Why Biodiesel? Produced locally Improved air quality Renewable resource Simple production process Works in existing infrastructure Today’s diesel cars and trucks Today’s distribution system Today’s filling stations

Brevard Biodiesel seeks to promote the availability and use of clean-burning, renewable biodiesel fuel as a replacement for petroleum by raising public awareness of its environmental, economic, and national security benefits. Brevard BioDiesel was formed in 2004 in Brevard County, Florida. Web site: BrevardBiodiesel.org

Making Biodiesel Convert “3-headed” Oils into HydroCarbon chains similar to petroleum diesel… + = Methanol Typical “Biodiesel” (Methyl-Ester) + Typical Oil, three fatty acid chains attached to glycerol. Byproduct: Glycerol aka Glycerine Cetane – typical of petro-diesel

Making Biodiesel Inputs: Outputs: Vegetable Oil (“Feedstock”) Methanol/Ethanol Catalyst - “Lye” (Sodium Hydroxide or Potassium Hydroxide) Water Outputs: Biodiesel Dirty Water Glycerine

Biodiesel Production (Batch type) FEEDSTOCK: Low-FFA Waste Vegetable Oil Triglycerides Free Fatty Acids (FFA) Water Catfish & French Fries Biodiesel Production (Batch type) Catfish & French Fries Screen Triglycerides FFA Water Methanol Heat & Time Holding/Settling Tank Water Triglycerides FFA NaOH or KOH Transesterification Reactor Reversible Reaction Equilibrium @ ~60%? Boost using: Excess Methanol Heat (<148ºF) Pressure Remove some glycerin & biodiesel Heat & Agitation Methyl Esters (biodiesel) Soaps Diglycerides Monoglycerides Excess Methanol Glycerin Excess Methanol Settling & Separation Methanol Recovery Wash Waste Water Distillation Methyl Esters (biodiesel) Soaps Diglycerides Monoglycerides Excess Methanol Glycerin Compost (KOH only) Filter Pump & Drive Copyright 2007 Brevard Biodiesel

Feedstock Choices Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO) Virgin Vegetable Oil Soy Canola (variety of Europe’s Rapeseed) Palm Other: Hemp, Sunflower, Camelina Tallow Human? Algae

Oil Feedstock Yields per Acre per Year Corn – 15 gallons Hemp – 31 gallons Soybeans – 38 gallons Camelina – 50 gallons Sunflowers – 82 gallons Rapeseed/Canola – 102 gallons Jatropha – 162 gallons Oil palm – 508 gallons Algae - 20,000 gallons? (LiveFuels Inc.) GreenFuel Inc:Algae in smokestack filter stack

Other feedstock considerations Sustainable source? Palm Oil – Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil: rspo.org Will increased biofuel usage minimize human food production? Chemical properties differ – for example palm oil based B100 biodiesel will start to gel at about 55 degrees F! Is there enough? In the US we use 30-40 billion gallons of diesel on our highways each year. We produce ~5 billion gallons of vegetable oil per year.

Production System Choices “Batch” processing vs. Continuous processing Small Scale / Batch processing / (“Homebrewing”) Appleseed “Open Source” Reactor (~$200-2000) FuelMeister (~$3000-$4000) BioPro (50 gallons in 60 hours) (~$8000) Medium/Large Scale Xenerga, Kissimmee, WVO, 5 million gallons per year (MMgy) (~$2,000,000) ADM, North Dakota, Canola, 85 MMgy

Appleseed Processor “open-source” design – improved upon by community Build-it yourself, $200-$500 Kits: http://www.biodieselwarehouse.com/ http://www.b100supply.com/kits.html http://utahbiodieselsupply.com/ Range from $200 for hardware less tank/vents, $700 w/tank, $2000 built on-site.

Other small processors

Small System Costs/Sources Where/How to get Vegetable Oil – restaurants, Prefilter WVO http://www.thecarycompany.com/containers/ez-strainers.html Water settles to bottom of waste oil, scoop from top or press oil from seeds: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_supply.html#Oilpress Methanol/Ethanol – racing fuel http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_supply.html#meths Sunoco Racing Alcohol = Methanol $205.00 for 55 gallons Sodium/Potassium Hydroxide Red Devil Lye = NaOH KOH $2-$3/lb at http://www.braintan.com/ 50lbs for $96 @ http://www.chemistrystore.com/potassium_hydroxide.htm What to do with Glycerine… Making soap: http://biodiesel.infopop.cc/eve/ubb.x/a/tpc/f/739605551/m/520604982 http://www.utahbiodieselsupply.com/biodieselsoap.php Compost? – but probably not if NaOH, only KOH http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_glycerin.html

Small System Regulations Zoning considerations. For example, City of Melbourne incorporates Florida Fire Prevention Code http://www.fldfs.com/sfm/florida_fire_prevention_code_2004.htm Limits on storage of material, methanol is one of most concern. Recommend talking to nearest fire station captain before starting to review your plans and configuration. Taxes Federal excise tax: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p510.pdf analysis of excise tax re: biodiesel: http://www.unclefed.com/Tax-Bulls/2002/rr02-76.pdf FL State excise tax: ???

Larger Processing

Installed Cost Estimates Roughly $1 per gallon – e.g. 10 Mmgy plant costs about $10,000,000 Links to feasibility studies: http://biofuels.coop/education/#feasibility

Government Incentives Jobs Creation Act of 2004 – Up to $1.00 per gallon tax credit (to blender of biodiesel) Energy Policy Act Credits for using Biodiesel in fleets (EPAct) Minnesota requires 2% of diesel in state be biodiesel (2005+) More: http://biofuels.coop/pdfs/13_taxes.pdf

Looking Ahead… Biodiesel can be a piece of a comprehensive renewable energy solution. Feedstock selection can impact economic, environmental, and chemical processes. Traditional vegetable oil alone is very unlikely to source the transportation fuel needs of the world. Algae might prove an order of magnitude more important in coming years. http://www.unh.edu/p2/biodiesel/article_alge.html “15,000 square miles of algae ponds would be needed to replace all petroleum transportation fuels with biodiesel. “ “$46.2 billion per year for all the algae farms, to yield all the oil feedstock necessary for the entire country. Compare that to the $100-150 billion the US spends each year just on purchasing crude oil from foreign countries, with all of that money leaving the US economy.”