Environment

Mobile machine can make biofuel for military and humanitarian operations

A diagram of the process utilized by the Endurance Bioenergy Reactor
A diagram of the process utilized by the Endurance Bioenergy Reactor

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) have created a device called the Endurance Bioenergy Reactor (EBR) that can produce bioenergy on location, using waste from kitchens and latrines. The fuel can go directly into engines and generators without any need for refining, avoiding the complications of distribution and supply chains associated with fuel production. The researchers say the EBR can produce 25 to 50 gallons (94.6 to 189.2 liters) of biofuel a day from waste streams or processed cellulosic materials.

The EBR is based on an engineered photosynthetic bacterium, an organism that divides itself quickly. The technology combines plant enzymes with an efficient light-harvesting system that is found in abundance within these cells. The reactions from the combination of enzymes and bacteria result in fuel molecules that are foreign to the bacterium, which then expels them into a culture medium where they can be sequestered and separated from the fermentation broth. When it gets to that stage, the molecules can be used, without refining, as diesel surrogates in engines or generators.

Because of its inherent mobility, the system would be ideal for military settings, humanitarian activities in emergency zones, native peoples' villages, and in any other remote setting. The same version of the system can be used for military and civilian purposes. It is estimated that one EBR can fuel a generator that can charge up to 60 light- to medium-duty electric vehicles per day, with an estimated daily range of 50 miles (80.4 km).

The EBR is past its development phase, so all the team needs to do now is to deal with integration and scale-up issues. The researchers anticipate only a small investment will be necessary, somewhere between US$2 and $3 million.

The Argonne National Laboratory is part of the US Department of Energy. It’s a multidisplinary project that works on pressing national issues related to science and technology.

In the video below Argonne bioscientist Phil Laible talks about the EBR and its applications.

Source: ANL

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14 comments
SteveZ
Gee....that'll get my M1 Abrams MBT about 25 miles....too bad I'll get there alone.
James Poch
I don't understand SteveZ's comment. I don't think the article suggested this would power an M1 tank. M1 tanks run on diesel. I just don't understand the hostility? This creates electricity. The waste to energy solution sounds very practical and like all innovation I hope this does scale and become a cost effective way to displace diesel. These military research arms created the internet, GPS, and wouldn't be great if this too could eventually be applied to civilian use.
Slowburn
It could greatly reduce the amount of fuel that needs to be bought and delivered and it takes safely care of sanitary disposal of human waste. But is it more efficient than anaerobic digestion feeding a engine/generator.
BeWalt
Great work! Light-harvesting bacteria converting waste into a liquid medium that can be stored in ordinary tanks and burned in ordinary engines.
So maybe the house of the future will have a special collector panel for sunlight for this system on its roof, and use all of the year-around generated waste from inhabitants and garden/land to ongoingly "breed" a winter's supply of energy.
There's so much stuff out there now, solar hot water systems, photovoltaic systems, super-insulation materials, and new ideas like this one. Combine them all, and I won't bet any money on oil or gas, ever again.
Pikeman
re; BeWalt
Do you really think that all we get from oil is fuel? What about plastics and lubricants?
windykites
The figures for this device sound totally unbelievable.60 electric vehicles a day? It makes fuel and electricity, and gets rid of all your waste? Why do they need 2-3million$? This lab is at the US dept. Of energy. Something sounds decidedly strange about all of this. It says it contains GMO. Let's hope it doesn't leak.
R Ohge
this could also be a boon to every kind of Rural based operation imaginable-hey, we're trying to tout "Sustainability"...this kind of tech could go a long way toward that goal-profitably.
NRGHound
I'm the Energy Specialist for 15 remote isolated Native Villages in the Bering Strait Region of Western Alaska. Our villages are not road or grid connected. (For many good reasons that we won't go into here). A few don't have water and sewer (ditto). This isn't the first waste to fuel machine to come along.... ok, perhaps the first to produce a direct petroleum substitute. What I find atractive about this one, however, is its apparently small size. Most biomass digestors are way too large for a village of say 120 people. I believe they looked into it a few years ago for Nome, and even Nome, the regional hub of 3,500 didn't generate enough waste. If this one is smaller, or scalable, it might have some potential here. The Alaska Emerging Energy Technology Grant Fund would have been a good fit for this. It funded technologies that promise to be commercial within 5 years. Unfortunately the AK legislature didn't continue the program last year. Perhaps they'll do something next session. Project developers should keep an eye out for this.
Calvin k
How much does it need to "eat" to produce that amount of output?? A whole village (100+ ppl) worth of waste per day? There is no way to tell if it's efficient given the info in the article.
And this will prob be $$ with the engineered bacteria.
michael_dowling
Well,hell,if it works as well as they say,it could be a great start towards distributed power generation. One could supply the power needs of a few dozen homes.Central power generation is dangerous in this day and age,with malware threats from terrorists and the potential for widespread damage to high voltage transformers,which take years to replace.Some of them are in dangerously fragile condition right now.A few pounds of C4 could destroy them,and kill power for millions for months if not years.Geomagnetic storms have the potential of inducing transformer killing currents as well.