Increasing Dietary Lysine Impacts Differently Growth Performance of Growing Pigs Sorted by Body Weight

An experiment was conducted analyzing whether growing pigs classified in different initial body weight categories (BWCAT) have a different response to increasing standardized ileal digestible lysine to net energy ratio (SID Lys:NE), to assess whether light pigs might benefit from being differentially fed. A total of 1170 pigs in pens of 13 were individually weighed, classified in 3 BWCAT (Lp: 32.1 ± 2.8 kg, Mp: 27.5 ± 2.3 kg, and Sp: 23.4 ± 2.9 kg), and afterwards pens were randomly allocated to 5 dietary SID Lys:NE treatments (3.25 to 4.88 g/Mcal) fed over 47 days. Results reported a greater linear improvement of growth and feed efficiency of Sp compared to Lp when increasing SID Lys:NE. Modelling the response to SID Lys:NE using quadratic polynomial models showed that the levels to reach 98% of maximum growth from day 0–47 were 3.67, 3.88, 4.06 g SID Lys/Mcal NE for Lp, Mp, and Sp, respectively. However, due to the overlapping SID Lys:NE confidence intervals at maximum performance, it was not possible to determine if requirements were different between BWCAT. Summarizing, the results suggested that feeding small pigs greater SID Lys:NE than large pigs can improve their performance and increase the efficiency of the overall production system.

Energy Saving Potential using Elite Jatropha Curcas Hybrid for Biodiesel Production in Malaysia

The world continues to search for renewable energy resources, due to the devastating effect of global warming and the dwindling resources of fossil fuels. Without needing much modifications to the existing diesel engines, biodiesel is regarded as one of the most promising ways to treat these two issues simultaneously. However, the production of biodiesel is always associated with a higher cost compared to its counterpart; the petroleum-derived diesel. In addition, the type of feedstock used in the production of biodiesel also has also become a big concern due to the never-ending fuel vs food debate. Jatropha curcas is a second generation feedstock which can be specifically grown to avoid the usage of edible oils as feedstock to produce fuel. In this paper, the energy saving potential of using elite Jatropha curcas hybrid for biodiesel production in Malaysia are evaluated by conducting a full chain energy analysis. It was found that the new hybrid consumed 25.32 MJ of energy in order to produce 1kg of biodiesel. The net energy balance (NEB) and net energy ratio (NER) when by-products are not utilized are found to be 15.89 MJ/kg and 1.63, respectively. However, the NEB and NER increase to 26.72 MJ/kg and 2.84 when the by-products are used in the biodiesel conversion process. Hence, this new hybrid of Jatropha curcas has a huge potential to be used for the production of biodiesel.

The well-to-wheel analysis of hydrogen enriched compressed natural gas for heavy-duty vehicles using life cycle approach to a fuel cycle

Increasing urban air pollution, greenhouse gases, and declining fossil energy sources are the three major problems of transportation sector which drive the use of alternative vehicular fuels to prevent energy shortage, reduce oil dependency and decrease tailpipe emissions including air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions. This research work focused on life cycle analysis of HCNG® heavy-duty vehicle in which 20% gaseous hydrogen blended with compressed natural gas has been investigated in terms of net energy ratio, GHG value, and cost-effectiveness over a scale of ‘per MJ energy output’ in two fuel options, i.e. 0%HCNG and 20%HCNG for an entire well-to-wheel cycle. An engineering economic approach has been used to evaluate cost-effectiveness ratio of CNG and 20%HCNG pathways derived from fuel economy improvement. It has been shown that at pump-to-wheel stage, 7% reduction in fuel consumption can be achieved together with 11% reduction in GHGs, 7% reduction in energy consumption at operation and 7% reduction in total costs (RMB/MJ) for 20%HCNG compared with CNG. Rank (1 means ‘best and 10 means ‘worst’) showed that renewable-based hydrogen pathways such as solar, wind and biomass showed dual benefits of lower energy consumption and lower GHG emissions whereas grid electricity-to-hydrogen displayed the worst case in both scenarios. Usually, biomass-based HCNG pathways may have higher net energy ratio, but the sources are cleaner, and renewable in nature. The energy efficiency of fossil-based pathways such as natural gas, coal, etc., is higher than biomass gasification pathway.

Global Warming Impact and Energy Analysis of Tempeh Made from Local and Imported Soybean

Indonesia is a country with the largest number of tempeh producers in the world. However, the practice of tempeh production by most entrepreneurs has not paid enough attention to environmental aspects. In this study, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was used as a method to assess the environmental impact of tempeh labeled as hygienic, produced by Rumah Tempeh Indonesia (RTI) located in Bogor, West Java. The hygienic tempeh consists of two types, namely one made of local soybean (Tempeh Sehat) and the other made of imported soybean (Tempeh Kita). The extent of the environmental impact, in the form of GHG emissions and energy efficiency, throughout the life cycle of tempeh is calculated, analyzed and some improvement scenarios are proposed. The life cycle of tempeh is limited to soybean cultivation, raw material transportation and tempeh processing at RTI. The results show that Tempeh Sehat generates GHG emissions of 0.323 kg CO2-eq, while Tempeh Kita is 0.555 kg CO2-eq per kg of product. The hotspots that contribute to GHG impacts are identified as originating from the stages of soybeans transportation and tempeh processing. Energy efficiency is indicated by the Net Energy Value (NEV) and the Net Energy Ratio (NER) of both types of products. Tempeh Sehat has NEV of 2.064 MJ, while Tempeh Kita is 0.318 MJ. Both types of products show the value of NER>1. Further analysis of existing production practices has led to several scenarios of improvement and their environmental effects have been discussed. Keywords: Tempeh; LCA; GHG emission; energy efficiency

The Integration of Gasification Systems with Gas Engine by Developing Wet Tar Scrubbers and Gas Filter to Produce Electrical Energy from Biomass

The need for energy especially biomass-based renewable energy continues to increase in Indonesia. The objective of this research was to design downdraft gasifier machine with high content of combustible gas on gas engine. Downdraft gasifier machine was adjusted with the synthetic gas produced from biomass. Besides that, the net energy ratio, net energy balance, renewable index, economic analysis and impact assessment also been conducted. Gas engine that was designed in this research had been installed with capacity of 25 kW with diameter and height of reactorwere 900 mm and 1 000 mm respectively. The method used here werethe design the Detailed Engineering Design, assembly, and performance test of gas engine. The result showed that gas engine for biomass can be operated for 8 h with performance engine of 84 % and capacity of 25 kW. Net energy balance, net energy ratio, and renewable index was 30 MJ/kW h electric; 0.89; 0.76 respectively. The value of GHG emission of Biomass Power Generation is 0.03 kg-CO2 eq per MJ. Electrical production cost for Biomass Power Generation is about IDR 1 500 per kW h which is cheaper than solar power generation which is about of IDR 3 300 per kW h.