BY
BELEWU, M.A (Ph.D)
UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN
NIGERIA
Paper presented at the 12th National / International
Conference of the Students’ Chemical Society of
Nigeria—Fountain University, Oshogbo, Osun State,
Nigeria on the 30th June , 2011.
INTRODUCTION
 Biofuels in Nigeria offer a great opportunity for
the production of new cash crops for internal
consumption and for export. The increase
production could be felt mostly in the rural areas
as resources will be shifted from traditional crops
while prices for all agricultural commodities are
increase.
 Biofuel
/Biodiesel is commonly
defined as “renewable energy
produced from biological materials /
biomass (sugar cane , corn, cellulose,
vegetable oil etc)
 Biofuels are fuel that are degradable
and non toxic
 Biofuels refer also to any solid, liquid
or gas fuel that has been derived from
biomass
 Biofuels
could include biobuthanol
(biogasoline) and biodiesel as well as
other fuel made from biomass and use
for automotives , thermal and power
generation according to specification
stipulated by Standard Organization of
Nigeria (SON), Department of
Petroleum Resources (DPR) and any
other competent government agency (
Nigerian Biofuel Policy,2010).
TYPES OF BIOFUELS
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Liquid Biofuel --------Biodiesel
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Gaseous Biofuel-------Ethanol
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Solid Biofuel----------wood, saw dust ,
grass cutting, domestic refuse,
charcoal, agricultural wastes, non
food energy crops e.g Jatropha plant
DIFFERENT GENERATIONS OF
BIOFUELS
 There are different generations of biofuels
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thus :
First Generation of Biofuel
Fuel made from sugar cane/ vegetable oil,
animal fats using advanced Technology
Second Generation of Biofuel
Biofuel produced from sustainable feedstock
It focused on biomass to liquid technology
including cellulosic biofuels and non food
crops –Jatropha plant
Jatropha curcas
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t includes biofuel from
algae. It produces 30
times more energy than
soybean
I
It
focused on the
conversion of
biodiesel to gasoline
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Biomass means agriculturally produced raw materials
which are available on renewable / recurring basis.
It include tree crops, plant fibre , cellulose based
materials, industrial wastes and other biodegradable
parts of municipal solid waste (Nigeria Biofuel Policy
Development and Incentives, 2010)
Biomass could also be defined as biological materials
obtained from living or recently living organisms
It could also be plant materials grown to generate
electricity/ produce heat
Biomass could be converted into other useful forms
of energy—methane gas/ transportation fuels---like ethanol/biodiesel
It includes:
 Wood ---- It is a typical
source of biomass
 Corn/Maize
 Sugar cane
 Soybean
 It
refers to a vegetable oil/
animal fat based diesel fuel
obtained by chemically
reacting liquids (vegetable oil,
animal fat ) with alcohol
through the process of
transesterification
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Soybean oil
Rape seed oil
Mustard oil
Sunflower oil
Palm oil
Coconut oil
Waste vegetable oil
Animal fat
By- products of Omega 3 fatty acids from fish
oil
Algae
Oil from Halophytes e.g. Salicornia bigelovii
 Sugar
cane
 Cassava
 Sugar beet
 Corn
 Other sugar/starch crops
etc
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It has better lubricating properties and much
higher cetane ratings
It reduces fuel system wear
Calorific value is about 37.27MJ/kg which is
90% lower than petrol diesel
It gives complete combustion thus increasing
the engine energy output and partially
compensating for the higher energy density
of petrol-diesel
It has no sulphur content
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Its flash point is 1500c ( temperature of
ignition)
It is less flammable than petrol-diesel and
burn at 500C
It loose viscosity- (gel ) at lower temperature
when compared to petro-diesel
Biodiesel can be blended with conventional
diesel in any concentration
Jatropha oil is 10 times higher than that of
maize and soybean
Jatropha nuts could provide up to 1,650 liters
of high quality biodiesel /hectare
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Biodiesel can be used alone / blended with
petrol-diesel in standard diesel engine
In Nigeria , the recommendation was
blending of up to 10% of fuel ethanol with
gasoline (10% ethanol plus 90%
petroleum)…….known as E-10
In USA/UK a blending of 15% ethanol plus
85% petroleum is recommended
Also, 20% ethanol plus 80% petroleum is
recognized
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In Nigeria , up to 20% biodiesel with
petroldiesel was recommended ….known as
B-20
In USA/UK, 100% biodiesel ------known as
B100 was achieved
20% biodiesel with 80% petro-diesel ---B20
etc
10% biodiesel with 90 petrol diesel---B10
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University of Ilorin in 2010 used a blend of
50:50 (Biodiesel plus petroldiesel) to power a
milling machine during an International
workshop on Jatropha curcas held in April,
2010
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British Train Operating Company (Virgin
Trains ) claimed to have run the world first
biodiesel train using 80% petroldiesel with
20% biodiesel
Royal train in 2007 completed its first ever
journey on 100% biodiesel fuel
I n Czech, a jet was completely powered on
bidiesel
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Reduction of Green House Gas emission as compared
to the fossil fuel e.g. Jatropha plant ( A plant can
absorbed 8kg of carbondioxide per tree/year, hence
if there are 2500 stands of trees per hectare --about 20,000kg of carbondioxide will be
absorbed/year
The biodiesel which is environmentally friendly than
fossil fuel is smokeless , carbon neutral and
ecologically sound
It saves drivers money--- United Kingdom
government introduced many incentives to drivers of
green cars based on emission ----with reduced
taxation which depends on how environmentally your
car is.
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With increasing prices of petrol, mixing biodiesel with
fossil fuel also offers great saving at the pump in the
long run when biodiesel is readily available
There is additional tax revenue for the Government
from economic activities of such industry
Biofuel has the ability of uplifting many people from
poverty to financial independence, from despair to
respect and from unemployment to business owners
Bbiofuel will reduce dependence on fossil fuel
Biofuel provides better lubrication and with fewer
residues in the engine after its burning
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Biofuel is completely biodegradable
Better utilization of undulated cultivable land
Higher income from sales of glycerin to
industry
Less generation period of Jatropha plant
compared to other non edible crops
Long life span (40-50 years)
Wider market for biofuel
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Jatropha plant is non edible compared to other
crops
Opportunity of having carbon credit value (Kyoto
protocol)
Biodiesel gives you bigger boom with more
power
It was reported that a car on biodiesel could run
at 27 miles /gallon
Provision of new income and new opportunity
for farmers
Higher income of by-products –glycerin for
industrial purpose
Poverty reduction potentials
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Biodiversity --- It was argued that natural
habitats will be lost for wild animals and plants
Food vs Fuel ------ That farmers might loose
focus of food production if fuel plants are
lucrative
Less food production may lead to high price of
food stuffs resulting in inflation
Inclement weather condition
It could lead to deforestation
There could be variable output and oil content
Political problems (Inconsistent government
policies)
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Technical problems (from harvesting to production)
Resource constraints
Lack of public awareness
Protectionism ---In form of import tarrifs and other
barriers that hinders biofuel trades
Integration of biofuel into fuel supply chain
Lack of international agreement on fuel quality
standards
Many oil companies have been resistant to the
blending of biofuel with their products
More land is needed for the growth of biofuel plants
as resource for biofuel
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It is noteworthy that first generation biofuels
are not sustainable
Hence it is necessary to create sustainable
biofuel production with no effect on food
production and environment.
The most common strategy is to grow plants
that could produce oil naturally e.g. oil palm,
Jatropha plant, soybean, algae
An enabling environment must be created by
the government for all players in the industry
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When the oil is heated , the resistance /
viscosity is reduced
The oil must be burnt with diesel engine
The oil can be processed into biodiesel
It was found that by 2020, about 19 million
tons of oil equivalent would be derived from
biomass
Additionally, between 2000 and 2005 ethanol
production has doubled while biodiesel
production was quadrupled hence biofuels
are rising.
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It interesting to note that there exists a large
potential of bioenergy production in many
countries of the world that are yet to be
tapped.
Hence production and utilization of biofuel in
Nigeria can potentially help solve the
economic, social and environmental
problems, if appropriate policies and related
institutional and technological innovations
are promoted.
THANK YOU
FOR YOUR
ATTENTION