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ENGINEERING A MIRACLE
TAIWAN’S GREEN ENERGY PIONEERS
As the effects of global warming continue to worsen, in 2015, the UN released its 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) , a blueprint for a more sustainable future. A collection of 17 interlinked global goals, the SDGs’ seventh goal is “to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all.” The result of such efforts has been a veritable ‘green’ revolution across the globe.
Center among such energy trends has been the adoption of biodiesel, an area of fruitful cooperation between NTNU’s School of Life Sciences and alumni-run enterprises. Their development of high-quality, easily accessible biodiesel has made it an indispensable part of the world’s supply chain.
NTNU Alumnus Makes His Mark Worldwide in Biodiesel
An alumnus of National Taiwan Normal University’s Department of Physics, Yi-Fa Lee is also the founder of Chant Oil, a pioneer in the green energy field. Over a decade ago, Chant Oil had already mastered the process by which discarded used cooking oil could be transformed into high-quality biodiesel. With results showing biodiesel’s excellent carbon reduction potential, Lee’s work attracted considerable interest in Europe.
Following a long-term collaboration with genetic engineering expert Professor Guan-Chiun Lee of NTNU’s School of Life Science, Yi-Fa Lee successfully produced a lipase enzyme that has improved the biodiesel production process—further reducing pollutants and costs and creating a more environmentally friendly biocatalytic process.
Chant Oil every year recycles close to 70,000 tons of used cooking oil, nearly 90% of what Taiwan disposes of yearly. On a small, two-hectare plant in New Taipei City’s Sanxia Industrial Park and Douliu Industrial Park, used cooking oil is converted into high-quality biodiesel using a chemical catalytic process and distillation technology.
With the maturity of its oil production technology and the scale under which it operates, Chant Oil’s success is currently unmatched by local companies. The quality of its biodiesel also exceeds that being produced in South Korea or China. The company’s international market presence continues to grow. Last year alone, the company exported 60,000 tons of biodiesel to Europe, with England’s BP Amoco, Royal Dutch Shell, and Spain’s Cepsa among major customers. Currently, Chant Oil creates over NTD 1.5 billion (USD 53 million) in value yearly.
From Waste Oil to Biodiesel: Creating a Viable Circular Economy
“The oil used in McDonalds, KFC, Mos Burger and many other restaurants is the raw material for biodiesel,” explains Chant Oil founder, Yi-Fa Lee. The current process is to first remove any water and impurities from the cooking oil before introducing a methanol reaction.
A caustic alkali is used as a catalyst to speed up the transesterification of methanol and oil and transform the oil into fatty acid methyl ester (otherwise known as biodiesel) and glycerol. As a last step, the biodiesel is distilled under high vacuum and high temperature to create a clear, high-quality biodiesel free of impurities.
Distilled biodiesel can be mixed with fossil diesel fuel or can replace it completely. Biodiesel can be used in diesel vehicles or power generators. Because it does not contain sulfides, aromatic hydrocarbons, or heavy metals, biodiesel burns much cleaner. No black exhaust is produced, greatly reducing carbon emissions and pollution.
According to the EPA, using biodiesel reduces particulate matters (PM) by 47%, carbon monoxide by 48%, cancer causing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by more than 80%, and air pollution sulfides by 100%. “Working towards energy savings and carbon reduction is vital,” says Mr. Lee. “Using 50 to 60 thousand tons of biodiesel a year can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to 150-160 thousand tons a year, significantly improving air quality.”
Biodiesel a New Partner of Carbon Neutrality
According to projections by the International Energy Agency (IEA), the use of petrochemicals worldwide should be phased out and completely replaced by renewable energy sources in order to bring global carbon dioxide emissions to net zero by 2050. Here in Taiwan, the government has set a policy target of 20% of total electricity produced from renewable sources by 2025. It has also stipulated that large enterprises must receive 10% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2025. In addition to wind and solar power, whose benefits are familiar to many, biodiesel has great potential to help the government and companies meet these green energy goals.
Yi-Fa Lee explains that current solar and wind power technology still suffers from restrictions on power generated. As both wind and solar are affected by weather conditions, the amount of power they produce is unstable. Biodiesel, on the other hand, doesn’t suffer from the vagaries of the weather and the raw materials for biodiesel—used cooking oil or imported non-edible vegetable oil—are easily acquired. Biodiesel can be used in oil-fired power plants or the power generation facilities of individual enterprises to help them achieve an easily adjustable, controllable, and stable power supply.
At present, there are mature diesel engine power generators that can operate on 100% biodiesel, including the Fri-El Acerra power plant in Italy and Japan’s Sankei Fukuchiyama biomass power plant. Companies can also use biodiesel in their emergency diesel power generators, helping them to immediately meet governmental green energy requirements. Yi-Fa Lee believes that biodiesel has much to offer in the worldwide push towards green energy. Used in tandem with solar and wind power, biodiesel can help make green energy policies a reality and help Taiwan catch up with trending transformations in energy.
