Advanced Biofuels

 

 

BIOFUELS FACTSHEET

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Advanced biofuels In the debate on climate change and reduction of greenhouse gases emissions, first, second or even third generation biofuels are frequently mentioned. The use of the concept of different generations can be in itself confusing. However it should be noted that it is a simplifying term used to categorise what is in reality a diverse range of technologies and feedstock types. Advanced biofuels (2nd  and 3rd  generations) offer the chance to have a better environmental impact and are aimed at the use of non-food feedstock and residues of food feedstock. As these advanced biofuels come to the market they will coexist with first generation biofuels, and as technology improves their market share will gradually increase. The wide spread adoption of first generation biofuels, using technology that is well known today, is necessary to speed up the development and market introduction of advanced biofuels. This in turn will help address scale-up and distribution issues and create a broader market.

1. What are advanced biofuels? Advanced biofuels are those biofuels that have the potential to be produced in significant quantities and deliver a significant lifecycle GHG emission saving while minimizing competition for agricultural land. They also have the potential to be economically competitive in terms of cost with conventional fossil fuels – just as ethanol from sugar cane in Brazil is today. Advanced biofuels may be produced for instance from waste, agricultural (food crops) residues, nonfood (ligno) cellulosic biomass, crops grown on marginal land and algae.

1.1 Bioethanol & biobutanol

Bioethanol is a biofuel derived by the fermentative transformation of sugars (glucose, starch or biomass). It is a full substitute for gasoline in so-called flexi-fuel vehicles in various blending concentrations up to 100%. In smaller blend quantities it can be used in conventional, unmodified vehicles.

 

BIOFUELS FACTSHEET

Process flow diagram for ethanol production from ligno-cellulose

Biomass

Pre-treatment

Hydrolysis

Glucose & Pentose Monomers, Lignin

Cellulose, Hemicellulose, Lignin

     r      e        d      n        i      r       G

Fermentation

Product Separation

Fermentation broth

Ethanol Co-products

Energy

Energy

Enzymes

 

Yeast, Bacteria

Residue (process fuel)

Source: International Energy Agency, Agency, Gaps in the research of second generation transportation biofuels

Biobutanol is an alcohol belonging to the high alcohol branch and can be used as fuel. Like bioethanol, biobutanol is produced by fermentation and uses the same feedstocks. Therefore a bioethanol plant can be converted into a biobutanol plant and vice versa. Biobutanol can be mixed with gasoline more easily than bioethanol and can be used at higher blends in current engines1. The key difference between the first and the advanced generations of bioethanol is the feedstock: first generation is mostly based on sugar (sugar beet, sugar cane) or starch (corn, wheat, sorghum) derived from food crops, whereas advanced advanced generation biofuels are based on lignoligno-cellulosic cellulosic materials such as agriculture and forest residues, industrial wastes, or dedicated crops. These include, for example, switch grass, short rotation coppice or new varieties of corn or sugar cane2 which generally produce more biomass. From a technological point of view, advanced bioethanol is more complex to produce as ligno-cellulosic biomass must undergo a pre-treatment pre-treatm ent before the enzyme treatment that will release the sugar for fermentation into ethanol. 1.2 Biodiesel

Biodiesel is usually produced from oilseed rape, soy and palm oils. Improved production processes allow the use of alternative to feedstocks such as used cooking oils, animal fats and algae. Alternative non-food oil crops such as  jatropha may may also serve as a feedstock for biod biodiesel. iesel.

Using hydrogenation hydrogenation (the catalytic reaction of oils and fats with hydrogen), novel processes are being developed as an alternative to the well established trans-esterification procedure. procedure. This process can produce a high quality syndiesel from low quality feedstocks like tallow, used cooking oils and fats4-5.

Biodiesel (or FAME3) is produced through trans-esterification (a chemical reaction) of vegetable oils, but also residual oils and fats. W With ith minor engine A more recent process for converting complete biomass (from for example modifications,, it can be used either as a full substitute for diesel or blended crop residues or wood) into a “biodiesel” is the BTL (biomass to liquid) modifications into traditional diesel up to 20%. technology. This uses gasification or pyrolysis (chemical decomposition of organic materials by heating in the absence of oxygen or any other reagents) to transform biomass into syngas (synthetic gas) and retransform it into diesel or gasoline6.

 

 

BIOFUELS FACTSHEET

development? 2. What is the status of advanced biofuels technology development? Technologies

Laborator y

Pilot Plant

Demonstration Plant

Market

Sugar/starch ethanol Ligno-cellulosic ethanol Biobutanol Jatropha biodiesel

BTL Algae biodiesel

It should be noted that the technology development status (specially for the demonstration stage) is not homogenous in different part of the world. For instance ligno-cellulosic ethanol demonstration already exist in the U.S. and China. 2.1 Bioethanol and biobutanol

A number of demonstration plants to produce ligno-cellulosic ethanol Enzyme technology for making ligno-cellulosic ethanol will be available are now operating or under construction in the EU and in North America7. soon9. Full scale commercialisation commercialisation is expected to happen over the coming Regular updates on the development of production facilities are provided years, most probably before 2015. by the International Energy Agency on its website8. Pre-treatment effect on ligno-cellulosic material.

Source: (From Hsu et al., 1980) / International Energy Agency, Agency, Gaps in the research of second generation transportation biofuels

Biobutanol from fermentation was a process used in the first half of the 20th century. Though neither particularly efficient nor competitive with petrochemicalal processes, some production plants remained in China which petrochemic are now reactivated to produce biobutanol fuel. W With ith higher oil prices and environmental concerns several groups are attempting to increase the

biobutanol yield of the process to improve its competitiveness. Two large companies10 have developed plans to convert an existing bioethanol plant for biobutanol production as soon as the technology is available. They are planning a pilot plant to further develop the technology. It is expected to be operational in 2010.

 

BIOFUELS FACTSHEET

2.2 Biodiesel

Jatropha is a tropical and subtropical plant which contains more than 30% oil11. It is a potential new feedstock for the production of non-edible plantoils for energy use. It is currently grown and tested in countries such as India, Indonesia, Brazil and several African countries. In the future, it may become an attractive alternative to established oil crops, since it is an environmentally flexible crop with reduced water needs and hence has

the biodiesel synthesis process means that 100% of the feedstock is used15. This process should be commercially commercially available within the next five years. The development of BTL (biomass-to-liquid) for the production of synthetic diesel is most advanced in Europe, particularly in Germany. Industry is16  expected to have its first industrial scale production plant operational

potential to become a sustainable source of bioenergy production. The first within the next three to five years. crude jatropha oil was produced in 2008 and commercial fuel is expected become available in 2009/2010.12 The use of algae for the production of biomass and oils for biofuels is still in its early stages17. In the production process process,, algae can be cultivated in open With new processes under development, it is now possible to reuse ponds to capture carbon dioxide from the air. This CO2 can also be processed glycerol13  a by-product of the current biodiesel production process for as a waste product from power station, which is captured via closed glass biodiesel production. Biotransformation of glycerol into oils by means of or plastic tube circulation fermentors. algae and yeasts14 as well as the reintroduction of the residual glycerol in

3. What are the the advantages advantages of advanced biofuels? biofuels? Advanced biofuels mitigate climate change 18 by allowing further

Advanced biofuels produce useful by-products.   Like first

GHG reductions. For example, produced wheat biofuelsforby-products, by-products , theseorfuels used inAsother chemical strawemission only release 20g CO ²/km along its bioethanol life cycle while petrolsfrom release on generation processes, burned heat and power usedcanasbe fertilizer. an example, average 163g CO ²/km19. biodiesel from jatropha can be burnt in a standard diesel car while the residual press cake can also be processed into biomass to power electricity Advanced biofuels reduce pressure on food crops by developing plants. In mature plantations, every hectare can currently produce between Trials are also underway alternative fuels from non food feedstock and agricultural residues. 1,5 and 2 tonnes of oil and 3- 4 tonnes of biomass. Trials Moreover,, they can use waste products as feedstocks, reducing the amount to convert the residual meal from the crushing process into a valuable Moreover of agricultural waste to be landfilled or disposed of by other o ther mechanisms. protein source for animal feed use.21 Advanced biofuels reduce pressure on land use 20 as they require

Advanced biofuels are more flexible to market preference (diesel vs gasoline). With the BTL technology, syngas can be used to

less farmland to grow the same amount of feedstock. For example, lignocellulosic ethanol is produced using the whole crop instead of only easily produce either diesel or gasoline22. Equally algae can be used to produce accessiblele sugars and starch. Jatropha, can help avoid land competition as biodiesel through its oils and bioethanol from its biomass. Lastly biobutanol accessib it can be grown on marginal land that is unsuitable for food crops. In the can be used as both gasoline and diesel substitutes. future, biodiesel from algae could further aleviate pressure on land as it could be produced in fermentors. Biofuels CO2 profile saving by feedstock20

Feedstocks examples Bioethanol

Production cost

CO2 profile**

€/MWh

46 

Corn (US)

90 63

Wheat (EU) Sugar beets (EU) Sugarcane (Brazil)

69

Biodiesel

25

47 12

41

64

Rapeseed (EU)

40-80

59

Soy bean (US) Syndiesel BTL*

30-70 15

35

Wood* Other lignocellulosic feedstock*

60-105

42

25-60 15

(Fischer-Tropsch)

Second generation biofuel * Expected cost in 2020 ** Percentage of CO2 release for the corresponding fossil fuel (well to wheel)

Source: McKinsey; Eucar/Concawe/JRC well-to-wheels study, 2003, 2005

 

 

BIOFUELS FACTSHEET

4. What are the the challenges for advanced biofuels? biofuels?23 Advanced biofuels provide promising opportunities which several companies have already embraced in order to invest for the future. These investments aim notably to reduce the relatively high production costs, to improve the efficiency of biomass to biofuels conversion and to reduce the costs of biomass transportation, notably via a better biomass logistics system. Va Various rious technologies, which can optimise the use of crops or provide more efficient biomass pre-treatment are being investigated. Pre-treatment of biomass is technically challenging and constitutes a large part of the processing cost. In the case of enzyme-based ligno-cellulosic ethanol for example, a package of enzymes/microbes will be required for hydrolysis (breakdown (breakdo wn of cellulose to sugar) and fermentation; which adds significant process costs.

The commercialisation of biofuels and advanced biofuels will also mean that infrastructure to harvest, transport, store and refine biomass must be developed. To avoid unnecessary transportation, biofuels and advanced biofuels production could be coupled with the production of other biobased products in integrated biorefineries biorefineries.. An integrated biorefinery is a cluster of bio-industries, using a variety of different technologies to produce chemicals, biofuels, food ingredients and power from biomass raw materials. The benefits of an integrated biorefinery are numerous. The development of alternative feedstocks and cost-competitive conversion processes will mean cheaper and a nd more environmentally sustainable options for integrated biorefineries. This will also allow biorefineries to spread over a wider geographical region.

Source:Novozymes

 

BIOFUELS FACTSHEET

5. How can biotechnology contribute to advanced biofuels? Biotechnology is currently one of the most effective and innovative technologies we have to meet European targets for biofuel use, while reducing the adverse environmental impacts of transport and limiting increased cultivated land. Industrial biotechnology with its competitive, clean and clever use of biobased technologies can play a key role in making biofuels more sustainable. As an example, biocatalyzed bioethanol production from ligno-cellulosic biomass uses enzymes that convert (hemi)cellulose and organic agricultural waste to sugar. Innovation in industrial biotechnology, especially in the development of enzymes that can convert (hemi)cellulose with improved efficiency, is key to the development of advanced biofuels. These enzymes will reduce advanced biofuels production costs and make them cost-competitiv cost-competitivee with petrol-based fuels (to a varying degree depending on the price of oil per barrel).

References and Further Reading 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

British Petroleu Petroleum m and DuPont: Biobutanol factsheet http://www. bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/STAGING/global_assets/ downloads/B/Bio_biobutanol_fact_sheet_jun06.pdf Fernando Reinach, Votorantim Ventures, Brazil – presentation at IB World Congress, Toronto 2006 Fa Fatty tty Acid Methyl Esters http://www.nesteoil.com/default.asp?path=1,41,539,7516,7522 http://www2.petrobras.com.br/tecnologia/ing/hbio.asp Liquid Transport Biofuels - Technology Status Report, http://www. nnfcc.co.uk/metadot/index nnfcc.co .uk/metadot/index.pl?id=6597&isa=DBRow&fie .pl?id=6597&isa=DBRow&field_ ld_ name=file&op=download_file http://www.grainnet.com/pdf/cellulosemap.pdf http://biofuels.abc-energy.at/demoplants/projects/mapindex Novozymes

The challenges from agricultural requirements requirements to produce food and energy can only be met if we use all options available for increasing productivity and safeguarding harvests. Innovative crop protection products and plant biotechnology provide solutions to reduce the energy consumption in agriculture while conserving natural resources and contributing to mitigate the effect of climate change. Modern plant biotechnology and plant breeding methods have a key role to play in the quest to increase yields and quality in a sustainable way. Plant biotechnology also offers solutions to address technical requirements through the development of crops that produce more fermentable carbohydrates or higher yields.One notable example is modern canola hybrid oil-seed which can produce up to 20-30 percent higher yields on average than those achieved with regular hybrid varieties.

14

Neuron BPH, http://www.neur http://www.neuronbp.co onbp.com/ m/

15 16 17 18

Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia (IUCT), http://www.iuct.co http://www.iuct.com m Choren http://www1.eere.energy.gov/biomass/pdfs/algalbiofuels.pdf See also Europ EuropaBio’ aBio’s factsheet: Industrial biotechnology and climate change http://www.eur http://www.europabio opabio.org/Industrial_bi .org/Industrial_biootech/ tech/ ClimateChange_IB.pdf Liquid Transport Biofuels - Technology Status Report, http://www. nnfcc.co.uk/metadot/inde nnfcc.co .uk/metadot/index.pl?id=6597&isa=DBRow x.pl?id=6597&isa=DBRow&field_ &field_ name=file&op=download_file See also EUropaBio EUropaBio’’s factsheet: Biofuels and land use: http://www. europabio.org/Biofuels/L europabio .org/Biofuels/Land%20use_Biofue and%20use_Biofuels%20factsheet.pdf ls%20factsheet.pdf GEXSI Global market study on Jatropha http://www.jatr http://www.jatrophaophaplatform.org; Claims and Fact on Jatropha curcas L., Wageningen University http://www.fact-fuels.o http://www.fact-fuels.org/media_e rg/media_en/Claims_and_ n/Claims_and_ Facts_on_Jatropha_-WUR Source: International Energy Agency, Gaps in the resear research ch of second generation transportation biofuels. See also Europ EuropaBio’ aBio’s facsheet: Biotechnology making biofuels sustainable http://www.eur http://www.europabio opabio.org/Biofuels/Bio .org/Biofuels/Biofuels%20 fuels%20 Brochure.pdf 

19 20 21

22

BritishGlobal Petroleu Petroleum m andstudy DuPont GEXSI market on Jatropha http://www.jatr http://www.jatrophaopha23 platform.org D1 Oils http://www.d1plc.c http://www.d1plc.com; om; FACT – Fuel from Agriculture in Communal Technology Technology http://ww http://www.fact-fuels w.fact-fuels.org; .org; GEXSI Global market study on Jatropha http://www.jatro http://www.jatropha-platform.org pha-platform.org Other factsheets in the series available on:  http://www.europabio.org/ 100 kg of glycerol are produced for 1 ton of biodiesel, http://www. Biofuels/Biofuels_about.htm theglycerolchallenge.org/

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