Blogs written by Lee Enterprises Consulting Bioeconomy Expert(s)
In gasification technology selection, a necessary initial step is to narrow the search down to a smaller subset of gasification technologies that best match the application and have achieved the necessary technology readiness level (TRL). Project scale, feedstock(s), and end product(s) are the most important aspects of the gasification application to first consider in the…
Biogas results from the metabolic activity of microorganisms on organic matter. It is created in the biological processes in sewage treatment plants, waste landfills, and livestock manure management systems. Landfill gas is a type of biogas that originates from the decomposition of organic waste in a landfill. LFG is a natural byproduct of the decomposition…
Burning municipal solid waste (MSW) or garbage in waste-to-energy plants certainly results in less waste being buried in landfills. However, burning this garbage has the potential to produce air pollution and release chemicals into the air. Since some of these are hazardous to people and the environment if not properly controlled, there are strict environmental…
Algae represent a potentially promising resource for energy and food production due to their high photosynthetic efficiency. An acre of land growing algae can produce 50 tons of biomass per acre compared to 1 to 10 tons for terrestrial crops. The high yield enables the possible production of much more fuel and co-product feed than…
Liquid biofuels are transportation fuels including such fuels as ethanol, biodiesel, renewable diesel, and sustainable aviation fuels. The federal government promotes biofuels as transportation fuels to help reduce oil imports and CO2 emissions. In 2007, the U.S. government set a target to use 36 billion gallons of biofuels by 2022. As a result, nearly all…
Ash from waste-to-energy plants often contains high concentrations of the various metals that were present in the original waste, and ash disposal is critical. As an example, textile dyes, printing inks, and ceramics may contain lead and cadmium. Separating the waste before burning solves part of the problem. For example, because batteries are the largest…
Gasification is a process that involves heating biomass or other organic carbonaceous feedstocks to a temperature of > 700 ₒC without combusting the feedstock by starving the material of oxygen. A gasification consultant is an expert in this process which converts these materials into carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and carbon dioxide that can then be used…
All renewable energy has a degree of predictability and uncertainty, and the uncertainties are where renewable energy consulting firms can help. A renewable energy consulting firm has both knowledge and experience developing and/or producing one or more types of renewable energy. Renewable energy is any form of usable energy produced from a feedstock that is…