Court Rye: March 2008 Archives
There are still many hurdles to the profitable production of ethanol from cellulose on a large scale. Among them: convincing farmers it is profitable to collect biomass, finding the technology to cheaply digest cellulose into glucose, and making it logistically feasible to provide the vast quantities of material necessary.
And it needs to be on a very large scale. The US government has mandated that 30% of the nation’s petroleum needs be produced from renewable resources by 2030. With the amount of corn that can reasonably be produced for this purpose, it is estimated that 40-45 billion gallons of ethanol will need to come from other sources, primarily from cellulose.
Though the science for making ethanol from biomass is far from mature, it has come along enough to be economically viable with current subsidies. By paying about $35 per ton will make it worthwhile for farmers and others to provide the needed materials while keeping the raw substrate cheap enough to be practical. Transporting and storing the cellulosic materials necessary may prove more of a challenge. The material needed to supply a 100 million gallon per year ethanol plant would require 167 semi-trucks per day and would cover a 100 acre field 25 feet deep. Since current ideas suggest that most of the biomass would come from stover, switch grass, or other like materials, this mass would need to be collected, transported, and stored in a relatively short amount of time.
Or the biomass portion could come from smaller plants either co-located with a corn ethanol plant or strategically located near the source of the material. And the material itself may need to be thought of beyond stover and switch grass. In fact, some of these ideas are currently being implemented, often with the help of large, well-established energy companies, which may be key to pulling it all together.
Broin is adding a cellulose digestion component to its existing plant in Emmetsburg, IA, which will increase output capacity by 30 million gallons per yer (Mgy). Bluefire is ready to break ground near Lancaster, CA, to build a plant to produce 16.6 Mgy from landfill waste, with future plans to build near many landfills and garbage collection sites. AE Biofuels is building a plant to demonstrate a new ambient temperature cellulose starch hydrolysis enzyme technology. GM is partnering with Coskata, and hopes to produce cellulosic ethanol from waste materials for less than $1 per gallon. Chevron and Weyerhaeuser are partnering to produce ethanol from switch grass grown on managed timber lands as well as waste wood and paper.
With maturation of technology and development of new ways of bringing the materials to the plant and the product to market, ethanol made from biomass can be feasible and should be able to augment the current ethanol from glucose paradigm, if not replace it entirely.
And it needs to be on a very large scale. The US government has mandated that 30% of the nation’s petroleum needs be produced from renewable resources by 2030. With the amount of corn that can reasonably be produced for this purpose, it is estimated that 40-45 billion gallons of ethanol will need to come from other sources, primarily from cellulose.
Though the science for making ethanol from biomass is far from mature, it has come along enough to be economically viable with current subsidies. By paying about $35 per ton will make it worthwhile for farmers and others to provide the needed materials while keeping the raw substrate cheap enough to be practical. Transporting and storing the cellulosic materials necessary may prove more of a challenge. The material needed to supply a 100 million gallon per year ethanol plant would require 167 semi-trucks per day and would cover a 100 acre field 25 feet deep. Since current ideas suggest that most of the biomass would come from stover, switch grass, or other like materials, this mass would need to be collected, transported, and stored in a relatively short amount of time.
Or the biomass portion could come from smaller plants either co-located with a corn ethanol plant or strategically located near the source of the material. And the material itself may need to be thought of beyond stover and switch grass. In fact, some of these ideas are currently being implemented, often with the help of large, well-established energy companies, which may be key to pulling it all together.
Broin is adding a cellulose digestion component to its existing plant in Emmetsburg, IA, which will increase output capacity by 30 million gallons per yer (Mgy). Bluefire is ready to break ground near Lancaster, CA, to build a plant to produce 16.6 Mgy from landfill waste, with future plans to build near many landfills and garbage collection sites. AE Biofuels is building a plant to demonstrate a new ambient temperature cellulose starch hydrolysis enzyme technology. GM is partnering with Coskata, and hopes to produce cellulosic ethanol from waste materials for less than $1 per gallon. Chevron and Weyerhaeuser are partnering to produce ethanol from switch grass grown on managed timber lands as well as waste wood and paper.With maturation of technology and development of new ways of bringing the materials to the plant and the product to market, ethanol made from biomass can be feasible and should be able to augment the current ethanol from glucose paradigm, if not replace it entirely.
Biomass Resources
State Programs
