Halophytes for the Production of Liquid Biofuels J. Jed Brown , Iwona Cybulska , Tanmay Chaturvedi , and Mette H. Thomsen Abstract We discuss the potential of using halophytes as a source for producing liquid biofuels. We review the potential pathways for converting oilseeds into biodiesel and bio- derived synthetic paraffi nic kerosene and presents some preliminary data on biomass composition and pretreatment of the halophyte Salicornia bigelovii . Six samples of S. bigelovii cultivated at three fertilizer levels (F1: 1 gN/m 2 , F2: 1.5 gN/m 2 and F3: 2 gN/m 2 ) and two salinity levels (S1: 10 ppt and S5: 50 ppt salt) were analyzed with regard to chemical composition and bioethanol potential. Chemical characterization showed that S. bigelovii contained, 16.31–55.67 g/100gTS (total solids) of carbohydrates, 5.42–16.60 g/100gTS of lignin, 27.85–66.37 g/100gTS of total extractives (including extractable ash), and 2.18–9.68 g/100gTS of structural ash, depending on the plant fraction and cultivation conditions. Enzymatic hydrolysis of the pretreated samples revealed high glucose recoveries of up to 90 % (of glucose in raw S. bigelovii ) corresponding to ethanol yield of 111 kg ethanol/dry ton S. bigelovii . can compete for land and freshwater resources with 1 Introduction conventional food crops [ 1 , 2 ]. If second generation biofuel crops can be developed that use marginal As the use of fossil fuels increases, the greenhouse land and water sources, then the competition with gas emissions from their burning also increases, food production is minimized [1 ]. Halophytes, pushing us to look for alternative fuels that can be which are able to grow in salinized soils using developed from plant biomass sources. One of the saline water, have been proposed for use as bio- drawbacks of using plants for biofuels is that they energy crops [ 3 , 4 ]. Halophytes have been explored for the production of both lignocellulosic biomass J . J . B r o w n ( *) Institute Center for Water and Environment, I. Cybulska • T. Chaturvedi • M. H. Thomsen Masdar Institute of Science and Technology , Institute Center for Energy, Masdar Institute P.O. Box 54224 , Abu Dhabi , UAE of Science and Technology , P.O. Box 54224 , e-mail: [email protected] Abu Dhabi , UAE M.A. Khan et al. (eds.), Sabkha Ecosystems: Volume IV: Cash Crop Halophyte and Biodiversity 67 Conservation, Tasks for Vegetation Science 47, DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-7411-7_4, © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014 68 J.J. Brown et al. for ethanol production [ 3 ], as well as for the and biodiesel due their reduced specifi c energy production of biodiesel and hydro-processed fuels relative to jet fuel [ 8 ]. However, the aviation from oilseeds [ 4 , 5 ]. Typical limitation on the use industry is looking for a renewable drop in of halophyte biomass for biofuels is the high ash fuel that can substitute for jet fuel [ 5 ]. Recently a content of the straw. process has been developing to convert vegetable As part of an integrated seawater aquaculture/ oils into paraffi ns that can substitute for petro- agriculture project being developed in Abu leum based jet fuels [ 9 ]. Oils are converted to the Dhabi, we are investigating the potential of using shorter chain diesel-range paraffi ns using a pro- oilseeds for the production of liquid biofuel, as prietary process, which removes oxygen mole- well as investigating the potential of using the cules from the oil and converts olefi ns to paraffi n’s residual biomass to produce ethanol. The halo- by reaction with hydrogen. A second reaction phyte oilseed literature is reviewed, while recent then cracks and isomerizes the diesel range data is presented on the characterization of bio- paraffi ns, to paraffi ns and iso-paraffi ns with carbon mass of the annual halophyte Salicornia bigelo- numbers in the jet range [ 9 ]. This process is vii, which is a potential candidate crop species agnostic with respect to the composition of the for this project. oil, so ostensibly a wide range of halophyte oils could be used to produce Bio-SPK. 2 Oils 2.3 Residue Biomass 2.1 Biodiesel Signifi cant amount of lignocellulosic biomass is Oils from halophyte oilseeds can be converted to produced in halophyte cultivation where up to biodiesel via trans-esterifi cation. Halophytes are 90 % of the S. bigelovii plant is the straw/bush reported to be the potential candidates for bio- fraction [ 7 ]. The lignocellulosic part of the halo- diesel production and the fatty acid methyl esters phyte can be converted into biofuels by biologi- of the oil of many such are comparable to oils cal conversion using enzymatic hydrolysis and currently used for the production of biodiesel [4 ]. microbial fermentation. Lignocellulosic bio- In another report, the oil content of six halophytes masses often contain signifi cant amounts of varied between 22 and 25 % and there was generally alkali metals e.g. potassium and sodium [10 ], high composition of unsaturated fatty acids [6 ]. which represent a challenge in utilizing biomass The annual succulent saltmarsh plant Salicornia for high temperature energy processes such as bigelovii , has been cultivated in Mexico using combustion, resulting in problems with fouling, seawater, and mean seed yields were 2 t/ha, with slagging, and corrosion [ 11 ]. For halophyte crops seeds yielding 28 % oil [ 7 ]. These yields are such as S. bigelovii, the sodium content of stems comparable to soybean yields grown on freshwa- and spikes has been reported to be 6–12 % of the ter. Biodiesel derived from halophyte oil should dry biomass and the total ash content to be up to be able to be used to supplant petroleum-based 30 % of dry biomass [ 12 ]. The aim of this study diesel for ground transportation. was to examine if S. bigelovii straw could be a suitable biomass for second generation bio- ethanol production. 2.2 Bio-derived Synthetic The processing of lignocellulosic biomass to Paraffi nic Kerosene (Bio-SPK) sugars for fermentation to ethanol and other products requires specifi cally designed pretreat- Though biodiesel and ethanol derived from bio- ment processes. In general, it involves the break- mass feedstock are technologically proven fuel ing up of the naturally resistant carbohydrate-lignin alternatives for some modes of ground transport, shield that limits the accessibility of enzymes both are limited from becoming aviation fuel to cellulose and hemicelluloses [ 13 – 15 ]. The substitutes. The aviation sector cannot use ethanol pretreated slurry then undergoes enzymatic Halophytes for the Production of Liquid Biofuels 69 Fig. 1 Processes needed to convert lignocellulosic straw of S. bigelovii into bioethanol hydrolysis where carbohydrates are hydrolyzed water to bring down the salt content of the plant to monomeric sugars which can be fermented in to avoid corrosion of the equipment. The fi bers the microbial process to e.g. bio-ethanol (Fig. 1 ). have been subjected to enzymatic hydrolysis In this study six samples of S. bigelovii cultivated according to National Renewable Energy at three fertilizer levels (F1: 1 gN/m 2 , F2: 1.5 gN/ Laboratory protocol (NREL/TP-510-42629), m 2 and F3: 2 gN/m2 ) and two salinity levels using 50 g/L dry biomass loading, 15 FPU (S1: 10 ppt and S5: 50 ppt salt) were analyzed to cellulase enzyme loading (with cellulase-to- determine chemical composition and bioethanol hemicellulase ratio of 1:9), in total volume of production potential. 25 ml. Glucose released during the enzymatic hydrolysis was quantifi ed using HPLC. Liquid fractions (hydrolyzates) obtained from the pre- 3 Materials and Methods treatment process were hydrolyzed with sulfuric acid (to degrade residual oligosaccharides) and Biomass composition characterization was per- analyzed for glucose content using HPLC. formed according to National Renewable Energy Laboratory protocol (NREL/TP-510-42618), using pre-hydrolysis with concentrated sulfuric acid 4 Results (72 %) at 30 °C followed by a dilute acid hydro- lysis (4 % sulfuric acid) at 121 °C. The sugar 4.1 Halophyte Compositional content in the hydrolyzate was analyzed using Analysis High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), while acid-insoluble lignin was quantifi ed The six samples were fractionated into stem gravimetrically. The biomass was extracted with and seed spikes for chemical characterization water and ethanol prior to the acid hydrolysis (using (Table 1 ). a Soxhlet apparatus) to remove the extractives. The analyses showed that S. bigelovii con- Preliminary trials of the hydrothermal pre- tained 27.85–66.37 g/100gTS (total solids) of treatment have been carried out at the Technical total extractives (including extractable ash), University of Denmark. The process was per- 16.31–55.67 g/100gTS of carbohydrates, 5.42– formed at 10 % dry matter loading, at three tem- 16.60 g/100gTS of lignin and 2.18–9.68 g/100gTS perature levels (190, 200 and 210 °C) without a of ash incorporated in the plant matrix (structural catalyst and at one temperature level (200 °C) ash), depending on the plant fraction and cultiva- with a catalyst (0.5 % sulfuric acid). Processing tion conditions. The results show clearly that time was maintained at 10 min. The raw material S. bigelovii seed spikes have a signifi cantly used for pretreatment was washed with fresh different composition than the stems ( P < 0.01). 70 J.J. Brown et al. Table 1 Chemical composition of the different samples of S. bigelovii cultivated at three fertilizer levels (F1: 1 gN/m 2 , F2: 1.5 gN/m 2 and F3: 2 gN/m 2 ) and two salinity levels (S1: 10 ppt and S5: