• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.19-26
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• 2016

Biomass has been used for energy sources from the prehistoric age. Biomass are converted into solid, liquid or gaseous fuels and are used for heating, electricity generation or for transportation recently. Solid biofuels such as bio-chips or bio-pellet are used for heating or electricity generation. Liquid biofuels such as biodiesel and bioethanol from sugars or lignocellulosics are well known renewable transportation fuels. biogas produced from organic waste are also used for heating, generation and vehicles. Biomass resources for the production of above mentioned biofuels are classified under following 4 categories, such as forest biomass, agricultural residue biomass, livestock manure and municipal organic wastes. The energy potential of those biomass resources existing in Korea are estimated. The energy potential for dry biomass (forest, agricultural, municipal waste) were estimated from their heating value contained, whereas energy potential of wet biomass (livestock manure, food waste, waste sludge) is calculated from the biological methane potential of them on annual basis. Biomass resources potential of those 4 categories in Korea are estimated to be as follows. Forest biomass 355.602 million TOE, agricultural biomass 4.019 million TOE, livestock manure biomass 1.455 million TOE, and municipal organic waste 1.074 million TOE are available for biofuels production annually.

• Clean Technology
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.163-173
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• 2022

Research and development of biofuels as one of the means to mitigate global warming and to avoid fossil fuel depletion has occurred for more than 30 years. However, there has only been limited distribution of a few first- and second-generation biofuels, and widespread supply and consumption of biofuels is still far from a reality. Although a relatively recently studied third-generation biofuel derived from seaweed biomass has been shown to have many advantages, it is yet to be deployed in commercial-scale seaweed biorefineries. This review paper examines the advantages and disadvantages of seaweed biorefineries for the entire value chain covering from seaweed and its cultivation to biofuel production based on an extensive literature search and the author's experience of conducting feasibility studies pertaining to seaweed biorefineries for over 10 years. For this purpose, the literature survey will cover the current status of seaweed production and its research and development worldwide, conversion technologies for biofuel production from seaweed based on bench-scale experiments, and large-scale techno-economic feasibility studies for seaweed conversion to biofuels and bioenergy. In addition, the main problems expected with the commercialization of seaweed-based biofuels will be identified. Finally, the current status of seaweed biorefinery technology and the author's views on its promising future will be summarized.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.267-276
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• 2011

There is a growing worldwide interest in the potential of marine biomass as an environmentally friendly and economically sustainable resource. Due to the great lack of comprehensive information about domestic seaweed resources, this study aimed to analyze the existing literature on the production and types of domestic seaweed species. Based on this data the possibilities of industrial use of domestic seaweed for the production of biofuels and bioplastics had been assessed. Our review took into account the seaweed species on domestic coasts as well as the species currently in great production via seaweed farming. Due to their wide distribution, their status as farmed crops, and the likelihood of securing their reliable supply, Codium fragile, Hizikia fuciformis, and Gelidium amansii were deemed to be the most appropriate candidates for domestic industrial use. The industrial potential of seaweed biomass was also explored by comparing the predicted amount of biomass necessary to replace current gasoline and plastics use with currently available farming space. The results of our study imply that once a steady and adequate supply of the proper kinds of seaweed can be secured through seaweed farming, there is a great potential for the development of new seaweed-based biofuels and bioplastics industries in Korea.

• Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.537-551
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• 2022

The rapid decrease of fossil fuel resources and increase of environmental pollution caused by aviation industries have become a severe issue which leads to an increase in the greenhouse effect. The use of biofuel becomes an option to alleviate issues related to unrenewable resources. This study presents a computational simulation of the biofuel combustion characteristics of various alternative fuels in an annular combustion chamber designed for training aircraft. The biofuels used in this study are Sorghum Oil Methyl Ester (SOME), Spirulina Platensis Algae (SPA) and Camelina Hydrotreated Esters and Fatty Acids (CHEFA). Meanwhile, Jet-A is used as a baseline fuel. The fuel properties and combustion characteristics are being investigated and analysed. The results are presented in terms of temperature and pressure profiles in addition to the formation of NOx and soot generated from the combustion chamber. Results obtained show that CHEFA fuel is the most recommended biofuel among all four tested fuels as it is being found that it burns with 37.6% lower temperature, 15.2% lower pressure, 89.5% lower NOx emission and 8.1% lower soot emission compared with the baseline fuel in same combustion chamber geometry with same initial parameters.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.365-384
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• 2012

Microalgae are photosynthetic microorganisms that are highly productive in the presence of basic renewable natural sources (light, $CO_2$, water and nutrients). They can synthesize lipids, carbohydrates and proteins in a small number of days. Subsequently, these carbon-captured products can be processed into both biofuels and valuable co-products. Additionally, microalgae would be an ideal feedstock for replacing land-based food crops with cellular products as high energy density transportation fuels. These microscopic organisms could contribute a significant amount of renewable energy on a global scale. In Korea, microalgae biofuel research was common in the early 1990s. The research activities were unfortunately stopped due to limited governmental funds and low petroleum prices. Interest in algal biofuels in Korea has been growing recently due to an increased concern over oil prices, energy security, greenhouse gas emissions, and the potential for other biofuel feedstock to compete for limited agricultural resources. The high productivity of microalgae suggests that much of the Korean transportation fuel requirements can be met by biofuels at a production cost competitive with the increasing cost of petroleum seen in early 2008. At this time, the development of microlalgal biomass production technology remains in its infancy. This study reviewed microalgae culture systems and biomass production, harvesting, oil extraction, conversion, and technoeconomical bottlenecks. Many technical and economic barriers to using microalgal biofuels need to be overcome before mass production of microalgal-derived fuel substitutes is possible. However, serious efforts to overcome these barriers could become a large-scale commercial reality. Overall, this study provides a brief overview of the past few decades of global microalgal research.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2008

Negative environmental consequences of fossil fuels and the concerns about their soaring prices have spurred the search for alternative energy sources. While other alternative energies-like solar, wind, geothermal, hydroelectric, and tidal-offer viable options for electricity generation, around 40% of total energy consumption requires liquid fuels like gasoline or diesel fuel. This is where bio-energy/biofuels is especially attractive, where they can serve as a practical alternative to oil. The production of liquid biofuels for transportation will depend upon a stable supply of large amount of inexpensive cellulosic biomass obtained on a sustainable basis. This paper reviewed development status of transportation bio-energy for vehicles, technical barriers to the production of cellulosic ethanol, and the global future of bio-diesel and ethanol production.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.10-15
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• 2016

In this new energy economy era, the importance of renewable energy resource needs to be highly addressed, as the demand of energy dramatically increases and fossil fuel is being exhausted. Lignocellulosic biomass is considered as the sustainable and renewable feedstock to produce biochemicals and biofuels that are the alternative for petroleum derived products. Furfural is a natural precursor for the range of furan based chemicals and solvents such as methylfuran, tetrahydrofuran, methyltetrahydrofuran, ethyltetrahydrofuryl ether, ethyl levulinate, levulinic acid, and alkanes. Thus, furfural should be a renewable platform chemical for biochemicals and renewable biofuels. In this paper, the concept of biorefinery, furfural production and its applications are briefly reviewed.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.864-871
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• 2016

This study was conducted to compare and analyze gross calorific values from measurement methods of lignocellulosic biomass and calculation data from calorific value prediction models based on the elemental content. The deviation of Liriodendron tulipifera (LT) and Populus euramericana (PE) was shown 7.7 cal/g and 7.4 cal/g respectively in palletization method, which are within repeatability limit 28.8 cal/g of ISO FDIS 18125. In the case of Thailand charcoal (TC), nontreatment method and palletization method was satisfied with repeatability limit as 22.8 cal/g and 8.8 cal/g respectively. Seowon charcoal (SC) was shown deviation of 11.4 cal/g in nontreatment method, because the density and chemical affinity of sample increases as the carbon content increases from heat treatment at high temperature in the case of TC and SC. In addition, after applying the elemental content of each of these samples to the calorific value prediction models, the study found that Model Equation (3) was relatively consistent with measured calorific values of all these lignocellulosic biomass. Thus, study about the correlation between the density and size of particle should be conducted in order to select the measurement method for a wide range of solid biofuels in the future.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.237-243
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• 2016

Recently, technologies that produce biofuels from microalgae are being studied worldwide. It is necessary to significantly reduce the production costs of biofuels from microalgae for economic reasons. In this study, the growth curve of the microalgae was obtained using the batch-culture method, and the specific growth rate was predicted using the regression method. Based on the culture conditions of the estimated specific growth rate, the turbidity of the microalgae in the flat panel photobioreactor (PBR) was measured. Furthermore, an on-off control scheme was applied to the flat panel PBR in order to culture the microalgae continuously on the basis of turbidity. The parameters of the on-off control system were displayed by LabView. The on-off scheme of peristaltic pump was controlled based on the turbidity in the PBR. In addition, the turbidity values of growth curves were compared and analyzed in the continuous culture process using the on-off controller.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.41-56
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• 2014

This research paper advances our understanding of complex interdependence among countries. Existing research has found that total factor productivity (TFP), the residual from the economic growth function, is hindered in the absence of a country's strong political and legal institutions or if a country does not already have a sufficiently high level of TFP. We also know that regional efforts to eliminate pollution are complex. Bridging these two areas while focusing on a high polluting yet high innovating region, the following research questions are posed: Are Northeast Asian countries key collaborators in pursuit of green R&D? Are Northeast Asian countries collaborating extensively with each other? What are the implications for other regions' attempts to establish these kinds of relations? To answer the above questions, biofuels-related technology as defined in the International Patent Classification's "green inventory" of environmentally sound technologies is examined. Patent data is drawn from the USPTO and inventors' country origin as the unit of analysis. For the 1990-2013 period, the Northeast Asian countries are in the core of a small set of collaborating countries. There is evidence that their centrality has increased in recent years. Most importantly, East Asia is becoming a singular research hub in terms of biofuels-related R&D, offering a counter in the foreseeable future to the dominance of the American and European research network hubs.