Title: Development of Cellulosic Biofuels
1Development of Cellulosic Biofuels
Chris Somerville Energy Biosciences Institute UC
Berkeley, LBL, University of Illinois
2The Energy Biosciences Institute(www.energybiosci
encesinstitute.org)
- 500M committed over 10 years
- Research mandate to explore the application of
modern biological knowledge to the energy sector - Cellulosic fuels
- Petroleum microbiology (bioremediation,
biosouring, corrosion, recovery) - Biolubricants
3Combustion of biomass can provide carbon neutral
energy
Sunlight
CO2
Photosynthesis
Combustion
Biomass
Work
It depends on how the biomass is produced and
processed
4Net GHG emissions from various fuels
From Americas Energy Future, NAS 2010
5Overview of Brazil sugarcane
- 8 M Ha planted in 2009
- 27 B liters ethanol, 2009
- 80-120 T/Ha
- 6400 L ethanol/Ha
- 429 mills
- Plantings last 5-12 y
- Large mill
- 22,000 tons/day
- 750 truck loads/day
http//english.unica.com.br/content/show.asp?cntCo
de D6C39D36-69BA-458D-A95C-815C87E4404D
6Primary uses of US corn
USDA Economic Information Bulletin 79, 2011
7Renewable Fuel Standard(Energy Independence and
Security Act of 2007)
40
Biodiesel
35
General Advanced
Cellulosic Advanced
30
Conventional
Previous RFS
Advanced
25
20
Biofuel Volume (billion gallons)
15
10
5
0
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Year
8US Biomass inventory 1.3 billion tons
Wheat straw
26 B gals
Corn stover
6.1
Soy
19.9
6.2
Crop residues
7.6
Grains
5.2
Manure
4.1
Urban waste
2.9
Perennial crops
35.2
Forest
12.8
45 B gals
From Billion ton Vision, DOE USDA 2005
9Napier grass A potential energy crop(One-year
old crop growing in Florida, photographed in
October 2009)
Courtesy of Brian Conway, BP
10An energy crop
Yield of 26.5 tons/acre observed by Young
colleagues in Illinois, without irrigation
Courtesy of Steve Long et al
11Crop models for biomass production indicate
advantaged regions for biomass production
Fernando E. Miguez Steve Long German Bollero
12Harvesting Miscanthus
http//bioenergy.ornl.gov/gallery/index.html
13Response of Miscanthus to nitrogen fertilizer
20
N0
N60
15
N120
10
Yield (t/HA)
5
0
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Year
Christian, Riche Yates Ind. Crops Prod. (2008)
14Private forests are extensive
Alig Butler (2004)USDA Forest Service
PNW-GTR-613
15Land Usage
AMBIO 23,198 (Total Land surface 13,000 M Ha)
16More 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
17Agave in Madagascar
Borland et al. (2009) J. Exp. Bot.
doi10.1093/jxb/erp118
18Summary of Syngas-Liquids Processes
Richard Bain, NREL
19Ethanol Production Flowchart
Cellulose Process
Corn Process
Sugar Cane Process
Ethanol
Distillation
Drying
Ferment-ation
Sugar
SugarCane
Co-Product Recovery Animal Feed Chemicals
Starch Conversion (Cook or Enzymatic
Hydrolysis)
CornKernels
Cellulose Conversion Hydrolysis
Cellulose Pretreatment
Cellulose
- Miscanthus
- Switchgrass
- MSW
- Forest Residues
- Ag Residues
- Wood Chips
ThermochemicalConversion
- Heat and Power
- Fuels and Chemicals
Slide Courtesy of Bruce Dale
20Projected costs of gasoline from various sources
From Americas Energy Future, NAS 2010
21Breakdown of Capital Costs for NREL Biorefinery
Source Paul Willems from NREL design, May 2011
22Batch processes have many inefficiencies
Unused capital
Catalyst Loss Wastewater Boiler
Fuel accumulation
Sugar concentration
Time
23Hypothetical alternative scenario
Biomass grinding
Lignin removal
Enzyme recovery
fermentation
Enzymatic digestion
Fuel separation and volume adjustment
Solvent recovery
Enzyme production
Fuel use
Lignin use
Waste management
24Classical paradigm for the enzymatic degradation
of insoluble polysaccharides
Endo
Exo-processive
Gustav Vaaje-Kolstad, Bjorge Westereng, Svein
Horn, Zhanliang Liu, Hong Zhai, Morten Sorlie,
Vincent Eijsink (2010) Science 330 219-222
25Discovery of a novel enzyme class (CBM33 GH61)
- CBM33s are monooxygenases that introduce chain
breaks on the surfaces of crystalline
polysaccharides, including cellulose. They act
synergistically with standard hydrolytic enzymes. - Their activity can be boosted dramatically by
adding external electron donors. - Fungal GH61 proteins do approximately the same.
G. Vaaje-Kolstad et al., Science 330219-222
(2010)
26Sources of biodiesel
CRC Report AVFL-17
27Major types of components of FACE9A diesel
CRC Report FACE-1
28Routes to potential fuels
Fortman et al, Trends Biotechnology 26,375
29Concluding comments
- There appears to be significant underutilized
land but expanded demand for land will require
improved management of all land uses - Cellulosic biofuels can contribute but are not
large enough to be a solution to the
energy/climate problem - There are not technical barriers to production
but there are many opportunities to fundamentally
improve the production and diversification of
biofuels - Engineering and finance are the rate limiting
step
30The Future
http//genomicsgtl.energy.gov/biofuels/index.shtml