Integrated Biorefineries:Biofuels, Biopower, and Bioproducts
INTEGRATED BIOREFINERIES
INEOS New Planet Bioenergy began production at its Indian River Bioenergy Center in Vero Beach, FL, in July 2013. Cost-shared funding from the Bioenergy Technologies Office contributed to the construction of this pioneer-scale plant, which converts waste biomass materials into 8 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol and produces 6 MW of power annually. Photo: INEOS Bio
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Integrated Biorefineries: Office works in partnership with industry to develop, Reducing Investment Risk in build, and operate integrated biorefineries at various scales Novel Technology (pilot, demonstration, and pioneer). These projects are located around the country and use a range of non-food Achieving national energy and climate goals will require a feedstocks and conversion technologies. large, economically viable, and environmentally sustainable U.S. bioindustry. The U.S. goal to build a diverse, robust, and Federal support for these first-of-a-kind, integrated resilient energy sector creates an urgent need to bridge the biorefineries is necessary to validate their performance gap between promising research and pioneering, large-scale and significantly reduce the technical and financial risks associated with new technology deployment. These production of advanced biofuels. investments support the goals of the President’s Climate Action Plan and the national “all-of-the-above” strategy to Developing the U.S. bioeconomy requires building many develop diverse domestic energy sources—reducing costs integrated biorefineries capable of converting a broad to consumers, improving energy security, and maintaining range of biomass feedstocks into affordable biofuels, our economic vitality. bioproducts, and biopower. Integrated biorefineries are similar to conventional refineries in that they produce a range of products to optimize production economics and “Today’s announcement of commercial- the use of feedstocks. The novel technologies needed to scale cellulosic production represents operate biorefineries require significant investments in an important benchmark for American research, development, demonstration, and deployment to reduce costs to a level competitive with fossil fuels. leadership in this growing global industry.” – Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz on the startup of the INEOS Bio facility, July 2013 Generic Integrated Biorefinery
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Typical Conversion Pathways in Biorefineries
Biopower Simplified, generic conversion pathways Thermochemical Conversion Biofuels Product Pretreatment BIOMASS Recovery Sugars & Biochemical Bioproducts Intermediates Conversion
Biopower Biopower to Grid
Researchers are exploring and improving a variety of conversion technologies to increase the efficiency and lower the cost of producing sustainable biofuels from diverse biomass feedstocks.
Key Challenges: • Permitting: To obtain proper • Consistent Research, permits, each biorefinery must Development, and Demonstration The U.S. bioindustry faces diverse establish community support and (RD&D) Investments: challenges. evaluate potential environmental Government, academia, and • Financing New Technologies: impacts. This process can be industry have made significant Deployment and validation of new complex as the specific conversion investments to develop the technologies and processes entail processes and feedstocks used in feedstock and biorefinery significant financial investment each biorefinery may have unique technologies needed to foster and technical risk. Financing impacts on the environment. growth in the nascent bioeconomy. Many technologies in the early can be particularly challenging • Sustainability: Economic, stages of development will need for pilot-, demonstration-, and environmental, and social impacts ongoing, consistent support if the pioneer-scale projects that use must be carefully modeled and nation is to meet its production innovative technologies and monitored on a life-cycle basis. diverse feedstocks. goals for advanced biofuels. • Market and Economic Viability: Integrated biorefineries must optimize the use of biomass to create a product mix that is matched to market demand and can compete with fossil fuels. • Feedstock Diversity: Biorefineries can use a variety of biomass feedstocks across the nation, capitalizing on each The Energy Department provides cost sharing for pioneer biorefinery projects to help validate novel conversion processes and reduce the technical and financial risks to region’s geography and climate. future investors. Photo: NREL/01008 This diversity poses a challenge in developing replicable feedstock supply systems and conversion technologies. 3 BIOENERGY TECHNOLOGIES OFFICE
Progressive Scales of Deployment Projects
The Bioenergy Technologies Office provides cost-shared funding to industry partners to demonstrate promising conversion technologies and systems at progressive scales. Each scale builds upon the results of the prior stage.
Integrated Biorefinery • Demonstration Projects: Deployment Activities: Successful demonstration projects verify technology performance The Bioenergy Technologies Office and prove all recycle streams and works through cost-shared public- products at a scale sufficient to private partnerships to address provide the data and equipment critical challenges in the deployment specifications needed for of integrated biorefineries. These projects 10 to 50 times larger. biorefinery projects prove the These projects provide valuable Novel technologies to increase the efficiency and lower the cost of viability of various feedstock and operational data to improve the biomass conversion are validated at conversion pathways, typically designs and cost estimates for the pilot scale. Photo: REII following a progression from pilot pioneer-scale facilities. through pioneer scale. Each step • Pioneer Projects: These first-of-a- in this progression helps validate kind facilities provide continuous, production performance, paving the sustainable, and economical way for commercial readiness. production at near-commercial • Pilot Projects: Promising volumes. The Department and technologies are screened and industry are currently cost-sharing validated through pilot-scale construction of several pioneer- projects, which typically process scale integrated biorefineries. at least one dry metric ton of feedstock per day. These projects Pioneer-scale biorefineries face confirm energy balances, prove many challenges in scaling up and conversion efficiencies, and integrating innovative technologies into profitable production systems. assess sustainability. Photo: POET 4 BIOENERGY TECHNOLOGIES OFFICE
Geographic Diversity Integrated Biorefinery Projects
Strategically locating biorefinery Conversion Project Location Scale projects in different areas of the Technology country promotes local and regional Abengoa Hugoton, KS Pioneer Biochemical economic development and leads to INEOS Bio/New Planet Bioenergy Vero Beach, FL Pioneer Hybrid conversion technologies optimized for the biomass feedstocks in each Mascoma Kinross, MI Pioneer Biochemical region. Geographic diversity will POET/DSM Advanced Biofuels, LLC Emmetsburg, IA Pioneer Biochemical also provide many areas of the nation Myriant Lake Providence, LA Demo Biochemical with access to a domestic renewable Red Shield Acquisition, LLC (RSA) Old Town, ME Demo Biochemical energy supply as the private sector Sapphire Energy, Inc. Columbus, NM Demo Algae gains confidence in the technologies and scales up investment in new Verenium* Jennings, LA Demo Biochemcial integrated biorefineries. Algenol Biofuels, Inc Fort Myers, FL Pilot Algae American Process, Inc. (API) Alpena, MI Pilot Biochemical Integrated Biorefinery Amyris, Inc.* Emeryville, CA Pilot Biochemical Project Locations Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) Decatur, IL Pilot Biochemical Bioprocess Algae Shenandoah, IA Pilot Algae Frontline Ames, IA Pilot Gasification Haldor Topsoe, Inc. Des Plaines, IL Pilot Thermo - Gasification ICM, Inc. St. Joseph, MO Pilot Biochemical Logos/Edeniq Technologies* Visalia, CA Pilot Biochemical Mercurius Ferndale, WA Pilot Hybrid Renewable Energy Institute Toledo, OH Pilot Thermo - Gasification International (REII) For the latest project information Rentech ClearFuels* Commerce City, CO Pilot Thermo - Gasification and details, please visit our website Solazyme, Inc. Peoria, IL Pilot Algae at biofuels.energy.gov/integrated_ UOP, LLC Kapolei, HI Pilot Thermo - Pyrolysis biorefineries.html. ZeaChem, Inc. Boardman, OR Pilot Thermo - Pyrolysis Elevance* Boilingbrook, IL Design Hybrid Gas Technology Inst.* Des Plaines, IL Design Thermo - Pyrolysis * Successfully completed Learn More
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