EPA approves Purifine enzymes for biodiesel production
One of the issues with biofuel production is that the amount of energy required to produce the fuel often exceeds the amount of energy available from the fuel itself. There are also issues with trying to produce biofuels from other cellulosic sources like grasses and lumber. One of the potential solutions to increasing the efficiency of the biofuel production process is enzymes. Diversa, a manufacturer of synthetic enzymes, has announced that the Environmental Protection Agency has approved their new Purifine enzyme for non-food use. This particular enzyme is intended to increase the efficiency of the oil-seed refining process. The company is still waiting for Food and Drug Administration approval so that they can also use the enzyme to produce edible oil products. They are waiting on this approval before the full commercial launch of Purifine because most oil processing plants that produce biofuels also produce edible oil products. Click Read to see the full press release.
[Source: Diversa]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Howard Lee Harkness 6:59AM (11/01/2006)
"One of the issues with biofuel production is that the amount of energy required to produce the fuel often exceeds the amount of energy available from the fuel itself."
That is definitely true of hydrogen, and I expect that to remain true until the laws of thermodynamics are repealed. Ethanol is iffy in that regard, but certainly doesn't have enough energy gain to be economical with today's technology.
However, that has never been a problem with biodiesel.
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