Eucalyptus, full tank please

A new Israeli development makes it possible to efficiently and economically produce biofuel from local plants that are not used for food 

"Gas prices will rise at midnight." Even if you haven't heard this message in the last month, it's still a familiar message to drivers, which sends them immediately to fill the tank, just before every drop of fuel becomes more expensive. Global fuel sources are unstable and their exploitation has a large and negative environmental impact. Therefore, in recent years there has been a trend of moving to alternative, renewable and green energy sources. For example, biofuels.

Biofuels are fuels that are produced from renewable biological sources, mainly from plant sources, and that are an environmental alternative to fossil fuels (oil, coal and gas). The biofuels include biodiesel, which is produced from vegetable oils and is a substitute for diesel; bio-ethanol, which is produced from sugar and starch and is a substitute for gasoline; and biogas, which replaces natural gas used for electricity generation, cooking and heating as well as transportation. The source of these fuels is in designated agricultural crops, and in the case of biogas, also from organic waste. During the burning of the fuel, greenhouse gases are emitted into the atmosphere that were fixed in the plant anyway in the process of photosynthesis compared to emissions from fuels extracted from the depths of the earth, and thus the increase in greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming is actually reduced. In addition, biofuels provide protection for the engine and even contain fewer pollutants.

Following the UN Climate Change Convention from 1997, which emphasized the transition to renewable energy, many developed countries discovered the opportunity that exists in utilizing surplus agricultural production for energy production. However, the great potential lies precisely in developing countries, where the production of biofuels may contribute to the creation of sources of employment and income. In Israel, an advanced and leading country in agricultural development and research, great emphasis is placed on promoting research in the field and on cooperation with other countries that enable large-scale agricultural cultivation.

From the garden to the gas station

One of the limitations of producing biofuels is the cost of using the technologies that convert the plant matter into fuel. Thus, for example, the conversion of biological raw material into oil used as fuel (biodiesel) requires the use of high-cost enzymes. With the progress of development and the introduction of new production methods to the market, this cost is expected to decrease. For years, raw materials that are used for food have been used in the biofuels industry - for example soybeans, canola or sunflowers to produce biodiesel, and sugar cane, corn or wheat to produce ethanol. However, the use of species that are used for food may contribute to the increase in food prices, due to the limited supply. Therefore, today there is an emphasis on the production of sustainable fuels from renewable raw materials that are not suitable for consumption.

The main limitation on biofuel production, then, is the availability of the raw material. In an increasingly crowded world, land for agricultural use is a limited commodity and the cost of crops - the raw materials - is the main bottleneck. Therefore, a multidisciplinary research center was established about a decade ago in the Agricultural Research Administration in Volcani Center, whose goal is to develop working methods for optimal cultivation and improvement of species that will be adapted for the production of biofuels.

Israeli innovation

Dr. Yeftah Vakanin Keenan, one of the leaders of the research for the improvement of the species adapted to biofuels at the Vulcani Center, describes the project in an article to be published in the next issue of the journal "Ecology and Environment": "In order for the fuels to be sustainable and not to compete with food crops, unsuitable crops were chosen edible and can be grown on marginal land (such as land not used for agriculture and construction) and on marginal water (water that is recycled or not suitable for drinking for various reasons). The uniqueness of the research and development at the Volcanic Center is in the combination of refined genetic material and innovative growing methods adapted to semi-arid to completely arid climate conditions, combined with irrigation and fertilization according to needs."
Vaknin and his colleagues focused on improving a number of plant species whose seeds are used as raw material for biodiesel, the main one being Jatropha curcas L, a poisonous shrub from the milkweed family with a high oil content in its seeds and a chemical composition suitable for biodiesel production. Using breeding methods - selection of varieties and cross-breeding between sexes from different genetic sources in order to obtain improved genes, Vaknin achieved a yield that is tens of percent higher than the oil for biodiesel crops that are known today. In addition, varieties of castor bean (Ricinus communis), a poisonous plant that originated in Africa and spread to Israel as well, and whose seeds can be used to produce oil in a quantity similar to that of the tropophit, were cultivated.
The initial research successes are of great importance, but the greatest innovation lies in the change in the approach to "biomass" cultivation: in addition to the investment in plants, only from whose seeds energy can be produced, emphasis is now being placed on the cultivation of species in which all parts of the plant will be used as raw material for biofuel. In order to realize this idea, the original Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus camaldulensis), a species used for forestry and the wood industry, which was widely planted in Israel from the time of the British Mandate until today in the KKL-Junk forests, was chosen. This species has been studied for many years at the Volcanic Center, and the accumulated knowledge allowed the development of the appropriate genetic material. According to preliminary results obtained in the study, the yield potential of the eucalyptus yields a yield ten times larger than other successful crops for biodiesel and even two and three times larger than common species used for the production of biofuels around the world.

A lot and cheap

Until now, growing plants as a raw material for biofuel required large areas, a lot of water and manpower that is not within our reach in Israel. However, the change in approach, and the transition to biomass with a high yield potential that does not require huge areas for a significant amount of raw material and can even be grown in desert areas, raised the question of feasibility again - will we be able to produce cheap biofuel in sufficient quantities in the foreseeable future? The road is still long and includes the development and change of a systemic approach that includes the removal of regulatory barriers and promotion. However, the fruits of Israeli development may promote a change in global processes - sustainable cultivation for energy purposes in arid regions can be a tool in the fight against soil erosion and desertification processes and of course - promote renewable and sustainable energy.

More of the topic in Hayadan:
Engineered bacteria produce ethanol for biofuel from agricultural waste

The goal: to increase the growth rate of plants used to produce biofuel

Test flight - a British Airways plane powered by biofuel