Diversified Energy develops cold-weather and aviation biofuels

Aviation biofuels are the last frontier for green energy development. Fuels for aircraft need to have a high energy density and properties that allow them to be used at high altitudes and under very cold conditions. Advances in Brazil, where a biofuel company is cooperating with Boeing and NASA (earlier post) and Argentina (earlier post) have resulted in 'bio-kerosene' or 'bio-jet fuel' made from plant oils, whereas the U.S. Air Force has been testing synthetic fuels, which can be made from biomass (earlier post). The University of North Dakota recently received a US$5 million grant to develop military bio-jet fuels (earlier post). Some airline moghuls, like Sir Richard Branson, have repeatedly hinted at a future in which aviation biofuels will become viable on a large scale (earlier post).

Diversified Energy Corporation is now adding to this growing body of research. It announced it has agreed to the terms of an exclusive worldwide license with North Carolina State University for an innovative and breakthrough biofuels technology that will result in the production of aviation biofuels. The patent-pending process based on freeing up the free fatty acids contained in triglycerides from glycerol and passing them through a catalyst after which a resulting gas is synthesized into a liquid (see picture, click to enlarge), termed Centia, provides several key advantages when compared with other biofuel processes like biodiesel, ethanol and others, including:

• Delivers a more advanced and complex hydrocarbon fuel, suitable for demanding applications like jet fuel and as a biodiesel additive for cold-weather operations.
• Provides up to a 50% reduction in external energy required in the process.
• Utilizes any renewable lipid-based oil compound (soybean, canola, animal fats, algae, etc), thus avoiding being beholden to the price and availability of any one supply source.
• Produces an aviation fuel competitively priced with petroleum-derived fuel, before considering the additional financial incentives available from the government.
• Offers a "100% green" biofuel product containing no fossil fuel components.
• Fuels with an end-to-end energy efficiency in excess of 85%, a key metric in determining the eventual affordability of the biofuel generated.

Centia, a name derived from Crudus Potentia (meaning "green power" in Latin), can utilize feedstock oils from edible and inedible animal fats, waste oils, agriculture crops like soybean, algae, newly proposed energy crops, or any other lipid-based feedstock:
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This provides the owner of a Centia biofuels plant the flexibility to use the most attractive feedstock at any given time or location. Centia is initially being positioned to produce commercial and military jet fuel and a cold-weather biodiesel additive - both of which are challenging and complex hydrocarbon fuels and heretofore have received little attention by the biofuels industry.

The overall process flexibility will allow for broad marketplace acceptance and unprecedented options for Centia biofuel plants to adapt to the ever-changing feedstock and fuels market.

North Carolina State University, a research and academic leader in engineering, agriculture, and bioenergy sciences, has been developing the pieces to Centia over the last decade. Recent results have proven the fundamental science and defined a path forward to an integrated demonstration and pilot-scale plant.

The process is expected to deliver an end-to-end energy efficiency in excess of 85%, a key metric in determining the eventual affordability of the biofuel generated. This high efficiency is a result of the process requiring less than one-half the external energy to operate than other traditional biofuels techniques. The fuel will also be compliant to aviation fuel specifications, including energy density and cold flow properties. The process is "100% green," not relying on the use of any petroleum-derived products as components in the biofuel produced.

Diversified Energy Corporation has been supporting the university in systems integration, scaleup, and the overall commercialization of the technology. Phillip Brown, President and CEO of Diversified Energy, commented, "Centia represents an absolute breakthrough and we couldn't be more excited to be working with North Carolina State University to bring it to market. A highly efficient, enormously flexible technology has finally arrived that mitigates the many challenges associated with feedstock availability and pricing, process efficiency, and biofuel affordability."

"Diversified Energy represents the capable and experienced partner the university needs to take this technology to the next step. The university is committed to the biofuels market area and is eagerly awaiting the introduction of Centia biofuel plants," remarked Dr. John Gilligan, Vice-Chancellor for Research and Graduate Studies at North Carolina State University.