Pine Terpene Biofuels & Renewable Chemicals

Jennifer Lauture, MSc StudentGary Peter, Professor

School of Forest Resources & ConservationAlan Hodges, Extension Specialist,

Food & Resource Economics

Biofuels & Co-products

Extraction•Sugar – Ferment to EtOH– Sugar•Starch– Amylase + ferment

to EtOH– Oil, animal feed•Oil– Transesterification

to biodiesel– Glycerin

Deconstruction•Lignocellulose– Sugar Platform• Size reduction + degradation

+ fermentation• Power, lignin

– Gas Platform• Anaerobic digestion to biogas• Gasification + catalytic

synthesis to liquid fuel• Power

– Liquid Platform• Cracking / pyrolysis +

upgrading

1st GENERATION BIOFUELS 2nd GENERATION BIOFUELS

Come from domesticated plants breed & selected for concentration & yield of

edible food molecules

Non-edible parts of food plants & undomesticated grasses & trees which have high heterogeneity &

low chemical uniformity

Southern Pines: The Renewable Chemicals, Biofuels & Bioenergy Star

BIOLOGICALLY FEASIBLE• Grows on land not suitable for food

production• Year long carbon accumulation• Established growing systems based

on robust empirical knowledge• Early stages of domestication

– 3rd generation of breeding– Genetic engineering & clonal

propagation methods developed• Naturally synthesizes & stores lipids

& terpenes in wood– Inducible synthesis of terpenes in wood– Wood terpene content as high as 40%

of wood dry weight

SUSTAINABLE• Growth exceeds removals• High harvest index, energy positive,

carbon negative due to low inputs• Largest biomass supply chain in the

world serves large markets for “traditional” lignocellulose products

• High value markets for mono- and diterpenes collected as co-products– Pinene can be converted to JP-8 & JP-

10 jet fuels• Wood & wood pellets for electricity• Lignocellulose biofuels from pine

being commercialized?

Pine Terpenes• Pines naturally synthesize a

diversity of terpenes as defense compounds

• Terpenes accumulate in naturally to >20% in heartwood– Constitutive synthesis– Inducible synthesis

• Pinene dimers meet most specs for jet fuel

Pine Chemicals is a $3 Billion/Y Global Business

Pine

Specialty Resins

Pulp mill

Biosynthesis

Extraction

Crude Products

Final Products

Specialty Chemicals

Gum Turpentine

& Rosin

CTO & CST

Industrial Biofuels

Flavors & Fragrances

Live Tree

Wood Turpentine&

Rosin

850,000 Mg/y 450,000 Mg/y 5,000 Mg/y

FDACS Office of Energy Award: Develop Cost Effective Tree Tapping Methods

• Tree size & health with stimulators– Age– Stand treatment history

• Thinning– Fertilization

• Pinestraw raking– Fertilization

– Inducers• Methyl jasmonate• Ethephon• MeJ + Ethephon

– In-tree injection post tapping– Second year tapping of MeJ treated

trees• Experimental design detects

interactions between stand and tree features with inducers

• Test ARA (Applied Research Associates) hydrotreating method

• Target is < $800/ton

J. Lauture