Winter Barley Ethanol – An Advanced Biofuel

Kevin HicksResearch Leader

Sustainable Biofuels and Coproducts Research Unit

Eastern Regional Research Center, ARS/USDA

600 E. Mermaid Lane, Wyndmoor, PA 19038,

kevin.hicks@ars.usda.gov

The US Biofuels Industry Today

Number of Ethanol Plants, Locations, and

Their Capacities as of January 19, 2010

200 Plants with 13 Billion

Gallons (50 B L) Capacity

~11 Plants under Construction

will Provide another

1.4 Billion Gallons

Total Capacity When

Completed = 14.4 Bil. Gal.

(55 B liters)

14.4 Billion Gallons meets

about 10% of our total

transportation fuel needs!

Corn is Still the #1 Feedstock!

>95% made from cornSource: RFA

What are Plans for Biofuels in the

Future in the US?

The 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act

Requires Aggressive Increase in Advanced Biofuels!

* Advanced biofuels is renewable fuel other than ethanol derived from corn starch

that is derived from renewable biomass, and achieves a 50 percent greenhouse

gas (GHG) emissions reduction (compared to gasoline).

*

The 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act

Requires Aggressive Increase in Advanced Biofuels!

What is the Status of 2nd Generation Advanced

Biofuels Production in the US?

Source: Biofuels Journal Sept/Oct 2009

2010 RFS called for

~1 billion gallons

Now: 8 Plants in

Operation with

Capacity of ~5 mgy

By 2013: 20 More

Planned and If Built

would have Capacity

of ~270 mgyUS Advanced Biofuels Plants Planned,

Built, or Under Construction

The Development of 2nd Generation Advanced

Biofuels is Behind Schedule. Why?

We are just learning how to make them.

Advanced biofuels such as cellulosic

ethanol are very difficult to make.

The EPA has now dramatically lowered

the expected level of cellulosic biofuels

to only 6.5 million gallons for 2010.

Key Improvements Still Needed

for Biofuels

Feedstock Issues

There are not enough non-food biomass feedstocks available

There is no present infrastructure for harvesting, storing and transporting biomass

Feedstocks that are available are expensive –major factor in biofuel cost

More attention should be given to developing non-food feedstocks that are more easily converted to biofuels!

Much research is still needed to provide abundant and inexpensive feedstocks that don’t compete with food production.

Fuel Fungibility Issues

Ethanol is incompatible with existing pipelines

and unmodified automobiles

Requires dedicated pipelines, fueling stations and

E-85 Flex Fuel Cars

Ethanol “Blend Wall” at present is 10% of fuels or 14

bgy unless more Flex Fuel cars are available

Recent thinking is to develop fungible biofuels

like “green gasoline and diesel”, butanol, and

other fuels that “drop-in” to the current fuel

infrastructure. This is a paradigm shift!

Economic Sustainability

The initial costs for most advanced

biofuels will be very high:

Plant capital costs are 5-10 times as much

as corn ethanol plants

Production costs are 2-5X corn ethanol

Much more research is still needed, both

basic and applied to lower capital,

operating, and production costs.

Environmental Sustainability

Need to ensure that biofuels actually improve the environment

Must determine Life Cycle impact of biofuels on the environment, esp. GHG emissions and water use – “field to wheel”

Indirect Land Use Changes (ILUC) When a farmer in US grows a biofuel feedstock on 1 acre of his food

cropland, he indirectly causes the destruction of 1 acre of Rain Forest

somewhere else in the world to replace that lost cropland.

New EPA rules for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2) penalize US biofuels producers by making them responsible for GHG emissions due to both direct and indirect land use.

We have to find a way to grow biofuel crops on land currently not in use, with no decrease in food production, with no deforestation.

Can We Make Advanced Biofuels from Feedstocks

that are Easier to Grow, Harvest, and Convert?

We need to think outside the “box”!

We need an advanced biofuel crop that:

Can be grown, harvested and stored using current equipment/infrastructure

Does not require any new land

Does not compete with food production

Can be economically converted to biofuel

Produces 50% less LC GHG than gasoline

Is there such a crop?

Yes! And for our Region of the US it

is Winter Barley!

Barley Is A Crop Grown Outside The

Corn Belt

These “barley

belts” can provide

feedstock for

ethanol plants

outside the corn

belt where

transportation

fuels and

economic

development are

needed!

Why Winter Barley For Fuel Ethanol?

Farmers on the East Coast and other areas with mild winters can grow barley as a winter crop, allowing double croppingwith soy or corn in the summer!

No special planting or harvesting equipment is needed.

This produces additional revenue for farmers and provides ethanol feedstock on land that would not have been used otherwise (winter fallow).

There is no competition with food production.

Winter barley acts as a cover crop, preventing soil and nutrient losses to the environment, saving the soil and the Chesapeake Bay.

Good for farmers, environment, ethanol producers, energy independence: win-win-win-win

Does Winter Barley Fit our Model for

an Advanced Biofuel Feedstock?

Must be grown, harvested and stored using

current equipment/infrastructure

Must not require any new land

Must not compete with food production

Must be economically converted to biofuel

Must produce 50% less LC GHG than

gasoline

Does Winter Barley Fit our Model for

a Advanced Biofuel Feedstock?

Must be grown, harvested and stored using

current equipment/infrastructure - OK

Must not require any new land

Must not compete with food production

Must be economically converted to biofuel

Must produce 50% less LC GHG than

gasoline

Does Winter Barley Fit our Model for

a Advanced Biofuel Feedstock?

Must be grown, harvested and stored using

current equipment/infrastructure - OK

Must not require any new land - OK

Must not compete with food production

Must be economically converted to biofuel

Must produce 50% less LC GHG than

gasoline

Does Winter Barley Fit our Model for

a Advanced Biofuel Feedstock?

Must be grown, harvested and stored using

current equipment/infrastructure - OK

Must not require any new land - OK

Must not compete with food production - OK

Must be economically converted to biofuel

Must produce 50% less LC GHG than

gasoline

Does Winter Barley Fit our Model for

an Advanced Biofuel Feedstock?

Must be grown, harvested and stored using

current equipment/infrastructure - OK

Must not require any new land - OK

Must not compete with food production - OK

Must be economically converted to biofuel- NO

Must produce 50% less LC GHG than gasoline

- ?

Major Challenges Using Barley for

Ethanol Production in 2001

Traditional barley had low starch content (~50-55%) compared to corn (~70%) – results in low ethanol yields

High viscosity of mash due to b-glucans –soluble viscous polysaccharides that make processing difficult and expensive and limits the feed use of the ethanol co-products, DDGS, to primarily ruminant animals

Because of these reasons, barley had rarely been considered as an ethanol feedstock in the US

How We Solved These Technical Issues

Working with breeders to develop better barley

for fuel ethanol production.

Working with Genencor, A Danisco Division to

use new enzymes to reduce viscosity,

increase ethanol yield, and develop energy

saving fuel ethanol processes

THOROUGHBRED DOYCE

Barley Breeding Was Accomplished at

Virginia Tech

Prof. Carl Griffey Wynse Brooks

Barley Breeder

Griffey, C., Brooks, W., Kurantz, M., Thomason, W., Taylor, F., Obert, D.,

Moreau, R., Flores, R., Sohn, M., and Hicks, K. Grain composition of

Virginia winter barley and implications for use in feed, food, and biofuels

production. Journal of Cereal Science. 51: 41–49. 2010.

Composition of Barley is Critical for Fuel

Ethanol Production

COMPONENT(%, DWB)

“NOMINI”- HULLED

FEED BARLEY

(POOR)

“THOROUGHBRED”

V.T. ELITE HULLED

(BETTER)

“EVE”- V.T. ELITE

HULL-LESS

(BEST)

STARCH 54.8 59.9 63.8

b-GLUCAN 5.0 3.9 4.1

PROTEIN 8.8 7.6 10.0

OIL 2.5 1.9 1.9

ASH 2.3 2.3 1.7

NDF 26.0 17.2 11.0

TEST WT (LB/BU) 48.1 52.9 60.8

How Did We Solve the b-Glucan

Viscosity Issue?

With better Enzymes Combinations of b-glucanases and b-

glucosidases convert viscous b-glucans into

fermentable glucose

This lowers viscosity and increases ethanol

yield because now both starch and b-glucan

are converted to ethanol.

Nghiem , N.P., Hicks, K.B., Johnston, D.B., Senske, G., Kurantz,

M., Li, M., Shetty, J., and Konieczny-Janda, G. Production of

ethanol from winter barley by the EDGE (enhanced dry grind

enzymatic) process. Biotechnology for Biofuels 3:8. 2010.

Fresh water

Milled Barley

Evaporation

condensate

SPEZYME® Xtra

OPTIMASH™ BG

30-33°C

pH 3.8-4.2

Steam

85-90°C

pH 5.2

85-90°C

pH 5.2

FERMENZYME®

L-400 + yeast

58 - 60°C

60 min

Thin stillage

OPTIMASH™ TBG

OPTIMASH™ BG

Urea

Barley EDGE* Process*Enhanced Dry Grind Enzymatic

Pre-liquefaction Liquefaction

SSF

b-gluco-

sidase

Osage Bio Energy is Building the First Winter

Barley Ethanol Plant in Hopewell Virginia!

Osage Bio Energy is Building the First Winter

Barley Ethanol Plant in Hopewell Virginia!

• Will produce 65 million gallons ethanol / year

• Will buy 30 million bushels of barley per year

• Will sell 170,000 tons/year of barley protein meal

• Will sell 50,000 tons/year of barley hull pellets

• Will sell CO2 to Praxair

Will Winter Barley Ethanol Meet the EPA’s

Requirement for an Advanced Biofuel?

If it doesn’t result in 50% reductions in

LC GHG emissions versus gasoline, it

must be sold as “corn ethanol” which

only reduces GHG by ~20%

The market already has enough corn

ethanol

We have initiated a LCA for winter barley

ethanol

A LIFE CYCLE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS

MODEL OF OSAGE BIO ENERGY’SWINTER BARLEY-TO-ETHANOL PROCESS

SABRINA SPATARI | ALEXANDER STADEL

Preliminary Estimates are very promising

Final Thoughts

The 2010 regional barley crop suffered from hot dry

spring weather. Yields and supply will be low.

Regional energy crops do not have the advantages of

national crops where supply from one region can

make up for regional droughts and floods, in another.

But we should never forget, that bioenergy, like all

agriculture, depends on the weather!

Other regional crops exist that could serve as winter

bioenergy cover crops: pennycress, for example.

These other regional crops could produce more

advanced biofuels, more farm income, and could help

clean up waterways such as the Gulf of Mexico.

Acknowledgements

ARS

John Nghiem, Andy McAloon, Winnie Yee, Edna Ramirez,

Frank Taylor, David Johnston, Rolando Flores, Bob Moreau,

Gerry Senske, Akwasi Boateng, Charles Mullen, Mike

Kurantz, Robyn Moten, Mike Powell, Jhanel Wilson.

Virginia Tech

Dan Brann, Carl Griffey, Wynse Brooks, Wade Thomason,

Bruce Beahm, and Mark Vaughn

Genencor, a Danisco Division

Bruce Strohm, Jay Shetty, Mian Li, Gerhard Konieczny-Janda,

Brad Paulson, Pauline Tenuissen, and Bob Randle

Osage Bio Energy

Craig Shealy, Joel Stone, Pat Simms, Eric Lee, Hank Bisner,

Bill Scruggs, Tim Richter, Earl Spruill, John Warren.

Thanks for your Attention!