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Jargon Buster
- 1st generation
- A more basic process (usually in the context of biofuel manufacture from sugars or plant oils).
- 2nd generation
- A more advanced process (usually in the context of biofuel manufacture from biomass/lignocellulose).
- AD
- Anaerobic Digestion
- Advanced fuel
- A biofuel that is produced by a novel method and/or that gives a better product that current biofuels.
- Agrochemical
- A chemical used in agriculture, e.g. pesticide, herbicide, fertiliser.
- Anaerobic Digestion
- The conversion of non-woody biomass by micro-organisms in the absence of oxygen into biogas and digestate.
- B5
- 5% blend of biodiesel
- bbl
- barrel = 159 litres
- BERR
- Former UK Governmental Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, now Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS)
- BEST
- BioEthanol for Sustainable Transport
- Biobutanol
- Butanol made from biomass.
- Biodegradable
- A substance that can be degraded when exposed to microbial, enzymatic or other biological action into CO2, water and simpler compounds.
- Biodiesel
- Diesel fuel derived from plants.
- Biodiversity
- The mixture of organisms that exist in a given habitat.
- Bioethanol
- Ethanol derived from plants via fermentation. Used for fuel.
- Biofuel
- Liquid fuel manufactured from biomass (plants or animal products).
- Biogas
- Gases produced from the digestion of biomass anaerobically. Consists largely of methane that can be burned as fuel.
- Biomass
- Any living or recently dead plant or animal material.
- Biomethane
- Purified methane from biogas.
- BioSNG
- Biologically Synthetic Natural Gas
- Biotechnology
- Application of scientific and engineering principles to the processing of materials by living organisms or natural substances (e.g. enzymes) from organisms.
- BREEAM
- Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method
- BtL
- Biomass to Liquids: Second generation process to produce fuels and chemicals from biomass.
- Carbon 12
- A stable isotope of carbon, having an atomic mass of 12. Carbon 12 makes up most naturally occurring carbon and is the only carbon present in “fossil” carbon deposits like oil and coal.
- Carbon 14
- A naturally radioactive carbon isotope with atomic mass 14 and half-life 5,730 years, used in determining the age of organic and archaeological specimens.
- Carbon footprint
- A methodology to estimate the total emission of greenhouse gases in carbon equivalents from a product across its life cycle.
- Carbon neutral
- An activity or process that doesn’t add to the net amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
- CHP
- Combined Heat and Power
- CIRIA
- Construction Industry Research and Information Association
- CIVITAS
- City, Vitality, Sustainability
- CNAP
- Centre for Novel Agricultural Products
- CO2
- Carbon Dioxide; a greenhouse gas.
- CO2 eq
- Equivalents of CO2. Other greenhouse gases can be expresed as the equivalent amount of CO2
- Commodity or Bulk Chemicals
- Simple chemicals. Produced in large quantities, used to produce complex products. Highly competitive market.
- Cosmeceutical
- Marketing term used for products with cosmetic effects, e.g. on ageing skin.
- DECC
- UK Government Department of Energy and Climate Change
- Defra
- UK Government Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
- DfT
- UK Government Department for Transport
- Digestate
- Inert and sterile wet product of anaerobic digestion with valuable plant nutrients and organic humus
- DIUS
- Former UK Government Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, now Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS)
- DTI
- Former UK Government Department for Trade and Industry, now Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS)
- E5
- 5% blend of bioethanol
- E85
- 85% blend of bioethanol
- EC
- European Commission
- ECA
- Enhanced Capital Allowance (UK).
- Embodied Energy
- Emissions produced during the manufacture and transportation of materials.
- EMEA
- European Agency for the Evaluation of Medical Products
- Energy Efficiency
- Energy used (or lost to the environment) during the life of a building.
- ETBE
- Ethyl Tertiary Butyl Ester
- EU
- European Union
- Eutrophication
- From the Greek 'well-nourished'. An increase in the nutrients in a lake or pond, leading to increased plant growth and decay.
- FAEE
- Fatty Acid Ethyl Ester; biodiesel fuel manufactured from plant oils.
- FAME
- Fatty Acid Methyl Ester; biodiesel fuel manufactured from plant oils.
- Feedstock
- The starting material for a process, e.g. sugar cane, straw, wood.
- Fertiliser
- Chemical soil treatment containing Nitrogen, Phosphate and Potassium: nutrients required for plant growth. Can be made naturally, e.g. by composting or synthetically using natural gas (methane).
- Fischer-Tropsch
- A high temperature and pressure catalytic process which converts syngas into a heavy hydrocarbon wax.
- Fossil fuel
- Fuels dug up from beneath the earth's surface having been stored there for millions of years.
- FT
- Fischer-Tropsch synthesis
- GAP
- Good Agricultural Practice
- Gasification
- Heating under pressure to produce syn-gas.
- GHG
- Greenhouse Gas; usually refers to carbon dioxide.
- GLA
- Gamma Linolenic Acid
- GMP
- Good Manufacturing Practice
- GtL
- Gas to Liquids; Production of liquid fuels from natural gas.
- GWP
- Global Warming Potential
- HEAR
- High Erucic Acid Rape
- HGCA
- Home Grown Cereals Authority
- Hygroscopic
- Attracting or absorbing moisture from the air.
- IBMA
- International Biocontrol Manufacturers Association
- IGCC
- Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle
- IRR
- Internal Rate of Return
- KTN
- Knowledge Transfer Network
- LATS
- Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme
- LCA
- Life Cycle Assessment/Analysis
- Lignocellulose
- A complex network of lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose found in plants.
- MHRA
- Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency
- MSW
- Municipal Solid Waste
- MTBE
- Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ester
- NFI
- Natural Fibre Insulation
- NFU
- National Farmers' Union
- NNFCC
- The National Non-Food Crops Centre; organisation supplying information to industry, farmers, academia and government.
- Non-food crop
- Non-food crops are plants that are used to make renewable fuels and materials.
- NOx
- Nitrogen Oxides; a collection of greenhouse gases.
- NPV
- Net Present Value
- NREL
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory (USA)
- Nutraceutical
- Nutritional supplement, not regulated as a medicine.
- NVZ
- Nitrate Vulnerable Zone
- odt
- oven dry tonnes
- OECD
- Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
- One Planet Living
- The concept that we need to use resources wisely to avoid exhausting the Earth's natural resources. Currently the developed world is using natural resources more quickly than the earth can replace them.
- OTC
- Over The Counter drug; non-prescription.
- Pharmaceutical
- Regulated medicine or drug.
- ppl
- pence per litre
- Pyrolysis
- Transformation of a substance by the action of heat in the absence of an oxidant (e.g. air, oxygen).
- Pyrolysis oil
- Liquid from the condensation of the gases produced by pyrolysis.
- RDPE
- Rural Development Programme for England, for distributing European funds for agriculture, runs from 2007 to 2013.
- Renewable
- A renewable material can be replaced rapidly and indefinitely once used, e.g. through the growth of new crops.
- Renewable Energy
- Renewable energy comes from energy sources that won't run out: plants, sunlight, waves, wind. Plants can be made into biofuels and can be burned to make electricity and heat.
- Renewable Materials
- Renewable materials can be replaced indefinitely. They are made from plants, which can be grown again and again.
- RFA
- Renewable Fuels Agency; the UK's independent sustainable fuels regulator.
- RME
- Rapeseed Methyl Ester (biodiesel)
- RO
- Renewables Obligation
- ROC
- Renewables Obligation Certificate
- ROI
- Return On Investment; ratio of money gained or lost on an investment relative to the amount invested
- RTFO
- Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (UK legislation)
- SAC
- Scottish Agricultural College
- Speciality Chemicals
- Chemicals with specific end uses, tailored to their application. Examples are dyes and pigments, fertilisers, pesticides, colourings, flavours and fragrances. High profit margins.
- SRC
- Short Rotation Coppice, e.g. willow or poplar crops grown under a coppice system.
- SRF
- Solid Recovered Fuel (recycled wood)
- Sustainable
- Sustainable products and processes are those that can continue to be used indefinitely without exhausting natural resources, i.e. they use things that will not run out.
- SVO
- Straight Vegetable Oil; can be used for biofuel.
- Syn-diesel
- Synthetically manufactured diesel. Can be derived from biomass via the BTL process.
- Syngas
- Synthesis gas, a mixture of Carbon Monoxide (CO) and Hydrogen (H2) produced by gasification of biomass or other organic carbon sources.
- THC
- Tetrahydrocannabinol
- toe
- tonnes oil equivalent
- tonne
- metric tonne (1000kg)
- tpa/tpy
- tonnes per annum/year
- tpd
- tonnes per day
- Transesterification
- The process of turning vegetable or animal oils into biodiesel by reaction with an alcohol in the presence of a catalyst.
- TT
- Technology Transfer
- TTW
- Tank-to-Wheel; a life cycle assessment of vehicle cycle emissions.
- TWG
- Thematic Working Group, an NNFCC group of experts.
- ULSD
- Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel
- USDA
- United States Department of Agriculture
- Vegetable oil hydrogenation
- High temperature, catalytic hydrogenation of vegetable oil producing a high quality synthetic diesel product.
- VOCs
- Volatile Organic Compounds
- WTW
- Well-to-Wheel; a life cycle assessment of a fuel from production to exhaust emission.
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