Together with these renewable sources, so- called “biomasses” are constantly gaining in importance. The term “biomass” indicates all those materials of animal or vegetable origin that have not undergone any fossilization processes and are used to produce energy. The CO2 emitted to produce energy with biomasses does not increase the carbon dioxide present in the environment. It is in fact the very same carbon dioxide that plants have absorbed earlier for growth and normally return to the atmosphere by normal decomposition processes of organic substance when they die. Though accelerated by the energy production process, these emissions are basically part of the normal cycle and are balanced between emitted and absorbed CO2.
Energy from biomasses
Processing biomasses for energy production takes place in “biomass plants”, where the energetic optimisation of organic materials contributes to the production of thermal energy and, using medium or large plants, can also produce electric energy. The type of biomasses used mainly in this field includes biofuels obtained from the fermentation of vegetables rich in sugars, such as sugar cane, beets and corn – often produced in surplus to requirements - from which ethanol or ethyl alcohol can be derived and used as fuel for endothermic engines instead of petrol. A “biodiesel” pressing can be made with oily plants such as sunflowers, colza and soybeans. Biomethanol, biodimethylether, synthetic hydrocarbons, biohydrogen and vegetable oils can also be classified as biofuels.
Biomasse Energetiche Italia S.r.l.
The B.E.I. - Biomasse Energetiche Italia – Company is part of the Team Network Energia group. It arose from an encounter between a business group interested in the energy production sector and a professional who had been managing relations for years with the products’ countries of origin, with the aim of producing energy, after undergoing the necessary conversion processes into oil and solid biomasses in the various refining stages. Currently BEI activities are focused on trading and brokering biomasses destined for technical usage, in particular as fuels for energy production and as a base for producing biodiesel. The company decided to concentrate mainly on liquid biomasses that lead to second generation biofuels. First generation liquid biomasses are derived mainly from fatty matter that is also used in foods. Competition between the food and energy industries has caused the price of liquid biomasses to rise with serious ethical problems, in addition to presenting weaknesses on the effective environmental impact. BEI chose to specialise in second generation biomasses, bypassing many direct products derived from agriculture, and operating on products derived from waste or by-products from biomass processing. Having concluded their life cycles, these product emissions – caused by the fossil fuel consumed to produce them – are much lower than those with first generation products. BEI has always aimed at maximizing the optimisation of several products that are currently underused and mainly derived from waste material coming from various processes. In pursuing its corporate purpose and also in consideration of the fact that the majority of products of interest come from areas with high poverty levels, BEI has aimed its undertakings at an area of great social concern to create a strong bond with the producing country, so that ethics are never given secondary priority. In Africa, the company has been conducting research and evaluation activities for some time and now has begun to implement projects to continuously consolidate relations. This is also being done through its direct presence on-site, outfitting proper facilities and always involving the local entrepreneurial class in efforts to create well-being for the area.
BEI: sustainability and development
Laws governing activities related to biomasses have recently changed, adopting the European directive 2009/28/EC: restrictions have been introduced on the usage of oils with sustainability qualification from 2012. Therefore, oils can be used which guarantee control on eliminating CO2 emissions along the entire production chain. From 2012, only those originating from vegetable raw materials will be considered “biofuels”, which guarantee a reduction in emissions of at least 35%, a threshold that will rise to 50% in 2017 and reach 60% in 2018. Consequently, from 2012, biodiesel produced using palm or soybean oil will no longer be considered “biofuel”, whereas from 2017, fuel obtained by transesterification of colza oil will suffer the same fate. Substantially, the law enforces a shift from using agricultural products to using agricultural and industrial by-products.
In order to deal with this new law and to keep its products and business always at the forefront, BEI has begun analysing and importing agricultural and industrial by-products such as fish oil and acid rice bran oil. The results of the research, done in collaboration with Nordim S.r.l., were comforting: a second generation biodiesel was obtained esterifying and distilling agricultural and industrial by-products, and a distillation residue from the process was obtained – approximately 15% - which can be used in plants at modest prices.
The immediate future
The key to success in producing energy from renewable sources using solid and liquid biomasses is being present on the entire chain: from finding biomasses to electric and thermal transfer. For this reason, BEI, in collaboration with the other partners of the Team Network Energia group, is positioning itself on three ideal points on the chain: biomass trading and brokering, plant realisation and subsequent energy production.
BEI is an increasingly solid and established company that is quickly becoming a leader in this special sector of renewable energy, as an alternative to traditional wind power and photovoltaics.
