Energy and Products from Agricultural Biomass: Prospects and Issues

1
Energy and Products from Agricultural Biomass
Prospects and Issues

• F. Larry Leistritz
• Donald M. Senechal
• Nancy M. Hodur

Presented at IAIA 2007 Conference, Seoul,
Korea June, 2007
Department of Agribusiness and Applied
Economics North Dakota State University
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Renewable Fuels and Products Reasons for
Current Interest

• High oil prices
• Questions re. petroleum supply dependability
• Environmental concerns re. carbon emissions
• Present renewable fuel sources (grains and
  oilseeds) insufficient to meet future demands
• Hence, there are major incentives to develop a
  broader resource base and processing technologies
  to support a broader role for bioenergy

3
Real Gasoline Pump Price Annual Average 1919-2008
OPEC Oil Embargo
Short-Term Energy Outlook, February 2007
4
Potential Sources of Biomass

• Agricultural residues (wheat straw, corn stover)
• Energy crops (switchgrass, poplar)
• Wood and wood waste
• Municipal solid waste
• Agricultural residues are the lowest cost
  agricultural source of biomass

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Biomass Conversion Technologies

• Combustion (to produce heat and/or electricity)
• Gasification with conversion of syngas to liquid
  fuels
• Fermentation (hydrolysis of biomass to produce
  sugars, followed by fermentation to ethanol and
  possibly other products)
• Gasification and fermentation technologies have
  yet to be implemented commercially

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The Biorefinery Concept

• Multi-product facilities processing cellulosic
  biomass into a variety of products
• Fuels (e.g., ethanol) will likely be the major
  product (based on market size)
• Production of co-products could improve the
  economics of biorefinery operation
• Biorefineries may be large-scale operations
  (biorefinery producing 50 MGY of ethanol would
  require 600 to 900 thousand tons of feedstock
  annually)

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Cellulose Nanofibers Biorefinery Process Flow
Diagram
Enzyme Treatment
Chemical Treatment(s)
Wheat Straw
Milling
AFEX
Cellulose Nanofibers
Sizing
Hemicellulose, Lignin By-Products
Ethanol
Fermentation
Ethanol Biorefinery Integrated Cellulose
Nanofibers Production Plant with an Ethanol
Biorefinery Plant
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Implications of an Emerging Bio-based Economy

• Rural economic development
• Environmental Issues