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Briefing
Summary
Elements of a BioBased Economy: BioBased Energy, Fuels, and Products
May 20, 2003
According
to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), biomass is the second-most
utilized resource for renewable power generation in the
United States
.
Biomass resources – organic material that is available on a
renewable or recurring basis –
are available across the country, and can create local energy
and economic development opportunities, reduce our greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions, air and water pollution, and dependence on foreign oil. Production
of biobased energy utilizes organic feedstocks such as rice and
wheat straw, corn stalks, wood wastes, plant oils or dedicated
energy crops like willow or switchgrass in the production of clean,
renewable energy and consumer products. According
to DOE, “In the future, much larger quantities of biomass power
could come from fast-growing trees and crops (called "energy
crops"), forest debris and thinnings, agricultural wastes,
animal manures, and non-hazardous wood debris diverted from
landfills.”
The
private sector, public sector and the academic community are
becoming increasingly engaged in making a transition from a fossil
fuel based economy to a “biobased economy,” an economy which uses
renewable raw materials – as opposed to fossil fuels – to
produce products and energy. Innovators
are hoping to change the transportation fuels market by creating biobased
renewable fuels like ethanol and biodiesel; entrepreneurs are
seeking to recreate the oils we use and the way in which we produce
products through the use of bio-oils
and biobased products; and large chemical manufacturers are hoping
to change the structure of the “petro-chemical” industry through
the use of biobased industrial chemicals.
Elements
of a Biobased Economy
Biofuels
from Biomass
Biomass can be
used as an energy source in its solid form, and it can also be
converted into a liquid or gaseous state.
The process is very similar to the conversion of fossil
fuels, such as coal, into a viable energy source. Most of the time,
the biomass is burned, and the heat is converted to
electricity with a steam or gas turbine, or an internal combustion
engine.
Cellulosic ethanol is ethanol derived from biomass resources
through the use of waste streams or of specified energy crops.
It utilizes the cellulose found in all plant matter rather
than being starch-based as is the case in nearly all of today’s
ethanol production.
“Open-Loop”
Biofuels Resources
A variety of open-loop
biomass resources (agricultural, municipal, forestry byproducts,
wastes, thinnings, etc.) offer tremendous potential for
bioenergy/electricity production. The
use of waste streams to produce cellulosic ethanol can be an
environmentally friendly and cost effective process. One
of the most economically efficient ways of producing it is through
the use of agricultural wastes such as industrial “residues,”
or, byproducts of food, fiber, and forest production. Examples of
this include rice hulls and forest thinnings, municipal waste such
as waste paper and yard waste, and industrial waste such as
pulp/paper and sludge.
Cellulosic ethanol brings also brings several significant
environmental advantages. According
to Argonne National Laboratory cellulosic ethanol
will have a significant impact on fossil energy use,
petroleum consumption, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Specifically, by 2005, it is expected that the use of E10
(10% ethanol, 90% gasoline blend), E85 (85% ethanol, 15% gasoline
blend), and E95 (95% ethanol, 5% gasoline blend), will offer
reductions in GHG emissions of 84–131%, 86–130%, and 86–128%
respectively.
It may appear strange to see reductions of over 100%, but in
those cases electricity generated in cellulosic ethanol plants may
actually be more than what is needed.
The plant would then be able to sell that back to the
electricity grid, which serves to effectively reduce emissions that
would likely have come from other, non-renewable electricity sources
Also,
because producing cellulosic ethanol entails taking what are
otherwise harmful waste streams - municipal waste such as
waste paper and yard waste, industrial waste such as pulp/paper and
sludge, grass straws and animal waste streams - and
converting it into clean burning fuels, it can help to prevent
toxics from affecting water and soil quality.
In essence, waste streams can instead become revenue
streams – a “win-win” strategy.
“Closed-Loop”
Biofuels Resources
Also, a wide variety of “closed-loop”
(crops grown exclusively for energy production) feedstocks are being
considered as possible sources of energy. Researchers
at the State University of New York (SUNY) are investigating the
possibility of growing and harvesting woody biomass crops such as
willow biomass. Dedicated
crops such as willow biomass crops or switch grass offer high
biomass potential, high heat value per dry ton and resprout
vigorously after each harvest.
According to Tim Volk, Director of SUNY’s Salix Program,
crops such as these “are unique in that we can produce biomass
with them and at the same time produce a host of environmental,
rural development and economic benefits.”
For example, high energy-yielding
crops like willow can decrease soil erosion and improve water
quality by removing nitrates from soil that can easily find their
way into water supplies.
Biobased
Products
Just as petroleum is
processed in refineries to produce fuels, chemicals, and other
co-products, so too can biomass be processed in “biorefineries”
to produce energy, fuels, and a variety of marketable “biobased
products” in the same facility, taking advantage of synergies of
production. According
to Bill Holmberg, Chair of the New Uses Council, “
America
could lead the world in
conserving precious natural resources, stabilizing greenhouse gases
and enhancing the environment…” Biobased
products can be made by using a variety of biomass feedstocks,
including, but not limited to, traditional and new agricultural and
forestry crops and residues; rights-of-way, park, yard and garden
trimmings, municipal wastes and many more.
Essentially any product that can be derived from petroleum
can also be produced from biomass, including industrial chemicals,
cleaning products, paints and stains, lubricants, plastics,
packaging materials, transportation fuels, adhesives, and
insulation, to name a few.
According
to the Committee on Biobased Industrial Products, “Enough
biomass waste is generated annually – approximately 280 million
tons – to supply domestic consumption of all industrial chemicals
that can be made from biomass and still contribute to the liquid
transportation fuel need.”
Proponents of biobased products point out that using
renewable biomass resources lessens dependence on foreign oil and
reduces or eliminates the use of toxic substances harmful to human
health and the environment.
Renewable Oil
International, a company based in
Florence
,
Alabama
, has created what is essentially a traveling refinery for the
conversion of waste streams to “bio oil.”
Using a pyrolosis process, the company is able to convert
forestry crops and residues, agricultural crops and residues,
forestry and agricultural processing residues, animal manures
(including poultry litter), waste plastics, tires, and municipal
solid waste (MSW) into an oil similar to motor oil.
Solutions such as these have the potential to not only help
build a biobased economy, but can also help to create value-added
markets for non-commodity crops.
According to the company’s president, Phillip
Badger, the system offers several benefits such as “feedstock
flexibility, value-added to agriculture and forestry materials, is
energy self-sufficient, and has low emissions.
Biotechnology
Biotechnology
companies are also working to change the basic building blocks for
products such as plastics, chemicals and fuels.
Among other things, this will require developing technology
that allows us to move away from over-reliance upon
“petrochemicals,” commercially used chemicals derived from
petroleum or natural gas. Biotech
companies have poured significant resources into creating technology
that will ensure the environmental benefits and
the profitability of a biobased transition, two factors that
will be crucial to the success of the biobased movement.
According to Georg
Anderl, Cedar Rapids Plant Manager for Genencor Intl., a
biotechnology company, “In a biobased economy, there are three
elements: economic, environmental and social… a biobased economy
mimics the natural ecosystem… there’s no such thing as waste,
the waste of one organism is another’s energy source.”
Biotechnology captured roughly $2 billion in the chemical
market in 1999; some analysts are projecting an increase to $160
billion by 2010.
Much
of the information in this document was taken from a Congressional
briefing organized by the Environmental and Energy Study Institute: “BioBased
Energy, Fuels, and Products: A Technology Showcase” (
May 20, 2003
). Panelist
presentations are posted.
For more information about the briefing, please contact Josh Alban
at EESI at
202-662-1885 or jalban@eesi.org.
Further information on Agriculture and Energy issues can be found at
http://www.eesi.org/programs/agriculture/agriculture.htm.
Briefing
Panel by Topic:
Ø
Biomass Power
Production
Tim Volk, PhD, Director, Salix Program, State University of
New York
Presentation
Ø
Biobased Renewable
Fuels
Bill Holmberg, Chairman, New Uses Council
Presentation
Ø
BioOils and
Biobased Products
Phillip C. Badger, President & Chief Manager, Renewable
Oil International LLC
Presentation
Ø
Agri-processing,
Consumer, and Industrial Chemicals
Georg Anderl, Cedar Rapids Plant Manager, Genencor
International
Presentation
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