biomass magazine - may 2008

Biobutanol:The Next Big Biofuel?

Researchers Hone in on the Technologies and MicrobesNeeded to Improve the Economics of Large-Scale Production

www.BiomassMagazine.com

INSIDE:TRANSGENIC TREES SLURP UP UNDERGROUND CONTAMINANTS

May 2008

Why Is Rotochopper So Special???

Why is it so hard to find a used Rotochopper? Why are our customers so loyal?

Intelligent Design

Technologically advanced grinders that make precisely the right particle size for biomass fuel, landscape mulch, animal bedding, wood flour, wood pellets, gasification, cellulosic ethanol, etc.

Thrifty, energy efficient grinders built for the 21st century and backed up with . . . World class factory service and support.

Give us a call and let a Rotochopper save YOUR world by grinding YOUR products . . . .

.

217 West Street St. Martin, MN 56376

608-452-3651 320-548-3586

http://www.rotochopper.com [email protected]

Grinding Ag Biomass Grinding Forestry Biomass

Electric Diesel

5|2008 BIOMASS MAGAZINE 5

INSIDE MAY 2008 VOLUME 2 ISSUE 5

FEATURES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 CELLULOSE A Commercial Biorefinery Update

Biomass Magazine presents timely information about the state of the emerging cellulosic

ethanol industry.

By Ron Kotrba

28 OUTLOOK Biobutanol: The Next Big Biofuel?

Improved economics have revitalized research efforts to develop the technology necessary

to commercially produce biobutanol.

By Jessica Ebert

34 FUEL Gas Naturally

In California, dairy manure accounts for up to 20 percent of the state’s available biomass waste.

One company aims to use that abundant resource to make biomethane to supply its natural gas

customers.

By Jerry W. Kram

40 ENVIRONMENT Using Peter Rabbit to Clean Peter’s Pond

Poplar trees implanted with genetic material from rabbits will be used to clean up

underground contaminants, utilizing a process called phytoremediation at a site where oil was

once stored.

By Sarah Smith

46 EUROPE Big Wood

Construction will start soon on a giant wood-fueled power station in Wales. But where will

all that wood come from? Where will the ash go? And why not use the waste heat?

By Simon Hadlington

52 RESEARCH Coordinating Biomass Research

Prior to European settlement, native prairie grasses were common in the area surrounding

what is now North Dakota State University. Like many universities, the school is now

cooperatively studying the capabilities of biomass.

By Mary-Anne Fiebig

DEPARTMENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

06 Editor’s NoteWhatever Happened to Journalism 101?

07 Advertiser Index

09 Industry Events

12 Business Briefs

13 Industry News

59 In the LabMile Marker 105:

Syntec Reaches for Economic Efficiency

By Jerry W. Kram

61 EERC UpdateA Solution for Greater Biomass Utilization

By Phil l ip Hutton

CELLULOSE | PAGE 22

ince the media seems to have an insatiable thirst for printing

negative news about corn-based ethanol, the commercial-scale

production of the renewable fuel from biomass can’t come too

soon.

The latest attack came from Time magazine in the form of a cover

story titled “The Clean Energy Scam.” One thing I’ve learned in my 16

years as a journalist is that the only sure way to know you’ve covered a

controversial issue fairly is if people on all sides of the debate are angry

when you’re done. However, it seemed pretty clear to me that this article

was written to benefit the people who want to preserve the Amazon.

That’s a fine, noble task, but doesn't make an adequate news article,

which, for some of us old-school journalists, requires it to be fair and bal-

anced.

After reading through the Time magazine article several times, I’m left wondering what happened to the

days when reporters had to back up big, sweeping statements with the facts or, at the very least, some num-

bers. Let's use this segment of the Time article as an example: “He sees fires wiping out such gigantic

swaths of jungle that scientists now debate the ‘savannization’ of the Amazon. Brazil just announced that

deforestation is on track to double this year …” As a reporter, if I had written this, the first thing my editor

would have said or shouted is, “Double? Just how many acres are we talking about here?” Then I would

have scrambled to come up with the figures necessary to prove my statement. Without those numbers, the

article would have been killed, or at the very least, that section would have been edited out.

Only once in the Time article does the writer actually give readers a sense of the size of the destruction

of the Amazon forest, and it’s in this statement: “This destructive biofuel dynamic is on vivid display in Brazil,

where a Rhode Island-size chunk of the Amazon was deforested in the second half of 2007, and even more

was degraded by fire.” Just by looking at Wikipedia, I learned that Rhode Island covers 1,545 square miles,

while Brazil is a sprawling 3.29 million square miles. I suppose those numbers wouldn’t have gotten the

punch the writer was hoping for when he proposed this piece to his editors. Then he goes on to talk about

palm oil, writing, “Malaysia is converting forests into palm oil farms so rapidly that it's running out of unculti-

vated land.” That’s a pretty bold statement to make without providing any of the dirty details.

It’s not that I don’t believe there are acres of the Amazon being converted to grow soybeans. In fact,

based on the price of soybeans, I’m sure it is happening—and bound to continue. However, it’s reckless to

write an article about it in a highly read, well-respected magazine without substantiating any of the claims

with some good, hard numbers.

That being said, don’t even get me started on the lack of facts to back up this statement: “Even cellu-

losic ethanol made from switchgrass, which has been promoted by eco-activists and eco-investors as well

as by President Bush as the fuel of the future, looks less green than oil-derived gasoline.”

6 BIOMASS MAGAZINE 5|2008

editor ’sNOTE

Whatever Happened to Journalism 101?

S

Rona JohnsonFeatures Editor

[email protected]


EDITORIAL

Tom Bryan EDITORIAL DIRECTOR [email protected]

Jessica Sobolik MANAGING EDITOR [email protected]

Dave Nilles CONTRIBUTIONS EDITOR [email protected]

Rona Johnson FEATURES EDITOR [email protected]

Ron Kotrba SENIOR STAFF WRITER [email protected]

Anduin Kirkbride McElroy STAFF WRITER [email protected]

Jerry W. Kram STAFF WRITER [email protected]

Susanne Retka Schill STAFF WRITER [email protected]

Bryan Sims STAFF WRITER [email protected]

Jessica Ebert STAFF WRITER [email protected]

Sarah Smith STAFF WRITER [email protected]

Kris Bevill STAFF WRITER [email protected]

Timothy Charles Holmseth STAFF WRITER [email protected]

Marc Hequet INTERNATIONAL EDITOR [email protected]

Hope Deutscher ONLINE EDITOR [email protected]

Jan Tellmann COPY EDITOR [email protected]

Craig A. Johnson PLANT LIST & CONSTRUCTION EDITOR [email protected]

Amber Armstrong ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT [email protected]

ART

Jaci Satterlund ART DIRECTOR [email protected]

Elizabeth Slavens GRAPHIC DESIGNER [email protected]

Sam Melquist GRAPHIC DESIGNER [email protected]

Jack Sitter GRAPHIC DESIGNER [email protected]

PUBLISHING & SALES

Mike Bryan PUBLISHER & CEO [email protected]

Kathy Bryan PUBLISHER & PRESIDENT [email protected]

Joe Bryan VICE PRESIDENT OF MEDIA [email protected]

Matthew Spoor SALES DIRECTOR [email protected]

Howard Brockhouse SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER [email protected]

Clay Moore ACCOUNT MANAGER [email protected]

Jeremy Hanson ACCOUNT MANAGER [email protected]

Chad Ekanger ACCOUNT MANAGER [email protected]

Chip Shereck ACCOUNT MANAGER [email protected]

Tim Charles ACCOUNT MANAGER [email protected]

Marty Steen ACCOUNT MANAGER [email protected]

Marla DeFoe ADVERTISING COORDINATOR [email protected]

Jessica Beaudry SUBSCRIPTION MANAGER [email protected]

Jason Smith SUBSCRIBER ACQUISITION MANAGER [email protected]

Erika Wishart ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT [email protected]

Christie Anderson ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT [email protected]

Subscriptions Subscriptions to BiomassMagazine are available for just $24.95

per year within the United States, $39.95

for Canada and Mexico, and $49.95 for

any country outside North America.

Subscription forms are available online

(www.BiomassMagazine.com), by mail

or by fax. If you have questions, please

contact Jessica Beaudry at (701) 746-

8385 or [email protected].

Back Issues & Reprints Select back

issues are available for $3.95 each, plus

shipping. To place an order, contact

Subscriptions at (701) 746-8385 or

[email protected].

Article reprints are also available for a

fee. For more information, contact

Christie Anderson at (701) 746-8385 or

[email protected].

Advertising Biomass Magazine provides

a specific topic delivered to a highly tar-

geted audience. We are committed to

editorial excellence and high-quality print

production. To find out more about

Biomass Magazine advertising opportu-

nities or to receive our Editorial Calendar

& Rate Card, please contact Matthew

Spoor at (701) 746-8385 or mspoor

@bbibiofuels.com.

Letters to the Editor We welcome letters

to the editor. Send to Biomass MagazineLetters to the Editor, 308 2nd Ave. N.,

Suite 304, Grand Forks, ND 58203 or e-

mail to [email protected]. Please

include your name, address and phone

number. Letters may be edited for clarity

and/or space.

advertiserINDEX

2008 Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo 60

Advanced Trailer Industries 54

BBI Community Initiative To Improve Energy Sustainability 39

BBI Project Development 11, 36, 57 & 63

www.biodiesel-jobs.com 33

Biofuels Australasia 27

Biofuels Canada 10 & 51

Christianson & Associates PLLP 42

Distillers Grains Quarterly 8

DuPont Chemical Solutions Enterprise 2

Energy from Biomass and Waste Expo & Conference 25

Energy & Environmental Research Center 21

Ethanol Producer Magazine 26 & 45

www.ethanol-jobs.com 58 & 62

Cert no. SCS-COC-00648

FCStone 43

Geomembrane Techonologies Inc. 50

International Biomass ’08 Conference & Trade Show 3

New Horizon Corp. 31

Percival Scientific Inc. 44

Price Biostock Services 55

Rath, Young and Pignatelli PC 30

Robert-James Sales Inc. 64

Rotochopper Inc. 4

Taylor Biomass Energy LLC 48

The Teaford Co. Inc. 56

Vooner FloGard Corp. 49

Waste to Energy: International Exhibition & Conference for Energy from Waste and Biomass 37

30th Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals

May 4-7, 2008Astor Crowne Plaza HotelNew Orleans, LouisianaHosted by Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the National Renewable EnergyLaboratory, this event will feature discussions of the latest research break-throughs and results in biotechnology for fuels and chemicals. Twelve dual tech-nical sessions will accommodate 80 presentations, and there will also be a ple-nary session and two poster sessions. Plus, an evening session will highlightinternational bioenergy centers.(703) 691-3357, ext. 26 www.simhq.org/meetings/30symp/index.html

Second Generation Biofuels Development Summit

May 13-16, 2008Sheraton Inner Harbor HotelBaltimore, MarylandThe first half of this event will focus on innovations in biofuels, while the secondhalf will address the commercialization of second-generation biofuels. Topics inthe first portion highlight biomass-to-biofuels production, including cellulosicethanol and biobutanol. Topics in the second portion will discuss financing bio-fuels development, strategy, alliances, international development, and emergingfeedstocks and process technologies. There will also be a hands-on workshopto discuss the implementations of the Energy Independence & Security Act of2007.(781) 972-5400 www.biofuels-summit.com

Renewable Energy Finance & Investment Summit

May 19-21, 2008Firesky Resort & SpaScottsdale, ArizonaThis third annual event, themed “Exploring Key Deals & Developments in theRenewable Fuel & Renewable Power Markets,” will discuss finance structures,deal mechanics, tax incentives, investment trends, efficient technologies, regu-latory changes and creative financing solutions. Three tracks address renew-able power, biofuels, and carbon and greenhouse gas emissions. A separateworkshop will detail renewable energy project finance fundamentals.(704) 889-1287 www.frallc.com

24th Annual InternationalFuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo

June 16-19, 2008Opryland Hotel & Convention CenterNashville, TennesseeThis conference will follow the record-breaking 2007 event, in which more than500 exhibitors were on display and more than 5,300 people attended. The pre-liminary agenda includes general sessions, concurrent technical workshops andvarious networking opportunities. (719) 539-0300 www.fuelethanolworkshop.com

BIO International Convention

June 17-20, 2008San Diego Convention CenterSan Diego, CaliforniaThis event covers many biotechnology topics, including biofuels and cleantech,which will be the focus of a pre-conference session held June 16. (202) 962-6655 www.bio2008.org

Biofuels 2010:The Next Generation

June 23-24, 2008Hilton AmericasHouston, TexasThis event will cover the latest innovations, developments and regulations with-in the biofuels industry. Topics include cellulosic ethanol; feedstocks such asMiscanthus; the commercialization of ethanol and biomass; and the integrationof refining and biorefining.(416) 214-3400 www.biofuels2010.com

Biomass ’08 Technical Workshop

July 15-16, 2008Alerus CenterGrand Forks, North Dakota This event, hosted by the Energy & Environmental Research Center, will discusstrends and opportunities in utilizing biomass, biomass feedstocks, policies andincentives, cellulosic ethanol, financing, biorefineries for chemicals and otherproducts, and biomass for heat and electricity, among many other topics.(701) 777-5246 www.undeerc.org/biomass08

Energy from Biomass and Waste

October 14-16, 2008David L. Lawrence Convention CenterPittsburgh, Pennsylvania More than 1,000 people are expected to attend this event, which will addresssustainable waste management, the commercial viability of waste-to-energyand biomass-to-energy technologies, positive effects of energy from biomassand waste programs, domestic and international markets, business opportuni-ties, and legal and financial issues. More than 100 exhibitors will showcase thelatest in sustainable energy production and safe waste handling, as well. +49-2802-948484-0 www.ebw-expo.com

industryevents



Renegy starts production, reports financial lossRenegy Holdings Inc. began testing at its new 24-megawatt

biomass power plant in Snowflake, Ariz., in late March. Thenews accompanied fourth-quarter financial results showing an$11 million loss, which Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerBob Worsley attributed partly to one-time items and merger-related costs. In February, the company appointed Hugh Smithto the position of chief operating officer. Prior to joiningRenegy, Smith was employed with EnergyCo LLC, PNMResources and Tampa Electric Co. BIO

Stock Fairfield provides equipment for biomass power plant

In early March,Stock FairfieldCorp., part ofSchenck ProcessGroup, completedthe installation of abelt conveyor, chainconveyor, magneticseparator and duct-work at a poultry-litter-fueled powerplant operated by Fibrominn in Benson, Minn. Fibrominn is asubsidiary of Philadelphia-based Fibrowatt LLC, which wasfounded in 2000 by the management team that built the world’sfirst poultry-litter-to-energy power plants in the UnitedKingdom. BIO

Colusa completes restructuring,obtains research funding

Colusa Biomass Energy Corp. has completed a restructur-ing plan that injected $4 million into the company for biomassresearch. The transaction with Pan Gen Global PLC in Marchgave Colusa funds to explore the commercialization of con-verting waste rice straw and hulls into ethanol. Colusa’s busi-ness operations will be concentrated in a new entity calledColusa Biomass Inc., headquartered in Reno. It hopes to raisean additional $40 million to complete the engineering and con-struction of its first biorefinery. BIO

businessBRIEFS

Nexterra receives innovation awardAt the Globe Foundation’s 10th biennial trade fair and con-

ference in Vancouver in mid-March, Nexterra Energy Corp. wasgiven the Award for Technology Innovation and Application forits gasification technology that converts biomass into synthesisgas. The award was presented to Nexterra Chief ExecutiveOfficer Jonathon Rhone at a dinner held in conjunction with theconference. “Tonight’s awards demonstrate that companies nolonger have to choose between what’s good for the environmentand what’s good for the bottom line,” Rhone said. BIO

Chevron,Weyerhaeuser partnerChevron Corp. and Weyerhaeuser Co. have

joined forces to create Catchlight Energy LLC, aresearch and development company working toconvert cellulosic biofuels into low-carbon bio-fuels. Michael Burnside of Chevron has beenappointed chief executive officer of the newentity. Both companies will contribute financial resources andemployees to the venture. Although Weyerhaeuser is one of theworld’s largest integrated forest products companies, companyspokesman Bruce Amundson said the initial focus of Catchlightwill be to use switchgrass as a feedstock. BIO

Biomass is transported on this Stock Fairfield belt conveyor in the poultry-litter-fueled power plant operated by Fibrominn in Benson, Minn.

Changing World Technologies receives awardChanging World Technologies Inc. in West Hempstead,

New York, has been given the Most Innovative Patent Award inthe Environment & Energy category by the Long IslandTechnology Hall of Fame. Brian Appel, chief executive officerof CWT, accepted the award at the hall of fame’s 2008 awardsceremony March 6. CWT’s thermal conversion process is a com-mercially viable method of reforming organic waste that con-verts approximately 250 tons of turkey offal and fats per day intoapproximately 500 barrels of renewable diesel. BIO

PH

OTO

: STO

CK

EQ

UIP

ME

NT

CO

.


industryNEWS

Companies collaborate on biogasoline productionWisconsin-based Virent Energy Systems

Inc. and international petroleum giant ShellGroup have completed the first year of a five-year joint research project to develop “bioga-soline.” The companies have been working toconvert plant sugars directly into biogasolineand biogasoline blends using Virent’s aque-ous-phase reforming process, trademarkedBioForming, and are on track to produce thefuel at a commercial scale by 2010.

Virent’s process involves using a solid-state catalyst to convert a variety of processsugars into hydrocarbons. According toVirent President and Chief Executive OfficerEric Apfelbach, the BioForming process is alow-temperature technology and is scaleableto fit in an economic feedstock radius. Theprocess allows a wide range of feedstocks tobe used and is water-positive. Perhaps themost significant benefit of all is that the bio-gasoline will be compatible with existinggasoline infrastructures. “We really thinkwe’re out to a lead here, and we think we can

maintain that lead,” Apfelbach said. “Withpartners like Honda, Shell and Cargill, wehave everything we need to expand this on aglobal scale. We’ve got customers that willbuy 1 billion gallons of this fuel tomorrow ifwe can make it today. So we’ve really got to

get that job done and give them a billion gal-lons.”

Apfelbach said milestones set for theproject have been exceeded up to this point,and work will now begin on producing bioga-soline at a commercial scale. He projectsVirent will be operating a 2,600-gallondemonstration facility by 2010. The facility’slocation is yet to be determined and willdepend on the location of cheap feedstock, aswell as what is determined to be the beststrategic way to enter the gasoline market,Apfelbach said.

Most of the work is being done byVirent researchers at the company’s 30,000-square-foot catalytic biorefinery in Madison,Wis. Shell plays a supporting role in the pro-gram, and will continue to supply knowledgeon catalytic processing and verify that theproduct will be completely interchangeablewith conventional gasoline infrastructures.

-Kris Bevill

International event to discuss biobased jet fuelSolena Group, a Washington, D.C.-

based company developing a commercial-scale biobased jet fuel production plant,will be discussing synthetic aviation fuel atthe ASTM International AviationSubcommittee meeting in Warsaw, Poland,on June 3-5.

Among other topics, the meeting willinclude updates on proposals for aviationfuels produced from the Fischer-Tropschprocess and a review of a fully syntheticaviation fuel produced by South Africa-based Sasol for the JohannesburgInternational Airport. In early April, thecompany became the first in the world toreceive international approval for its 100percent synthetic jet fuel produced by itsproprietary coal-to-liquids process. Theapproval, which was sanctioned by global

aviation fuel specification authorities,allows the company’s fully synthetic fuel tobe used in commercial airliners. Sasolclaims the engine-out emissions of its jetfuel are lower than those from crude-oil-based jet fuel due to its limited sulfur con-tent.

Solena intends to build its biobased jetfuel facility in Gilroy, Calif. The company isin the permitting and engineering phase ofdevelopment, and the plant is scheduled tobe operational in 2011. It will produce 17MMgy of syngas generated from munici-pal, agricultural and forestry waste provid-ed by Norcal Waste Systems Inc., one ofCalifornia’s largest municipal waste andbiomass collectors.

The Solena facility will be developed,designed, built, owned and operated by

several corporations, including Solena andRentech Inc., a coal-to-liquid productioncompany that will use the biobased syngasas a replacement for syngas generated fromcoal or natural gas. Financing for the $250million plant is being arranged in London.Solena’s production process incorporates ahigh-temperature gasification reactor pow-ered by a plasma heating system. Thebiobased syngas is then cooled, cleanedand funneled through Rentech’s FischerTropsch technology into equipment thatconverts it to clean-diesel liquid fuel, whichis then upgraded to jet fuel. The fuel canwithstand temperatures down to 50degrees below zero, according to RobertDo, chief executive officer of Solena.

-Jerry W. Kram

Virent cofounder Randy Cortright holds a beakerfilled with the company’s biogasoline.

PH

OT

O:

VIR

EN

TE

NE

RG

YS

YS

TE

MS

IN

C.


industryNEWS

AE Biofuels Inc., which is working todevelop next-generation biofuels, announcedin February that it had begun construction ofa commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol demon-stration facility in Butte, Mont.

The company aims to integrate cellu-losic ethanol production into starch-basedprocesses to lower costs and increase effi-ciency. The key to this integrated process isAE Biofuels’ patent-pending enzyme tech-nology for the conversion of crop wastes, orenergy crops like switchgrass or Miscanthus,into sugars that can be fermented intoethanol. The plant is expected to be fullyoperational in the second quarter of 2008.

The enzyme technology was acquiredfrom Renewable Technology Corp. Theenzymes function at ambient temperatures,which eliminate the up-front cooking andcooling process, and reduces water and ener-gy usage. “Our technology has been shownto significantly reduce the consumption ofenergy and water in the production ofethanol, and allows us to utilize a combina-tion of nonfood and traditional feedstock

inputs,” said Erick McAfee, chairman andchief executive officer of AE Biofuels.“Applications of the patent-pending ATCSH(ambient temperature cellulose starch hydrol-ysis) technology may also include licensing orjoint ventures with sugarcane-to-ethanolplants.”

The company is currently evaluatingsites for the construction of a large-scalecommercial facility. AE Biofuels owns

ethanol plant sites in Danville, Ill., andSutton, Neb., and holds options for fouradditional permitted ethanol plant sites inIllinois. Although the company will ultimate-ly test multiple feedstocks, it will initiallyfocus on various types of straw and cornstover.

-Jessica Ebert

AE Biofuels to build cellulosic ethanol demo plant

Anaerobic digestion demo wraps up in WisconsinA Wisconsin company recently complet-

ed a research and development projectthrough the commercial demonstration of ahigh-solids, two-phase anaerobic digester.Afterward, Mark Heffernan, president ofBio-Products Engineering Corp., said hiscompany’s product is probably five yearsaway from commercial operation.

In traditional anaerobic digestion, thefeedstock is placed in one tank, wheremicrobes digest it first into acid and then intomethane. In the two-phase method, whichwas first brought to commercial scale in the1970s, the acid and methane phases are sepa-rated. “When you separate the two microbialpopulations, you end up with capabilities thata conventional system doesn’t have,”Heffernan said. “We’re taking the two-phasemethodology and applying it to high solids.”

The solid-loading content of conven-tional, two-phase systems runs between 2

percent and 6 percent, he said. High-ratedigesters can operate with a solid-loadingcontent of 8 percent. Bio-ProductsEngineering spent the past four years devel-oping the acid phase that could operate at asolid-loading content of 10 percent to 15 per-cent at a loading rate of one ton per day perdigester. “The next step is to take the digester,find money to operate it at five tons per dayand build the methane phase to go with it,”Heffernan said. “We want to operate that at ahigh-enough rate per day that shows com-mercial capability. The second step involvesmore money but is easier to do because itdoesn’t have the solids content.”

The company would market this productto industrial food processors, brewers, waste-water treatment plants and ethanol facilities.This would benefit food processors in partic-ular because they have a lot of waste and arealso high energy consumers. “Potato plants,

for example, process millions of pounds perday, but half of incoming pounds go out aswaste,” Heffernan said. “There’s still energyleft in those potatoes.”

A high-solids system is necessary toprocess raw potatoes, which are 17 percentsolids. “With our methodology, the energypotential of the raw material goes up becausethe efficiency of the process goes up,”Heffernan said. “By going to a two-phase andhigher solid-loading content, you produce astronger acid environment. Those strongeracids are able to degrade and convert more ofthe raw material. The energy potential from aton of material through our system goes up,as compared to a conventional digester. Youhave less solid residue because more of theoriginal solids became liquid and then gas.”

-Anduin Kirkbride McElroy

By integrating cellulosic ethanol production into starch-based processes, AE Biofuels’ patent-pending technology lowers capital costs, increases alcohol concentration, and reduces energy and water consumption.

PH

OT

O: A

E B

IOF

UE

LS

IN

C.


industryNEWS

The Energy Biosciences Institute—a collaboration of theUniversity of California, Berkeley; the Lawrence Berkeley NationalLaboratory; and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign—recently awarded a total of $19.27 million to 50 projects and programs

focusing on cellulosic ethanol.Another $15.73 million in grants will be

announced this summer. The institute was therecipient of global energy firm BP Corp.’s 10-year, $350 million ‘mega-grant’ commitment tocellulosic biofuels research.

EBI Director Chris Somerville describedEBI’s research effort as a comprehensive analy-sis of cellulosic ethanol. The projects cover awide range of research, starting with existing

programs and extending to new areas. Thus, the socioeconomic andenvironmental work will be global, extending to land ownership issuesand life cycle analyses, among other topics. The feedstock developmentwork will include test plots around the world, starting with Miscanthusand switchgrass as models, but looking at other feedstocks as well as theequipment needed to plant, harvest and store those feedstocks.Metagenomic studies will be looking at the termite gut, cow rumen,compost heap and forest floor to study how nature breaks down cellu-lose. In addition to biological systems, EBI research includes a strongchemistry component that will explore novel catalysts and solvent sys-tems, Somerville said. “EBI is academic,” he added. “We’re not doinganything that is near-market.”

The $19.27 million in funding was divided into four out of fivebroad categories: $4.77 million for feedstock development, $6.96 mil-lion for biomass depolymerization work, $2.21 million for biofuels pro-duction studies, and $5.33 million for studies on environmental, socialand economic dimensions. Funding for the fifth broad category of fos-sil-fuel bioprocessing will be announced this summer. Somerville saidthere may also be projects funded in areas that were underrepresentedin the faculty-submitted research proposals.

Besides the $35 million per year over 10 years in open researchconducted by the EBI, Somerville said BP will commit $150 millionover 10 years internally in a closed research component, tapping intothe company’s expertise in process engineering.

Descriptions of the 50 programs and projects can be found on theEBI Web site at www.energybioscienceinstitute.org.

-Susanne Retka Schill

BP partner awards 'mega-grants'

Somerville

Coskata Inc. is like a kid in a candy store. There’s so much avail-able biomass for a trash-to-gas enterprise, the possibilities are end-less.

As the company nears decisions on where to build pilot-scaleand commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol facilities, feedstock deci-sions are also being determined by the Illinois company that haspartnered with General Motors Corp. to produce ethanol for under$1 per gallon. “We plan to run woody biomass, agricultural residueand municipal waste through the commercial demonstration,” saidWes Bolsen, chief marketing officer and vice president of businessdevelopment for Coskata. “We have not announced the commercialplant, the partner that we are doing it with or the [specific] feedstockyet,” Bolsen said, adding that the company hopes to have the pilotplant producing by the end of 2008.

Coskata’s process can extract the energy value in almost anycarbon-containing materials in a synthetic gas stream, and bacterialfermentation by microorganisms then converts the syngas toethanol. The company envisions using energy crops, wood chips,forestry products, tires, plastics and other municipal waste as feed-stocks. The pilot plant will have a capacity of 40,000 gallons per year,while the commercial-scale plant will produce between 50 MMgyand 100 MMgy. Bolsen said the company hopes to break ground onthe $300 million commercial plant in late 2008 or early 2009.Coskata has formed a strategic alliance with ICM Inc. to design andpartially build the commercial plant, which will take two years toconstruct.

Coskata envisions a licensing agreement for the flexible feed-stock technology, in which developers could use the enzyme processwith locally abundant biomass to make low-cost ethanol anywherein the United States or abroad. Meanwhile, GM has been gearing upproduction of its vehicle fleet, so that half of its models will run onethanol by 2012, the automaker announced in February.

-Sarah Smith

Coskata intends to use energy crops, wood chips, forestry products, tires,plastics and other municipal waste as feedstocks in its cellulosic ethanolplants.

PH

OT

O:

CO

SK

ATA

INC

.

Coskata: Biomass choices are nearly limitless


industryNEWS

An international group promoting thecapture and use of methane from landfillsand other sources announced in March thatMongolia, Pakistan, the Philippines andThailand had joined the group.

Methane to Markets, or M2M, aims tocapture methane for use as a clean-burningfuel while minimizing greenhouse gas emis-sions. The group focuses on animal waste,landfills, coal mines, and oil and gas systems.

The addition of the four nations inMarch brought total M2M membership to 25nations or groups, including the UnitedStates. Earlier in March, the European Unionjoined M2M, including the biomass expertiseof its 27 member nations, some of whichwere separate M2M members already(Germany, Italy, Poland and the UnitedKingdom).

The sharply broadened membership willhelp M2M promote the 91 methane-captureprojects it showcased at a trade show inBeijing last year, which 750 people from 34

nations attended, said Paul Gunning, chief ofthe U. S. EPA’s non-carbon-dioxide programs.“The broader the engagement we have fromthe global community, the more the partner-ship will benefit,” Gunning told BiomassMagazine.

Even before the EU’s addition, M2Mmember nations represented 60 percent ofthe waste-methane sources that the group tar-gets, according to the M2M Web site. The 91projects on exhibit at the conference inBeijing would reduce annual methane emis-sions by the equivalent of 11.5 million metrictons of carbon dioxide by 2015, the organiza-tion said.

One proposed project would drawmethane from a 127,000-pig farrow-to-finishswine operation in the Mato Grosso provinceof Brazil. The existing disposal method is toapply the manure to nearby land. The pro-posed methane-recovery system is a coveredlagoon digester. The resulting biogas will beburned to generate electricity. The estimated

average reduction in carbon dioxide per yearis equivalent is 71,730 metric tons.

Another initiative would capturemethane from a sanitary landfill in Chernivtsi,Ukraine. Opened in 1995, the landfill accept-ed more than 82,000 tons of waste in 2006and is expected to close in 2012 with an esti-mated 1.3 million tons of waste. Preliminarybiogas modeling estimates that 544 cubicmeters of biogas per hour at 50 percentmethane is available now for capture. Thatfigure will rise to a peak of approximately 696cubic meters per hour shortly after the land-fill closes in 2012. Gas from the landfill maybe used to generate electricity. The estimatedaverage reduction in carbon dioxide per yearwould be 37,778 metric tons.

M2M was launched in 2004 inWashington, D.C., by 14 national govern-ments that signed on as partners. More infor-mation about the partnership is at www.methanetomarkets.org.

-Marc Hequet

Nations join methane partnership

Study: Cellulosic ethanol a long shotResearch recently conducted by The

Context Network LLC, an Iowa-based con-sulting firm, concluded that widely heldnotions about the progression of cellulosicethanol in the United States maybe too optimistic.

In March, the firm released apaper, titled “A Review of theEnergy Independence & SecurityAct of 2007, and Its Impact onU.S. Grain and OilseedsProduction,” which assessedwhether the requirements of theact could be met and the impact ofthose requirements. Jim Murphy, principleauthor of the paper, said the review concludedthat cellulosic ethanol is “a dead duck” and haslittle chance of becoming a major contributorto the biofuels market. “While there’s high

hopes for cellulosic ethanol, it’s going to devel-op much more slowly than people think,” hesaid.

The EISA’s impact on grain and oilseedproduction was assessed in threetime frames: short term (2008 to2010), medium term (2011 to2015) and long term (2016 to2022). Murphy noted that only twocellulosic ethanol pilot plants areoperating in the United States, andRange Biofuels is the only othercompany that has secured the nec-essary funding to move forward

with a larger cellulosic ethanol plant. “Otherdevelopers will have to get their financing inplace pretty quickly for there to be any chanceof meeting the 2010 EISA cellulosic target of100 million gallons,” he said, adding that the

short-term goals set by the EISA are virtuallyunattainable.

Medium- and long-term outlooks alsofailed to provide positive results for cellulosicethanol. “It becomes a more chronic situationas time goes on,” Murphy said. “The law man-dates blending of 16 billion gallons (of cellu-losic ethanol) by 2022. Our estimate is that, atbest, we’re going to reach somewhere around3 billion.”

Murphy suggested that legislation after2015 may be more favorable toward cellulosicethanol and could prompt an increase in pro-duction after 2020. He also noted that EISAmandates are for consumption, not produc-tion. Because of that, imports could play a sub-stantially large part in U.S. biofuels consump-tion in the future.

-Kris Bevill

Murphy


industryNEWS

SunOpta, Abengoa technology dispute enters arbitrationA U.S. District Court judge has sent

SunOpta Inc. and Abengoa Bioenergy to anarbitration panel to sort out their grievancesover allegedly pirated technology. Meanwhile,the lawsuit filed by SunOpta under seal inJanuary in a Missouri court has been stayed,pending the arbitration outcome.

Canada-based SunOpta, which has food-processing and biofuels divisions, sued Spanishethanol giant Abengoa Bioenergy, accusing thedefendant of appropriating SunOpta’s bio-mass-to-ethanol technology without compen-sation, luring away its former process technol-ogy manager to induce him to reveal propri-etary trade secrets and using replicas of theSunOpta technology in two AbengoaBioenergy ethanol facilities.

Abengoa Bioenergy denied it had misap-propriated the technology. It claimed SunOptawas trying to coerce settlement of the contrac-tual disputes by filing the suit. The companiesbecame involved in 2002 when they enteredinto negotiations regarding AbengoaBioenergy’s potential use of SunOpta’s fiberpreparation and pretreatment technology, in

which a unique steam explosion process devel-oped by SunOpta converts biomass to cellu-losic ethanol. They formalized this engineeringand consulting agreement in January 2004,according to the Missouri judge’s order.SunOpta agreed to provide technical informa-tion for Abengoa to use in a cellulosic ethanolventure in Salamanca, Spain.

In April 2004, the parties entered into aseparate technology agreement relating to agrant that Abengoa Bioenergy received fromthe U.S. DOE. This agreement was intendedto protect SunOpta’s right to its existing anddeveloping intellectual property, and tradesecrets. In 2005, an Abengoa Bioenergy sub-sidiary executed a contract to purchase aSunOpta filter preparation system for theSpanish plant. By 2007, the companies weredisputing whether SunOpta had reneged onobligations to deliver additional equipment toSpain, and Abengoa stopped payments on thesystem.

SunOpta said Abengoa Bioenergy subse-quently used identical SunOpta technology intwo U.S. ethanol plants and received its DOEgrant based on SunOpta’s replicated technolo-gy. It then filed the complaint and sought aninjunction to stop Abengoa Bioenergy fromusing the technology. Abengoa Bioenergydenied all of the accusations.

Because the two companies included abinding arbitration clause into their contractu-al agreements, the Missouri judge orderedthem before an arbitration panel to settle thedispute. He refused to dismiss SunOpta’sclaims and its request for an injunction untilarbitrators decide the issues in the case. TheAmerican Arbitration Association will sort outthe parties’ legal rights under their contracts ina nonpublic forum. The Missouri judge willconduct a status conference in September.

-Sarah Smith

Thermal Energy opens Dry-Rex test facilityCanadian company Thermal Energy

International Inc. has established a test facilityfor its funded research projects, includingwork on its Dry-Rex biomass-drying technol-ogy. The laboratory will be located inChilliwack, British Columbia.

The Dry-Rex system is a low-tempera-ture biomass-drying technology. The low tem-perature minimizes the amount of volatileorganic compounds generated by biomass,which reduces the risk of fires or explosions.The system can operate on waste heat from avariety of commercial and industrial sources.According to Raymond Belanger, chief scien-tist at Thermal Energy, the facility has alreadyreceived its first contract from an Italian firmto conduct tests on drying orange and grapepressings. He added that several potential cus-tomers from Europe’s biofuels industry have

been in contact with the company. Potentialapplications include waste streams such aswood, industrial and municipal sewage, foodand beverage waste, and other materials,which could be converted into biofuels. Thesystem could also be used to dry distillers grainproduced by ethanol plants.

“With all fossil fuels increasing in price atthe same time as demand grows for eco-friendly alternatives, more and more manufac-turers and producers are realizing their wastehas the potential to become valuable biofuels,”said Tim Angus, president and chief executiveofficer of Thermal Energy. “Our new lab pro-vides a cost-effective way for them to deter-mine the viability of converting their biomassfor this use or as a secondary commercialproduct.”

The lab is equipped with a gravimetric

moisture analyzer to determine the concentra-tion of moisture and solids before and aftertesting. It will also be equipped with a calori-metric device for measuring the energy con-tent of dried waste products to determinetheir financial value as a fuel source.

Thermal Energy will also be developing agreen energy power facility for an unnamedpulp and paper mill in eastern Canada, a proj-ect for which Natural Resources Canada com-mitted $900,000 in funding in February.Thermal Energy conducted a feasibility studyof the benefits of using the Dry-Rex systemto dry the mill’s biomass waste stream to pro-duce a biofuel. The mill is reviewing the find-ings and is expected to make a decision thisfiscal year.

-Jerry W. Kram


industryNEWS

The University of Minnesota landedthree of the biomass research and develop-ment grants awarded in March by the USDAand U.S. DOE.

A team from the university’s Center forBiomass Refining received $975,676 to helpdevelop a microwave-assisted pyrolysis sys-tem for the on-farm conversion of cellulosicbiomass to bio-oils. The research also aims todevelop processes to improve the purity, sta-bility and long-term storability of bio-oils.Another University of Minnesota teamreceived $576,368 to analyze lignin as a facil-itator during saccharification by brown rotfungi. The third project seeks to developpathways to achieve U.S. bioenergy policygoals, develop economic costs and environ-mental impacts, and identify potential tech-nological bottlenecks.

The three Minnesota projects wereamong 21 biomass research and develop-ment proposals receiving grants totaling

$18.4 million. A wide range of projects fromuniversities and private firms nationwidereceived the grants. Several projects willstudy biomass feedstocks, and others dealwith conversion processes for cellulosicethanol, biomass power and biobased chem-icals.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schaferand Energy Secretary Samuel Bodmanannounced the awards at the WashingtonInternational Renewable Energy Conferencein Washington D.C., in March. Funding forthese projects will be provided through theBiomass Research & Development Initiative,

a joint USDA-DOE effort established in2000 to develop the next generation of clean,biobased technologies. Grant recipients arerequired to raise a minimum of 20 percentmatching funds for research and develop-ment projects, and 50 percent matchingfunds for demonstration projects. Of the$18.4 million, the USDA will provide up to$13 million, and the DOE will provide up to$5 million.

For the complete list of grantees, seewww.doe.gov/news/6035.htm.

-Susanne Retka Schill

DOE, USDA award $18 million in biomass grants

Two General Electric Jenbacher gasengines in Japan have been fired up at thecountry’s largest wood-based gas-to-energyplant and are supplying two megawatts ofelectricity in local power.

Utilizing GE’s most powerful engines incommercial operation, the plant represents aneffort to utilize a specialty gas-to-energymodel that will support the Japanese govern-ment’s initiatives to expand and increaserenewable energy production to help meet itsemissions under the Kyoto Protocol. “Thisproject represents the first order of large-scale wood gas engines for GE Energy inAsia,” said Prady Iyyanki, chief executive offi-cer of GE’s Jenbacher gas engine business.

The plant runs completely on wood-based gas with no backup fuel supply.Because the plant is near a forest, the facilityhas access to a steady source of biomass andprovides a new use for the forest’s trimmedbranches, said Martina Streiter, spokeswomanfor GE.

Chikao Miyamoto, an executive for GEin Japan, said the plant’s technology providesan avenue for meeting energy securitythrough fuel diversification and supportscost-effective waste disposal. The facility willconvert wood biomass into power, allowing itto use the electricity to power internal siteoperations and make money by selling toindustrial customers, he said.

The Jenbacher engines have an efficiencyrating of up to 36 percent, which is higherthan a conventional steam turbine powerplant on the same scale, Streiter said.

Most of the plant’s energy is sold to apower producer and supplier, while the rest isused to support plant operations. By 2010,Japan hopes to increase renewable energyproduction to 3 percent of the country’soverall energy supply. The goal is to increaseits use of biomass-based power up to 330megawatts by 2010, Streiter said.

-Timothy Charles Holmseth

GE Jenbacher engines light up Japan

industryNEWS


Pellet project on hold in West,possible on East Coast

GEI Waste Systems may soon receive carbon credits for pelletiz-ing municipal solid waste (MSW), but it won’t be in the West.

The subsidiary of GEI Development LLC had been in negotia-tions with the city of Cheyenne, Wyo., to install a VR-95 Extruder,which would have processed the city’s MSW into fuel pellets thatcould then be sold as a coal replacement to an industrial end user.However, the city shelved the proposed project earlier this year.

GEI has directed its focus to the East Coast, according to com-pany President Larry Giroux. He said his company is in the negotia-tion stages of pelletizing projects in Virginia, Boston and Toronto.The project in Virginia would pelletize wood from construction anddemolition waste, the project in Toronto would use MSW, and a com-bination of the two wastes would be used in Boston. Giroux said hehopes to get each of these projects on line in approximately sixmonths, a relatively short development time line because the locationshave existing infrastructure or a short permitting process.

This time line is in contrast to the projected time line inCheyenne, which was more than two years. “Before any money wasspent, we had to secure a contract to sell the pellets to show the citythat we had revenue, which could take several months,” Girouxexplained. “Then, the city had to go through its procurement processto build a $2.5 million building for us, which it could lease back to us.Procurement and permitting would take over a year.”

With a landfill that has less than four years of space left, the citydecided it couldn’t wait for the project to be developed. After a changein management at the city’s public works department, the city put thenegotiations on hold and instead elected to focus on short-term solu-tions. “We think [GEI’s proposed project] would have been useful,”said Vicki Nemecek, assistant public works director in Cheyenne.“However, we have immediate needs. We can’t wait two to four years.We chose to do something now.”

Giroux conceded that Cheyenne isn’t a target market for hiscompany—at least not for an initial project. “We stumbled intoCheyenne because it had a need and it was excited about it,” he said.However, Cheyenne has cheap coal and low tipping fees of approxi-mately $25 to process approximately 200 tons per day. Giroux saidBoston pays $80 to $100 in tipping fees. He explained that the EastCoast—with expensive coal, environmental restrictions and high tip-ping fees—offers a better market.

-Anduin Kirkbride McElroy

University of Maryland scientistsexplore low-cost ethanol source

University of Maryland researchers recently announced that a bac-terium discovered in the Chesapeake Bay more than 20 years ago mayhold the key to the cost-competitive production of ethanol from cellu-lose. The bacterium, Saccharophagus degradans, produces a mixture ofenzymes capable of degrading a range of cellulosic materials frommarsh grasses to newspapers.

The biomass-degrading enzyme cocktail, trademarked Ethazyme, isbeing developed by Zymetis Inc., a University of Maryland spin-off andthe newest company to join the school’s technology company incubator,the Technology Advancement Program. Zymetis has also entered into apartnership with Fiberight LLC, a regional processor of cellulosic waste.The two companies aim to establish a full-scale cellulosic ethanol plantby the end of 2008. “We believe we have the most economical way tomake the novel, efficient enzymes needed to produce biofuels from cel-lulosic material,” said Steven Hutcheson, founder and chief executiveofficer of Zymetis, and a chemical and life sciences professor currentlyon leave from the university. “Ethazyme breaks down cellulosic sourcesfaster and more simply than any product available, resulting in lowercosts.”

Ethazyme degrades cell walls and other components of plants tofermentable sugars in a single step, which, compared with other process-es, is faster, cheaper and reduces the need for caustic chemicals.

-Jessica Ebert

Ben Woodward, left, director of the University of Maryland’s Bioprocess Scale-Up Facility, and Hutcheson work with Zymetis’ bacterium.

PH

OT

O:

MA

RY

LA

ND

TE

CH

NO

LO

GY

EN

TE

RP

RIS

E I

NS

TIT

UT

E,

UN

IVE

RS

ITY

OF

MA

RY

LA

ND


industryNEWS

New York-based Global Energy Inc., awaste-to-renewable-energy technology devel-oper, has entered into separate agreementswith Renewable Diesel LLC and CovantaEnergy Corp. to pursue projects to convertmunicipal solid waste and other hydrocarbon-rich biomass materials into renewable diesel.

Under the terms of the agreement estab-lished in February, Renewable Diesel willjointly develop projects to convert hydrocar-bon-based feedstocks (such as paper, wood,plastics and refuse) into renewable diesel uti-lizing turbine technology patented byGermany-based AlphaKat. AlphaKat’s KDV500 system is a standalone unit that uses aunique catalytic depolymerization process,enabling it to break down the molecularchains present in the hydrocarbon feedstockand cause new molecular chains to be formedto create renewable diesel. Each KDV 500unit can operate independently and is capableof producing approximately 3,100 gallons of

renewable diesel per day, depending on thefeedstock input.

Global Energy signed an agreement withAlphaKat in May 2007 to assist in the market-ing and development of the KDV technolo-gy in the United States and China on anexclusive basis, and most other countries on anonexclusive basis. Global Energy has anoption to be a 51 percent equity participantfor all of the projects developed byRenewable Diesel.

Global Energy’s agreement withCovanta allows Covanta to develop projectsusing the KDV technology for certaindefined feedstocks. The Fairfield, N.J.-basedoperator of waste-to-energy projects has pur-chased its first KDV 500 unit, which will beused to demonstrate the commercial viabilityof the unit. It is also the first KDV 500 to beinstalled in the United States. According toRenewable Diesel Chief Executive OfficerBruce Drucker, the KDV 500 unit will be

installed at one of its existing waste-to-energyfacilities, but the specific location is still beingdiscussed. Covanta owns five wood-fired gen-eration facilities in California and has a 55percent interest in a sixth wood-fired genera-tion facility, also in California.

Once the technology has been demon-strated with this initial unit, Covanta mustpurchase a significant number of additionalKDV units to retain its exclusive rights underits license agreement. Global Energy,Renewable Diesel and Covanta intend todevelop three to four additional projects inthe next 18 to 24 months. Each of those proj-ects would be capable of adding additionalKDV units to take advantage of theeconomies of scale for the front-end process-ing of waste, and the operation and mainte-nance that will reduce the cost of processedwaste per ton, according to Drucker.

-Bryan Sims

Global Energy teams with Covanta, Renewable Diesel

Tests conducted over a period of fiveyears in three Midwestern states have shownthat switchgrass could be a contender in thecellulosic ethanol fuel market.

Richard Perrin, professor at theUniversity of Nebraska-Lincoln, helpedfacilitate the tests along with the USDAAgricultural Research Service. He said two ofthe participating farmers were experienced inraising switchgrass, and it definitely showedin results. “Those two farmers produced atabout two-thirds the cost of the average ofthe group,” he said.

The test, the first of its kind, determinedthat the average cost to grow switchgrass wasaround $60 per ton. However, the two farm-ers who had previous experience in growingswitchgrass were able to produce it for $39per ton.

Perrin said diligence and preparation ofthe field appeared to be significant factors in

obtaining good results. “One of these guysmade a lot more trips across the field gettingready to plant, even more than we had rec-ommended,” he said.

Favorable weather, a good emergence ofthe seed and the proper use of herbicide alsocontributed to the more successful fields.Some of the farmers didn’t experience favor-

able weather, which may have hindered theirresults to some degree, Perrin noted. “Somedidn’t have enough [switchgrass] to evenbother harvesting that first year,” he said.There were also instances where the farmersdidn’t follow instructions, which may haveimpacted the results in a negative way.

Perrin said there are currently noethanol plants in the central United Statespurchasing switchgrass if farmers were toproduce it. He said there is a future forswitchgrass as a viable source of cellulosicethanol, but he believes much depends onU.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman as heenforces the new federal mandates in theEnergy Independence & Security Act of2007, which requires that 1 MMgy of cellu-losic biofuel be consumed by 2013.

-Timothy Charles Holmseth

Study: Experience matters when growing switchgrass

In a study conducted by the USDAAgricultural ResearchService, switchgrass was produced for as low as $39 perton.


cellulose


cellulose

The clock is ticking on public acceptance of ethanol as the United States’ corn-based industry is underrelentless attack. With cellulosic conversion technologies as the ostensible lone saving grace forethanol, Biomass Magazine takes a look at what fruits the first-quarter ‘08 produced.

By Ron Kotrba

Commercial Biorefinery Update

wo years ago the U.S. DOEbegan its long and arduoustask of technology opti-mization and risk mitiga-tion for commercial pro-duction of cellulosicethanol. This was donethrough an award of $385

million to six large-scale projects. Eventhough the DOE is still cutting checksfrom this original award allotment, firstquarter 2008 has seen a project fundingrevitalization of sorts as the departmentmoves ahead with more grants totaling$114 million slated for four smallerdemonstration projects. And there’smore—the department also issued a fewseparate grants in recent months to fundspecific technology advances. But it’s notjust taxpayer money fueling second-gen-eration ethanol schemes, although federalbacking certainly helps attract privateinvestment.

“We are tied into a lot of what’s hap-pening in the private arena,” says LarryRusso, biorefinery technology managerwithin the DOE’s Biomass Program.“There’s been a tremendous amount ofprivate money in the last 18 months—

mostly venture capital—flowing intoa lot of these projects making

them catch fire a little bit, andgetting the technologies outthere.” But doing theresearch is not enough. “Weneed to do the research ofcourse, but then we need todo the pilot testing with our

T

partners, and then scale these things up toget to the point where it can attract financ-ing on its own,” he says. “That’s what we’redoing at DOE—we’re buying down therisk by our involvement.”

One of the big challenges still facing aU.S. biorefinery build-out is “techno-eco-nomical” in nature as Russo characterizesit. In other words, loose technology endsstill need cinching up before big-moneylenders have enough faith to strike a loandeal for biorefinery projects.Thermochemically, this means improvingsyngas clean up. “We know that clean up isa very important step so we had a solicita-tion that was issued just this week (at theend of March) to address not only theclean up, but to address catalyst selection aswell,” Russo reveals. Biochemically speak-ing, there is still the lingering need for morecost-effective and higher performingenzymes and more fruitful ethanologens.

Despite all of this, Range Fuels Inc.,which broke ground on its 20 MMgywood-to-ethanol thermochemical plant inSoperton, Ga., is finding success quiteunlike the rest of the biorefinery projects.On April 1, the company announced that it

had raised more than $100 million in seriesB equity financing. This is in addition tothe $76 million DOE grant Range Fuelsreceived along with a $6 million grant fromthe state of Georgia. The company says the$100-plus million will go toward the com-pletion of construction on the 20 MMgybiorefinery. Russo confirms that RangeFuels is the only commercial-scale cellulosicethanol plant under construction by theend of the first quarter of 2008. Threemore projects that were part of the original$385-million award have completed what’scalled a Phase One award.

“We’re awarding these large projects intwo phases,” Russo tells Biomass Magazine.“This allows work to get started other thanconstruction to meet the complianceissues—it allows them to dot their i’s andcross their t’s prior to construction.”Because federal money is involved, thenational environmental protection actrequires proof that a biorefinery projectwill not detrimentally affect the environ-ment and, if there is a potential for illeffects, tactics to mitigate them must bepresented. “All of this takes about a year,”he says. To enable progress to start earlier,

the DOE decided to cut initial checks posthaste to Range Fuels, Poet Energy,Abengoa Bioenergy and BlueFire EthanolInc.

Only one of these original six projectsis working on a concentrated acid hydroly-sis pretreatment—BlueFire Ethanol. Thecompany recently completed testing ondecrystalizing, hydrolyzing and filtrationequipment from B&P Process Equipment,a vendor out of Saginaw, Mich. B&PProcess Equipment engineer Abbey Martinsays decrystalization tests using its equip-ment yielded better results than data fromthe Izumi, Japan, pilot plant. “We believethat we can now design a commercial unitthat will perform better and cost less than adesign based solely on the pilot data,”Martin says. The vendor equipment testingis part of a larger, “integrated investigation”being conducted for final engineering ofBlueFire’s full-scale 17 MMgy municipalsolid waste biorefinery, the location ofwhich will be at a landfill in Corona, Calif.

Recent ‘10 percent’Demos The more recent DOE grant award of

$114 million announced in first-quarter2008 is for four “10 percent” demonstra-tion facilities with two additional projects tobe named later. These projects are smallerscale than the original six and are expectedto demonstrate commercial viability bybuilding biorefineries producing 10 percentof an intended commercial volume.Recipients of this latest grant are ICM Inc.,Lignol Innovations Inc., Pacific EthanolInc., and Stora Enso North America.Awarding the 10 percent projects beforeannouncing funding for the six commer-cial-scale biorefineries may have made moresense to some, but there is a method to theDOE’s madness. “When Congress did theEnergy Policy Act of 2005, they decidedthey wanted to do something to get com-mercial deployment of cellulosic biofuelsout the door,” Russo says. “Those first sixprojects have been worked on for years andyears, and were the closest to being ready—the closest to deployment.” Ten percent isnot a magic number either—it’s what WallStreet and conventional financiers told


cellulose

Calvin Feik of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory explains to visitors how the thermochemical pilot plant at the Golden, Colo.-based DOE lab works.

PH

OT

O:

NR

EL

Exposition & ConferenceOctober 14-16, 2008Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Become An Exhibitor Now,Secure Your Speaking Opportunity!

More NetworkingMore Leads

More Visibility

www.ebw-expo.com

2008


cellulose

DOE they require to even consider afinance package.

Co-recipient ICM plans to have a 1.5MMgy pilot plant in operation by the endof 2010, to be located at its St. Joseph, Mo.,facility. Its design will be based on a bio-chemical platform and will use corn fiber,switchgrass, forage sorghum and cornstover as feedstocks. ICM says its 750employees and support staff will be readyto take the pilot technology to commercialscale by 2012, and existing ICM-designeddry mills have already expressed interest inincorporating the new technology.

Lignol Innovations received funding tohelp build a 2 MMgy biorefinery using hardand soft wood residues, and will makeethanol, furfural and high-quality lignin.The demo plant will be positioned near aSuncor Energy petroleum refinery inCommerce City, Colo., which intends topurchase all the ethanol produced byLignol.

With its newly awarded DOE moneyPacific Ethanol’s 10 percent demo plant willbe colocated with the company’s Abengoa Bioenergy’s biochemical pilot plant in York, Neb., was just recently completed.

PH

OT

O: A

BE

NG

OA

BIO

EN

ER

GY


cellulose

Visit www.EthanolProducer.com and subscribe today.

Ethanol Producer Magazine packageSubscribe to Ethanol Producer Magazine and receive:

12 issue of Ethanol Producer Magazine

Instant access to ALL ONLINE content

1 FREE Ethanol Industry Directory (printed annually in the spring)

2 FREE Fuel Ethanol Plant Maps (printed each spring and fall)

1 FREE Subscription to Distillers Grains Quarterly

SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

www.EthanolProducer.com

Boardman, Ore., corn-based ethanol plant.At 2.7 MMgy, Pacific Ethanol says it willuse the BioGasol proprietary conversionprocess to make ethanol out of the wheatstraw, corn stover and poplar residuals froma 50-mile radius surrounding the plant.According to Pacific Ethanol, the demoplant will be operational some time nextyear with expansion to commercial scale by2012.

Compared with the six commercialprojects, these three new recipients, in addi-tion to Stora Enso North America’s pro-posal, constitute the “next lowest hangingfruit” on the path to commercial produc-tion of cellulosic ethanol, Russo says.

More Projects,Pilots and Considerations

Verenium Corp.’s 1.4 MMgy demon-stration facility in Jennings, La., was expect-ed to reach “mechanical completion” byMarch 31, according to the company.Biomass Magazine could not verify if thiswas achieved as calls to Verenium spokes-people were unanswered. At the late-

February National Ethanol Conference inOrlando, Fla., the DOE announced anadditional $34 million to further advancethe cost-effectiveness and functionality ofenzymes for saccharification of biomass.Verenium, Novozymes Inc., Genencor Inc.and DSM Innovation Center Inc. were allpart of that award.

In Upton, Wyo., a 1.5 MMgy plantconverting wood waste to ethanol beganoperating in January. Designed by KLProcess Design Group in cooperation withthe South Dakota School of Mines, theplant is named Western Biomass Energyand is the culmination of six years of devel-opment.

Abengoa Bioenergy’s $35 million pilotplant in York, Neb., is operating and othercompanies with operating pilot plantsinclude Iogen Corp. and Mascoma Corp.

Tracking down every company withplans to develop cellulosic ethanol plantswould be a daunting task. CentralMinnesota Ethanol Co-op and SunOptaInc. are working together with intentions tobuild a 10 MMgy commercial plant located

next to CMEC’s existing dry mill. The plantis equipped to gasify wood chips to powerits ethanol production process—and thesame feedstock is intended for its commer-cial plant. The list goes on.

While the DOE is addressing the“techno-economic” challenges to the com-mercialization of cellulosic ethanol, criticsof biofuels pose a challenge perhaps eventhe DOE cannot surmount. “It’s plaguingthe entire biofuels development and com-mercialization,” Russo says. The notion thatit takes more energy to make ethanol thanwhat the fuel itself can put out is what hefinds himself addressing most. “We’veaddressed that for years and years, yet everysix months we go through it again. Whenyou’re relying on not only the technologybut that positive message to draw thefinancing to establish your momentum, it’sa kick in the shin and slows down the devel-opments we could make.” BIO

Ron Kotrba is a Biomass Magazine senior

writer. Reach him at rkotrba@bbibiofuels

.com or (701) 738-4962.


outlook


outlook

Biobutanol:

It’s touted as a superior renewable fuel but challenges have stymied theindustrial-scale production of biobutanol. Now, however, Dupont and BPhave teamed to develop and commercialize the fuel. This comes as scientists announce advancements in the design of process technologiesand the engineering of microbes aimed at improving the economics of mass-producing biobutanol.

By Jessica Ebert

The Next Big Biofuel?

t’s certainly not new to the renewablefuel scene. In fact, some expertswould say that, historically, the fer-mentation of sugar-based feedstocksinto butanol takes a back seat inimportance to ethanol. Biobutanol

plants operated in numerous countries,including the United States, UK, China,Russia, South Africa and India, during thefirst two World Wars. These plants weredesigned to harness the fermenting talentsof microbes to produce acetone fromfeedstocks such as molasses and cornstarch. The acetone was used to make asmokeless gun powder and a propellantfor rockets. Interestingly, acetone was notthe only product of this fermentation.Ethanol was produced in small amountsbut the major product of the fermenta-tion was butanol.

Starting in the 1960s, the growth ofthe petroleum industry and the cheapercost of producing butanol from petrole-um products rather than renewable feed-stocks made the biobased butanol plantobsolete. The last significant vestige ofthe industry—a facility in South Africa—ceased its operations in the early 1980s.But rising oil prices and concerns sur-rounding climate change and nationalsecurity have rejuvenated interest,research and development into biobu-

tanol. Although the primary use for thealcohol is as an industrial solvent, it offersseveral advantages over ethanol as a trans-portation fuel. Since the molecule con-tains four carbons compared with the twoof ethanol, those extra chemical bondsrelease more energy when burned. Inaddition, butanol is less volatile thanethanol, it can be used at a 100 percentblend in internal combustion engineswithout any modifications, it doesn’tattract water like ethanol so it can betransported in existing pipelines and it isless sensitive to colder temperatures.“Butanol is an excellent fuel,” says Nasib

Qureshi, a chemical engineer with theUSDA Agricultural Research Service inPeoria, Ill. “As a result of gas prices goingup it is looking more effective thanethanol and more effective than gasoline.”

Some big names in the energy busi-ness seem to agree. In 2006, BP andDuPont announced a joint venture todeliver advanced biofuels, initially target-ting biobutanol. This past spring, thecompanies announced results from fueltesting including: that a 16 percent biobu-tanol blend performs similarly to a 10 per-cent ethanol blend and higher biobutanolblends also produce favorable results; that


outlook

National Impact. Uniquely New Hampshire.

Got wood?• Legal work on more than 100 energy projects in over 20 states,

Nova Scotia, Ontario, Mexico, Peru and United Kingdom• Assisting developers, owners, operators, investors and lenders• Projects include wood-burning, landfill gas and other

power/fuel projects that use biomass or waste materials• We know biomass

Contact Curt Whittaker [email protected] Willing [email protected]

Rath, Young and Pignatelli, P.C.www.rathlaw.com Concord (603) 226-2600

I Butanol can be used:

�in the production of other chemicals, synthetic rubber and plastics, including safety glass, hydraulic fluids and detergents

�in solvents for paints, coatings, varnishes, resins, dyes, vegetable oils and waxes

Butanol can be found in:

�textiles, flotation agents, cleaners, floor polishes, antibioticsvitamins, and hormones


outlook

the energy density of biobutanol is closerto unleaded gasoline; and that biobutanoldoes not phase separate in the presence ofwater. “Biobutanol addresses marketdemand for fuels that can be producedfrom domestic renewable resources inhigh volume and at a reasonable cost;

fuels that can be used in existing vehiclesand existing infrastructure; fuels that offergood value to consumers; and fuels thatmeet the evolving demands of vehicles,”says Frank Gerry, BP Biofuels programmanager.

Earlier this year, the companiesannounced that the partnership wasdeveloping biocatalysts for the productionof 1-butanol as well as 2-butanol. (Thelatter is called an isomer of butanolbecause although it contains four carbons,the atoms of the alcohol are arranged dif-ferently). The goal of the partnership is todeliver a biobutanol production processwith economics equal to ethanol produc-tion by 2010. Currently, the two compa-nies have applied for more than 60patents in the areas of biology, fermenta-tion processing, chemistry and end usesfor biobutanol.

The challenge to improve the processtechnology and the microbes that carryout the fermentation drives academic andgovernmental researchers as well.Qureshi, for instance, has been studyingbiobutanol production for more than 20years. He came to the United States fromNew Zealand to develop a membraneprocess for more effectively recoveringbutanol from fermentation broth. He’salso worked to develop efficient butanol

bioreactors. In the past few years, howev-er, his research has taken a different direc-tion, one that focuses on optimizing theprocess for more economical substratessuch as wheat straw, barley straw, switch-grass and corn stover. “We need to movetoward more economical substrates,”Qureshi says. “But it’s not as simple as itlooks.”

First of all, there’s an inherent para-dox in the microbial fermentation ofbutanol: although butanol-producing bac-teria produce the enzymes that convertsimple sugars into the alcohol, butanolitself is toxic to those same bugs. Thisbutanol inhibition results in a lower alco-hol concentration in the fermentationbroth, which leads to lower yields ofbutanol and higher recovery costs. Theseare the challenges that surface when high-ly pure feedstocks are used. When acheaper, biomass substrate is used, addi-tional microbial inhibitors are generatedduring the pretreatment process.

Strategies for reducing butanol toxic-ity and improving yield, including inte-grating several steps in the process andmanipulating the microbial cultures, areadvancing. “We’ve made good progresswith raw materials, removing inhibitorsand product separation,” Qureshi says.The overall process that Qureshi’s team

Nasib Qureshi stands by a reactor where agricultural residues such as wheat straw are fermented to biobutanol.

PH

OT

O:

US

DA

/AR

S


outlook

has developed for the production of butanol from agriculturalresidues involves four steps: pretreatment, which opens the cellwall structure and removes lignin; hydrolysis of hemicelluloseand cellulose into simple hexose and pentose sugars usingenzymes; fermentation of simple sugars into butanol using apure culture of Clostridium beijerinckii P206, an anaerobic bacteri-um; and recovery of the butanol. The unique aspect of theprocess is that the last three steps are combined and performedin a single reactor. “We’ve integrated the process and it appearsto be very effective economically,” Qureshi says. His team is cur-rently in the process of filing a patent on the process.

In addition, Qureshi has teamed with Lars Angenent, anenvironmental engineer at Washington University, as well asother USDA-ARS researchers to improve the economics of thehydrolysis step. The idea is to replace the need for enzymes,which are often expensive, with a mixed culture of bacteria.“The real tenets of my lab involve studying nondefined mixedcultures and seeing what they can do,” Angenent explains. In thecollaboration with Qureshi, Angenent will use microbes collect-ed from the sludge of an anaerobic digester as well as microbesfrom sheep rumen to ferment pretreated corn fiber to butyricacid, a chemical found in rancid butter, parmesan cheese andvomit. The solution containing the acid will be sent to Qureshi’slab where it will be fermented into butanol by his pure culturesof Clostridium.

The collaboration is in its infancy, financed by a $425,000grant from the USDA. Currently, Angenent’s team is working tooptimize the butyric acid production by tweaking conditions likepH and temperature. “We try to steer the community to produceone product over another,” he explains. Once conditions areright for the production of significant levels of butyric acid,Qureshi will take over.

Engineering Butanol-Fermenting BugsWhereas the approach spearheaded by Qureshi and

Angenent involves optimizing butanol production by microbes

that naturally produce it, a team of chemical and biomolecularengineers from the University of California, Los Angeles,recently reported a different course. In a recent issue of the jour-nal Nature, the team led by James Liao, described how theygenetically modified a well-known bacterium, Escherichia coli, toefficiently synthesize butanol, a molecule it doesn’t normallyproduce.

To do this, the team reasoned that they could divert some ofthe metabolites that E. coli uses to make amino acids, the build-ing blocks of proteins, to a metabolic pathway that would resultin the production of butanol. “Amino acid biosynthesis is verywell studied in E. coli,” Liao explains. Using that knowledge,Liao’s team inserted two genes into the E. coli genome: one froma microbe involved in the production of cheese and one from ayeast. These genes express proteins that convert keto acids, com-ponents of the amino acid biosynthesis pathway, into butanol. Inaddition, by inhibiting the expression of other genes and makingchanges in certain proteins in the pathway, Liao was able toincrease the efficiency of the process to a level high enough forindustrial use. “By using these two tricks we could force the fluxto the desired direction,” he says. “We were able to produceisobutanol very quickly and improved the titer in a few months.”

The technology is so promising that Gevo Inc., a biofuelsstartup based in Pasadena, Calif., recently announced that itacquired an exclusive license to commercialize Liao’s process.The company is currently scaling up the technology and decid-ing whether to go ahead with its own plans to build a butanolplant.

Liao, meanwhile, is working on converting cellulose wastematerials into isobutanol as well as trying to implement theapproach in other microbes. “We’re very excited about the prom-ise of the project,” he says. BIO

Jessica Ebert is a Biomass Magazine staff writer. Reach her [email protected] or (701) 738-4962.

James Liao and postdoctoral fellow Shota Atsumi, foreground, in the laboratory at UCLA where E. coli has been engineered to produce butanol.

PH

OT

O:

DO

N L

IEB

IG,

UC

LA

EN

GIN

EE

RIN

G

The bacteria growing on this plate are used to make biofuels.

PH

OT

O:

DO

N L

IEB

IG,

UC

LA

EN

GIN

EE

RIN

G


fuel


GasNaturally

fuel

California, according to some dairy commercials, is home to happy cows. So manycows, in fact, that Pacific Gas and Electric Co. estimates that dairy manure makes up20 percent of the state’s available waste biomass for conversion into renewable fuels.The company is aggressively courting developers of anaerobic digestion and biomass gasification projects to provide biomethane for its millions of natural gas customers.

By Jerry W. Kram

iomethane, also called bio-gas, would seem to be anatural, easy-to-obtainrenewable fuel. Take somemanure or other biomass,cover it to catch the gas

and let innumerable methane generatingbacteria do the work for you. But rawbiogas isn’t ready for the pipeline. Alongwith the valuable methane, raw biogas isa mix of water, sulfur, carbon dioxideand possibly even pathogenic bacteria.These components lower the heat valueof the biogas and can even damage nat-ural gas pipelines.

In Europe and elsewhere, theseproblems have been handled by usingbiogas in small-scale combined-heat-

and-power (CHP) generators designedto handle the impurities in the gas. TheseCHP facilities typically only serve thefarms where the biomass is produced,and the surrounding local area. Biogaswould be a more useful energy source ifit could be integrated into the existingnatural gas distribution system and dis-patched to wherever it is needed.

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. ownsone of the largest of these gas distribu-tion systems. The company provides gasand electricity to approximately 15 mil-lion people in California. Its gas trans-mission “backbone” is 6,128 miles longand reaches 4.2 million homes and busi-nesses. The company has a long-heldinterest in alternative fuels and environ-

B


fuel

mental protection. In May 2006, the company adopted a poli-cy statement to the effect that it would not only seek to mini-mize its greenhouse gas emissions, but would also become aleader in addressing global climate change with responsiblepolicies and programs. “Our commitment to renewable ener-gy is pretty solid,” says Ken Brennan, a senior project manag-

er in PG&E’s business development division. “We are tryingto get any kind of nonfossil-fuel-based renewable energy wecan into our portfolio.” One way to expand its efforts toreduce its greenhouse gas emissions is the integration of bio-gas into its gas distribution system.

The first stage in the process is a project in California’sdairy country involving the anaerobic digestion of manure.“We have been working with dairies in the San Joachin Valleyto connect them with our transmission system,” Brennan says.The initial project centered on converting the manure intobiomethane and creating a system that could clean up the gasat the farm level so it could be injected into the existing gaspipeline system. “Some dairies are already capturing methanefrom their covered digestion ponds,” says Rod Boschee, man-ager of PG&E’s business development division. “They areburning it on-site in combustion engines to produce electrici-ty to use on the farm. That is certainly a step in the right direc-tion but we feel a more efficient use of that gas is to clean itup and put it in a pipeline.”

The first dairy in the project began biomethane produc-tion in April, and the gas it produced is being tested to ensurethat it meets the standards for pipeline gas. The dairy isexpected to produce about 600 Mcf of gas per day, and planscall for three or four neighboring dairies to eventually tie intothe same system.

This biogas refining system was installed at the Vintage Dairy farm in FresnoCounty, Calif. This project went live in March and was the first biogas-to-pipelineinjection project in California.

PH

OT

O:

PG

&E


fuel

Manure and Then SomeThe next stage of the project will be to investigate codi-

gestion, where agricultural waste and other biomass is placedin the digester along with the manure. “You add to the dairywaste soft waste such as food waste, cheese whey, grape pom-ace, all types of other material that can enhance the volume ofgas from the digestion process,” Brennan says. “We see this asthe first step of the evolutionary process of using additionalwaste streams that can generate gas.” Future projects couldlook at wastewater processing plants and landfills as addition-al waste streams to convert.

The problem with digester gas is that it’s more than justmethane. It can contain carbon dioxide along with a corrosivemix of sulfur compounds and water. The company also has tobe aware of potentially pathogenic bacteria being introducedinto the pipeline system. “There is technology that can removethe main components of the biogas,” Brennan says. “Theyhave to remove the hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide. Sothe final product should be pretty much pure methane gas. Butthe real concerns that utilities have is biological. Is there anymaterial in the gas, microbes and pathogens that could beharmful? That’s the big unknown that needs to be evaluated.”

Brennan says PG&E will be taking numerous samples ofthe biomethane from its initial dairy project to check for bio-logical contamination. He doesn’t expect there will be any

problems because during the cleaning process and in com-pressing the gas for injection into the pipeline the gas is heat-ed to several hundred degrees Fahrenheit, high enough to killmost bacteria. “If the gas meets our pipeline quality, we antic-ipate that it will be a good, clean product,” he says.

Boschee says injecting the biomethane in a pipeline is bet-ter than producing electricity on-site because PG&E’s large

Before biomethane can be injected into pipelines using this pipeline injection system, it has to be cleaned to remove carbon dioxide, water and hydrogen sulfide, as well as any microbial contamination.

PH

OT

O:

PG

&E


fuel

combined-cycle gas-fired power plants are much more effi-cient than the farm-based combustion generators. “You canget even greater utilization of that energy to get even morepower for the electricity demands here in California,” he says.

To move beyond the limits of anaerobic digestion, PG&Eis exploring a project it calls biomethanation. “[Anaerobicdigestion] is pretty traditional stuff,” Brennan says. “It’s beendone in Europe for the past 10 or 15 years. Biomethanation isa more emerging technology.” The company began the bio-methanation project in the first quarter of 2008 by issuing arequest for proposals. At this point, the project is not limitingitself to any specific feedstock other than manure, or technol-ogy or process, as long as it makes a pipeline-ready gas out ofbiomass. “Dairy manure is about 20 percent, give or take, ofthe available biomass in the state, so we are looking for tech-nologies that can turn the other 80 percent into renewableenergy for us,” he adds. “That includes anything from ag wasteto food waste to municipal waste to woody biomass fromforests, anything organic, really.”

PG&E issued a request for information on new bio-methanation projects earlier this year. The company is lookingfor innovative technologies, primarily using gasification, toincrease the percentage of renewables in its natural gas supply.“We want to encourage people to develop projects to convertthese hard organics into methane and put that into ourpipeline system,” Boschee says. The company will review thesubmissions in May, and Brennan says the company hopes tosign up the first projects before the end of 2008.

PG&E will not act as the developer for the biomethana-tion projects. Rather, the company will be acting as facilitatorto bring developers, investors and regulators together to expe-dite the development of the projects. “We are trying to bringthe parties together, the people who have the technology, thepeople who have waste streams, people who like to site thosefacilities and people who have money for investing,” Boscheesays. “All of those parties are part of the process. We will workwith them and help to find financing to develop demonstra-tion projects somewhere here in California.”

With the resources of a major company, PG&E can helpsmaller developers overcome financial and regulatory barriers.“We work with project developers and dairymen to facilitatethe development,” Brennan says. “There are a lot of hurdlesthese projects have to face, whether it is permit or processrelated. Smoothing the way, spreading information and mak-ing good contacts for developers are very important roles thatPG&E is playing in facilitation of these projects.”

PG&E will also consider projects that will improve theefficiency of anaerobic digestion. One of the ways this couldbe accomplished is by reducing the time it takes to producebiogas in the digesters. Brennan says the traditional digestion

process takes 20 to 40 days to complete, whereas new meth-ods complete the process in less than a week.

Adding Value to Ag WasteProjects such as PG&E’s biomethanation initiative have

other benefits as well. Agricultural waste is an environmentalheadache in California. Nutrients and bacteria in manurethreaten to contaminate water supplies. Air quality regulationsprevent farmers from burning straw and other ag waste, leav-ing them with a disposal problem. “We have been trying toencourage farmers to realize the energy potential of thesewaste streams,” Boschee says. “They can capitalize on thesewaste streams and capture the methane gas and use it in themost efficient way possible.”

PG&E is not using any biogas in its system currently,although the first dairy-based project is about to come on line.The company’s goal is to aggressively grow the supply of bio-methane in the state to provide for 10 percent of its consump-tion. That would be equivalent to more than 200,000 Mcf perday. Biomethane is an important part of PG&E’s plans toincrease its renewable portfolio. Unlike solar and wind energy,biomethane can be stored and easily dispatched to areas whereit’s needed. “You don’t need to use it right away, where as elec-trical energy must be,” Brennan says. “With gas, you can stickit in the pipeline and store it until it can be used most efficient-ly. It provides a great deal more flexibility than other renew-able options.”

Brennan also sees other advantages from the local pro-duction and control of biomethane. “Because it is being man-ufactured right in our service territory, it reduces our relianceon outside sources of gas,” he says. “It reduces our need toreinforce our pipeline system to bring gas into the state. It alsoreduces our need to reinforce our local transmission systems.[Gas from] these dairies is going into existing pipelines that arealready serving our customer base.”

California recently passed legislation calling on utilities toreduce their greenhouse gas emissions. While this legislationcalls for the ambitious development of renewable fuels,Brennan points out that PG&E started its biomethane pro-gram well before the bill was passed. “The impetus for ourprogram came before Assembly Bill 38 was passed,” he says.“But it does set a very ambitious goal of 20 percent renew-ables by 2010. So we were forced to put the gas pedal downon something we were already doing.” BIO

Jerry W. Kram is a Biomass Magazine staff writer. Reach him [email protected] or (701) 738-4962.


environment


environment

Using Peter Rabbit toClean Peter’s Pond

Purdue University researchers have implanted poplar trees with genetic material from rabbits. Thetrees are destined for a Herculean task: cleaning up a contaminated site that housed an oil storagefacility. The site, called Peter’s Pond, was tainted by contaminated oil stored there nearly 40 yearsago. The process, called phytoremediation, allows transgenic trees to slurp up underground contaminants.

By Sarah Smith


environment

y the U.S. EPA’s own estimate, there are “tens ofthousands” of Superfund sites scatteredthroughout the United States. Complex, long-term, formidable processes to clean up thoseabandoned hazardous waste sites are taking placethroughout the nation, parsed among 10 EPA

districts. Superfund was born in 1980 in response to the dis-covery of numerous environmental catastrophes like the LoveCanal. Those toxic waste dumps gave rise to theComprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation andLiability Act. Superfund areas carry the dubious designation asthe nation’s worst toxic waste sites. Currently more than 1,300sites are on the National Priorities List and EPA estimates thatthey affect 11 million people. But numerous other sources ofland contamination, such as state Superfund sites, brownfields,nonhazardous waste disposal facilities and other land contam-ination sources are not currently tracked in national databases,leading to EPA’s ballpark estimate of tens of thousands ofareas that need cleanup attention. That’s where PurdueUniversity researchers come in, participating in the EPA’sReturn to Use program.

One of the most prevalent pollutants, trichloroethylene,or TCE, has been found to be a susceptible victim of trans-genic poplars—trees that possess a gene transferred fromanother species. The Purdue researchers, collaborating withscientists from the University of Washington, have found thatthe poplars are capable of absorbing TCE and other pollu-tants, then processing them into harmless byproducts. “Thepoplar has an innate ability, in plants that have not been genet-ically modified, to absorb and metabolize TCE to a certainextent,” says Richard Meilan, associate professor of moleculartree physiology at Purdue. “But it’s not particularly efficient.”

Enter the rabbit to speed things along. Mammalian liversare “highly evolved detoxifying organs,” Meilan says, and con-tain enzymes that are capable of metabolizing a variety ofpotential hazardous compounds, including TCE. When thegene encoding this enzyme is introduced into a poplar, the treerecognizes the rabbit DNA and it’s capable of breaking downTCE and other harmful chemicals, including chloroform, ben-zene, vinyl chloride and carbon tetrachloride. The EPA thinksTCE is the most common groundwater pollutant at Superfundsites, and it’s a suspected carcinogen. At Peter’s Pond, TCE lieswithin 10 feet of the surface—an easy target for transgenictree roots.

Meilan co-authored a study, published in October 2007 in“Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,” whichfound that the genetically altered trees were able to absorb andmetabolize a variety of toxic compounds much more rapidlythan unaltered poplars. “Livers serve a protective role todetoxify these things and keep them from having negativeeffects” in mammals, Meilan says.

TCE is considered a halogenated product because it con-tains nonmetallic elements from what Meilan refers to as the“dreaded” Periodic Table, which was introduced to most peo-ple in junior-high science classes. Halogens include fluorine,chlorine, bromine and iodine. They’re highly reactive and intheir natural state generally have fleeting existences as gases.“Provided they’re not ingested in huge quantities, some halo-gens such as the chloride ion in table salt aren’t harmful to us,”Meilan says. “But when you attach the chloride ion to othermolecules, depending on their configuration, they can beincredibly harmful molecules. There are all kinds of organiccompounds and when they have these halogens attached, theycan be nasty stuff.” That’s where the hare-poplar combination

B


environment

proves useful. The enzyme produced by the expression of thisrabbit gene in poplars, cleaves off the halogens and liberatesthe organic material, producing an innocuous product with thetoxic properties removed. Essentially, the trees metabolize theharmful contaminants and emerge unfazed, and unpolluted.

Peter’s Pond is actually a Chrysler site. “It was nevergrossly contaminated and Chrysler removed the majority ofthe contamination in work done in the 1980s and then againin the early part of this decade,” says Max Gates of theautomaker’s Safety and Regulatory CommunicationsDepartment. “At Chrysler, we got involved with EPA and theReturn to Use program at a site in a rural region near ourheadquarters north of Detroit. The work at Peter’s Pond is anextension of that involvement, which we think has greatpotential for recapturing the benefits from the investmentmade in environmental cleanups and creating potential sitesfor growth of fuel crops for biodiesel, ethanol and perhapsother alternative energy sources.”

Chrysler has committed $313,000 to funding the project,Meilan says.

Mutated Plants Spawn ControversyMeilan and other researchers must undergo a lengthy per-

mitting process with the U.S. Department of Agriculturebefore they receive permission to plant genetically alteredtrees anywhere but in a laboratory or a contained greenhouse.Before any deployment takes place and after a permit has beenissued, genetically altered plants are strictly regulated by a U.S.government agency called the Animal Plant Health InspectionService (APHIS). The researchers are taking comprehensivesteps to assure that no transgenes escape into the environ-ment. Hence the three-year life span of the project.

Meilan says although many genetically modified cropssuch as corn are being grown for commercial purposes,“because they’ve been so heavily domesticated they have fewor no wild relatives with which to mate, thus minimizing envi-ronmental risks,” he says.

Meilan inspects hybrid poplars, which were not genetically engineered, grownnear West Lafayette, Ind.

PH

OT

O: A

GR

ICU

LTU

RA

LC

OM

MU

NIC

AT

ION

S, P

UR

DU

E U

NIV

ER

SIT

Y


environment

Trees are different because they havelong juvenile periods. They can grow formany years without producing seeds.Meilan says some trees don’t becomesexually mature until they are 25 yearsold. “We have not domesticated trees tothe extent we have agronomic crops,” hesays. “As a result all these trees we’vegenetically altered have wild relativeswith which they can mate. Pollen from a15-year-old tree can disperse over milesand there may be wild relatives down-wind that it can fertilize.” That’s whygenetically engineered trees are strictlyregulated. “Currently no transgenic treescan be grown for commercial purposes,but they can be grown for research pur-poses,” he says.

The trees will be harvested afterthree years because poplars typicallyflower after about five years. If they areharvested before they flower, there’s no

chance of any genetic material escaping.But the three-year growth period willallow the poplar roots to grow to thenecessary depth to access the contami-nants in the suspended water table atPeter’s Pond.

Contaminants similar to those inPeter’s Pond are prevalent throughoutthe United States, Meilan says, particular-ly at military installations. “There weregobs of this stuff,” he says, referring tothe TCEs. “Many sites need to becleaned. Ultimately there’s some poten-tial down the road.”

Afterlife of a Genetically Altered Tree—Devitalization

“There are a lot of contaminants outthere—mercury, lead, cadmium—andplants such as ferns can sequester thesecontaminants,” Meilan says. “They bio-accumulate them in their tissues. Using

these plants to accumulate heavy metalswill take up this stuff but you now havea contaminated plant. What do you dowith it? Do you burn it and release itinto the atmosphere? Do you dispose ofit in a landfill?”

Unlike these other plants used forphytoremediation, poplars metabolizethe harmful substances so there are noworries about disposal, he says. But anybiomass applications for the harvestedtrees cannot be used in for-profit ven-tures. Regulators won’t allow poplarscontaining the hare gene to be growncommercially until containment strate-gies have been perfected to APHIS’ssatisfaction so genetically engineeredtrees don’t release any “introducedgenes” into the wild.

Destruction of the transgenic trees,at the end of the field test, involveswhat APHIS calls devitalization.Suitable methods include autoclaving,burning, chipping and an herbicidetreatment. But the key is commercialapplications. They cannot be harvestedfor commercial purposes, unless a com-mercial entity has a permit to growtransgenic trees for experimental pur-poses. And they still cannot be sold onthe open market. “In the future poplarshave the potential to be used as a bioen-ergy crop, as a cellulosic feedstock,”Meilan says. “Because these trees areable to detoxify the contaminants, theymay make for an ideal feedstock forenergy production.” They can also begrown for a variety of other purposes,including fiber for making paper andcarbon credits. “Thus, in the future,maybe we can double-dip,” he says.

Meilan just hopes that regulatorswill soon allow commercial applicationsfor transgenic poplar biomass—espe-cially for trees carrying a lucky rabbit’sfoot—or liver. BIO

Sarah Smith is a Biomass Magazine staffwriter. Reach her at [email protected]

or (701) 663-5002.


europe

BIG WOODConstruction will start soon on a giant wood-fueled powerstation in Wales. But where will all that wood come from?Where will the ash go? And why not use the wasteheat?

By Simon Hadlington


europe


europe

ort Talbot on the coast of Wales, at the westernedge of the United Kingdom, is probably not thefirst place that would spring to mind as the locationfor a remarkable experiment in renewable energy.The town, once the hub of the United Kingdom’sthriving steel industry before recession hit hard in

the 1970s and 1980s, has seen more industrially prosperousdays.

But Port Talbot could become home to the world’s largestpower station run on biomass. A 350-megawatt plant—gargan-tuan by industry standards—is scheduled to move from thedrawing board to the building site within the next few months.The plant will be fired by wood chip. The company behind theproject is Prenergy Power Ltd., owned by Switzerland-regis-tered Global Wood Holdings, which is partly owned by TMTCo. Ltd., the Taiwanese shipping group.

The Port Talbot plant, scheduled for commissioning in2010, will produce 70 per cent of the renewable energy targetfor Wales by providing electricity for around 550,000 homes—half of the households in Wales. The cost of the plant isexpected to be around $750 million.

Given that a typical wood chip power plant has a capacityof around 5 megawatts, and a 40-megawatt plant is consideredto be large, the scale of Prenergy’s ambition is enormous. “Itis,” says Peter Richards, business manager of Austrian biomassenergy company Cycleenergy and an expert on the industry,“something like sending a man to the moon.”

Crucial Location The location of the proposed plant adjacent to a deep

water port is crucial to the economics of the project. The plant

will require 3 million tons of wood chips annually, which thecompany says will be imported from a number of countries inNorth America, South America and Europe. “All the sourceswill be independently certified as sustainable and we will havean audit trail confirming the source of each shipment of woodchip,” Prenergy spokesman John Anderson told BiomassMagazine.

The company is investigating the best way to dispose ofthe estimated 80,000 tons of ash produced each year. The ashcould be used as a soil conditioner or fertilizer for forestry oragriculture, used in the cement industry, or deposited in land-fill. “Our preference is strongly for the first option and we areworking with forestry experts to develop methods of condi-tioning the ash to produce the right characteristics to allow itto be easily spread,” Anderson says.

Certain aspects of the project have, however, been criti-cized and some industry insiders remain curious to see howPrenergy will be able to source and transport the vast quantityof wood chips that it will require.

One issue that has been raised is that the plant will provideonly electricity, and will not pipe excess heat to local business-

P‘If you are simply lighting a big fire under abig boiler solely to produce electricity, youare losing 60 to 70 percent of useful energythrough heat loss.’


europe

es and homes, as combined heat and power plants do. Inresponse, the company says that the infrastructure for supply-ing heat locally does not exist in the UK in the same way it doesin parts of continental Europe. Furthermore, the companysays, the plant is designed to generate electricity far more effi-ciently than smaller plants, with an efficiency of around 36 per-cent compared with typically 22 percent for small plants.

Concern has also been voiced about the use of shipping,which itself generates pollution, to transport the fuel. Prenergyinsists, however, that for a project of this scale water transportrepresents the most environmentally benign form of transport-ing bulk quantities of raw material.

In principle, a wood-burning power station is a good idea,says Dan van der Horst, an expert in biomass energy at theUniversity of Birmingham in the UK. “Biomass only reducescarbon dioxide emissions if the energy put into growing thebiomass produces significantly fewer emissions that you dis-place by using biomass as an energy source,” he says.“Generally for woody biomass from sustainably managedforestry this is not a problem—as it can be for other kinds ofenergy crop such as rapeseed, cereals or even short-rotationcoppice such as willow or poplar, which require agriculturalinputs.”

He points out that while shipping the wood chip will pro-duce pollution, the carbon emissions for shipping are often nottaken into account when calculating the “carbon advantage” ofa fuel source. “Because pollution caused by international ship-ping does not get ascribed to any single country, it tends to beignored by people considering only national targets for reduc-ing carbon emissions,” says van der Horst.

ROCs Increase Profitability

Generating electricity from renewable sources

represents a potentially attractive investment in the

United Kingdom. The government requires energy

companies to provide an increasing proportion of

their power from renewables or face financial penal-

ties.

The system adopted by the government is to

issue renewable energy certificates (ROCs) to

power generators that are making electricity from

sustainable sources: one ROC per megawatt-hour

of power they generate.

The ROCs can then be sold on the open market

to other companies to make up any shortfall buyers

have accumulated by not producing enough elec-

tricity from renewables.

The introduction of the ROC system has

increased the profitability of renewables—and in

some market conditions the certificates can sell for

more than the price of the electricity itself.


europe

Wasting Heat Of far more concern to van der

Horst is the fact that the new plant willnot be using its excess heat. “My big con-cern with generating electricity fromwood is that if you are simply lighting abig fire under a big boiler solely to pro-duce electricity, you are losing 60 to 70percent of useful energy through heatloss,” he says. “One way of dealing withthis is to use the heat to heat homes, butthe energy markets in the UK tend not to

favor this kind of approach and energyproviders claim it is simply too expensiveto install the necessary infrastructure. Butif you do not use this heat you waste two-thirds of your biomass energy.”

For van der Horst, the most efficientway to turn biomass into electricity is toburn it together with coal in coal-firedpower stations. “This directly displacescoal, which is the most polluting fossilfuel,” he argues. “A brand new biomassplant producing only electricity is a badidea.”

Cycleenergy’s Richards, meanwhile,will be watching the progress of the newplant with fascination. “The project isparticularly interesting because of itsphenomenal size,” he says. “If you con-sider that 200 megawatts of renewableenergy through biomass is considered atypical target for a country trying tostimulate this form of energy genera-tion, that is equivalent to 50 plants eachof 4 megawatts capacity. So one singleplant of 350 megawatts is unbelievable.”

Transporting the fuel is clearly anissue, says Richards. “There was a caseof a 50-megawatt wood-burning plant inHungary, which required 14 truckloadsof fuel a day,” he notes. “For a plant of350 megawatts bringing the fuel by landwould be exorbitantly expensive, so it isquite clever putting it on a port. Butnevertheless the sheer logistics remaininteresting.”

Håkan Ekström, an expert on theglobal wood trade at Wood ResourcesInternational in Seattle, points out someof the challenges that could face thenew project. “If they need to import 3million dry tons of wood fiber it soundslike a huge project,” Ekström toldBiomass Magazine. “The volume isslightly less than what the entire Swedishpulp industry is consuming in one year,or twice the chip volume the Germanpulp industry is consuming. Japan is, byfar, the largest chip importer in theworld and they import 13 million drytons per year.

“So entering this market to pur-chase 3 million tons sounds like a diffi-cult task, but it all depends on what theyare willing to pay for the wood. And it isnot going to be easy to find that volumeof certified wood unless they plan tochip pulpwood and that would be reallyexpensive.” BIO

Simon Hadlington is a journalist who coversbiofuels from his base in York, UnitedKingdom.


RESEARCH

CoordinatingBiomass Research

PHOTO: NDSU

Research into all facets of biomass-supported industriesis taking off at schools throughout the country. NorthDakota State University is combining and coordinatingits efforts to a better biobased program.

By Mary-Anne Fiebig

The claims and statements made in this article belong exclusively to the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the viewsof Biomass Magazine or its advertisers. All questions pertaining to this article should be directed to the author(s).


nvolvement in biobased researchand products is not a new interestfor North Dakota State University.Beginning in 1905, the Fargo, N.D.-based land-grant university con-ducted polymers and coatings

research centered on the use of linseed oilas a base for paint. Today, with a growingemphasis on alternative fuel and energysources and the use of entire plants for anincreasing array of products, biobasedresearch continues to be the focus formany NDSU research efforts.

To coordinate this activity, the univer-sity formed the NDSU Biomass andBioproducts Initiative in early 2007. It cul-minated in the North Dakota State Boardof Higher Education approving theNDSU Bio Energy and ProductInnovation Center (NDSU BioEPIC) inmid-November 2007. The center’s pur-pose is to serve as a single site within theuniversity to develop, coordinate and pro-

mote the development of bio-relatedactivities at NDSU and in North Dakota.

“What we’ve been looking at is toeffectively pull together the full set ofcapabilities within the North Dakota StateUniversity system and position ourselvesto be partners with other organizationsand companies looking to emerge andgrow in North Dakota,” says D.C. Coston,vice president for agriculture and universi-ty extension.

The multidisciplinary and multi-department center will be headed by twoco-directors: Ken Hellevang, a professorin the department of agricultural andbiosystems engineering, and DavidSaxowsky, an associate professor in thedepartment of agribusiness and appliedeconomics. Both were instrumental in thedevelopment of the center.

More than 15 departments on cam-pus and eight Research Extension Centersthroughout North Dakota are researching

answers to various aspects of energy andbiobased production. To begin coordina-tion of research and activities, a series offorums was held designed to raise aware-ness of current research, education, andextension achievements and directions. Ateach forum, four or five researchers orextension specialists from various depart-ments and colleges showcased their workin the biobased arena, which was followedby group discussion. The forums promot-ed valuable interaction and collaboration.

A daylong NDSU BioOpportunitiesWorkshop, held in May 2007, includedseveral breakout discussions involvingNDSU faculty, researchers and extensionpersonnel, as well as invited guests fromprivate industry, government, producersand stakeholders. Approximately 150 peo-ple attended.

Broadly, the center’s objectives are tocontinue developing frontier technologiesin the biomass and bioproducts arena,

RESEARCH

I


coordinate research strategies and activities, utilize biomassand bioproducts to eliminate waste and increase efficiency,energize business and industry investment, stimulate studentinterest and learning, and revitalize communities throughoutthe state and region.

“We are convinced that bio-opportunity is very much aninterdisciplinary effort,” Saxowsky says. “The reason NDSU isin such a strong position is because we have this wide range ofdiscourse well-established.”

More than BiofuelsToday, most news reports appear to be concentrated on

biobased fuels, especially ethanol extracted from corn andother sources, such as corn stalks, wheat straw and grasses,including switchgrass. But many other products are being dis-covered. For example, wheat straw can be used for more thanan ethanol feedstock. One coproduct of creating ethanol fromwheat is unhydrolyzed cellulose, which can be processed toproduce cellulose nanofibers or nanowhiskers.

Nanowhiskers can be used as a substitute for fiberglassand petroleum-based composites. Biobased composites areeasier to recycle. Nanowhiskers also have the potential to makecomposite materials twice as strong as their petroleum-basedcounterparts. Cars made with biocomposites can be lighter,which leads to increased mileage per gallon of fuel withoutcompromising strength and safety.

Adding nanowhisker production to a wheat straw-to-ethanol plant adds an estimated $770,000 in direct economicimpact, according to a study by Larry Leistritz, NDSU profes-sor of agribusiness and applied economics. His study has beenongoing the past three years. Leistritz’s program, in collabora-tion with Lansing, Mich.-based MBI International, isapproaching Phase 2 in the project that involves setting up apilot plant. This stage is required in the commercialization ofnanowhisker production. Development of the next stage willhave major ramifications to the success of this project and tothe state.

In the same area of research, but in another part of cam-pus, Chad Ulven, assistant professor of mechanical engineer-ing and applied mechanics, develops composites that are madewith biobased polymers and natural fibers. Continuous flaxfiber or short corn fibers are used to strengthen various plas-tics, just as rebar is used to reinforce concrete.

“In terms of assisting the biofuels production, this is animportant area of research,” Ulven says. “The byproducts cre-ated from biofuel production need some type of use. Withbiobased polymers and natural fibers, you’re getting a muchhigher value for the byproducts.”

Continuing research in the biobased industry not onlyinvolves converting plant material into biobased products, but

RESEARCH

�continued on page 56

Call to find out how you canprofit from our experience.

870/367-9751 x112www.pricebiostock.com

Wehandlebiomassfeedstock:

Wehandlebiomassfeedstock:◆ Procurement◆ Logistics◆ Consulting◆ Yard Design

& Construction◆ Preparation◆ Management

◆ Procurement◆ Logistics◆ Consulting◆ Yard Design

& Construction◆ Preparation◆ Management

RESEARCH

Broadening the Research Scope

NDSU has many different areas of research in the biobased arena.

Some examples are listed below. For more information, visit

www.ndsu.edu/bioopportunities.

�Hydrogen power Pickup trucks and farm tractors are testing hydro-

gen fuel at NDSU Research Extension Centers. Future research will

determine the feasibility of hydrogen fuel in various applications and the

development of hydrogen fuel cell technology.

�Making ethanol from alternative sources Production of ethanol

from native grasses such as switchgrass and other lignocellulosic mate-

rials is being investigated. Efforts to improve Conservation Reserve

Program management and to investigate the effect of harvesting CRP

to ensure environmental sustainability are included in this research.

�Alternative crops for corn biorefineries Researchers are studying

other crops that can be processed in corn-based biorefineries.

�Economic analysis Research includes economic analysis of pro-

cessing the product, optimum location of processing plants, transporta-

tion requirements, and handling and storage methods.

�Developing coproducts Efficient use of all coproducts is a major

consideration of biomass conversion at NDSU. Distillers grains, a

coproduct from ethanol production, and canola meal, a coproduct from

canola biodiesel production, are being explored as a feed ingredient for

livestock. Investigation is being conducted into the colocation of cattle

feedlots near ethanol plants and combining an anaerobic digestion pro-

cessing plant to convert animal waste into methane to fuel the ethanol

plant. This is being carried out at the Blue Flint Ethanol LLC plant in

Underwood, N.D., with the aim of producing a self-sustaining biorefin-

ery. Research continues to develop value-added products for new mar-

kets in biofuel, biolubricants, cosmetics, food products and nutraceuti-

cals.

�Market and policy analysis Research by NDSU economists

includes plant feasibility analyses, evaluation of alternative federal poli-

cies designed to promote biomass and bioproduct production and use,

and impacts of increasing use of biomass and bioproducts on national

and international food and energy markets.

�Student learning A course on biofuels is available for undergraduate

and graduate students. Other courses increasingly include biomass and

bioproduct course material.

�Community support NDSU economists investigate and propose

new crop insurance for biomass crops previously not covered. Risk

management strategies are also prepared to minimize income variabil-

ity and to sustain the viability of farms and rural communities.


also producing a healthy plant and improving the plant’s perform-ance for that specific purpose. The NDSU Oilseed DevelopmentCenter of Excellence is one example of this important researcharea. During the past few years, the center has obtained new andimproving canola germplasm (genetic material) that has increasedoil content of the seed from 16 percent to 18 percent. This resultalone has an estimated annual value to North Dakota of $22 mil-lion, based on current acreage. If the demand increases as antic-

ipated, it could escalate to approximately $110 million per year.Benefits of biorelated research includes increased employ-

ment and educational opportunities, as well as increased incomefor producers and processors in North Dakota and the region.NDSU has classes to educate tomorrow’s engineers and scientistsin areas relating to biofuels and bioprocessing.

In addition, NDSU faculty are sharing their expertisestatewide. For example, Hellevang, also an NDSU ExtensionService agricultural engineer, is involved in the North DakotaBiomass Energy Task Force and the North Dakota Alliance forRenewable Energy. Other faculty are demonstrating canolabiodiesel production and use, and providing off-campus educa-tional programming on biofuels and agricultural energy efficien-cy. Faculty are also working with groups, businesses and commu-nities across the state to develop the future of renewable energyand bioproducts.

“It is this team approach that will help North Dakota com-munities participate in the bioeconomy,” Hellevang says. “It iscontinuing the land-grant philosophy of NDSU to foster the eco-nomic prosperity and quality of life of the people we serve.”

NDSU has the expertise and experience to research biobasedproducts from the ground up—from soil to product—to theireffect on community and the region. Collaboration among theresearchers and educators provides a complete range of services.NDSU BioEPIC will continue its mission to coordinate andencourage interaction across disciplines on campus and through-out the state and region to enhance and promote a sustainablefuture for generations to come. BIO

Mary-Anne Fiebig works with BioEPIC at North Dakota State University.Reach her at [email protected] or (701) 231-8190. Formore information, visit www.ndsu.edu/bioopportunities.

RESEARCH

Approximately 150 people attended NDSU's BioOpportunities Workshop.

PH

OT

O:

ND

SU

�continued from page 54

Construction

BBI InternationalProject Development

Adding Value to the Biofuels Industry

300 Union Blvd, Suite 325 Lakewood, CO 80228, (303) 526-565530 Duke St.W., Suite 701, Kitchener, Ontario N2H 3W5 CANADA, (519) 576-4500

Why hire a project coordinator when you can hire a team of expertsto develop your ethanol or biodiesel project?

Let BBI guide you down the project development path:

Concept to

Feasibility study

Organize your business

Develop the business plan

Select the right design/builder for your project

Select the best site

Negotiate utility and product offtake agreements

Develop feedstock and risk management plans

Develop a project financing strategy

Develop prospectus and offering documents

Conduct an equity drive

Secure project debt financing

Financial close and begin construction!

IN THE

LABn a long and winding road, sometimes the only way

to note progress is to watch the mile markers on the

side of the road as they slowly tick higher. On the

road to commercially producing cellulosic ethanol,

Syntec Biofuel Inc. recently passed a significant

marker. Its thermochemical method of producing

ethanol and other alcohols reached a production

efficiency of 105 gallons per ton of biomass.

According to George Kosanovich, chief executive officer of Syntec, the

milestone was significant not only because it exceeds the threshold for the

economic production of biofuels, but also because it exceeds the efficiency

of fuel production from corn.

Syntec’s B2A process is based on the gasification of biomass and the

catalytic reforming of synthesis gas in a Fischer-Tropsch process. The origi-

nal research on the process was conducted at the University of British

Columbia in Vancouver in 2000. Syntec was formed to commercialize the

technology coming from the university. “The research has been ongoing

since that time, primarily on catalyst development,” Kosanovich says. The

company has gone through several ownership changes over the years;

Kosanovich joined the company a year ago.

The B2A process produces mixed alcohols as a final product. Eighty-

five percent is methanol and ethanol, and the rest is propanol and butanol. A

year ago, the process produced 40 gallons of alcohols for each ton of bio-

mass produced. Kosanovich uses rough estimates of 1,000 pounds of car-

bon per ton of biomass and a little less than seven pounds of carbon in a gal-

lon of alcohol to calculate that the process was only approximately 30 per-

cent efficient in converting the carbon in biomass into alcohols. With the

improvements, the process’ efficiency has surpassed 65 percent.

Kosanovich says advances in catalyst technology made it possible to

make the 80-year-old Fischer-Tropsch technology more efficient. “We are

changing from what I would call a chemistry focus to guide the lab advance-

ment to an engineering/economic focus to improve the key properties and

parameters of the catalyst,” he explains. “We did this through a series of cat-

alyst improvements, including getting away from very expensive compo-

nents in the catalyst. That not only made the catalyst a higher performer, but

less expensive to produce.”

To improve the catalyst by more than 150 percent took a considerable

amount of micro- and nanoscale engineers. “We made a whole series of

detailed improvements to the catalyst's promoters and copromoters, plus

detailed changes to the construction of the pellet,” Kosanovich says. “We had

to look at [the pellet’s] porosity, pore size and composition to actually put the

active sites down on the catalyst carrier pellet. Optimizing all those elements

allowed us to create the improvements we did.”

Syntec researchers worked to find the best balance among 15 different

parameters to evaluate and improve the performance of the catalyst.

Kosanovich says they actually underestimated the complexity of the task

when all the substitution of ingredients was taken into consideration. “It’s a

highly multivariate composition,” he says. “We are still in the midst of that

task, but we have found a few key breakthroughs that allowed us to have that

very impressive improvement. However, we haven’t completely optimized it

yet.” Along with efficiency improvements, Syntec is investigating ways to

increase its catalyst’s longevity. The third goal is to increase the catalyst’s pro-

ductivity, which Kosanovich describes as the amount of alcohol produced per

pellet of catalyst.

While Syntec continues to work on improving its catalyst, the econom-

ics are positive enough for the company to move ahead and develop a

demonstration-scale plant. Kosanovich says the company is currently raising

funds and evaluating sites for the demonstration facility. “We are at a point

where, if the catalyst does not get an iota better, our economics are quite

impressive,” he says. “However, we know we are not done with that improve-

ment cycle. There are a bunch of things we are going to do that we are con-

fident will yield additional improvements.” BIO

—Jerry W. Kram

Mile Marker 105: Syntec Reaches for Economic Efficiency

O


Left to right: Caili Su, senior scientist; Kosanovich; StevenLi, process engineer; and Raymond Ko, lab assistant

PHOTO: SYNTEC BIOFUEL INC.


EERCUPDATE

aste biomass represents an enormous underutilized resource for electrical generation. Studieshave shown that up to 600 million tons of waste biomass is produced each year in the UnitedStates. This represents a potential renewable electricity resource of up to 120 gigawatts of elec-trical power. However, these resources are distributed in relatively small quantities, and it is almostalways less expensive for the company producing the waste biomass to pay for its disposal than

to convert it to electricity using traditional combustion technologies.Coal and nuclear power plants operate on a scale of hundreds of megawatts. Both capital and operating costs

benefit from economies of scale. For waste biomass, the system would have to be scaled down to less than amegawatt to match the typical size of the biomass resource. High-pressure combustion boiler systems require cer-tified operators, and a cost is associated with system maintenance and pollution control. Evenwith free fuel, the cost and difficulty of operating a small boiler system on a per-kilowatt elec-tricity basis are often higher than the retail price of electricity from the grid.

The Centers for Renewable Energy and Biomass Utilization at the Energy &Environmental Research Center are investigating alternative technologies for converting solidbiomass fuel to electricity at small scales. One such technology is small-scale gasification.Similar to a boiler, air is mixed with fuel to produce heat. However, this is where the similar-ities end. Where a boiler uses the heat to produce steam, a gasifier uses the heat to initiatechemical reactions to break down the biomass into its hydrogen and carbon monoxide con-stituents. The hydrogen and carbon monoxide can then be used in a fuel cell, gas turbine orinternal combustion engine. This is a little trickier than simply burning the fuel. Just enough air must be added toproduce the necessary heat for the chemical reactions, but not so much that air ends up burning the hydrogen andcarbon monoxide.

Small-scale gasifiers may have issues with high moisture contents in biomass, and small fractions of tars andoils can pass unconverted through the gasifier. These condensates can cause downtime and increased maintenancecosts. To overcome these problems, researchers at the EERC have developed a process for thermally integratinga gasifier with the electricity converter, such as the fuel cell or gas turbine. Waste heat from the gas turbine or fuelcell is recycled back to the gasifier to help heat the gasifier. The addition of external heat to the gasifier allows forthe use of higher moisture biomass. The gasifier can also be designed to physically increase the size of the gasifi-cation zone, minimizing the oils that can pass through unconverted. The goal is to decrease the cost of preparingthe biomass for gasification and minimizing the oils leaving the gasifier.

Through funding from the Xcel Energy Renewable Development Fund, the EERC has constructed a bench-scale gasifier designed to be integrated with high-temperature fuel cells. Testing of the gasifier demonstrated excep-tionally low tar and oil output with high-moisture wood. As part of the work, the gas output of the gasifier wasused to power a small high-temperature fuel cell stack. The next step will be to scale the gasifier beyond the benchscale and integrate it with a larger electricity converter, a gas turbine. Using this concept, the EERC plans to ther-mally integrate a small gas turbine with a gasifier to put power onto the electrical grid. The goal of the project isto produce a low-cost, low-maintenance distributed power system for converting biomass to electricity. In additionto the design and testing of the power system, this project will quantify operating and manufacturing costs, andprovide a commercialization road map to minimize time to market. BIO

Phillip Hutton is a research manager at the EERC in Grand Forks, N.D. He can be reached at [email protected] or(701) 777-5204.

Hutton

WA Solution for Greater Biomass Utilization

EXPANDING?UPGRADING?

Keep Your Plant Runningwith our In-Stock Stainless PVF

Robert-James Sales—the leading distributor of in-stock stainless pipe, fittings, valves and flanges—got yournew plant up and running when it was built. Now look to us to service all your continuing MRO requirements.Over 80% of all orders are shipped the same day from our nine regional warehouses. We also ship the largersize products up to 54” in diameter demanded by the biofuel processing industry today.

Buffalo, NY 800-666-0088Cleveland, OH 800-777-0820Cincinnati, OH 800-777-2260Chicago, IL 800-777-2008Indianapolis, IN 800-777-0510Minneapolis, MN 800-777-1355South Plainfield, NJ 800-777-1858Raleigh, NC 866-493-8834Tavernier, FL 305-852-1694www.rjsales.com

Free Product CDContact the Robert-James Sales locationnearest you and ask for a freecopy of our comprehensive,up-to-date CD. It outlines our stainless product lineincluding reference charts,graphs and tables to help you calculate what your processing plant needs.

Stocking

a full r

ange of

2205 Duplex in 1/2" to 24"

biomass magazine - may 2008

Documents

biomass fuel

ag biomass

capabilities of biomass

states available biomass

wood flour

wood pellets

giant wood

big biofuel