Syngas Derived Biofuels from Biomass Gasification

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Syngas Derived Biofuels from Biomass
Gasification
Geraint Evans National Non Food Crops
Centre York 5th February 2008
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Introduction

• Transport fuels market
• Drivers for developing biofuels produced from
  biomass
• Benefits of using biomass
• Advanced biofuels choices
• Thermochemical route
• Biomass to Liquids (BTL)
• Current status and progress in the UK

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Transport Fuels Market

• Gasoline
• UK consumption 17.8 million tonnes pa (Nexant)
• Declining by -0.5 per year (Nexant/Concawe)
• 165 g CO2 /km (Concawe)
• EU has excess production capacity
• Diesel
• UK consumption 18.5 million tonnes pa
  (Nexant/Concawe)
• Growing at 0.9 per year (Nexant)
• 159 g CO2 /km (Concawe)
• EU is short of production capacity, UK about in
  balance
• Aviation Kerosene
• Significant increase in demand (IP)
• Close to half of demand met by imports (IP)

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GHG savings, security of supply, declining fossil
fuel reserves, agricultural benefits
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Biofuel drivers are regionally influenced
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Its a Question of Carbon

• We live in an economy based on ancient sunlight
• We need alternatives to fossil carbon
• to provide
• Power supply
• Fuels for transport
• Chemicals and materials
• Reductions in CO2 and CH4
• emissions

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Current Biofuel Types

• Vegetable Oils (SVO)
• Biogas
• Ethanol
• Biodiesel (FAME)

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Current/Future 1st Gen Capabilities

• Current Capacity
• Biodiesel 400-500KT
• Further 600 KT in planning stages
• Bioethanol 55KT
• Further 1.9 MT in planning/construction stages
• Assuming a 5050 mix for 2010
• 1million tonnes Biodiesel will need approx
  1million tonnes of oil
• 1 million tonnes of ethanol would need approx 3
  million tonnes of wheat
• the UK typically has a 3 million tonne grain
  surplus, enough to supply the Ethanol requirement
• In 2006 the UK grew over 250,000Ha of OSR for Non
  Food uses and the number is growing, enough to
  produce about 400,000 tonnes of biodiesel.

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Prospects for the UK

• To meet potential UK market targets for transport
  fuels
• Assumes 50/50 diesel/petrol market split
  constant sales

Ref Amec Techno economic analysis
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First Generation Technologies Have Limited
Potential
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Routes to Advanced Biofuels

• Hydrogenated Vegetable oils (HVO)
• Provides a product refiners want
• Potential supply problems with plant oil
  feedstock
• Fermentation
• Ethanol
• Butanol
• Higher Alcohols
• Thermochemical
• Syndiesel
• Provides an opportunity to combine heat and power
  with fuels and chemicals
• Provides a product slate refiners want
• Syndiesel from natural gas already for sale

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Cellulosic Processes Give Improved Green House
Gas Savings
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Biofuel CO2 Savings Summary Data
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Cellulosic Biofuels yield potential

• Choren JV with Shell
• Biomass to synthesis gas to diesel
• Demonstration Unit operational in Freiberg
  E.Germany
• Potential to increase yield to 8,000l/ha
• World Scale plant 250,000tpa in 2008/09

Biodiesel

• 1,300 litres per hectare diesel equivalent

Bioethanol

• 2,500 litres per hectare diesel equivalent

SunFuel

• 4,046 litres per hectare diesel equivalent

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Cellulosic Biofuels looking for a renewable
carbon atom
Energy Maize
30 dt/ha
15 -18 dt/ha
Quelle KWS
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Potential UK feedstocks

• If predicted targets are correct we may need a
  further 4MT of biofuel for the period 2020-2030
  on top of that generated in previous years.
• If we assume all is met through advanced
  technologies we would need ca 20MT of biomass
• Current figures show the UK to have
• 10 MT timber
• 80MT agricultural wastes
• 7-10MT waste wood
• 7.5 MT paper and board
• 30 MT Food industry by products
• 4.5MT Digestible kitchen waste

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Gasification opens the way for a number of fuel,
energy and chemical production options subject to
feedstock availability
Ref Nexant
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Simplified Second Generation Biodiesel Process
The Biomass to Liquids Concept
Ref Nexant
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BTL yields a high quality synthetic diesel
product which is easy to incorporate into the
existing infrastructures

• Compared with petrochemical diesel
• 60 reduction in hydrocarbons emissions
• 55 reduction in particulates emissions
• Easy to integrate into existing infrastructures
• More efficient use of land compared to first
  generation processes

VW
VW / Choren
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Key Barrier Cost
Choren
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Approximate Cost Levels for Biofuel Technologies
The term usability is used here to describe how
easily the fuel could be used in the general
transport fuel pool in the short to medium term
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Thermochemical technologies are now moving from
pilot scale through to demonstration scale

• Choren (Freiburg, Germany)
• Partnered with Shell, VW and Daimler
• Semi-commercial unit of circa 15KT about to
  startup
• 200,000 tpa (5000bpd) commercial scale plant
  planned from 2011
• Range Fuels (Georgia, USA)
• Announced start of construction of 113,000 tpa
  syngas to ethanol plant in November 2007
• Flambeau River Paper Mill (Wisconsin, USA)
• Announced in November 2007 their plans to build a
  16,500 tpa demo plant to produce Fischer-Tropsch
  waxes
• Plant expected to be complete by 2010
• Future plans include construction of a larger
  scale unit.
• Stora Enso/Neste (Varkaus, Finland)
• Currently building a demonstration plant at the
  Stora Enso Varkhaus paper mill, expected startup
  is 2008
• Plan to subsequently build a 100,000 tpa
  commercial unit.

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UK progress

• UK is behind USA, German and others.
• BP research at Saltend (FT)
• Newcaste Univ (downdraft gasification and FT)
• Aston University (pyrolysis)
• Others
• NNFCC
• IBS team (NEPIC, Renew Tees Valley, North East
  Biofuels)
• Wilton
• Syngas process appears appropriate
• Research to be funded by One NE and Defra to
  develop project partners, determine most
  appropriate technology (economics) and LCA

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Biomass Supply Issues

• Logistics severely impact the cost of supply.
• Compromise between logistics and feedstock
  (variable cost) and scale.
• Choren/Shell set at 5KBPSD but reliant on one
  principle feedstock, namely wood.
• UK plant is likely to be a polyfeed facility

WOOD WASTE
AGRI- WASTE
BTLCOMPLEX
ENERGY CROPS
OTHER OPTIONS
OTHER OPTIONS
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Biomass Supply Issues Key Questions

• Bio-Oil or pyrolysis oil may provide the link
  between a broad range of biomass sources and BTL.
• Pyrolysis units could be localised and Bio-Oil
  moved in bulk ships to a centralised coastal BTL
  facility
• ECN in the Netherlands have examined the
  economics of various BTL pre-treatments with
  pyrolysis oil looking favourable for a Rotterdam
  BTL solution

WOOD WASTE
BIO-OIL
AGRI- WASTE
BIO-OIL
BTL COMPLEX
ENERGY CROPS
BIO-OIL
BIO-OIL
OTHER OPTIONS
BIO-OIL
OTHER OPTIONS
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Biomass for Bio-Oil and BTL

• Main forestation in the North West, South West
  and Scotland.
• Source Wheat straw from the Vale of York and East
  Anglia
• Source Miscanthus in the South East Midlands and
  East Anglia
• Logistics suggest movement of bio-oil to a major
  port site with local refineries.
• Humberside appears to fit simple selection
  criteria.

Fuels refinery Straw Sourcing Miscanthus
Sourcing Wood Sourcing BTL Facility
Scotland
Wales
England
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Biofuel technology continues to evolve. The
industry is now exploiting readily available
First Generation technology whilst developing
Second Generation process for the future

• Benefits
• Exploitation of wider and hopefully lower cost
  biomass feedstock base
• In the case of synthetic BTL diesel, provides a
  performance blend stock with enhanced properties
  refiners can exploit
• Enhanced GHG performance amongst other
  environmental benefits
• Opportunities for biomass-driven power-steam
  co-generation
• Challenges
• Increased capital cost
• Major increase in process complexity
• Reappraisal of agriculture need to meet biomass
  demands
• Increased biomass requirement per ton of biofuel
  leads to a need for an optimised logistics
  solution to avoid deleterious GHG performance
  upstream of the biofuel facility

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Conclusions Room to Grow

• Bio-Energy and Bio-Fuels are big business. The UK
  is behind the US, Germany, others, but activity
  is increasing
• First generation biofuel production capacity is
  emerging in the UK.
• Economics are difficult at present may improve
  as the RTFO comes in.
• Scope to optimise processes.
• Cellulosic biofuels
• give an additional raft of biofuels in addition
  to first generation processes. Likely to be
  needed beyond about 10 biofuel substitution.
• Technologies are emerging. These need to be
  developed at large scale for full benefits to be
  realised
• Syndiesel provides most useful product but
  process is expensive
• Huge potential for both UK agriculture industry

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Thank you
Website www.nnfcc.co.uk
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Routes via Syngas
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Global Average Surface Temperature 1850-2005
Ref Defra, Environment in your pocket
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Fermentation Route
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Biomass Conversion Fermentation Route

• more than 25 of lignocellulosic feedstock
  consists of hemicellulose, of which after
  hydrolysis xylose is the most abundant sugar.
• fermentation of C5 sugars is crucial for
  overall economics of cellulosic ethanol.
• after hydrolysis cellulose breaks down into
  glucose, a six-carbon (C6) sugar that can easily
  be metabolized by S. cerevisiae

Ref Tamutech