Transcript Slide 1

Biofuels
Now and Tomorrow
Tom Williams
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
FLC Far West / Mid-Continent Meeting
September 2005
The National Bioenergy Center
• The National Bioenergy Center is a virtual center created to advance
technologies for producing fuels, chemicals, materials, and power
from biomass.
• It supports the science and technology goals of the Department of
Energy’s Biomass Program by working with a multi-laboratory
consortium of:
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Argonne National Laboratory
Idaho National Laboratory
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
Focused on achieving DOE goals
– Reduce dependence on oil
– Build U.S. bioenergy industry
– Reduce global warming
Environmental Benefit of Biofuels
Biomass Resources
Poplar trees
Wood chips
Switch grass
Sugar cane residue
Municipal Solid Waste
Alfalfa
U.S. Biomass Resources
3.5 billion
BOE
1400
Million dry tons per year
Forest Residues (and thinnings)
1200
Urban Wastes
Ag Residues (and grain crops)
Mill Residues
1000
Energy Crops
800
600
400
200
0
$20
$30
$40
$50
Gigaton
Vision
2005 Study
From 2000 Supply Curve by ORNL
The Unique Role of Biomass
While the growing need for sustainable electric
power can be met by other renewables…
… biomass is our only renewable source of
C-based fuels and chemicals
Biomass Benefits
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Abundant
Renewable
Carbon-neutral
Available worldwide
Only sustainable source
of hydrocarbons
Biomass can:
• Be used with the existing
petroleum infrastructure
• Fill the gap between energy
demand and petroleum
availability.
Established and Emerging
Bioenergy Markets
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Co-firing, CHP, and small modular power
Sugar, corn & lignocellulosic ethanol
Biodiesel and bio-based lubricants
FTL’s as diesel substitute (Europe)
DME as a substitute for LPG (Asia)
• Longer-term potential diesel substitute
– BTX and aryl ethers from biomass lignin
• Gasoline blending
• Chemicals
– Biobased plastics and resins (co-product)
Biomass Electricity
• Direct combustion – 9700 MWe
• Cofiring with Coal – 400 MWe
• Biomass gasification
– Small 3-5 kW systems in field
verification tests
– Larger systems demonstrated
Biomass Gasification
Source: U.S. Climate Change Technology Program. Technology
Options. DOE/PI-0002, November 2003
Small Modular Gasification System
Ethanol
Current ethanol sources
• Made from the starch in corn
kernels
• Available in blended motor fuels
• Cost ~ $1.22/gal
Advanced feedstocks
• Made from cellulosic materials –
corn stalks, rice
• Technology under development
• Cost ~ $2.73/gal
$1.32/gal
• Near-term use as a fuel blend
• Longer-term as a bulk fuel will
require energy crops
Basics of Biomass Chemistry
and the
Evolution of Biorefineries
Key Constituents of Edible Biomass
OH
O
OH
HO
OH
O
O
OH
HO
HO
OH
OH
O
O
Readily hydrolyzed
O
OH
Basis for existing U.S. ethanol plants
Easily separable and fermentable to fuels & chemicals
OH
O
O
OH
HO
HO
OH
O
O
O
HO
HO
OH
O
O
OH
O
OH
H3 C
O
Oil: 4-7% (Corn) 18-20% (Soybeans)
7
O
O
CH3
O
7
O
Readily separable from feedstock
Starting material for clean biodiesel
Readily converted via chemical routes
O
7
Starch: 70-75% (Corn)
OH
H3 C
Protein: 20-25% (Corn) 80% (Soybean Meal)
Mostly used as a feed
Underutilized as a polymer building block
Potential feedstock for chemicals and resins
OH
H
N
N
H
O
S
H
N
O
N
H
O
SH
O
N
H
O
N
O
O
H
N
N
H
NH
NH2
O
H
N
O
O
OH
O
O
O
H3CO
Lignocellulose
Constituents
HO
O
O
OH
OCH3OCH3
Complex aromatic structure
Very high energy content
Resists biochemical conversion
OH
HO
OH
H3CO
OCH3
OH
O HO
O
OH
HO
O
OH O
O
HO
OH O
O
OH
OH O
O
OH
O HO
O
OH
O
OH
HO
OH O
OH
O
OH
O
OH O
HO
O HO
O
OH
HO
OH O
O
OH
OH
O
OH O
HO
O HO
OH
O
OH
OH O
OH
O
OH
OH O
O HO
OH
O HO
OH
OH
O
O
OH
OH O
O
OH
HO
OH
O HO
OH
O HO
OH
OH
O
HO
O HO
OH O
HO
OH
O
OH O
OH
OH
O
OH
O
O HO
OH
OH
O
OH
OH
O HO
OH
O
OH
OH O
O HO
O
OH
OH
O
OH
HO
OH O
HO
HO
O HO
OH
OH
O
O
O
O
OH
OH
O
HO
2nd
Most abundant form of C in biosphere
Polymer of glucose
Resistant to hydrolysis
OH O
HO
O HO
OH
O
O
OH
HO
O HO
O
OH
O
OH
HO
O
Hemicellulose: 23-32%
OH
OH
O
O
OH
OH
OH
OH
O
HO
O
O
O
O HO
OH O
O
HO
OCH3OCH3
OCH3
HO
O
OH
OH
OH
O
OH
O
OH
O
Lignin: 15-25%
Cellulose: 38-50%
O
OH
O
HO
OH
H3CO
OCH3
OH
O
OCH3
OH
HO
O
HO
O
OCH3
OCH3
Xylose is the
most abundant
sugar in biosphere
Polymer of 5C and 6C sugars
Readily hydrolyzed
H3CO
O
OCH3
OH
The Biorefinery Concept
Focus on Conversion Processes
to Enable Integrated Biorefineries
Starch
Starch
Hydrolysis
Fermentable
Sugars
Products
Fermentation
of Sugars
Glucose
• Food Products
• Animal Feed
Product
Recovery
• Ethanol
• Chemicals
Focus on Conversion Processes
to Enable Integrated Biorefineries
Starch
Starch
Hydrolysis
Fermentable
Sugars
Cellulose
Hydrolysis
Pre-treatment
Lignocellulosic
Biomass
Products
Fermentation
of Sugars
Glucose
C5/C6 Sugars
C5 Sugar(s)
• Food Products
• Animal Feed
Product
Recovery
• Ethanol
• Chemicals
Focus on Conversion Processes
to Enable Integrated Biorefineries
Starch
Starch
Hydrolysis
Fermentable
Sugars
Cellulose
Hydrolysis
Pre-treatment
Lignocellulosic
Biomass
Products
Fermentation
of Sugars
Glucose
C5/C6 Sugars
C5 Sugar(s)
• Food Products
• Animal Feed
Product
Recovery
• Ethanol
• Chemicals
Lignin
Residue
Thermo-chemical
Conversion
• Heat & Power
• Fuels & Chemicals
 Pyrolysis Oil
 Syn Gas
Economic Projection for
Lignocellulosic Ethanol
Enzymatic Hydrolysis Partnership
NREL has worked with Genencor & Novozymes for 4 years
– Focusing on enzyme biochemistry, cost, and specific activity
– Investigating the interaction of biomass pre-treatment and enzymatic hydrolysis
The RESULT: G.T. 10-fold reduction in cost contribution of enzymes ($/gal EtOH)
E1 from A. cellulotiticus
CBH1 from T. reesei
+2
+1
-1
-2
Y82
cellodextrin
Integrated Biorefinery Partnership
Dupont-DOE Integrated Corn Biorefinery
• Goal:
Process Design Package for farmers to produce
ethanol, chemicals and power from entire corn plant
• 4-yr R&D project timeline
• $38 million (50% from Dupont)
corn
corn stover
Integrated
Corn
Biorefinery
(ICBR)
chemicals
bioethanol
power
Driven by ethanol and
demand for Dupont’s
SoronaTM polyester
400%
AAGR