Second-generation biofuels
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Bioenergy > Biofuels > Second-generation biofuels
The term "second-generation" biofuel has been used to designate multiple meanings:
- The customary usage of the term designates a biofuel obtained from a feedstock that cannot be used except through some novel, intermediate process. An example of this is cellulosic ethanol, the production of ethanol from woody materials for which the long chains of cellulose must be broken down before conversion to ethanol. (The "first generation" of biofuels, in this sense, are therefore those made more readily and traditionally, such as ethanol -- ethyl alcohol -- distilled from grains, sugarcane, potatoes and fruit, in which the shorter starch molecules are more directly converted to ethanol through fermentation.)
- "Second generation biofuel technologies are able to manufacture biofuels from biomass."Wikipedia definition
- Because of the difficulty in making new technologies, such as producing ethanol from grasses, technologically and economically feasible, the term "second generation" biofuels has by extension also come to be used for biofuel technologies that are sufficiently advanced or experimental in nature as of the present.
- This definition was used by Galp Energia, a Portuguese oil and natural gas company [1]
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News
- New Trend in Biofuels Has New Risks, 20 May 2008 by New York Times: Second generation biofuels "may bring serious unintended consequences. Most of these newer crops are what scientists label invasive species"
- Efficient Biofuel Made From Genetically Modified E. Coli Bacteria, 7 January 2008 from ScienceDaily, reported that scientists at the California university UCLA "have developed a new method for producing next-generation biofuels by genetically modifying Escherichia coli bacteria to be an efficient biofuel synthesizer." The bacteria can create branched-chain alcohols, such as isobutanol, which could be more useful as liquid fuels than ethanol.
- Genencor launches first ever commercial enzyme for cellulose ethanol. "Genencor, a division of Danish company Danisco A/S, announced the launch of Accellerase 1000, the first ever commercially available biomass enzyme developed specifically for second generation biorefineries. "
- Canadian government invests $500 million in next generation biofuels. According to Biopact, the money will go to jumpstart the production of next generation biofuels in Canada.
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Events
- 23-24 January 2008, Pamplona, Spain: Biofuel2G: International Congress on Second Generation Biofuels
- 9-11 September 2008, Berlin, Germany: Automotive Biofuels. (Themes: 2nd generation biofuels, automobiles, biofuels)
- 28-29 May 2009, Geneva, Switzerland: Next Gen Bio-Ethanol. (Themes: ethanol, second generation biofuels)
- 10 March 2009, Paris, France: Alternative Fuels Symposium- 2nd Annual Meeting (Themes: bioethanol, biodiesel)
- The Symposium will take place prior to the main two day European Fuels Conference 10th Anniversary Meeting co-hosted by Total and will cover all the latest developments in the European alternative fuels industry including hydrogen, fuel cells, electric drive trains, hybrid applications and second generation biofuels. (Themes: biofuels, second generation biofuels, technology)
