The trajectory of biofuels

Chris SomervilleEnergy Biosciences Institute

The Energy Biosciences Institute

• $350M committed over 10 years• Research mandate to explore the

application of modern biological knowledge to the energy sector– Cellulosic fuels – Petroleum microbiology (eg., corrosion, souring,

reservoir flow, remediation…)– Bio-based chemicals

2

BP

Combustion of biomass can provide low-GHG energy

Biomass

Photosynthesis “Combustion”

Work

Sunlight

CO2CO2

TillingLand conversionFertilizerTransportationProcessing

It depends on how the biomass is produced and processed

Net Energy Yield of Biofuels

Corn

Sugarcane

Stover

Switchgrass

Miscanthus

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Ratio

Wang et al., Env. Res. Lett7, 045905

The Long-term trend in food prices

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7284196.stm

Land Usage

AMBIO 23,198 (Total Land surface 13,000 M Ha)

Forest & Savannah

Cereal

4.6% Pasture & Range23.7%

30.5%

Other crops6.9%

Nonarable

34.4%

Brazil ethanol production 1948-2008(0.6% of land in Brazil)

Courtesy of Carlos H de Brito Cruz The São Paulo Research Foundation, FAPESP http://www.fapesp.br

• <9 MHa in Sugarcane

• > 200 Mha in cattle

• Legislation enacted toallow expansion of sugarcaneto ~64 Mha

• Conversion of residues to liquid fuel will expand production per Ha

• Expanded infrastructure and efficiency improvements will decrease costs

More than 1.5 billion acres of degraded or abandoned land is available for cellulosic

crops

Cai, Zhang, Wang Environ Sci Technol 45,334

Campbell et al., Env. Sci. Technol. (2008) 42,5791

Miscanthus gigantaeus: An energy crop

Yield of 26.5 tons/acre observed by Young & colleagues in Illinois, without irrigation

Court

esy

of

Ste

ve L

ong e

t al

Private forests are extensive

Alig & Butler (2004)USDA Forest Service PNW-GTR-613

Desert plants can greatly expand the availability of land for biomass production

(Agave in Madagascar)

Borland et al. (2009) J. Exp. Bot. doi:10.1093/jxb/erp118

Summary of Syngas-Liquids Processes

SyngasCO + H2

Methanol

H2OWGSPurify

H2

N2 over Fe/FeO

(K2O, Al2O3, CaO)NH3

Cu/ZnOIsosynthesis

ThO2 or ZrO2

i-C4

Alkali-doped

ZnO/Cr

2 O3

Cu/ZnO; Cu/ZnO

/Al2 O

3

CuO/CoO

/Al2 O

3

MoS

2

MixedAlcohols

Oxosynthesis

HC

o(CO

)4

HC

o(CO

)3 P(Bu

3 )

Rh(C

O)(PPh

3 )3

AldehydesAlcohols

Fischer-Tropsch

Fe,

Co

, Ru

WaxesDiesel

OlefinsGasoline

Ethanol

Co, Rh

Formaldehyde

Ag

DME

Al 2O

3

zeolites

MTOMTG

OlefinsGasoline

MTBE

Acetic Acid

carb

onyl

atio

n

CH 3

OH

+ C

OC

o, R

h, N

i

M100M85DMFC

Direct U

se

hom

olog

atio

nC

o

iso

buty

len

ea

cidi

c io

n e

xch

ang

e

Richard Bain, NREL

Distillation EthanolDrying

Co-Product Recovery

Animal FeedChemicals

Sugar Cane Process

Cellulose Conversion

Hydrolysis

Corn Process

Cellulose Process

Cellulose Pretreatment

Cellulose

• Miscanthus• Switchgrass• Forest

Residues• Ag Residues• Wood Chips

Ferment-ation

SugarSugarCane

CornKernels

Starch Conversion(Cook or

Enzymatic Hydrolysis)

Ethanol Production Schemes

Slide Courtesy of Bruce Dale

Batch processes have many inefficiencies

14

Time

Sugar

conce

ntr

ati

on Fu

el a

ccum

ula

tion

Unused capital

Catalyst Loss

Cell Loss

Wastewater

SolidsBoiler

Sugar inhibition

Fuel,lignin

inhibition

An ideal process

15

Time

Sugar

conce

ntr

ati

on

Fuel a

ccum

ula

tion

optima

Fuel R

em

oval

Sources of biodiesel

CRC Report AVFL-17

Electron micrograph of a cellin an oilseed cotyledon

Triacylglycerol

16

An example of hybrid fuels

17Toste et al, Nature 2012

Fermentation

Sugars

H2 H2 H2

Direct conversion of sugar to alkanes

Huber et al., Science 308,1446

Concluding comments

• Biofuels can have significant net GHG benefits• There is significant underutilized land available

for expanded biomass production• We will see a gradual transition from feed

crops to cellulosic biofuels (and sugarcane)• There are many opportunities to

fundamentally improve the efficiency of production and diversification of biofuels

• Drop-in and “hybrid” fuels will expand the types of fuels and extend supply

20

Outreach and communications

• No advocacy• Professional support for public

planning and regulation• Three publications to facilitate

dissemination• Several institute-sponsored

weekly seminars, support for departmental seminars, conferences, workshops

• Collaborative agreements with other major institutes internationally

• Biannual week-long discussions, retreat, Bio101, intro to EBI…

www.energybiosciencesinstitute.org