08 Williams Biofuels · Gaddy - BRI (gasification, ferment syngas MSW, demolition debri, green waste 8-100 New Page Wisconsin Black Liquor gasification -to - liquid woody biomass

BiofuelsBiofuels

Woody Biomass to Energy Workshop September 14, 2010

UC Cooperative Extension Oroville, California

Rob WilliamsBiological and Agricultural Engineering

California Biomass CollaborativeUniversity of California, Davis

Contents• Overview of Biofuel Pathways• Starch to Ethanol (conventional ethanol)• Conventional Biodiesel• Cellulosic Ethanol• Thermochemical Biofuel Pathways

– Renewable diesel and hydrocarbons– Renewable synthetic natural gas

• Greenhouse Gas Emissions• Costs

Grains:Corn, Wheat, Rice, etc.

SugarcaneSugarbeet

Starch & Sugar Fermentation (biochemical)

Ethanol(Butanol also possible)

Biofuel PathwaysFeedstocks Conversion Fuel Product


SugarbeetSugarcane

Transesterification(Physicochemical)


Conventional Biodiesel(fatty-acid alkyl-esters, aka

FAME)


Plant oils, waste fats/oils,

(Algal oil, not yet commercial)



SugarbeetSugarcane



Conventional Biodiesel(fatty-acid alkyl-esters)


Compressed Biomethane(renewable natural gas)


(Algae, not yet commercial)Anaerobic Digestion

(landfills, waste water treatment, engineered

digesters)

Municipal / Industrial higher moisture:food and processor residues, manures, green and mixed waste, landfill and digester gas, etc.



SugarbeetSugarcane




Compressed Biomethane (renewable natural gas)


(Algae, not yet commercial)

Anaerobic DigestionMunicipal / Industrial higher moisture:

food and processor residues, green and mixed waste, landfill and digester

gas, etc.

Cellulosic Ethanol: Hydrolysis (Enzymatic/Acid)

followed by Sugar Fermentation

Lignocellulosic matls.Stover, cobs, straws, etc. wood residue &

Energy crops: switchgrass etc., short

rotation trees, etc.






SugarbeetSugarcane





Fischer-Tropsch Liquids(Hydrocarbons:Diesel/

Gasoline)

Methanol or mixed alcohols


Synthetic Natural Gas (compressed)



gas, etc. Hydrogen

Gasification (with post processing)





v

v vv

v

Syngas (CO & H2)


SugarbeetSugarcane






Gasoline)






gas, etc. Hydrogen


Pyrolysis(Bio-Oils)

Hydrotreatment/Cracking(i.e., Petroleum Refinery

Operations)Diesel and Gasoline





v

v vv

v




SugarbeetSugarcane






Gasoline)







food and processor residues, manures, green and mixed waste, landfill

and digester gas, etc. Hydrogen


Pyrolysis(Bio-Oils)

Hydrotreatment/Cracking(i.e., Petroleum Refinery

Operations)Diesel and Gasoline

Cellulosic Ethanol: Hydrolysis (Enzymatic/Acid)

followed by Sugar Fermentation





Ethanol Fermentation: Starch/Sugars• Well known technology (glucose fermentation)• Basis for corn grain-ethanol industry• Sugar feedstocks similarly fermented (e.g. sugar from sugar cane in Brazil,

sugarbeets possible)• Efficiency improvements continuing• Uncertainties regarding sustainability (Carbon charge from indirect land use effect

(ILU) for California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) is large: Corn EtOH is ~ same as gasoline for lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions)

• Ethanol is not fungible with petroleum distribution – pipelines

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

2 3 4 5Corn Price ($ per bushel)

Etha

nol P

rodu

ctio

n C

ost (

$/ga

llon) $12/MMBtu gas

$8/MMBtu gas

Photo; B.M. Jenkins

Conventional Biodiesel• Mono-alkyl esters of fatty acids derived from plant oils and animal

fats. • Sometimes called FAME (for fatty-acid-methylester)

– Fatty acid ethylester (FAEE) • Some potential for cold weather flow ability problems• Can have oxygen stability problems (shorter shelf life)• Production to ASTM standards important – Engine OEMs hesitant to

warranty due to off-spec product in the market.• Considered Commercial Process but product is not fungible with

current petroleum pipeline distribution system• Many oil companies not interested in biodiesel- - want a

hydrocarbon product from biomass that can be mixed / produced atthe refinery and distributed w/ fossil products (engine OEMs would be happier too)

• Cellulose, hemicellulose is the feedstock • Bound by lignin – tough to get at – and lignin passes

through process as a residue• Needs Pretreatment and Hydrolysis (cellulose

depolymerization--glucose release) to get to sugar molecules

• Opportunity to use– the whole plant (corn + stover)– Non-food ‘energy’ crops– Biomass residue (large potential amount)for biofuel production

• Should have improved lifecycle greenhouse gas performance compared to starch/sugar-to-ethanol

• Improved per acre biofuel yield for case of energy crops (sustainability issues need to be understood).

Not yet (again) commercial• Acid hydrolysis of wood one of earliest technologies for

fuel/industrial ethanol (WW I)• US DOE, NREL, Novozymes, Genencor work on

cellulase enzymes (enzymatic hydrolysis)• DOE has awarded $$ to multiple cellulose to ethanol

demonstrations (“Commercial Scale”)• Much entrepreneurial interest and venture capital

Cellulosic Ethanol Fermentation Using Lignocellulosic Feedstocks

Acid Hydrolysise.g., BlueFire Ethanol

Enzymatic Hydrolysis

• “Drop-in” Fuels or hydrocarbons (compatible with distribution and current engines)• Fischer-Tropsch diesels from gasified biomass (syngas : CO and H2)

– FT diesels sulfur free– Wide product spectrum including gasolines, diesels, alcohols, waxes, aviation fuels, higher value

consumer products– Yields expected to be 60 -80 gallons liquid hydrocarbon product per dry ton biomass

• Hydrotreatment, is hydrothermal upgrading of vegetable oils and animal fats, other lipids and esters (e.g. Shell, Neste, Petrobras, UOP) as well as Bio-oils from fast pyrolysis

• Low life-cycle greenhouse gas footprints• Capital intensive

– Desire large plant for economies of scale– Therefore requires large flow of feedstock

Renewable Diesel or Renewable Synthetic Diesels include(these are the hydrocarbon liquids oil companies are looking for):

Biomass

Pyrolysis(heating in absence of

oxygen)

Gasification

(partial oxidation)Synthesis Gas[CO, H2]

Gas Cleaning and ‘shifting’

This area requires much R&D for biomass systems

Synthesize with catalysts

Pyrolysis Oil(“Bio-Oil”)

Upgrading [e.g., Petroleum

Refinery]

Fuels:DieselGasolineAlcoholsMethaneHydrogen

Fuels:DieselGasoline

Synthetic Natural Gas (SNG) from thermal gasification of biomass:Recent awards from the Energy Commission (Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program)

Dual Bed Gasifier

Gas cleaning, tar reforming

Reform to Methane

CO2 scrubbing

Bio - SNG

G4 Insights Inc.

“Forest biomass conversion to compressed biomethane”(Placer County?)

$1.2 million award

Harvest Power / Agnion / City of San Jose“Urban wood waste to biomethane”(San Jose)

$1.9 million award

California Air Resources Board – LCFS various reports- see: http://www.arb.ca.gov/fuels/lcfs/lcfs.htm

0

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60

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) Fuel Land use change150-200%Coal to liquids

WELL-TO-WHEELS ANALYSIS OF FUTURE AUTOMOTIVE FUELS AND POWERTRAINS IN THE EUROPEAN CONTEXT http://ies.jrc.cec.eu.int/media/scripts/getfile.php?file=fileadmin/H04/Well_to_Wheels/WTT/WTT_Report_030506.pdf

Relative Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Alt. Fuels compared to conventional gasoline/diesel

DOE Cellulosic Ethanol Cost Targets ($/gallon of ethanol)

* http://www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/lswethanol.pdf

*

Source: DOE EERE Office of the Biomass Program, Multi-year Program Plan, App. C

($9/gge)

($4/gge)($3/gge)

(~$2.24/gge)

DOE production cost goals Ethanol prices and

* Source; Anex, RP et al., 2010 (Iowa State, NREL & ConocoPhillips)

Assumptions•Corn Stover•2200 BDT per day feedstock (~725,000 BDT/year)•$75/BDT feedstock gate price•~37 MM gallons gasoline equivalent (gge) per year

DOE 2012 Target costNear-term Assumptions by technology

Capital ($MM)

Yield (gal/BDT)

Yield (gge/BDT)

Cellulosic Ethanol 390 68 45Gasification then Fischer-Tropsch(BTL)

560 49 53

Fast Pyrolysis then hydroprocessing 280 49 53

New Study (2010 “In Press”*): Estimates cost of production for near-term biomass-to-liquid fuels (advanced) technology

Company Proposed Location Method Proposed Feedstocks Proposed Capacity(MM gpy)

Abengoa Bioenergy Kansas Combined Thermo- and Biochemical Stover, straws, switchgrass, other 11.4

Abengoa Bioenergy Nebraska Biochemical Stover, straws, switchgrass, other 11.5

AE Biofuels Montana Enzymatic Hydrolysis -Fermentation Switchgrass, seed, straw, stover small scale

BlueFire Mississippi Concentrated Acid- then Fermentation Sorted green and wood waste 19

BlueFire California Concentrated Acid- then Fermentation Sorted green and wood waste 3.1

Coskata PA Fermentation Biomass, MSW, Ag residue (40 thousand gpy)

Dupont TN Enzymatic Hydrolysis - then fermentation Switchgrass, stover, corn cobs (250 thousand gpy)

Ecofin, LLC Kentucky Altech solid state fermentation Corn cobs 1.3

Fulcrum Bioenergy Nevada Gasification / catalytic upgrade MSW ?

G4 Insights Inc. Canada / California Gasification to Synthetic Natural Gas (SNG) Woody residues Small demo

Harvest Power/ Agnion California / Europe Gasification to SNG Urban wood waste , maybe biosolids Small demo

ICM Missouri Enzymatic Hydrolysis -Fermentation Switchgrass, forage, sorghum, stover 0.5

Lignol Innovations Colorado biochem - organosolve Woody biomass, ag. residues, hard and soft woods 2.5

Mascoma New York Enzymatic Switchgrass, paper sludge, wood 5

New Planet Energy Florida Gaddy - BRI (gasification, ferment syngas MSW, demolition debri, green waste 8-100

New Page Wisconsin Black Liquor gasification -to -liquid woody biomass , mill residues 5.5

Pacific Ethanol Oregon Enzymatic - then fermentation wheat straw, stover, poplar residues 2.7POET Iowa Enzymatic - then fermentation corn fiber, cobs, and stover 31Range Fuels (Announces some methanol

produced – in startup- Aug, ’10) Georgia Gasification / catalytic upgrade Purpose grown trees and forest wood wastes 20

Rentech California, Mississippi Gasification / catalytic upgrade MSW, demolition debri, green waste 10West Biofuels California Gasification / catalytic upgrade Woody biomass, agr. and urban residues (100 thousand gpy)Zeachem Oregon Poplar, sugar and wood chips 1.54

(Some) US Cellulosic Biofuel Projects under development

California Air Resources Board – LCFS various reports- see: http://www.arb.ca.gov/fuels/lcfs/lcfs.htm

Thank You

Rob Williams

Development EngineerBiological and Agricultural EngineeringCalifornia Biomass CollaborativeUniversity of California, Davis

Email: [email protected]: 530-752-6623Web: biomass.ucdavis.edu

EISA* 2007 Biofuel Volume Mandates

* Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 http://www1.eere.energy.gov/biomass/federal_biomass.html

0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000

Ethanol

BTL-Syndiesel

Ethanol

Bio-Electricity

Hydrogen FuelCell

Bio-Electricity

Miles per dry ton of biomass

(35% efficiency, IGCC/cofiring)

(62 kg H2/ton)

(25% efficiency, current)

(110 gallons/ton)

(80 gallons/ton)

(63 gallons/ton)

Based on hybrid vehicle with 44 miles per gallon fuel economy on gasoline, 260 Wh/mile battery (source: B. Epstein, E2). Electricity includes generating efficiency, transmission, distribution, and battery charging losses. Ethanol, BTL-Syndiesel, and H2 include fuel distribution transport energy.

Miles per dry ton biomass (lignocellulosic)

Source: B.M. Jenkins

Documents

08 Williams Biofuels · Gaddy - BRI (gasification, ferment syngas MSW, demolition debri, green waste 8-100 New Page Wisconsin Black Liquor gasification -to - liquid woody biomass