionally, the four million pounds of charcoal could be used to replace some of the coal in electrical generation, charcoal is certainly more CO2 neutral than coal, or it could be plowed back into the soil as a soil amendment, thus sequestering that carbon for some amount of time.

There are some questions still to be answered. According to the article they are doing the long term engine testing to make sure that there are no problems in that regard. The economics of the system is another question, but that will have to wait until a commercial process is developed.

Another question is what can be done with the byproducts of the process. The pyrolysis produces about 44 pounds of organic liquids that is chemically processed to make the bio-oil. The remaining 29 pounds is the waste from the system. To be commercially and environmentally viable, some use will have to be developed for this material. The oil refining industry has a great deal of expertise in this regards, so the easiest thing may be to sell this material as a feedstock for their refining process.

While not THE solution to the fuel crisis and increasing CO2 concentration in the atmosphere, this is the type thing that will need to be part of the solution. Converting from fossil fuel to recyclable carbon sources will be an essential part of beating both of these problems.

Learn more about this author, Patrick Coyle.
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