Transcript Slide 1
A Perspective on Renewable Energy and Biofuels SOCMA Corporate Excellence Conference Savannah, Georgia May 15, 2008 Gary McChesney Chief Technology Officer FutureFuel Chemical Company My Perspective There are more than enough renewable energy resources to meet the world's needs. What is needed are technologies to efficiently capture and convert the available energy. Figure 1. U.S. Energy and Geothermal Resources Note: U.S. Total Resource Base from Characterization of U.S. Energy Resources and Reserves, December 1989, U.S. Department of Energy, DOE/CE-0279. Data for “Estimated Accessible Geothermal Resource” and “Estimated Developable Resource” are from Table 4 of this report. Current Generation of Biofuels Biodiesel from Vegetable Oil and Fat Ethanol from Starch Future Biofuels Cellulosic Ethanol Plus Many Others Lignocellulosic Biomass Figure adapted with from C. Somerville, Stanford University, 2004. Source: Genome Management Information System, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Pretreatment of Biomass Figure adapted from N. Mosier et al. 2005. “Features of Promising Technologies for Pretreatment of Lignocellulosic Biomass,” Bioresource Technology 96(3), 673–86. Source: Genome Management Information System, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Fermentation of Sugars Sawdust Corn Stover Rice Hulls Cellulases HOH2 C Sugar Cane Sugar Beets Sweet Sorghum O HO OH HOH2 C HO Yeast O OH O O HO HO CH2 OH OH OH OH Corn Wheat Rice Yeast EtOH HO Amylases Consolidated Bio-Processing Sawdust Corn Stover GMO EtOH Rice Hulls Sugar Cane HOH2 C Sugar Beets Sweet Sorghum O HO OH HOH2 C HO Yeast O OH O HO CH2 OH OH O HO Yeast HO OH OH EtOH Syngas to Ethanol Khosla Ventures: Green Investing Strategy Biofuel Political Issues Food versus Fuel Scalability Energy Balance Environmental Impact Commodity Prices A Very Complex Issue - Currency values - Speculation - Hedging - Input cost inflation - Demand for more and higher quality foods - Trade restrictions - Weather-related crop failures - Biofuel production Scalability Annual Gasoline and Diesel Consumption is 210 Billion Gallons Potential Annual Corn Ethanol Production is18 Billion Gallons Potential Annual Biodiesel Production from edible oils and fats is 2 Billion Gallons First Generation Biofuels are Not Scalable Scalability Means Biomass DOE Timing Projections Energy Balance Argonne National Laboratory Center for Transportation Energy Greenhouse gases Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Transportation or "GREET" Ethanol Lifecycle Energy Balance Fossil Energy Required to Deliver 1,000,000 BTUs to the Pump Fuel Gasoline Corn Ethanol Diesel Biodiesel Cellulosic Ethanol BTUs of Fossil Energy 1,230,000 780,000 1,200,000 300,000 100,000 Green House Gas Emissions Corn Ethanol – 18%-28% Reduction in GHGs Biodiesel – 57-74% Reduction in GHGs Cellulose Ethanol – 87% Reduction in GHGs Factors Impacting Industry Development – Timing Feedstock Cost – Purchase and Delivery Capital Cost – Co-location Technology Potential Biofuel Co-Location Sites Organic Chemicals Plants* Pulp & Paper Mills* Corn Ethanol Plants** Sources: *EPA Industry Sector Notebooks; **Iowa State website Federal Government Support Grants Federal Funded R&D Renewable Fuel Standard Tax Credits Loan Guarantees Federal Purchasing Programs Energy Independence and Security Act Defines Biofuels -Conventional biofuels (corn ethanol) - Advanced biofuels • Cellulosic biofuels • Biomass-based biodiesel • Undifferentiated advance biofuels Biofuel Definition Includes Target Minimum GHG Reduction Standards Establishes Annual Goals for Biofuel Usage Requirements Energy Independence and Security Act Year Volume In Billions of Gallons 2009 11.1 10.50 0.6 - 0.5 0.1 2022 36.0 15.0 21.0 16.0 >1.0 4.0 Conventional Advanced Cellulosic Biofuels Biofuels Biofuels Biomass- Undifferentiated Based Advanced Diesel Biofuels Routes to Make Biofuels