Title: Production of biodiesel from Australian native biomass sources Synopsis: Due to rapid depletion of fossil fuels and imposing stricter regulation in many countries, vehicle industries, fuel and...

Production of biodiesel from Australian native biomass sources
Introduction    
Global warming is real and man-made. When the entire world realized this, it came up with a global commitment to ward off the causes behind the warming. One major cause is the emission of greenhouse gases, carbon-di-oxide in particular. As a result, an international treaty was formulated and signed by 192 countries in Kyoto, Japan – The Kyoto protocol. It is being implemented since 2005 and every country has committed to control its carbon emissions. Australia is one among them which has committed to reduce its emission levels by 5% by 2020 and 80% in 2050 both with respect to the base levels taken in the year 2000 and also to cut global warming to below 20C.
Australia’s Emission Trading Scheme
The country believed that the emissions can be controlled when there is a cap set on it. Hence, it came up with an innovative idea of implementing the Australia’s Emission Trading Scheme (AETS) and it has been in force since 2012. In the line, EU emissions trading scheme was also set up. In this scheme, every major carbon emitting industry in the country has been given a cap and the limit over which its emissions are tradeable. With the successful implementation of the scheme along with a short-lived carbon pricing model, the country was able to cut emissions from electricity production by a little over 7% within a year. AETS also resulted in the calculation of carbon footprint in Australia to measure the levels of emissions by major industries in the country. All these measures along with the formulation of funds and fin corps like Clean Energy Financial corporation, Biodiversity fund and clean technology fund reiterate its commitment to Kyoto protocol.
An alternative for fossil fuel
But the measures and efforts would prove effective only if the emissions are handled at the source. It is learnt from experience that majority of the emissions come from burning of fossil fuel, that we use in vehicles and other industries. Hence, finding an alternative for the non-renewable fossil fuel would mean a lot in pushing its commitment forward. Technically, fossil fuel builds its reserves once in at least 300 years which is way too long for the human community to wait for, since it is a geological process. They are also easily exploitable and depletable with the growing pressure of population in the world. Hence an alternative form would be something which can be regenerated every now and then. Thus, came the idea of replacing fossil fuel with Biofuel.
Australia’s transport sector makes the second largest industry to use up energy up to 24%. Hence diverting the usage of biofuel to the transport industry should be a good idea in warding off the environmental stress.
Biomass and Biofuel
Biomass is the organic matter used for the production of energy. It can be a plant largely or an animal too and is renewable. Such plants are called as energy crops. When we say a plant product, it can be anything ranging from plant residues, forest residues, wastes from crops, wastes in food processing, human waste and wastes from animal farming. Biomass is the source of biofuel. There are two products of biofuel namely bioethanol and biodiesel. Biodiesel is the area of interest since vehicles are the major sources of carbon emissions.
The source of a Biofuel is an oil or a fat, which undergoes transesterification and results in Biodiesel, a vehicle fuel in its purest form. It can also be used as an additive to the diesel which results in cutting the emissions of particulate matter and carbon monoxide from the vehicles. The success story biodiesel by and far lies on the roads of Europe. But the number is very less globally, where only 3% of the world’s road transport use biofuel.
International Energy Agency
Headquartered in Paris, the IEA aims at over 25% world’s road transport to fill in biofuel by 2050. But the target is very ambitious as shown by the recent trends in converting to biofuel. From the present data, there should be a decent 10% growth from this year to reach the target but the pace is as slow as only 3% a year now. There can be many reasons why there is such a slow pace but all the reasons should be fine tuned to carve into the ambitious target.
Biomass for Biofuel in Australia
Biofuels are usually classified into three based on their sources.
· First generation biofuel – It includes edible biomass as its source.
· Second generation biofuel – It includes feedstock ranging from lignocellulosic to municipal wastes. In general, these are inedible sources.
· Third generation biofuel – It includes algae as source.
The first-generation fuels involve the successful production of bioethanol, with Brazil being the most important one in the list. But since it uses edible oils like vegetable oils as its source, it is largely perceived to be very expensive. This is the reason why the 2G biofuels are of interest worldwide, keeping in mind, its easily accessible biomass.
In Australia, the 2G biofuels have sources such as non-edible feedstock including wasted vegetable oils, other fats, non-food crops, their residues and forest residues. The vast biomass availability does not imply that the biofuel production in Australia is sufficient. It is still not made commercial. One reason could be the huge investment demanded by the 2G biofuel. But these obstacles do not stop...