Winter Barley Ethanol – An Advanced Biofuel
Kevin HicksResearch Leader
Sustainable Biofuels and Coproducts Research Unit
Eastern Regional Research Center, ARS/USDA
600 E. Mermaid Lane, Wyndmoor, PA 19038,
The US Biofuels Industry Today
Number of Ethanol Plants, Locations, and
Their Capacities as of January 19, 2010
200 Plants with 13 Billion
Gallons (50 B L) Capacity
~11 Plants under Construction
will Provide another
1.4 Billion Gallons
Total Capacity When
Completed = 14.4 Bil. Gal.
(55 B liters)
14.4 Billion Gallons meets
about 10% of our total
transportation fuel needs!
Corn is Still the #1 Feedstock!
>95% made from cornSource: RFA
What are Plans for Biofuels in the
Future in the US?
The 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act
Requires Aggressive Increase in Advanced Biofuels!
* Advanced biofuels is renewable fuel other than ethanol derived from corn starch
that is derived from renewable biomass, and achieves a 50 percent greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions reduction (compared to gasoline).
*
The 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act
Requires Aggressive Increase in Advanced Biofuels!
What is the Status of 2nd Generation Advanced
Biofuels Production in the US?
Source: Biofuels Journal Sept/Oct 2009
2010 RFS called for
~1 billion gallons
Now: 8 Plants in
Operation with
Capacity of ~5 mgy
By 2013: 20 More
Planned and If Built
would have Capacity
of ~270 mgyUS Advanced Biofuels Plants Planned,
Built, or Under Construction
The Development of 2nd Generation Advanced
Biofuels is Behind Schedule. Why?
We are just learning how to make them.
Advanced biofuels such as cellulosic
ethanol are very difficult to make.
The EPA has now dramatically lowered
the expected level of cellulosic biofuels
to only 6.5 million gallons for 2010.
Key Improvements Still Needed
for Biofuels
Feedstock Issues
There are not enough non-food biomass feedstocks available
There is no present infrastructure for harvesting, storing and transporting biomass
Feedstocks that are available are expensive –major factor in biofuel cost
More attention should be given to developing non-food feedstocks that are more easily converted to biofuels!
Much research is still needed to provide abundant and inexpensive feedstocks that don’t compete with food production.
Fuel Fungibility Issues
Ethanol is incompatible with existing pipelines
and unmodified automobiles
Requires dedicated pipelines, fueling stations and
E-85 Flex Fuel Cars
Ethanol “Blend Wall” at present is 10% of fuels or 14
bgy unless more Flex Fuel cars are available
Recent thinking is to develop fungible biofuels
like “green gasoline and diesel”, butanol, and
other fuels that “drop-in” to the current fuel
infrastructure. This is a paradigm shift!
Economic Sustainability
The initial costs for most advanced
biofuels will be very high:
Plant capital costs are 5-10 times as much
as corn ethanol plants
Production costs are 2-5X corn ethanol
Much more research is still needed, both
basic and applied to lower capital,
operating, and production costs.
Environmental Sustainability
Need to ensure that biofuels actually improve the environment
Must determine Life Cycle impact of biofuels on the environment, esp. GHG emissions and water use – “field to wheel”
Indirect Land Use Changes (ILUC) When a farmer in US grows a biofuel feedstock on 1 acre of his food
cropland, he indirectly causes the destruction of 1 acre of Rain Forest
somewhere else in the world to replace that lost cropland.
New EPA rules for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2) penalize US biofuels producers by making them responsible for GHG emissions due to both direct and indirect land use.
We have to find a way to grow biofuel crops on land currently not in use, with no decrease in food production, with no deforestation.
Can We Make Advanced Biofuels from Feedstocks
that are Easier to Grow, Harvest, and Convert?
We need to think outside the “box”!
We need an advanced biofuel crop that:
Can be grown, harvested and stored using current equipment/infrastructure
Does not require any new land
Does not compete with food production
Can be economically converted to biofuel
Produces 50% less LC GHG than gasoline
Is there such a crop?
Yes! And for our Region of the US it
is Winter Barley!
Barley Is A Crop Grown Outside The
Corn Belt
These “barley
belts” can provide
feedstock for
ethanol plants
outside the corn
belt where
transportation
fuels and
economic
development are
needed!
Why Winter Barley For Fuel Ethanol?
Farmers on the East Coast and other areas with mild winters can grow barley as a winter crop, allowing double croppingwith soy or corn in the summer!
No special planting or harvesting equipment is needed.
This produces additional revenue for farmers and provides ethanol feedstock on land that would not have been used otherwise (winter fallow).
There is no competition with food production.
Winter barley acts as a cover crop, preventing soil and nutrient losses to the environment, saving the soil and the Chesapeake Bay.
Good for farmers, environment, ethanol producers, energy independence: win-win-win-win
Does Winter Barley Fit our Model for
an Advanced Biofuel Feedstock?
Must be grown, harvested and stored using
current equipment/infrastructure
Must not require any new land
Must not compete with food production
Must be economically converted to biofuel
Must produce 50% less LC GHG than
gasoline
Does Winter Barley Fit our Model for
a Advanced Biofuel Feedstock?
Must be grown, harvested and stored using
current equipment/infrastructure - OK
Must not require any new land
Must not compete with food production
Must be economically converted to biofuel
Must produce 50% less LC GHG than
gasoline
Does Winter Barley Fit our Model for
a Advanced Biofuel Feedstock?
Must be grown, harvested and stored using
current equipment/infrastructure - OK
Must not require any new land - OK
Must not compete with food production
Must be economically converted to biofuel
Must produce 50% less LC GHG than
gasoline
Does Winter Barley Fit our Model for
a Advanced Biofuel Feedstock?
Must be grown, harvested and stored using
current equipment/infrastructure - OK
Must not require any new land - OK
Must not compete with food production - OK
Must be economically converted to biofuel
Must produce 50% less LC GHG than
gasoline
Does Winter Barley Fit our Model for
an Advanced Biofuel Feedstock?
Must be grown, harvested and stored using
current equipment/infrastructure - OK
Must not require any new land - OK
Must not compete with food production - OK
Must be economically converted to biofuel- NO
Must produce 50% less LC GHG than gasoline
- ?
Major Challenges Using Barley for
Ethanol Production in 2001
Traditional barley had low starch content (~50-55%) compared to corn (~70%) – results in low ethanol yields
High viscosity of mash due to b-glucans –soluble viscous polysaccharides that make processing difficult and expensive and limits the feed use of the ethanol co-products, DDGS, to primarily ruminant animals
Because of these reasons, barley had rarely been considered as an ethanol feedstock in the US
How We Solved These Technical Issues
Working with breeders to develop better barley
for fuel ethanol production.
Working with Genencor, A Danisco Division to
use new enzymes to reduce viscosity,
increase ethanol yield, and develop energy
saving fuel ethanol processes
THOROUGHBRED DOYCE
Barley Breeding Was Accomplished at
Virginia Tech
Prof. Carl Griffey Wynse Brooks
Barley Breeder
Griffey, C., Brooks, W., Kurantz, M., Thomason, W., Taylor, F., Obert, D.,
Moreau, R., Flores, R., Sohn, M., and Hicks, K. Grain composition of
Virginia winter barley and implications for use in feed, food, and biofuels
production. Journal of Cereal Science. 51: 41–49. 2010.
Composition of Barley is Critical for Fuel
Ethanol Production
COMPONENT(%, DWB)
“NOMINI”- HULLED
FEED BARLEY
(POOR)
“THOROUGHBRED”
V.T. ELITE HULLED
(BETTER)
“EVE”- V.T. ELITE
HULL-LESS
(BEST)
STARCH 54.8 59.9 63.8
b-GLUCAN 5.0 3.9 4.1
PROTEIN 8.8 7.6 10.0
OIL 2.5 1.9 1.9
ASH 2.3 2.3 1.7
NDF 26.0 17.2 11.0
TEST WT (LB/BU) 48.1 52.9 60.8
How Did We Solve the b-Glucan
Viscosity Issue?
With better Enzymes Combinations of b-glucanases and b-
glucosidases convert viscous b-glucans into
fermentable glucose
This lowers viscosity and increases ethanol
yield because now both starch and b-glucan
are converted to ethanol.
Nghiem , N.P., Hicks, K.B., Johnston, D.B., Senske, G., Kurantz,
M., Li, M., Shetty, J., and Konieczny-Janda, G. Production of
ethanol from winter barley by the EDGE (enhanced dry grind
enzymatic) process. Biotechnology for Biofuels 3:8. 2010.
Fresh water
Milled Barley
Evaporation
condensate
SPEZYME® Xtra
OPTIMASH™ BG
30-33°C
pH 3.8-4.2
Steam
85-90°C
pH 5.2
85-90°C
pH 5.2
FERMENZYME®
L-400 + yeast
58 - 60°C
60 min
Thin stillage
OPTIMASH™ TBG
OPTIMASH™ BG
Urea
Barley EDGE* Process*Enhanced Dry Grind Enzymatic
Pre-liquefaction Liquefaction
SSF
b-gluco-
sidase
Osage Bio Energy is Building the First Winter
Barley Ethanol Plant in Hopewell Virginia!
Osage Bio Energy is Building the First Winter
Barley Ethanol Plant in Hopewell Virginia!
• Will produce 65 million gallons ethanol / year
• Will buy 30 million bushels of barley per year
• Will sell 170,000 tons/year of barley protein meal
• Will sell 50,000 tons/year of barley hull pellets
• Will sell CO2 to Praxair
Will Winter Barley Ethanol Meet the EPA’s
Requirement for an Advanced Biofuel?
If it doesn’t result in 50% reductions in
LC GHG emissions versus gasoline, it
must be sold as “corn ethanol” which
only reduces GHG by ~20%
The market already has enough corn
ethanol
We have initiated a LCA for winter barley
ethanol
A LIFE CYCLE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS
MODEL OF OSAGE BIO ENERGY’SWINTER BARLEY-TO-ETHANOL PROCESS
SABRINA SPATARI | ALEXANDER STADEL
Preliminary Estimates are very promising
Final Thoughts
The 2010 regional barley crop suffered from hot dry
spring weather. Yields and supply will be low.
Regional energy crops do not have the advantages of
national crops where supply from one region can
make up for regional droughts and floods, in another.
But we should never forget, that bioenergy, like all
agriculture, depends on the weather!
Other regional crops exist that could serve as winter
bioenergy cover crops: pennycress, for example.
These other regional crops could produce more
advanced biofuels, more farm income, and could help
clean up waterways such as the Gulf of Mexico.
Acknowledgements
ARS
John Nghiem, Andy McAloon, Winnie Yee, Edna Ramirez,
Frank Taylor, David Johnston, Rolando Flores, Bob Moreau,
Gerry Senske, Akwasi Boateng, Charles Mullen, Mike
Kurantz, Robyn Moten, Mike Powell, Jhanel Wilson.
Virginia Tech
Dan Brann, Carl Griffey, Wynse Brooks, Wade Thomason,
Bruce Beahm, and Mark Vaughn
Genencor, a Danisco Division
Bruce Strohm, Jay Shetty, Mian Li, Gerhard Konieczny-Janda,
Brad Paulson, Pauline Tenuissen, and Bob Randle
Osage Bio Energy
Craig Shealy, Joel Stone, Pat Simms, Eric Lee, Hank Bisner,
Bill Scruggs, Tim Richter, Earl Spruill, John Warren.
Thanks for your Attention!