Cellulosic Ethanol (CE)
Introduction to Cellulosic Ethanol
EC-funded projects on Cellulosic Ethanol
Inbicon Biomass Refinery for production of Cellulosic Ethanol
BioGasol Demonstration Plant - BornBioFuel2
Abengoa Commercial Demonstration Plant in Salamanca
Chemopolis Biorefinery for cellulosic ethanol
Enzymes for Cellulosic Ethanol production
TMO Process Demonstration Unit (PDU) for Cellulosic Ethanol
US Companies developing Cellulosic Ethanol plants
Novel pathways to Cellulosic Ethanol
Introduction
Cellulosic ethanol is chemically identical to first generation bioethanol (i.e. CH3CH2OH). However, it is produced from different raw materials via a more complex process (cellulose hydrolysis).
In contrast to first generation bioethanol, which is derived from sugar
or starch produced by food crops (e.g. wheat, corn, sugar beet, sugar cane,
etc), cellulosic ethanol may be produced from agricultural residues (e.g.
straw, corn stover), other lignocellulosic raw materials (e.g. wood chips)
or energy crops (miscanthus, switchgrass, etc).
These lignocellulosic raw materials are more abundant and generally considered
to be more sustainable, however they need to be broken down (hydrolysed)
into simple sugars prior to distillation. This may be achieved using either
acid or enzyme hydrolysis. Both approaches have
been the subject of continuing research interest since the 1970s, and large
investments are being made in the US and Europe to speed up development of
this route to bioethanol.
In February 2007 the US Department of Energy (DOE) announced an investment of up to $385 million for six biorefinery projects over the next four years. When fully operational, the biorefineries are expected to produce more than 130 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol per year. The goal in the US is to make cellulosic ethanol cost-competitive with gasoline by 2012.
Demostration plants for commercial scale production of cellulosic ethanol are also under development in Europe (e.g. Inbicon, Kalundborg and Abengoa, Salamanca).
In addition, a number of pilot plants are developing thermochemical/biochemical routes to create bioethanol from commercial waste and MSW.
Further information:
Research Advances - Cellulosic Ethanol NREL (PDF)
Breaking
the Biological Barriers to Cellulosic Ethanol: A Joint Research Agenda
The above page links to a downloadable high resolution version of the
diagram below and associated information on Cellulosic Ethanol.
© Copyright US
DOE Genomics Science Programme
From Biomass to Cellulosic Ethanol
View at larger size >>
EC-funded projects on Cellulosic Ethanol
BABILAFUENTE - Project for the Production of 200 Million Litres of Bioethanol in Babilafuente (Salamanca) from Cereals and Lignocellulose (FP5 - NNE5 - 00685)
BIOCORE - Biocommodity refinery (FP7 BIOREFINE 241566)
BIO-HUG Novel bioprocesses for hemicellulose up-grading (FP5 - QLK3
- 00080)
Further
information
BIOLYFE Demonstrating large-scale bioethanol production from lignocellulosic feedstocks (FP7-239204)
FibreEtOH Bioethanol from paper fibres separated from solid waste, MSW (FP7 239341)
LED (Lignocellulosic Ethanol Demonstration) - Industrial solutions from a global bioethanol player
KACELLE Kalundborg Cellulosic Ethanol Project (FP7). The aim is to bring the patented Inbicon Core Technology from a pre-commercial level to a near-commercial level, making the technology available in the market and attractive to investors (see also Inbicon Biomass Refinery below)
NEMO - Novel high performance enzymes and micro-organisms for conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to bioethanol
NILE- New Improvements for Ligno-cellulosic Ethanol (FP6 - 1982)
Inbicon Biomass Refinery for production of Cellulosic Ethanol
In March 2010, Great River Energy announced that it would use Inbicon technology in a $300m biorefinery to produce cellulosic ethanol primarily from 480 000 tons of wheat straw (and other agricultural residues) from a 70 mile radius. The refinery will be operational by 2015. The lignin produced as a by-product will be used to increase the efficiency of a nearby power plant [ Source: Great River Energy].
In Autumn 2009, Inbicon a subsidiary of DONG Energy started the construction of a demonstration plant in Kalundborg, Denmark to showcase the company's second-generation technology for large-scale production of ethanol from straw.
The Kalundborg plant (at the Asnæs Power Station) will also demonstrate
energy integration with a power station. Steam from the power plant will
cook the straw, and residual biofuel from the ethanol plant will be burned
by the power plant. Since the cellolosic ethanol plant produces more energy
than it consumes to convert the biomass, the end result is an energy surplus
that brings down the cost for both plants and demonstrates the efficiency
and financial viability of the Inbicon process
The demonstration plant will use 4 tonnes of straw per hour, equivalent to 30,000 tonnes of straw per year. Danisco Genencor & Novozymes have been pre-qualified as suppliers of enzymes. The output will be 4300 tonnes / 5400 m3 of ethanol per year. The plant will also produce 11,100 tonnes of molasses (65%DM) per year, which is currently used for feed, but could in future also be used for bioethanol or biogas production
DONG Energy has signed a contract with Statoil, who will purchase the first five million litres of Inbicon’s bioethanol.
© Copyright
Inbicon
Model of Inbicon demonstration plant
for production of cellulosic ethanol from straw View
at larger size >>
BioGasol Demonstration Plant - BornBioFuel2
The BioGasol process converts straw and other lignoicellulosic agricultural residues into ethanol, biogas, hydrogen and solid fuel with minimum use of water and low production costs. The process features a thermochemcial pretreatment and a unique fermentation process based on proprietary microbes, which convert both C6 and C5 sugars to ethanol. A demonstration plant on Bornholm island, supported by grants from the Danish Energy Agency (EUDP), will begin operating in 2011, using 27000 tonnes of dry feedstock to produce 7 Mio litres of ethanol per annum.
Biogasol is also in partnership wth Pacific Ethanol Inc to build the West Coast Biorefinery, in which BioGasol's technology will be integrated with an existing corn-based bioethanol plant. The project is co-financed by the US DoE. Operation is scheduled for 2011. The plant capacity will be 5.8 tonnes of dry feedstock per hour (straw, hybrid poplar and cornstover), and will produce 10 Mio litres of ethanol per year.
Range Fuels Two-Step Process
Also in the US, the Range Fuels Inc process uses heat, pressure and steam to convert cellulosic feedstocks (e.g. wood, grasses and corn stover) into syngas. In a second step the gas is passed over a proprietary catalyst to produce ethanol or methanol.
Abengoa Commercial Demonstration Plant in Salamanca
Abengoa is providing its proprietary process technology and the process engineering design for a BCyL Biomass Plant in Babilafuente (Salamanca). The Plant will process 70 tonnes of agricultural residues, such as wheat straw, each day and produce over 5 million litres of fuel grade ethanol per year.
The initial production process involves:
- Preparation of residues
- Pretreatment with catalyst and steam
- Cellulose hydrolysis and fermentation with enzymes and yeast
- Distillation to produce ethanol and a solid co-product
In the second phase of the project, processed biomass will undergo fractionation (a technology currently under development) to extract lignin, pentose sugars, and manufacture feed products.
Abengoa's demonstration plant is partially supported under the LED (Large Ethanol Demonstration) project.
Chemopolis biorefinery for cellulosic ethanol
Chemopolis, Finland has invested €20m in a biorefinery to produce cellulosic ethanol (as well as biochemicals and fibres) from a wide range of non-food biomass, particularly straw and bagasse. The biorefinery was opened by the Finnish Prime Minister, Matti Vanhanen on 4 May 2010. The plant can process 25000 t/a of raw material, and will also be used for testing raw materials and producing samples of bioethanol. The biorefinery processes are designed to be self-sufficient (with virtually no GHG production) and low in water consumption [Source: Chemopolis].
FibreEtOH Project
The €16.26m collaborative FibreEtOH project will run from 2010-2013, with €8.65m support under FP7. The project is coordinated by UPM-Kymmenne. Other partners include AB Enzymes GMBH, Skandinavisk Kimiinformation AB, Poyry Forest Industry ConsulatingOY, Sila & Tikanoja OYJ, ST1 Biofuels, Roal and Valtion Teknillinen Tutkimuskeskus.
The innovative focus in the FibreEtOH project is to demonstrate for the first time globally in a commercial scale, a cost efficient paper fibre based ethanol production with high, > 70 % overall energy efficiency with high > 50 % green house gas reduction. 2nd generation ethanol production technology has been developed using mainly corn stover, straw or saw dust as raw material. So far reliable and cost efficient hydrolysis technology has been the bottleneck for large scale commercial success.
By using paper fibres separated from commercial and municipal solid waste or de-inking sludge at paper mills, the hydrolysis process will be significantly easier as no pretreatment and special fractionation process is needed. It is estimated that such raw material is available in quantities for more than one million t/a ethanol production capacity. The EtOH production cost will be highly attractive due to the low price of the waste based raw material and the distillation steam compared to typical straw and wood EtOH production plants. The proposed demonstration plan with 20 000 m3/a ethanol production capacity will be build using 250 000 t/a waste from Helsinki metropolitan area in Finland. Biogas, district heat and electricity will be produced from the by-products.
The site and environmental permits have already been granted. The ethanol will be used in Finland in dedicated E5 E85 blends optimising the ethanol fuels to cold climate conditions and tail pipe emissions reduction.
The FibreEtOH-proposal will demonstrate innovations in a novel 2G EtOH production chain using optimized and cost-effective enzymatic hydrolysis process taking advantage of the adjacent enzyme production and the whole production concept with high overall process integration.
Enzymes for Cellulosic Ethanol production
A number of companies are developing enzymes for cellulose hydrolysis including Novozyme, Denmark, which produces cellulase and hemicellulase. In 2009, Syngenta entered into a collaboration agreement with Proteus, France to develop CE enzymes.
Codexis works closely with Shell and Iogen on enhacing the efficiency of enzymes for cellulosic ethanol production.
Dyadic optimises C1 Platform Technology for the development of novel enzymes to convert biomass into fermentable sugars to produce cellulosic ethanol and butanol as well as chemicals, polymers and plastics. Dyadic is currently a party to non-exclusive license agreements with Abengoa Bioenergy New Technologies, Inc. and Codexis, Inc.
Biométhodes has developed proprietary technologies within pretreatment and a unique enzyme solution for maximum cost reduction of ethanol production and valuation of all biomass compounds [Source: Biométhodes]. The company also aims to develop value-added applications for lignin. See also biohydrogen.
TMO Process Demonstration Unit (PDU) for Cellulosic Ethanol
In September 2009, TMO Renewables Ltd celebrated the first year of operation of its Process Demonstration Unit (PDU), the UK's first Cellulosic Ethanol plant. The PDU has been in operation 24x7 since 2008 processing a wide range of cellulosic feedstocks, which demonstrates the commercial viability of TMO's unique pretreatment and fermentation technology based on a strain of bacteria found in compost heaps.
© Copyright
TMO
The TMO Renewables PDU has succesfully
tested feedstock samples from major US Biofuels companies, and is now
looking to integrate its process at a commercial scale.
View
at larger size >>
© Copyright TMO
Inside the TMO Renewables Process Demonstration Unit, which includes 5km of pipework
View
at larger size >>
In Spain, IMECAL is working with CIEMAT and FORD Spain on the PERSEO pilot plant to demonstrate production of bioethanol from MSW. These partners, as well as AVEN, are also operating the ATENEA pilot plant to demonstrate the conversion of citrus wastes into cellulolsic ethanol.
View ATENEA
presentation from
SPM2
View PERSEO presentation from
SPM2
US Companies developing Cellulosic Ethanol plants:
In addition to the organisations listed below, a number of cellulosic ethanol plants and pilots operating or under construction in the US, were summarised by Gas2.0 in March 2009 [Sources: Biotechnology Industry Organization, individual companies].
Verenium (which has a $90m strategic alliance with BP - Vercipia)
DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol LLC
© Copyright POET
POET Cellulosic Ethanol Pilot Plant,
Scotland, SD, US, producing 20,000 gallons per year using corn cobs
as feedstock. The $8m pilot plant is a precursor to the $200 million
Project LIBERTY, a commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant that will
begin production in 2011.
View at larger size >>
Cellulosic Ethanol in Canada
Shell is working with Iogen (and Codexis) and the federal government to get Canada’s first commercial scale cellulose ethanol facility into production. Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), has been actively engaged in the transition of Iogen technology from development to commercialization.
© Copyright Iogen
Minister
John Baird’s vehicle fueled with Iogen’s cellulosic
ethanol at GLOBE 2008, Vancouver
© Copyright Iogen
World's first
filling station offering Cellulosic Ethanol - 10% blend from wheat
straw.
Lignol Innovations ltd (a subsidiary of Lignol Energy Corporation, Canada) operates a Cellulosic Ethasnol Development Centre in Vancouver, and is commissioning a pilot plant to produce bioethanol from lignocellulose (softwood, hardwood, agricultural residues). The technology is based on an thanol-based organosolv process aquired from Repap Enterprises (bought by UPM Kymmene in 2000). Lignol has signed an agreement with the US DoE for construction of a commercial demonstration plant (up to $30m). The plant is being planned with Suncor Energy, and has a projected input capacity of 100 tonnes a day [Source: IEA Bioenergy].
Novel pathways to ethanol
In November, OSE0 (Strategic Industrial Innovation Programme), France awarded €8.9m to the €21.4m DEINOL project, which aims by 2014 to open up new pathways for lignocellulosic ethanol production in existing industrial installations, without the need for large additional capex. The OSEO award included Euro €6m to Deinove for the accelerated development of new biofuels production processes based on the bacteria Deinococcus. The other partners include CPBS (CNRS/University of Montpellier) and LISBP (INSA Toulose/CNRS/INRA),
Green Tech America is developing cellulosic ethanol technology using novel strains of yeast. The process is based on research by Laboratory of Renewable Resources Engineering (LORRE), Purdue University, which developed GM yeasts in the 1990s to convert glucose and xylose to ethanol.
In November 2009, Delft University published research on GM strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae that have been engineered for use of acetic acid as an electron acceptor. The pathway would provide three major benefits for production of ethanol from lignocellulosic materials: elimination of glycerol, reduction of toxic acetic acid to ethanol, and increased ethanol yields. A patent has been applied for and industrial partners are reportedly being sought to further invetigate the potential of the process.