Joule Unlimited says “will go commercial in 2017”: solar fuels (e.g. Ethanol ) on the way

[Bill USA]

http://www.biofuelsdigest.com/bdigest/2015/03/23/joule-says-will-go-commercial-in-2017-solar-fuels-on-the-way/

"Staged industrialization process” beginning; exotic yields from an exotic organism that uses CO2, water and nutrients and secretes ethanol or diesel.

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For fans of the “solar renewable fuels” company Joule, there’s significant news from Bedford: the company has announced that it will undertake a “staged industrialization process”, to culminate in a 1000-acre production plant starting construction in 2017.

Now, you might think that a 1000 acre facility — not much larger than say, a single commercial scale farm, might not be all that significant. But take into account the extraordinary productivity that is expected from a commercial Joule renewable fuels operation.


The company has previously indicated that it could produce up to 15,000 gallons of diesel fuels, per acre per year, and as much as 25,000 gallons per acre per year of ethanol — so think in terms of 15 million to 25 million gallons for this first commercial facility, as an ultimate nameplate capacity.

(more)

http://www.jouleunlimited.com/about-joule

The novel CO2-to-liquids conversion requires only sunlight, non-potable water and engineered bacteria that function as living catalysts to produce specific products, including ethanol and hydrocarbon fuels that are inherently compatible with existing infrastructure.

[itsrobert]

1. I bought an E-85 car 9 years ago

I don't use E-85 because the gas mileage is less and E-85 is not much less cost than regular gas.

[Bill USA]

2. Fun fact: it doesn't have to be that way. E85 vehicles beat gas powered by university students

university engineering student teams competed to optimize E-85 vehicles to run on E-85 fuel. The top teams got 13% to 15% better fuel efficiency on E85 than the stock Malibus got running on gasoline. When did this happen??... in 1998!

now, Direct injection engines are being introduced. Direct injection offers the opportunity for bigger gains for E85 because of Ethanol's greater latent heat than gasoline.


Ethanol Vehicle Challenge: E85 Vehicles Surpass E0 on Dynamometer Tests for Mileage Efficiency

(Argonne National Laboratory) Sponsored by U.S. Department of Energy, General Motors Corporation, Natural Resources Canada

In the Advanced Vehicle Technology Competitions sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, college engineering students work together to design, build, and evaluate a state-of-the-art vehicle. For the 1998 Ethanol Vehicle Challenge, the goal was to convert an award-winning Chevrolet Malibu sedan into an optimized vehicle fueled solely by E85 (a blend of 85% denatured ethanol and 15% gasolinelike hydrocarbon primer). The competition required that the vehicle have improved fuel economy, low exhaust emissions, and excellent cold starting, without sacrificing driveability and performance.

Each of the 14 schools selected to participate in the Challenge received a 1997 Malibu powered by a 3.1-L V6 engine, plus a spare engine from General Motors for development purposes. Student teams replaced or upgraded major engine and fuel-system components for ethanol operation.

…

Fuel Efficiency: Most vehicles tested on the dynamometer exceeded the fuel efficiency of the stock Malibu, with the best schools showing efficiency improvements of 13 to 15%