New milestone in second-generation biofuels

Air Liquide, in a joint project with the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology (KIT) in Germany, has successfully completed the second stage of a second generation biofuels pilot unit at Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe.

This pilot unit will demonstrate the viability of the 4-stage bioliq® process, which produces second generation biofuels from the non-edible portion of plants (straw, wood, other plant matter). It is sponsored by the German Federal Ministry for Nutrition, Agriculture and Consumer Protection under the program for renewable biological resources.

After a successful completion of the first stage of the pilot plant in 2007, this bioliq® II unit will enable the transformation of the bioliqsynCrude® generated from straw into synthesis gas. The bioliq® process enables the production of 1 liter of diesel from 7 kg of straw.

Second generation biofuels can be used the same way as classic fuels. They are produced of plants(straw, vegetal waste, wood, etc.) in this way leaving the “fruit” or sugar of the plant for use as food. Multi-stage bioliq® process converts straw and other agricultural and forestry residues to synthetic fuels for vehicles. This technology also has the advantage of increasing production yield and has a much more favorable balance sheet in terms of CO2 compared to first-generation biofuels.