Transcript Energy and Products from Agricultural Biomass: Prospects

Energy and Products from
Agricultural Biomass:
Prospects and Issues
F. Larry Leistritz
Donald M. Senechal
Nancy M. Hodur
Presented at:
IAIA 2007 Conference,
Seoul, Korea
June, 2007
Department of Agribusiness
and Applied Economics
North Dakota State University
Renewable Fuels and Products –
Reasons for Current Interest
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High oil prices
Questions re. petroleum supply dependability
Environmental concerns re. carbon emissions
Present renewable fuel sources (grains and
oilseeds) insufficient to meet future demands
Hence, there are major incentives to develop a
broader resource base and processing technologies
to support a broader role for bioenergy
Real Gasoline Pump Price: Annual
Average 1919-2008
Cents per Gallon; Year 2006 Dollars
350
Projections
300
Real (2006=1) Price
250
200
OPEC Oil Embargo
150
100
Nominal Price
50
Short-Term Energy Outlook, February 2007
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Potential Sources of Biomass
• Agricultural residues (wheat straw, corn
stover)
• Energy crops (switchgrass, poplar)
• Wood and wood waste
• Municipal solid waste
Agricultural residues are the lowest cost
agricultural source of biomass
Biomass Conversion Technologies
• Combustion (to produce heat and/or electricity)
• Gasification with conversion of syngas to liquid
fuels
• Fermentation (hydrolysis of biomass to produce
sugars, followed by fermentation to ethanol and
possibly other products)
Gasification and fermentation technologies have yet
to be implemented commercially
The Biorefinery Concept
• Multi-product facilities processing cellulosic
biomass into a variety of products
• Fuels (e.g., ethanol) will likely be the major
product (based on market size)
• Production of co-products could improve the
economics of biorefinery operation
• Biorefineries may be large-scale operations
(biorefinery producing 50 MGY of ethanol would
require 600 to 900 thousand tons of feedstock
annually)
Cellulose Nanofibers Biorefinery
Process Flow Diagram
Wheat
Straw
Milling
AFEX
Enzyme
Treatment
Chemical
Treatment(s)
Sizing
Hemicellulose,
Lignin By-Products
Fermentation
Ethanol Biorefinery
Integrated Cellulose Nanofibers Production
Plant with an Ethanol Biorefinery Plant
Ethanol
Cellulose
Nanofibers
Implications of an Emerging
Bio-based Economy
• Rural economic development
• Environmental Issues