Innovation for Our Energy Future Biomass, Biofuels, and ... · Biomass, Biofuels, and Sustainability ... •The Biopower tool has been developed on NREL's Open ... resulting in a

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Biomass, Biofuels, and Sustainability

International Symposiumon Renewable Energy andSustainabilityCIE-UNAM,Temixco, Morelos, Mexico

Helena ChumNREL Research Fellowhttp://www.nrel.gov/research_fellows/chum.html

August 10, 2010

Innovation for Our Energy Future


Overview

• Biomass – The System and Context

• Biomass Technologies and Systems – EconomicDevelopment, Energy Security, Climate Change Mitigation…

• Heat, Power, and Combined Heat and Power (CHP)

• Multiple Fuels

• Integrated Biorefineries

• Feedstocks

• Bioenergy systems sustainability• Life cycle Assessment (LCA) and other tools

• Need to analyze the integrated biomass system impact compared toone with less/no bioenergy/biofuels/bioproducts – use models:Agriculture, forestry, biomass for energy, fuels, and waste/residuemanagement systems and their combined impacts -- some analyzedthrough market-mediated tools. Evolving social analysis tools

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• Small and large scale examples•Tools highlighted

Earlydays

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Chum and Overend, 25 years reviewAdvances in Solar Energy, 2003

Bioenergy is a Part of Complex System

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After Dornburg et al., 2008, http://de.scientificcommons.org/repository/wageningen_university_and_researchcenter_publications


Thermal

Combustion Gasification Pyrolysis

Heat Fuel Gases (producergas) (CO + H2+CH4 +

tars)

Char, gases,oil

No OxygenPartial OxygenExcess Oxygen

• Heat/power/CHP

• Boiler, steam turbine

• Co-fire with coal

• Burn gas for hot water/steam(comm.)• Use in IC engine for CHP (pre-comm.)• Catalytic or biocatalyticconversion to alcohols, chemicals,synthetic diesel, gasoline, and jetfuels (dev.)

Biomass Energy Technology Pathways

•Pyrolysis oil for boilers and power (earlycomm.); char for soil amendment/fertilizer(dev.)• Specialty chemicals (comm.)• Further upgrading to transportation fuels inpetroleum refineries (dev.)

•Biomass chips , comm.•Densified biomass as pellets/briquettes, comm. Intl. trade up• Torrefied wood - higher heat content/not hygroscopic (dev.)

Comm. = commercialDev. = developmentIntl. = international

Comm.Efficiency varies

Stoves, improved stoves (dev),small and large systems


Biopower Summary

• 2006 Capacity – 10.5 GWe

– 5 GW Pulp and Paper

– 2 GW Dedicated Biomass

– 3 GW MSW and Landfill Gas

– 0.5 GW Cofiring

• Cost – $0.06 – $0.20 USD/kWh

• Requires tax credits to compete inwholesale markets

– Half the credit that wind gets

• High capacity factor, baseload

• Requires significant water if using steam

• CO2 neutral?

• CA PUC ruling determined biopower is carbon negative (would be given credits in capand trade system)

• MA state is requiring near term impacts thus favoring low carbon debt systems


Biomass Power – Priority Issues for US Electric Utilities

•Supply• Long term security, multiple supply

chains

• Energy crops

• Competition for feedstock for liquidfuels

•Power Generation• Impact on emissions control

• Costs of technology

• Ash utilization

• Torrefied wood tests

• Increase co-firing percentage

•Life cycle analysis• Biomass-to-power carbon footprint

• Land and water use implications

• Environmental implications of broaddeployment of biomass power

National Renewable Energy LaboratoryInnovation for Our Energy Future


Areas of Short Term Research Interest

•Supply chain hardening

• Fuel upgrading may expandsupply distance (torrefaction,pelletizing, drying, pyrolysis oils)

•Repowering older coal units

• Develop information ontechnology/fuel selections

• Barriers and advantages ofvarious options

•Cofiring in existing coal units

• Long term impacts: catalystdegradation, corrosion, slagging,fouling, environmental control

• Testing for co-firing torrefiedwood


Familiar to petroleum and chemicals industry


Efficient biomass gasifiers exploitthe unique characteristics of biomass

Characteristic

Fibrous material

High reactivity

– High volatiles content

– High char reactivity

Raw syngas composition

– Tars

– Sulfur

– Alkali, ammonia, others

Scale of Operation

Implications

Feeding systems:

– Particle size limitations, pressurizedoperation more difficult

Gasifier design

– Allows gasification alternativeswithout pure oxygen

Gas cleanup

– More tar, water soluble (dry ashgasifiers)

– Low sulfur (except BL)

– Must be considered

Limits economies of scale


Examples from past DOE/NREL Small Modular Biopower Systems and Large Systems


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Small and medium size combined heat and power is a good opportunityfor biomass

Credit: Community Power Corp

Credit: Carbona Corp

15-100 kWe

5 MWe + District HeatSkive, Denmark



Community Power Corporation, Littleton, Colorado


Community Power Corporation, Littleton, Colorado


BiomassSilo

Char/AshLoad-Out

GasifierBuilding

Gas ProductPipe Line

Phase-1 (shown): 75 TPD input (12.5 MWth)Phase-2 (future): 300 TPD input (50 MWth)

www.frontlinebioenergy.com, 515-292-1200, Ames, IAUSA

FlareTest

Boiler

Gasifier

• Bubbling Fluid Bed: air or oxy/steam

• Pressure Operation: up to 5 bar

• Gas Conditioning: high efficiency filtration; tarreforming development

• Capacity: up to 70 MWth per train

Frontline Bioenergy, LLC, Ames, Iowa

Commercial Installation in Benson, MN, Chippewa ValleyEthanol Co.

Innovation for Our Energy FutureNational Renewable Energy LaboratoryInnovation for Our Energy Future

Biomass Resource Assessment

•Previous biomass resource assessment efforts werestatic

•State and county totals, maps as pictures

•No analysis capabilities for public



Innovation for Our Energy FutureNational Renewable Energy Laboratory Innovation for Our Energy Future

Biopower Assessment Tool

•BioPower is a web 2.0 mapping application that allows usersto explore the potential of biomass-to-power conversions atdifferent locations and scales

•Initial screening tool to identify and evaluate sites for potentialbioenergy development opportunities

Does not take the place of an on-the-ground detailedassessment and analysis

http://rpm.nrel.gov/biopower/biopower/launch

Sponsors EPA – power and DOE – fuels (ongoing)


Technical Overview

•The Biopower tool has been developed on NREL's OpenSource Mapping platform

– This provides a flexible and dynamic environment thatallows for custom application development

– Each map layer is cached on an NREL server -resulting in a faster experience

– The more usage the tool sees, the faster it will become

– The shared mapping platform allows for multipleprojects to collaborate, share data, and contribute toeach mapping application


Innovation for Our Energy FutureNationalRenewable

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Innovation for Our Energy FutureNationalRenewable

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Biomass Data Layers (2007 Data)

Crop residues (county level)

Livestock manure (county, USDA)

Wastewater treatment plants (points, county, EPA)

Landfills (points, EPA)

Forest residues (county, USFS)

Primary and secondary mill residues (county, NAICS code)

Urban wood waste (county, based on population)

Full methodology documented in:

A Geographic Perspective on the Current Biomass Resource

Availability in the United States, A. Milbrandt, 2005.

NationalRenewable

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Innovation for Our Energy FutureNational Renewable Energy Laboratory Innovation for Our Energy Future

Other Layers

Power plants

Sawmill locations

Electric and natural gas rates (county level)

Biomass facility locations– Biomass power, ethanol, landfill gas to energy, manure to energy

Fossil fuel power plants

Wind, solar resource layers

Alternative fuels filling stations

EPA Brownfields sites

Transportation networks


DOE/NREL – Assistance Greensburg, KS

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• Detailed analysis of the biomass resource base in the region,including quantity, physical and chemical propertiesavailability, cost and collection potential.

• Assessment of demand for thermal energy in the region, andopportunities for biomass to be utilized to meet some of thatdemand.

• Overview of the pellet manufacturing process, includingequipment needs, capital costs and manufacturing costs.

• Overview of briquette and bripell manufacturing technologiesand costs

• Discussion of end-use conversion technologies

• Conclusions and recommendations for next steps

Large tornado that destroyed over 90% of the buildings and infrastructure of the townMay 2007

Assessment of Biomass PelletizationOptions for Greensburg, KansasTechnical Report, 2010NREL Report No.TP-7A2-48073http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy10osti/48073.pdfReference has list ofmanufacturers in variousareas

Scott Haase, [email protected]



Biomass Program• Make cellulosic ethanol cost competitive, at a modeled cost for maturetechnology of $1.76/gallon by 2017

• Help create an environment conducive to maximizing production and use ofbiofuels- 21 billion gallons of advanced biofuels per year by 2022 (EISA)

FeedstocksBiofuels

InfrastructureIntegrated

BiorefineriesConversion

Develop and transform our renewable and abundant, non-food, biomass resources intosustainable, cost-competitive, high-performance biofuels, bioproducts and biopower.

Focus on targeted research, development, and demonstration

• Through public and private partnerships

• Deploy in integrated biorefineries

Biomass Program Mission and Objectives

Sustainability & Analysis



Renewable FuelStandard (RFS) inthe EnergyIndependenceand Security Act(EISA) of 2007

EPAct2005

Production Targets (Billions of Gallons)

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

2012

2012

2015

2022

Ethanol & Biodiesel Conventional (Starch) Biofuel BiodieselCellulosic Biofuel Other Advanced Biofuels

EISA defines Advanced Biofuel as “renewable fuel, other than ethanol derived from corn starch,that has lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions…that are at least 50 percent less than baselinelifecycle greenhouse gas emissions.”

Ethanol & Biodiesel Conventional (Starch) Biofuel Biodiesel

Cellulosic Biofuels Other Advanced Biofuels

Advanced Biofuels(include cellulosic biofuels otherthan starch-based ethanol)

EISA Mandated Production Targets

15 BGY [57 billion liters/yr] capon conventional (starch) biofuel

EISA defines Cellulosic Biofuel as “renewable fuel derived from any cellulose, hemicellulose, orlignin that is derived from renewable biomass and that has lifecycle greenhouse gasemissions…that are at least 60 percent less than baseline lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions.”

2010 EPA biofuels proportions:8.25% renewable fuel0.61% advanced biofuel1.10% biomass-based diesel0.004% cellulosic biofuel

Innovation for Our Energy Future35… and thus generations

USDA Data: 5-fold increase since 1940Can industry reach these yields?

80 new hybrids in 2010William D. Provine, DuPont BioFuels, “Achieving Successin the Biofuels Industry,” presented atF.O. Lichts Conference on Developing & CommercialisingNext Generation Biofuels, London, England, February10th, 2010

See, for instance, Kucharik, Christopher J., NavinRamankutty, 2005: Trends and Variability in U.S. CornYields Over the Twentieth Century. Earth Interact., 9,1-29

Key Stakeholder RelationshipsRegional Biomass Energy Feedstock Partnership Bioenergy Crop Trials

In 2008, the Biomass Program, Sun Grant Initiative universities, and USDA selected, andin some cases established the first round of replicated field trials of corn stover removaland dedicated herbaceous energy crops.

This map showsthe selectedlocations andtypes of crops.


Biomass Conversion(or Fractionation)

Approaches

– Mechanical

• e.g., milling, comminution, decompression

– Thermal• e.g., hot water, steam, heat

– Chemical

• e.g., acids, alkalis, solvents

– Biological

• e.g., cellulases, hemicellulases, ligninases

!Most processing schemes employ a

combination of methods

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Major DOE Biofuels Project Locations

BlueFire Ethanol(Mecca, CA)

Poet(Emmetsburg, IA)

Lignol(Grand Junction, CO)

Abengoa(Hugoton, KS)

Office of Science Bioenergy CentersDOE Great Lakes, Madison, WIDOE Joint Bioenergy Institute, Berkeley,CADOE Bioenergy Science Center, Oak

Ridge, TN

NewPage(Wisconsin Rapids, WI)

Range Fuels(Soperton, GA)

DSM Innovation Center(Parsippany, NJ)

Novozymes(Davis, CA)

Genencor(Palo Alto, CA)

Verenium Corp (2)(San Diego, CA)

Dupont(Wilmington, DE)

Mascoma(Lebanon, NH)

Purdue University (2)(West Lafayette, IN)

Cargill Inc(Minneapolis, MN)

Regional PartnershipsSouth Dakota State Univ., Brookings, SDCornell University, Ithaca, NYUniv. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TNOklahoma State Univ., Stillwater, OKOregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR

Eight Small-Scale Biorefinery Projects

Four Commercial-Scale Biorefinery Projects

Four Improved Enzyme Projects

Five Projects for Fermentation Organisms

Five Thermochemical Syngas Projects

DOE Joint Solicitation Biomass Projects

Five Thermochemical Bio-Oil Projects

Six University Conversion Projects

Ceres, Inc(Thousand Oaks, CA)

University of Minnesota(Minneapolis, MN)

Cornell University(Ithaca, NY)

GE Global Research(Niskayuna, NY)

RSE Pulp &Chemical, LLC(Old Town, ME)

AlltechEnvirofine(WashingtonCounty, KY)

Mascoma(Kinross, MI)

Emery Energy(Salt Lake City, UT)

Iowa State (3) University(Ames, IA)

Southern ResearchInstitute

(Birmingham, AL)

Research Triangle Institute (2)(Research Triangle Park, NC)

Gas Technology Institute(Des Plaines, IL)

Flambeau River(Park Falls, WI)

Pacific Ethanol(Boardman, OR)

Verenium Biofuels Corp.(Jennings, LA)

Montana State University(Bozeman, MT)

UOP, LLC(Des Plaines, IL)

University of Georgia(Athens, GA)

Georgia Tech(Atlanta, GA)

Stevens Institute ofTechnology(Hoboken NJ)

University of Maine(Orono, ME)

Univeristy ofToledo(Toldeo, OH)

Virginia Tech(Blacksburg, VA)

University of Mass(Amherst, MA)

Modified 10/1/2008

U.S. DOE, Biomass Program

Key Recent Accomplishments and DeliverablesEPACT Section 932 “Commercial-Scale” Biorefineries

PerformersFeedstock

Type

Conversion

TechnologyFuel Type Status

PoetEmmetsburg, IA

Corn Cob

Corn Fiber

Biochemical Ethanol Engineering and construction inprogress. Cobs feedstockinfrastructure set up

Range FuelsSoperton, GA

WoodyWaste

Gasification + MixedAlcohol synthesis

Mixedalcohols

Engineering and construction inprogress.

AbengoaHugoton, KS

AgriculturalResidue

Biochemical Ethanol NEPA EIS process initiated. Cornstover infrastructure set up

BluefireFulton, MS

Sorted MSW Biochemical-Concentrated AcidHydrolysis

Ethanol Lease and NEPA issues beingresolved.

DOE investments in cellulosic biofuels will accelerate commercializationand help create a biofuels market based on non-food feedstocks.





William D. Provine, DuPont BioFuels, “Achieving Success in the Biofuels Industry,” presented at F.O. Lichts Conference onDeveloping & Commercialising Next Generation Biofuels, London, England, February 10th, 2010


Goal: Drive towards aneconomic integrated multistep process

DuPont DaniscoCellulose Ethanol

William D. Provine, DuPont BioFuels,“Achieving Success in the Biofuels Industry,”presented atF.O. Lichts Conference on Developing &Commercialising Next Generation Biofuels,London, England, February 10th, 2010

William D. Provine, DuPont BioFuels, “Achieving Success in theBiofuels Industry,” presented atF.O. Lichts Conference on Developing & Commercialising NextGeneration Biofuels, London, England, February 10th, 2010

• Algae may produce more lipids (plantoils) per acre than other plants --potentially 2x - 20x

– Lipids are the preferred starting point to makediesel or jet fuel from biomass

• Algae cultivation may utilize:

– marginal, non-arable land

– saline/brackish water

– large waste CO2 vent resources

• Minimizing competition with food,feed, or fiber

Why Algae? Supply


DOE Aquatic Species Program

Excerpt from ASP Close-Out Report (1998)

1978-1996 $25M

In 1995, DOE made the difficult

decision to eliminate funding for algae

research within the Biofuels Program

… [T]his report should be seen not asan ending, but as a beginning. Whenthe time is right, we fully expect to seerenewed interest in algae as a sourceof fuels and other chemicals. Thehighlights presented here should serveas a foundation for these future efforts.


What’s Changed Since 1996?

• Volatile Petroleum Distillate Pricing

– Crude oil prices have seen record highs ($147/barrel)

• Technology has improved dramatically

– New photobioreactor designs and advances in materialscience

– Explosion in biotechnology -- advances in metabolicengineering and systems biology

• Greater emphasis on energy security and CO2 capture,

GHG reduction, etc

DOE’s Office of Science Joint Genome Instituterecently published the genome sequence ofChlamydomonas reinhardii (Science, 318:245-50,2007) and has 4 additional algal species currentlyin its pipeline resulting from user-initiatedsubmissions to JGI’s Community SequencingProgram.


FuelProduction

Oil (Lipid)Recovery

• Processoptimization

• Fuelcharacteristics

• Engine testing(ASTM)

• De-watering methods

• Lipid extraction

• Purification

• Bioreactor design• Temperature control• Invasion and fouling

• Starting species• Growth rate• Oil content & FA profile

• Nutrient requirements•CO2 and H2O sources

• Fundamental Algal Biology

AlgalCultivation

Algal Systems Technical Barriers

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DOE Office of Biomass Program isestablishing an “Advanced BiofuelsInitiative”An element will be the “Algal BiofuelsPathway”Draft “National Algal Biofuels TechnologyRoadmap” released for comments in 2009

– Stakeholder workshop held Dec.2008

– Anticipate 4 major R&D and analysisareas:

• Basic algal biology• Cultivation and process research• Production/integrated scale up• Sustainability and economic

analysis

DOE Algal Biofuels Efforts

Research Planning: Algal Biofuels

Locations of Integrated Biorefinery Projects

For more information, visit: http://www.eere.energy.gov/biomass/integrated_biorefineries.html


National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts

Project Objective – Investigate and integrate multiple approaches to meet the central challengesof feedstock production, handling logistics, and conversion in order to lower costs of algal biofuels.

Funding - 3 year effort Recovery Act/DOE Funding $49MCost Share $25MTotal $74M

Office of Biomass Program, http://www1.eere.energy.gov/biomass/

EERE Info Center - www1.eere.energy.gov/informationcenter

Alternative Fuels Data Center -http://www.eere.energy.gov/afdc/fuels/ethanol.html

Bioenergy Feedstock Information Network - http://bioenergy.ornl.gov/

Biomass R&D Initiative – www.biomass.govtools.us

Grant Solicitations - www.grants.gov

Office of Science - http://www.er.doe.gov/

Biomass 2010 Conference Presentations-http://www1.eere.energy.gov/biomass/biomass2010/

National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts -http://www.naabb.org

Information Resources


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Feed Production&Supply Logistics

Infrastructure

Potential Impacts:

- Abiotic Depletion- Potential Acidification- Eutrophication - Global WarmingPotential- Ozone Layer Depletion- Human Toxicity- Marine Toxicity- Ionizing Radiation- Land competition -Photochemical Oxidation - Biodiversity

Human DimensionLocal, Regional,Global

Sustainability

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Example of Environmental LCAForestry example


Attributional Life Cycle

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Example of harmonization of data

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Fuels• Ethanol: 50+ references

• Biodiesel: 30+ references

• FT-Diesel: 10+ references

• Green Gasoline and Diesel: 5+ references

• DME: 5+ references

• Methanol: 5+ references

• Other Misc. Fuels: 10+

Biopower: 40+ references• Includes biomass co-firing, combustion, pyrolysis, and

gasification; land fill gas, anaerobic digestion, and the use ofmunicipal solid waste

• Only some of these categories are included

Ethan Warner and Helena Chum


Data Categorization Hierarchy

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Fuel Type

Feedstock category

Location (generally based on where thefeedstock is grown)

Co-product credit calculation method

Primary energy source

E.g. Ethanol, biodiesel,methanol, FT-diesel, electricity,

heat, etc.

System Expansion, Allocation byeconomics, energy, mass,

product process

Coal, natural gas, grid average,co-gen systems

North America, European Union,Asia, Oceania, Africa, South and

Central America

E.g. Starch crops, sugar crops,plant oils, herbaceous/SRWC,

etc.

Divisions Categories


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Page 63

Diesel


Consequential Life Cycle Assessment – Indirect Consequences

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Some recommendations

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• GHG reductions need to be expressed as a function of avariety of factors – amount of land used, weight of biomass, typeof energy (usually a net energy ratio), biofuel energy out perfossil energy in (subtract from bioelectricity generated)…toenable choices

• Land Use Productivity should be looked at considering multipleproducts including energy and social and economic factors

• Follow ongoing Sustainability Efforts

• Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels activities forenvironmental and social impact assessment guidance,standards’ documents and certification systems (evolving).http://cgse.epfl.ch/page65660.html

•Global Bioenergy Partnership – framework for GHG andsustainability, http://www.globalbioenergy.org/


NationalRenewable EnergyLaboratory

Visit us online at www.nrel.gov

[email protected].

.

For information on current DOE Biomass ProgramActivities see:http://www.obpreview2009.govtools.us/review/

Support from the DOE Office of the Biomass Program isgreatly acknowledged

Documents

Innovation for Our Energy Future Biomass, Biofuels, and ... · Biomass, Biofuels, and Sustainability ... •The Biopower tool has been developed on NREL's Open ... resulting in a