VTT TECHNICAL RESEARCH CENTRE OF FINLAND LTD

Future biorefinery concepts

Jussi Manninen, VTT IEA Bioenergy & IETS workshop on 'The role of industrial biorefineries in a low carbon economy', Gothenburg, 16 May 2017

26/05/17 2

What should biomass be used for?

1.  Food and feed 2.  Products that benefit from the

chemical or physical structure of biomass, like fiber products

3.  Products that replace fossil based products, like biobased chemicals

4.  Energy

Product markets and profitable production are key requisites for a sustainable bioeconomy!

26/05/17 3

Value added and impact from bioeconomy Multiple use by a market driven approach provides most added value

and the greatest impact

Valu

e/un

it

Total raw material/market potential

New bioproducts and services

Innovative traditional products

Biofuels/Bio oil

Traditional fiber products

Traditional wood products

Heat and power

New bioproducts

€/unit * units = total value

Maximum:

High value Cascade use

High value Multiple use

Low value Extensive use

Circular economy is a key element in future bioeconomy

26/05/17 5

We will soon publish integrated bioeconomy and low-carbon economy scenarios for Finland

Baseline Current structure of the economy. 2030 energy and climate targets included.

Low carbon scenario (2C-CNS) Focus on optimal reduction of GHG emissions. No major changes in industrial structure. Optimistic implementation of new energy technology

Bioeconomy scenario (BioEco) New biobased products from forests, fields, side streams and wastes included.

26/05/17 6

Versatile use of wood for new products → new industrial ecosystems

§ Pulp production flourishes

§ Dissolved pulp products § Lignin and hemicellulose

for products

§ From sawn goods to wood products

§  Integrated 2. generation biorefineries

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100% CNS BioEco

Woo

d co

nsum

ptio

n in

205

0, %

SNG

Liquid fuels

Solid fuel use

Recovery boiler

New fibre products

Paper pulps

Wood products

Energy use

26/05/17 7

2050 2030

Textiles and hygiene products

15

10

5

Glues, chemicals

Wood and paper products

Reinforcers

Plastic replacement

Doubling the value-add of forest bioeconomy in Finland with new innovative products

26/05/17 8

Bioenergy remains as the most important renewable energy source We need to invest in all new technologies to reach the low-carbon targets

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

9002050203020202010

Rene

wab

le p

rimar

y en

ergy

, PJ

Baseline

2°C-CNS

2°C-BioEco

Baseline

2°C-CNS

2°C-BioEco

Baseline

2°C-CNS

2°C-BioEco

Ambient

Waste

BioliquidimportsAgrobio

PulpingliquorWood

Solar

Wind

Hydro0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

802050203020202010

Gre

enho

use

gas

emis

sion

s, M

t

2010

Base

line

2°C

-CN

S

2°C

-Bio

Eco

Base

line

2°C

-CN

S

2°C

-Bio

Eco

Base

line

2°C

-CN

S

2°C

-Bio

Eco

OtherGHGs

Other CO2

TransportCO2

IndustrialsectorsCO2

Energysector CO2

GHG emissions per sector Renewable primary energy

26/05/17 9

Pulp mills are in the heart of the forest bioeconomy – new products will increase in significance

26/05/17 10

Lignocellulosic feedstock

Pulp for paper and board

Cellulose fraction for bio-

ethanol

Other bio-based products

Lignin side-stream Technical lignin

Isolation

Lignocellulosic bio-refinery

Lignin is the major by-product of chemical pulping and emerging biorefineries §  ~55 Mt/a kraft lignin* produced by

chemical pulping, of which ~150 kt/a recovered currently**

§  ~1.8Mt/a lignosulphonates recovered** §  Substantial amount of lignin estimated to

originate from the 2nd generation bioethanol production

Most of the lignin is burned for energy, and only small fraction is utilised in high-value

products

* Gellerstedt et al (2013) ** Calculated based on several public sources

Bioproduct mills produce material and energy products

26/05/17 11

Pretreatment and hydrolysis

Fermentation Product recovery

Liquid fuels

BIOTECHNOLOGY

Thermal or catalytic fast pyrolysis

Product upgrading

Co-refining with mineral oils Liquid fuels

FAST PYROLYSIS

Gasification Gas cleaning to syngas

Synthesis to liquid fuels

Hydrogen

SNG Methanation

PSA

GASIFICATION

Residues and side-streams into fuels and chemicals

26/05/17 12

Further in the future… § Efficient and selective extraction methods, like ionic liquids and

DES for fractionation of lignocellulose § Synthetic biology for production of efficient strains for production

of chemicals and materials § New, high-yielding biomass sources, such as algae, and CO2 as

a source of carbon with renewable electricity providing the hydrogen

26/05/17 13

26/05/17 14

Conclusions

§  Future biorefineries need to satisfy several criteria §  Climate change mitigation §  Jobs and growth §  Profitability

§ Based on our scenarios for Finland, versatile production of added-value bio-based products and bioenergy products can help achieving both climate and GDP-goals

§ We are already seeing that lignocellulosic biorefineries, like pulp mills, are becoming the backbone of bioeconomy ecosystem

§ Advanced biofuels provide market for investments that can be later utilised for production of biochemicals

§  For future, we need more selective extraction and production technologies, as well as widen our raw material selection. Integration to renewable electricity system can benefit both biorefineries and electricity grid.

26/05/17 15