A Cheesy Biofuel Alternative!
Biofuels are the latest technological rage, perhaps just the science needed to help eliminate our dependency on foreign oil. Lots of people are taking a look at developing fuels from a variety of products, with corn-based ethanol currently the most popular method for producing alternative fuel.
But, we know that ethanol production to this point has pretty much been a disaster, driving up corn prices and possibly contributing to food shortages elsewhere. Importantly, ethanol produces higher octane than gasoline but that comes at a price: fuel economy drops by 20-30%, while pump prices aren’t much lower than regular gasoline. Besides, finding ethanol outside of the upper midwest is still a challenge nor do many people own flex fuel vehicles.
My interest in alternative fuels remains strong, as one of many ways to help curb dependency on oil, while providing motorists a viable alternative to gasoline. If there are some positive environmental consequences in the mix, then that is an additional benefit worth having.
One Wisconsin company, DuBay Ingredients, is developing a biofuel derived from whey. Whey is an ingredient found in cheese, something that this company aims to harness to produce a viable fuel source from. Specifically, DuBay has a proprietary formula that converts waste cheese whey permeate into ethanol.
No, I don’t fully understand the 26-step process DuBay uses to convert a waste product into ethanol, but the end result yields two additional products once the alcohol has been extracted: a probiotic cattle feed and water which is recirculated in the ethanol process. The alcohol, of course, is the ethanol derived from the permeate; it takes one hundred gallons of cheese whey permeate to yield 10 gallons of fuel-grade ethanol.
DuBay’s process has some additional environmental benefits to it, chief of which is the disposal of whey permeate. Larger dairy companies routinely ship this product overseas for disposal while smaller companies dump the product on their farmland, which is an environmental hazard. Wisconsin, which produces the most cheese of any state in the country, is tightening up its laws regarding the disposal of whey permeate, making DuBay’s process all the more timely and needful. To that end, Wisconsin’s Agricultural Development and Diversification Program awarded DuBay a $29,000 grant in 2006 to research and develop the process.
Right now, DuBay is building a plant in Stratford which will make the fuel from waste supplied by local dairy farmers. DuBay plans to place three or four manufacturing plants across Wisconsin, with plans to sell the ethanol directly to fuel distributors, avoiding oil refiners completely. Ultimately, these steps will increase the profit lines for the cheese plant.
Recapping, DuBay Ingredients’ process will create fuel which will be sold locally reducing the need for oil to be imported to the US, specifically oil heading to Wisconsin. Probiotic animal feed and potable water will be two other products developed from cheese whey permeate with no byproduct remaining that could harm the environment.
DuBay Ingredient is one of many companies that have sprung up in recent years to develop biofuels from waste products. Separately, these efforts may not seem like much, but when added together they could be the beginning of a trend toward developing environmentally sensitive fuel sources and products of benefit to man, beast, and our planet.
Sources
“Stratford business to make ethanol from whey.” June 26, 2008.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-wi-newwhey,0,1769382.story (accessed June 26, 2008).
“Wisconsin developer provides cheese industry solution.” June 2006.
http://ethanolproducer.com/article.jsp?article_id=2028 (accessed June 26, 2008).
Photo Credit: Garry Scott
Comments
14 Comments on A Cheesy Biofuel Alternative!
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Mig on
Thu, 26th Jun 2008 2:01 pm
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Fluorescent Lighting on
Thu, 26th Jun 2008 2:12 pm
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Matthew C. Keegan on
Thu, 26th Jun 2008 2:37 pm
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The Auto Inquirer on
Fri, 27th Jun 2008 10:00 pm
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Matthew C. Keegan on
Sat, 28th Jun 2008 4:46 am
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Biofuel Blog on
Tue, 1st Jul 2008 9:09 pm
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Matthew C. Keegan on
Wed, 2nd Jul 2008 4:41 am
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Audi Forum on
Sun, 6th Jul 2008 8:47 am
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Matthew C. Keegan on
Tue, 8th Jul 2008 4:24 am
What I don’t understand is how could anyone “waste” anything cheese. I know for a fact that whey it’s used to produce other dairy products, like ricotta and I remember my grandma using it in pastry too… I suppose the fuel this company produces is more expensive than anything else, given the large quantities of whey needed for 10 gallons of fuel… Or is there something I am missing here?
Migs last blog post..Dogs Could Identify Early Stages of Ovarian Cancer
So many processes are popping up to convert various materials into Ethanol. This is all fine and well, but Ethanol is arguably not the ultimate solution to the cost and availability of oil. We all need to do our best to pitch in and conserve energy wherever possible. I am banking on wind and solar power as vital components in the conversion to renewable energy.
Mig, you raise a good point. My thinking is that there is a lot of waste on US dairy farms due to the sheer size of these productions. Many farms have hundreds if not thousands of cows and I would think that a lot of waste takes place. Yes, I remember hearing about “curds and whey” but that isn’t something Americans eat anymore. Its too expensive to export the stuff, so the waste gets dumped or, in the case of DuBay “rescued” and reused for ethanol. I wouldn’t doubt that the farmer pay DuBay to haul off their excess.
FL, you are correct. Ethanol is only one part of the equation, not the largest one at that. In this situation, the company will probably be supplying fuel locally, so it will benefit residents of just one state. As far as the other methods go, solar energy I like better than wind energy as the latter kills birds and looks unsightly (and noisy) except when peppering brown fields.
With the continuous increase in the oil prices, it is really inevitable to look for alternatives. But yeah, why use cheese? Cheese is also important and if it became a trend to use it for fuel. We’ll definitely be expecting scarcity of it too.
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AI, since this company is harnessing waste that would otherwise go to waste or cost too much to ship elsewhere, I doubt that a cheese shortage would ensue. They’re also helping to dispose of a potential environmental hazard by reusing the product.
Cool post. Thats the first I’ve heard of whey biofuel. I still think algae biofuels are the best once the technology is fully developed.
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BB, I wasn’t aware that someone was developing biofuel from algae. I wonder if they are growing it in a lab or taking it from lakes? Either way, there is likely plenty of it (and Red Tide) to go around: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1819401,00.html
That sounds like an ingenius idea! I’m fascinated by all the different alternatives to fuel - of all things, whey!
It does make me wonder why it’s taken so long to get there but maybe it takes an environmental kick up the backside to realise we have the inteligence, compassion and technology to make a change.
You’re an excellent writer, by the way.
take care…
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Thanks, AF. Ethanol production has been going on for many years, the private sector is leading the charge. Governments can help out by not taxing it like crazy and by offering tax breaks to companies who develop it. Still, ethanol isn’t as efficient as gasoline though it provides more octane for the engine.
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