1. 1. Using sea water and desert land to grow feedstock crops for Bio-diesel and E-diesel
2. 2. GROWING BIOFUEL FEEDSTOCKS ON DESERT LAND Contents : INTRODUCTION TO USING SEA WATER FOR IRRIGATION .......................................................................... 1 FUEL FARMS ............................................................................... 2 SHORELINE INSTALLATIONS ................................................ 3,4 DESALINATION OF SEA WATER ....................................................................................................................... 5,6 SOLAR POWER MODULES .......................................... 7,8 IRRIGATION OF PALM OIL TREES .............................................................. 9 OIL PALM CULTIVATION ....................................................................................................... 10 OIL PALM PLANTATIONS ..................................... 11,12 FIELD CONTAINERS FOR ETHANOL FEEDSTOCK ......................................................................................... 13,14 ROBOTIC TRACTORS ....................................................................... 15,16 WHEEL TRACKS ....................................................... 15,16 DESERT FARMING FOR BIOFUELS ................................................................................................................... 17 PRODUCING BIOFUELS FROM SEA WATER .................................................................................................. 18 BIO-FUEL PRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................... 19 BIO-FUEL PLANTATIONS .................................................................................................................................. 20 LICENSING & BACKGROUND ........................................................................................................................... 21 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................................... 21
3. 3. INTRODUCTION TO USING SEA WATER FOR IRRIGATION One fifth of land on Earth is arid and more areas are becoming warmer and drier so that farming which is entirely dependent on unreliable rainfall, its lakes, river water and underground reserves etc. can fail due to the effects of drought. Oceans cover almost three quarters of the world surface so by desalinating that resource it can be used to irrigate crops from a reliable supply. However there have been problems when using desalinated sea water for irrigation because the cost of powering desalination equipment is more than the value of crops that water can grow - so making it unprofitable. To remove the expense of importing electrical power or diesel fuel for its generation it is proposed every hot desert plantation would contain fields of solar power modules which will generate enough electricity to work all water pumps and desalination equipment needed for supplying irrigation to the crops. Then plantations of palm trees grown in soil containers stood on desert land can harvest supplies of palm fruit for their oil to be processed into a marketable biodiesel and with fields of 50m2 containers for growing crops such as corn or sugar beet as a source of ethanol they will provide an E-diesel alternative to gasoline. Arid land is often no better than dirt, rock or sand and growing crops in such ground is wasteful of water by losing irrigation into the air from the surface of soil and by it draining down to bedrock. Trials in several locations and across varied crops are showing that enclosed soil systems use lower volumes of irrigation (approx. 40% of agricultural requirements) so that water can be used more economically. Oil palms would be grown in soil contained by spun-bonded fabric laminated with a white coating to stop drainage of water and reduce container temperature. Irrigation is drip fed into the soil below a surface cover to keep all moisture away from any sunshine or drying winds. Field crops of sugar beet or corn are grown in shallow soil enclosed within plywood containers standing level over unworked ground and again are drip fed irrigation beneath a covering sheet. Desert with its plentiful sunshine and irrigation supplied from the oceans can then become a desirable site for plantations of oil palms, forests of fast growing timber trees and fields of container crops which can yield harvests of feedstock every day of the year instead of a single, seasonal crop which is usual of agriculture in temperate or equatorial climates. Desert land : 100% sun x 0% water = 0% growth Arctic snow : 0% sun x 100% water = 0% growth Temperate agriculture : 50% sun x 50% rains = 25% growth Desert and sea water : 100% sun x 100% water = 100% growth 1
4. 4. FUEL FARMS Rivers of sea water flowing through pipelines into the interior of arid land would be outside the financial capability of many desert states with their farming populations often living in poverty. Instead investment and development might rely upon other nations in need of fuel by encouraging them to rent land in the worlds vast deserts for growing plantations of feedstock crops which can produce reliable and effective sources of biodiesel and E-diesel. That barren land could then earn money for district authorities and native populations with potential to share in the new farming technology and for those desert states to gain revenues from taxation which may finance an infrastructure of sea water pipelines. These biofuel plantations, timber forests and fields of crops for local village workers will maintain a thriving industry able to become the worlds new oil fields. Many countries within temperate zones have little ability to grow feedstock for fuel without using land needed for essential food crops and could welcome this vacant acreage which encourages farming to develop on the two bands of desert which encircle Earth. Reversing the increase of arid land by adding large new areas of vegetation with their supply of atmospheric ozone can decrease unwanted greenhouse effects, reduce the polar-ice melt and give stability to a rising sea height. Forests of fast growing timber trees can supply wood and its products to construct fields of plywood containers for growing ethanol feedstock and food crops. There is potential for building multi-storey slopes of these soil containers to create sun filled caverns of weather-proof farmland able to be harvested throughout the year as a substitute for agricultural land which in Temperate zones can grow only one seasonal harvest each year to feed their rapidly increasing populations. 2
5. 5. SHORELINE INSTALLATIONS Large underwater pumps attached onto the seabed can each deliver 10,000 cubic metres of sea water per day to installations on the shore where a screen removes any debris carried in that saline. It then flows by gravity to a lower level, draining through layers of anthracite and sand which filter out loose particles and produces the clear water needed before desalination by Reverse Osmosis. This screened and filtered saline is fed into the wet well of a pump house where several pumps lift the water and combine their flow through two large diameter pipes which carry the flow inland. Twin pipelines provide a failsafe capability so that should one stream fail or need to be isolated for maintenance then inland desalination stations can still receive water and continue to supply reduced irrigation for dependent crops. 3
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7. 7. DESALINATION OF SEAWATER Reverse Osmosis equipment for processing 2,000 cubic metres per day of fresh water can be installed onto a steel chassis and will allow factory built units to be shipped ready for use. Each plantation would include two or more of these units allowing a fail/safe ability which ensures crops are always supplied with some irrigation should equipment fail or need to be stopped for maintenance. The modular construction of R.O. plant can accommodate later additions when a higher output is needed to supply an increase in plantation size. To ensure the irrigation output can match fluctuating needs of a crop caused by stages in plant growth and seasonal, climatic or daily temperature changes, all freshwater output from R.O. units is fed into reservoir tanks which can absorb any variations in both supply and consumption. To-date the operating costs of R.O. desalination will approach $2.53 per cubic metre of freshwater with only $0.03 required for chemicals used by the process and the remainder needed for providing the operational power. It is this expense which has made desalination totally uneconomic as an agricultural possibility annual water costs are $1.82 per square metre of crops and harvest sales would typically be $0.76 per farmed square metre. Instead it is proposed the plentiful sunshine in hot desert regions be used for generating electricity using solar modules which will remove expensive fuel or power costs but will limit operational time to the 12 hours of daylight. Each unit includes a high pressure process which could be used to distribute its freshwater output throughout a plantation or by using an energy recovery process can generate power for independent pumping A concentrated saline remains after the desalination process which cannot be returned into the sea without it altering the ecological balance of coastal waters. With most of the water already removed during desalination then chemical separation might produce economic harvests of metals or elements. Seeding with crystals will precipitate some useful salts for commerce before solar evaporation ponds remove any remaining water to leave behind solids which can be modified as a construction material. 5
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9. 9. SOLAR POWER MODULES Electricity for Reverse Osmosis equipment can be generated by solar modules under the strong sunshine available in high temperature desert and would remove the usual running costs of a power hungry desalination process. The price per KW of solar equipment is similar to that for diesel generators. 2012 costs per watt are about $0.60 but with real world prices per kW dependent a great deal on local weather conditions then the high sunshine of deserts will keep these costs to a minimum. Efficiency determines the area of a module given the same rated output - an 8% efficient 230 watt module will have twice the area of a 16% efficient 230 watt module. Typical modules measuring approximately 1x 2 meters will be rated as high as 350 watts under the strength of desert sunshine above 30C noon temperatures. Modules are rated by their D.C. output power under standard test conditions and have typical ranges from 100 to 320 watts at 25 so during daylight an absorbed power of 460kW needed to run the 2 x 2000m3/day R.O. desalination units each producing 1000m3 freshwater output would require 1,440 modules covering land in excess of 2,026 m2. The quoted 460kW to power desalination is obtained from 16 x 250m3 /day R.O. units and kW values needed for 2x 2000m3 /day units might be much less. It would be useful if half of solar powered electricity generated in the 12 daylight hours could be stored and made available to operate R.O. units throughout 24 hrs with their night time freshwater output stored in steel reservoirs - N.B. crops cannot use irrigation at night. Battery storage of electricity is uneconomic for high power usage which R.O. requires but the flexible strength of carbon fibre could be made into coiled springs as an efficient method of storing power, using solar powered motors and geared shafts to wind those springs during the day and later at night as they are unwound to turn generators for creating electricity to continue the R.O. process. 7
10. 10. 8 IIRIGATION OF PALM OIL TREES
11. 11. Oil palms produce their highest yields under high temperatures and high rainfall but can be successfully cultivated in areas of moderate to very heavy rains (over 5000mm). In the hot, dry atmosphere of desert regions the surface of palm leaves will close to reduce excessive rates of moisture loss due to transpiration because even when ample water is available in the soil their fully open leaves would be unable to access sufficient moisture from capillary water travelling up through the tree trunk. This effect will limit any potential increase in growth which otherwise could be available from fully irrigated trees grown under the hot, dry conditions of desert land but if palms can be developed with a wide trunk for greater capillary flow then fruit yields may be increased. Palms supplied with full irrigation show transpiration rates of 700 mm 2007 mm per year = 134 - 385 litres/palm/day. With ample available water it is normal for plants to produce an excess of leaf growth at the expense of fruiting material because the amount of fertiliser available from soil remains constant as water increases to the leaves producing an overall dilution of nutrient levels and lowering what is available for fruit production which contains the palm oil. As irrigation is increased the fruit yields can be improved with additional fertiliser but since desalinating seawater is expensive it may be prudent to keep irrigation levels below full transpiration to avoid wasteful leaf growth. Oil palms are noted as having poor yield when liable to periods of drought but in Dahomey, Africa where annual rainfall is fairly low at 1232mm the oil productivity of its palms is considered good even though four months are almost without rain - due to the high water holding capacity of the soil. The lowest level of agricultural irrigation before bad effects are noticeable in palm trees is 1000 mm - a surplus of 300mm or 43% over the lowest quoted transpiration rate of 700mm which indicates that some water is lost by evaporation from the soil surface and by it draining down into the sub-soil below root level. At 5000mm - the highest level of rainfall - there is an excess of 2993mm over the highest quoted transpiration rate i.e. 66% lost to non-productive evaporation, transpiration or soil drainage. By using desalinated sea water fed to the oil palms through drip irrigation under a surface cover and in an enclosed soil container then water can be available every day without periods of drought and would be efficiently supplied. 9
12. 12. OIL PALM CULTIVATION R.O. desalination output1 = 2 x 2000 m freshwater / 24hr Daylight output of 2 x units = 2000m3 freshwater Installed power required1 = 536kW Absorbed power = 460kW Energy recovery available. = 70 kW Oil palm variety2 = La Me x Oleifera Irrigation for oil palms3 = 350 litres/palm/day Trees irrigated per R.O.unit = 5,714 oil palms Planting density2 = 156 trees/ha. Plantation size = 36.6 ha. Annual oil palm yield2 = 11.5 m bio-fuel/ha. Oil yield per R.O. unit = 421,000 litres /year = 2,647 US barrels /year Ref: 1) Salt Separation Services : sss@saltsep.co.uk 2) Palmplantations.com.au/oil-palm-trees 3) Netafim.com/article/oil palm India 10
13. 13. OIL PALM PLANTATIONS Oil palms are grown in a mixture of local sand, silt and finely shredded palm leaf contained within a spun-bonded fabric which has been laminated with a white coating. A strong plastic mesh embedded into the soil during filling is attached by cables through the skirt onto external ground anchors. As the tree grows its roots will interweave through that mesh and so provide additional stability during high winds. Fertilisers are added into the soil or irrigation supply and minor chemicals essential for plant health can be introduced by occasional flushing with diluted seawater. Manual labour for working on these vast plantations would become uneconomic so a robotic system may be used to fulfil all necessary harvesting operations. Each palm is positioned to a grid pattern and is harvested by unmanned equipment travelling on reinforced dirt tracks running between alternate rows of trees. The harvester will read bar codes embedded in the track to position and park itself between pairs of trees, scanning similar bar codes fixed to the soil containers to judge their position. Before harvest operations begin two pneumatic arms extend and grip both trees below leaves at the fruiting head. Each arm includes an encircling gantry and rotary deck with apparatus to cut, shred and catch leaves before moving their debris to a chute leading down to attendant trucks alongside. A video camera will transmit pictures of the exposed fruit bunches to an on-board computer which has been programmed to recognize their patterns and axis. Fruit are probed to test their ripeness and if mature they are cut from the trunk and sent via the chute into the waiting trucks. Engines would remove and replace filled trucks and move harvested crops to local processing factories. To achieve the quantity of oil palms needed for large scale plantations a propagation by micro-culture would be needed to produce sufficient young stock and could be matched to building the sea water pipelines, adding desalination equipment and construction of plantation rail systems and irrigation networks. Full production of oil from palm trees requires about five years growth. 11
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15. 15. FIELD CONTAINERS A lack of spare arable land for growing feedstock has resulted in biofuel producers needing to use corn leftovers and other throwaway materials for manufacturing ethanol, creating an industry that is starved of raw materials and unattractive to investors. Yearlong sunshine is available in desert regions which will enable two corn or beet crops to be harvested annually and since there is little seasonal change in growth then farms could produce a continuous daily supply of feedstock throughout the year. It is proposed to create new areas of timber forest by growing trees in spun bonded fabric containers stood onto the arid land with their irrigation supplied by desalination of sea water so that under desert sunshine their fast growth rate will provide cheap and renewable timber materials for the construction of 25m2 and 50m2 soil containers growing field crops of corn or sugar beet as the feedstock for ethanol. The timber is used to produce plywood, a stable material which will not distort like natural woods and can be made in various thicknesses for soil walls, container bases and floor joists. Every soil container is seated on adjustable supports embedded into the ground and held level over any uneven slopes of original terrain. A water supply hose under each line of containers is connected to drip irrigation mats laid onto the soil surface and which include a pattern of slit holes for automated sowing into seed drills, allowing plants to grow through the mat but prevents the sun or wind from drying the soils surface. Irrigation would be altered to match the soils saturation according to climatic changes or the crops specific needs and stage of development. Robotic tractors will provide the technology for sowing, tending and harvesting without a labour force except to transport feedstock to processing factories. Every soil container has bar codes written on studs embedded into the walls and are read by the tractors equipment to identify its place within a plantation and allow equipment to be accurately positioned for an on-board computer to control all farming operations. The tractors travel between lines of field containers on tracks cut into natural terrain with the ground strengthened by a cement addition to produce hardwearing surfaces which can support the weight of tractors when fully laden. 13
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17. 17. ROBOTIC TRACTORS Traditional farming would need armies of paid tractor drivers to complete the various farming operations needed for growing and harvesting millions of hectares of ethanol feedstock. Instead it is proposed to develop a system of unmanned, computer controlled tractors which travel on tracks formed into ground between each line of soil containers and would work 24 hours a day, stopping only to unload harvested crops or to be refuelled, resupplied and maintained. The basic tractor unit comprises a lightweight self-levelling frame supported on pneumatic pistons, attached onto air powered drive bogies. External cladding is added to that frame and creates enclosures for housing equipment such as an air compressor, a bio-diesel generator and a range of pneumatic powered farming tools, all accessible to maintenance engineers and controlled by on-board computer programming. During travel pistons raise and lower the tractor whilst keeping it horizontal above soil containers which have been stood level over the natural slope of terrain and whilst the tractor is stationary pneumatic controls and equipment would complete the complex farming operations performed by each robot. A radio link and on-board CCTV camera allows the tractor to be under instruction from and report back to an operations centre and show the state of crops. To complete all necessary farming operations each crop will use several tractors working as a group - e.g. Sugar Beet requires :- Beet tops harvester + Beet puller + Soil cultivator & steamer + Soil rake & seed drill WHEEL TRACKS To provide solid track for the tractors four drive bogies a powerful earth working machine would create a narrow path between rows of containers by milling existing rocks, soils or sand to a depth related to its original ground strength. During that process the rock debris and loosened sand are combined with cement dust and bonded by steam then rolled flat to form a hardened beam capable of supporting a fully laden tractor. Embedded into the ground at each end of a wheel track are turntables which can be rotated by turning the tractors drive bogies through 90 allowing it to travel on an access track which crosses along the line of crops. At the next row to be farmed a further rotation on turntables will return the tractor down tracks between crops to continue its farming operations. 15
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19. 19. DESERT FARMING FOR BIO-FUELS Desert land Agricultural land + Land prices : Low - Land prices : High + Sunshine throughout the year - Sunshine often obscured by clouds + Harvesting daily throughout 365 days - Seasonal harvest of feedstock + Daily production can be matched to daily fuel consumption - Seasonal production requires fuel storage - Cost of soil containers + Arable land has no additional costs + Multiple annual harvests from each container - Single annual harvest + Non-productive land is made profitable - Farming for fuel replaces farming for food Ocean water Rain water + Plentiful and reliable - Can be scarce and erratic - Cost of pipelines for sea water importation + Free - Cost of R.O. desalination equipment, pumps & pipes + Free Robotic farming Manned farming + Free labour - Cost of annual wages for large labour force + Can be operated throughout 24 hrs and 365 days - Manual labour must have rest periods & holidays - Cost of track & lightweight robot tractors - Cost of heavyweight manned tractors Bio fuels Fossil fuels + Farmed fuel uses plentiful desert land & ocean water - Fuel production needs available oil fields + Fuel plantations can be increased over generations - Fuel resources are diminishing and finite + Biofuel production can meet international demands - National fuel supply often dependent on imports 17
20. 20. PRODUCING BIOFUELS FROMSEA WATER Bio-diesel : palm tree plantations - 2 x 2000m3/day units : R.O. sea water desalination = 2,000 m/ 12 hr day output Irrigation for containerised trees = 350 litres/palm/day Irrigated plantation available per unit = 5,714 oil palms Plantation size = 36.6 ha. Annual palm oil yield @ 11.5 m/ha. = 421,000 litres = 84,200 gal. = 2,648 barrels __________ Oil yields/harvest : Oil Palm = 10.5t/ha. Jatropha = 1.6t/ha. Rapeseed = 0.49t/ha. Sunflower = 0.42t/ha. Soyabean = 0.36 t/ha __________ Ethanol : field crops - 2 x 2000m3 /day units : R.O. sea water desalination = 2,000 m/ 12 hr day output Container grown beet @ 21m water/ha/day = 95ha : 2 x annual harvests - ethanol yield @ 22m/ha/yr. = 2.09M litres = 418,000 gal. Container grown corn @ 22m water/ha/day = 91ha : 2 x annual harvests - ethanol yield @ 21m/ha/yr. = 1.90M litres = 380,000 gal. __________ Diesel Petroleum Ethanol 100% Biodiesel 90:10 E-Diesel $6.43 /gal*. $6.36 /gal.* $5.62 /gal. * $5.20 /gal.* $5.24 / gal. * Platts Singapore price February 2013 + 40cpl for freight and excise 18
21. 21. BIO-FUEL PRODUCTION Example : Diesel consumption = 150,000 M litres/year (Nom.) : Gasoline consumption = 500,000 M litres/year (Nom.) ____________ Diesel - palm oil required = 150,000 M litres/year Gasoline - palm oil required = 450,000 M litres/year : 90/10% E-diesel mix : ethanol required = 50,000 M litres/year Biodiesel & E-diesel - palm oil required = 600,000 M litres/year ____________ Palm tree yield = 73.7 litres oil / palm / year Planting density = 156 trees/ha. Required plantation = 8,140, M palms Required acreage = 52 M hectares = 520,000Km2 desert land Sugar beet yield = 110 litres ethanol / 50m2 container/year Required farmland = 455 M containers Required acreage = 2.3 M hectares = 23,000Km2 desert land N.B In practise palm oil when used for biodiesel and E-diesel vehicles will require modification and the required volume of crude oil may be higher than those quoted. 19
22. 22. BIO-FUEL PLANTATIONS Biodiesel Ethanol Sea water paired pipeline capacity 100,000 m/day 100,000 m/day Desalinated freshwater capability 85,000 m3/day 85,000 m3/day Paired R.O units : 1000m3 /12 hour output 43 43 Feedstock cultivar Oil Palm (Elates oleifera) Sugar Beet Planting density 156 trees/ha. 100,000 beets/ha. Freshwater required (container grown) 54.6m3/ha/day 21m3/ha/day Irrigated plantation available 1,556 ha/pipeline 4,048ha/pipeline Crop yield 11.5 m/ha 22 m/ha Marketable fuel output 17.9Mlitres/pipeline/year 89Mlitres/pipeline/year ___________ Example : Diesel consumption = 150,000 M litres/year : Gasoline consumption = 500,000 M litres/year Bio-diesel required = 600,000 M litres/year : Ethanol required = 50,000 M litres/year ____________ Pipelines required for bio-diesel production = 33,520 : Pipelines required for ethanol production = 562 Total = 34,082 pipelines Land required for palm plantations = 521,570 sq.km. : Land required for field containers = 22,750 sq.km. Total = 544,320 sq.km. Palms trees required for target biodiesel production = 8,136M : 50m2 containers required for target ethanol production = 455M _____________ Achieving target biofuel production as an alternative for a nominal 150,000 M Litres of diesel and 500,000 M litres of gasoline per year by growing oil palms for bio-diesel and sugar beets to create a 90% bio-diesel : 10% ethanol supply of E-diesel (gasoline) would require 34,082 paired sea water pipelines and 1,465,526 paired R.O. units to irrigate plantations covering 544,320 sq. kilometres of desert. 20
23. 23. LICENSING & BACKGROUND The project and all work on its design is a development by Allan R. Warren. This presentation has been published worldwide without patent so its contents and designs may be distributed or used without restriction by any party or industry. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Salt Separation Services : sss@saltsep.co.uk Aries Power Solutions Ltd. : info@ariesgen.co.uk Palm Plantations of Australia : www.palmplantations.com.au Weir Pumps Ltd Root Trappers : www.rootmaker.com __________ Allan R. Warren, 54A Drovers Way, Dunstable, Beds. LU6 1AW ENGLAND Tel : +44 774 3772624 email : awdesigneng@btinternet.com 21