Gold Coast-based company has launched the BioCube. The fully integrated compact biodiesel processor, half the size of a shipping container, is capable of providing 300 to 400 people with energy; particularly suited for small developing communities.
A Gold Coast-based company has launched the "BioCube", a sustainable source of affordable clean energy, aimed at developing countries. The BioCube is a fully integrated compact biodiesel processor, half the size of a shipping container. It can be thought of as a community's own green fuel station, capable of providing 300 to 400 people with energy.
The company's technical director, and BioCube inventor says that the BioCube is aimed at developing communities in the Tropics, but is also ideal for remote areas struck by natural disaster, as it is small enough to be lifted by helicopter. The BioCube costs approximately 1% of a mid-sized refinery, takes a fraction of the space, and is highly energy-efficient. It uses its own biodiesel to operate and processes feedstock at rates equivalent to much larger refineries.
A succesful story for a courageous entrepreneur
The biodiesel processor inventor is a marine engineer who came up with the idea for the BioCube while living in southeast Asia. He recognised that small communities –and the environment – throughout the developing world would be far better off if farmers could refine their own biofuel crops in situ, instead of exporting them, and then importing the processed fuel. He thought that the social and economic impact of this could be phenomenal, not to mention the massive reduction in the carbon footprint.
After two years of trials and challenges, the first BioCubes were manufactured in 2009 in Victoria, ready for export to countries in Oceania, Asia, India, Africa and the Americas.The company manufactoring the Biodiesel has raised more than $1,000,000 through the Australian Small Scale Offerings Board Limited, and has a six-member management team with expertise in engineering, business and marketing, and brand management. The companywas one of the first recipients of funding under the Australian Government's Climate Ready program. The company was awarded a $500,000 dollar-for-dollar grant in early 2009.
Jatropha and Coconut used as bio-fuel
The BioCube can run on a variety of feedstocks, but following ethical concerns about using traditional food sources such as palm oil and soya bean, the inventor researched different plants, and narrowed the list to three sources, of which jatropha and coconut constitute 80% of his interest. Jatropha can prosper on marginal soil that wouldn’t sustain most food crops and it also permits inter-cropping so that farmers can benefit from a continuous yield.Waste coconut is almost a nuisance crop in some places, and provides an inexpensive feedstock source.
The BioCube runs continuously and produces 2,000 litres of diesel in 10 hours. All parts have been designed to be easy to use and service, launching the product towards the new market of sustainable energy solutions.
The intellectual property includes: - an oil expeller incorporating a number of unique features - a hydraulically driven mixer that uses straight cut gears to stimulate mixing, and high temperatures to enhance molecular activity - a filtering device christened “the Cauldron” that allows the glycerine to settle while separating off excess methanol - “the Chantrelle,” a device that uses the thermal energy of the fatty acid methyl ester and the movement of air to remove any remaining methanol.
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