Development of a multicriteria assessment model for ranking biomass feedstock collection and transportation systems.

PubMed

Kumar, Amit; Sokhansanj, Shahab; Flynn, Peter C

2006-01-01

This study details multicriteria assessment methodology that integrates economic, social, environmental, and technical factors in order to rank alternatives for biomass collection and transportation systems. Ranking of biomass collection systems is based on cost of delivered biomass, quality of biomass supplied, emissions during collection, energy input to the chain operations, and maturity of supply system technologies. The assessment methodology is used to evaluate alternatives for collecting 1.8 x 10(6) dry t/yr based on assumptions made on performance of various assemblies of biomass collection systems. A proposed collection option using loafer/ stacker was shown to be the best option followed by ensiling and baling. Ranking of biomass transport systems is based on cost of biomass transport, emissions during transport, traffic congestion, and maturity of different technologies. At a capacity of 4 x 10(6) dry t/yr, rail transport was shown to be the best option, followed by truck transport and pipeline transport, respectively. These rankings depend highly on assumed maturity of technologies and scale of utilization. These may change if technologies such as loafing or ensiling (wet storage) methods are proved to be infeasible for large-scale collection systems.

Science You Can Use Bulletin: Burgeoning biomass: Creating efficient and sustainable forest biomass supply chains in the Rockies

Treesearch

Sue Miller; Maureen Essen; Nate Anderson; Woody Chung; Bill Elliot; Deb Page-Dumroese; Han-Sup Han; John Hogland; Christopher R. Keyes

2014-01-01

Woody biomass could be used to generate energy in the western US if the utilization process is both economically feasible and ecologically sustainable. The purpose of the RMRS-led Biomass Research and Development Initiative (BRDI) is to develop technologies, approaches, and new science that will help to make this possible. This issue of the Bulletin is focused on...

Waste biomass toward hydrogen fuel supply chain management for electricity: Malaysia perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zakaria, Izatul Husna; Ibrahim, Jafni Azhan; Othman, Abdul Aziz

2016-08-01

Green energy is becoming an important aspect of every country in the world toward energy security by reducing dependence on fossil fuel import and enhancing better life quality by living in the healthy environment. This conceptual paper is an approach toward determining physical flow's characteristic of waste wood biomass in high scale plantation toward producing gas fuel for electricity using gasification technique. The scope of this study is supply chain management of syngas fuel from wood waste biomass using direct gasification conversion technology. Literature review on energy security, Malaysia's energy mix, Biomass SCM and technology. This paper uses the theoretical framework of a model of transportation (Lumsden, 2006) and the function of the terminal (Hulten, 1997) for research purpose. To incorporate biomass unique properties, Biomass Element Life Cycle Analysis (BELCA) which is a novel technique develop to understand the behaviour of biomass supply. Theoretical framework used to answer the research questions are Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) framework and Sustainable strategy development in supply chain management framework

Biomass to Liquid Fuels and Electrical Power

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Taylor, Steven; McDonald, Timothy; Gallagher, Thomas

This research program provided data on immediate applicability of forest biomass production and logistics models. Also, the research further developed and optimized fractionation techniques that can be used to separate biomass feedstocks into their basic chemical constituents. Finally, additional research established systematic techniques to determine economically feasible technologies for production of biomass-derived synthesis gases that will be used for clean, renewable power generation and for production of liquid transportation fuels. Moreover, this research program continued our efforts to educate the next generation of engineers and scientists needed to implement these technologies.

Optimal Design of Biomass Utilization System for Rural Area Includes Technical and Economic Dimensions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morioka, Yasuki; Nakata, Toshihiko

In order to design optimal biomass utilization system for rural area, OMNIBUS (The Optimization Model for Neo-Integrated Biomass Utilization System) has been developed. OMNIBUS can derive the optimal system configuration to meet different objective function, such as current account balance, amount of biomass energy supply, and CO2 emission. Most of biomass resources in a focused region e.g. wood biomass, livestock biomass, and crop residues are considered in the model. Conversion technologies considered are energy utilization technologies e.g. direct combustion and methane fermentation, and material utilization technologies e.g. composting and carbonization. Case study in Miyakojima, Okinawa prefecture, has been carried out for several objective functions and constraint conditions. Considering economics of the utilization system as a priority requirement, composting and combustion heat utilization are mainly chosen in the optimal system configuration. However gasification power plant and methane fermentation are included in optimal solutions, only when both biomass energy utilization and CO2 reduction have been set as higher priorities. External benefit of CO2 reduction has large impacts on the system configuration. Provided marginal external benefit of more than 50,000 JPY/t-C, external benefit becomes greater than the revenue from electricity and compost etc. Considering technological learning in the future, expensive technologies such as gasification power plant and methane fermentation will have economic feasibility as well as market competitiveness.

Technologies for Energy from Biomass by Direct Combustion, Gasification, and Liquefaction.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-05-01

1980 1982 1984 Development Alberta Industrial Dev. X American Fyr. Feeder X Andco, Inc. X Applied Engineering Co., Inc. X Biomass Corp. X Bio-Solar x...Feeder ANDCO, Inc. Applied Engineering Company Biomass Corporation Bio-Solar Research and Development Corporation Combustion Power Company, Inc. Davy...Andco. Inc. X Applied Engineering Co., Inc. X Biomass Corp. X , Big-Solar .X I Combustion Power .. XI Davy Powergas X j Dekalb Acresearch, Inc.- x Duvant

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zygarlicke, C J; Schmidt, D D; Olson, E S

Biomass utilization is one solution to our nation’s addiction to oil and fossil fuels. What is needed now is applied fundamental research that will cause economic technology development for the utilization of the diverse biomass resources in the United States. This Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) applied fundamental research project contributes to the development of economical biomass utilization for energy, transportation fuels, and marketable chemicals using biorefinery methods that include thermochemical and fermentation processes. The fundamental and basic applied research supports the broad scientific objectives of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Biomass Program, especially in the area ofmore » developing alternative renewable biofuels, sustainable bioenergy, technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and environmental remediation. Its deliverables include 1) identifying and understanding environmental consequences of energy production from biomass, including the impacts on greenhouse gas production, carbon emission abatement, and utilization of waste biomass residues and 2) developing biology-based solutions that address DOE and national needs related to waste cleanup, hydrogen production from renewable biomass, biological and chemical processes for energy and fuel production, and environmental stewardship. This project serves the public purpose of encouraging good environmental stewardship by developing biomass-refining technologies that can dramatically increase domestic energy production to counter current trends of rising dependence upon petroleum imports. Decreasing the nation’s reliance on foreign oil and energy will enhance national security, the economy of rural communities, and future competitiveness. Although renewable energy has many forms, such as wind and solar, biomass is the only renewable energy source that can be governed through agricultural methods and that has an energy density that can realistically compete with, or even replace, petroleum and other fossil fuels in the near future. It is a primary domestic, sustainable, renewable energy resource that can supply liquid transportation fuels, chemicals, and energy that are currently produced from fossil sources, and it is a sustainable resource for a hydrogen-based economy in the future.« less

Policy Considerations for Commercializing Natural Gas and Biomass CCUS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abrahams, L.; Clavin, C.

2017-12-01

Captured CO2 from power generation has been discussed as an opportunity to improve the environmental sustainability of fossil fuel-based electricity generation and likely necessary technological solution necessary for meeting long-term climate change mitigation goals. In our presentation, we review the findings of a study of natural gas CCUS technology research and development and discuss their applications to biomass CCUS technology potential. Based on interviews conducted with key stakeholders in CCUS technology development and operations, this presentation will discuss these technical and economic challenges and potential policy opportunities to support commercial scale CCUS deployment. In current domestic and electricity and oil markets, CCUS faces economic challenges for commercial deployment. In particular, the economic viability of CCUS has been impacted by the sustained low oil prices that have limited the potential for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) to serve as a near-term utilization opportunity for the captured CO2. In addition, large scale commercial adoption of CCUS is constrained by regulatory inconsistencies and uncertainties across the United States, high initial capital costs, achieving familiarity with new technology applications to existing markets, developing a successful performance track record to acquire financing agreements, and competing against well-established incumbent technologies. CCUS also has additional technical hurdles for measurement, verification, and reporting within states that have existing policy and regulatory frameworks for climate change mitigation. In addition to fossil-fuel based CCUS, we will discuss emerging opportunities to utilize CCUS fueled by gasified biomass resulting in carbon negative power generation with expanded economic opportunities associated with the enhanced carbon sequestration. Successful technology development of CCUS technology requires a portfolio of research leading to technical advances, advances in financial instruments to leverage the benefits of multiple commodity markets (e.g. natural gas, oil, biomass), and policy instruments that address regulatory hurdles posed CCUS technology deployment.

Feedstock Supply and Logistics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

Providing biomass for conversion into high-quality biofuels, biopower, and bioproducts represents an economic opportunity for communities across the nation. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) and its partners are developing the technologies and systems needed to sustainably and economically deliver a diverse range of biomass in formats that enable efficient use in biorefineries.

The Status of and key barriers in lignocellulosic ethanol production : a technological perspective

Treesearch

J.Y. Zhu; G.S. Wang; X.J. Pan; R. Gleisner

2008-01-01

The development of biorefineries to produce fuel ethanol and commodity chemicals from lignocellulosic biomass is a potential alternative to current reliance on non-renewable resources. However, many technological barriers remain despite research progress in the past several decades. This article examines the major process barriers in biochemical conversion of biomass...

Monitoring and control technologies for bioregenerative life support systems/CELSS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Knott, William M.; Sager, John C.

1991-01-01

The development of a controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS) will require NASA to develop innovative monitoring and control technologies to operate the different components of the system. Primary effort over the past three to four years has been directed toward the development of technologies to operate a biomass production module. Computer hardware and software required to operate, collect, and summarize environmental data for a large plant growth chamber facility were developed and refined. Sensors and controls required to collect information on such physical parameters as relative humidity, temperature, irradiance, pressure, and gases in the atmosphere; and PH, dissolved oxygen, fluid flow rates, and electrical conductivity in the nutrient solutions are being developed and tested. Technologies required to produce high artificial irradiance for plant growth and those required to collect and transport natural light into a plant growth chamber are also being evaluated. Significant effort was directed towards the development and testing of a membrane nutrient delivery system required to manipulate, seed, and harvest crops, and to determine plant health prior to stress impacting plant productivity are also being researched. Tissue culture technologies are being developed for use in management and propagation of crop plants. Though previous efforts have focussed on development of technologies required to operate a biomass production module for a CELSS, current efforts are expanding to include technologies required to operate modules such as food preparation, biomass processing, and resource (waste) recovery which are integral parts of the CELSS.

Thermochemical conversion of microalgal biomass into biofuels: a review.

PubMed

Chen, Wei-Hsin; Lin, Bo-Jhih; Huang, Ming-Yueh; Chang, Jo-Shu

2015-05-01

Following first-generation and second-generation biofuels produced from food and non-food crops, respectively, algal biomass has become an important feedstock for the production of third-generation biofuels. Microalgal biomass is characterized by rapid growth and high carbon fixing efficiency when they grow. On account of potential of mass production and greenhouse gas uptake, microalgae are promising feedstocks for biofuels development. Thermochemical conversion is an effective process for biofuel production from biomass. The technology mainly includes torrefaction, liquefaction, pyrolysis, and gasification. Through these conversion technologies, solid, liquid, and gaseous biofuels are produced from microalgae for heat and power generation. The liquid bio-oils can further be upgraded for chemicals, while the synthesis gas can be synthesized into liquid fuels. This paper aims to provide a state-of-the-art review of the thermochemical conversion technologies of microalgal biomass into fuels. Detailed conversion processes and their outcome are also addressed. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Biomass Energy Basics | NREL

Science.gov Websites

renewable liquid transportation fuels available. Biomass energy supports U.S. agricultural and forest soybeans (for biodiesel). In the near future-and with NREL-developed technology-agricultural residues such

Solar Program Assessment: Environmental Factors - Fuels from Biomass.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Energy Research and Development Administration, Washington, DC. Div. of Solar Energy.

The purpose of this report is to present and prioritize the major environmental issues associated with the further development of biomass production and biomass conversion systems. To provide a background for this environmental analysis, the basic concepts of the technology are reviewed, as are resource requirements. The potential effects of this…

Outlook for Biomass Ethanol Production and Demand

EIA Publications

2000-01-01

This paper presents a midterm forecast for biomass ethanol production under three different technology cases for the period 2000 to 2020, based on projections developed from the Energy Information Administration's National Energy Modeling System. An overview of cellulose conversion technology and various feedstock options and a brief history of ethanol usage in the United States are also presented.

Department of Energy Recovery Act Investment in Biomass Technologies

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

2010-11-01

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) provided more than $36 billion to the Department of Energy (DOE) to accelerate work on existing projects, undertake new and transformative research, and deploy clean energy technologies across the nation. Of this funding, $1029 million is supporting innovative work to advance biomass research, development, demonstration, and deployment.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mutanen, K.I.

Development of fluidized bed combustion (FBC) was started both in North America and in Europe in the 1960`s. In Europe and especially in Scandinavia the major driving force behind the development was the need to find new more efficient technologies for utilization of low-grade fuels like different biomasses and wastes. Both bubbling fluidized bed (BFB) and circulating fluidized bed (CFB) technologies were under intensive R&D,D efforts and have now advanced to dominating role in industrial and district heating power plant markets in Europe. New advanced CFB designs are now entering the markets. In North America and especially in the USmore » the driving force behind the FBC development was initially the need to utilize different types of coals in a more efficient and environmentally acceptable way. The present and future markets seem to be mainly in biomass and multifuel applications where there is benefit from high combustion efficiency, high fuel flexibility and low emissions such as in the pulp and paper industry. The choice between CFB technology and BFB technology is based on selected fuels, emission requirements, plant size and on technical and economic feasibility. Based on Scandinavian experience there is vast potential in the North American industry to retrofit existing oil fired, pulverized coal fired, chemical recovery or grate fired boilers with FBC systems or to build a new FBC based boiler plant. This paper will present the status of CFB technologies and will compare technical and economic feasibility of CFB technology to CFB technology to BFB and also to other combustion methods. Power plant projects that are using advanced CFB technology e.g. Ahlstrom Pyroflow Compact technology for biomass firing and co-firing of biomass with other fuels will also be introduced.« less

Effects of Deployment Investment on the Growth of the Biofuels Industry

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vimmerstedt, Laura J.; Bush, Brian W.

2013-12-01

In support of the national goals for biofuel use in the United States, numerous technologies have been developed that convert biomass to biofuels. Some of these biomass to biofuel conversion technology pathways are operating at commercial scales, while others are in earlier stages of development. The advancement of a new pathway toward commercialization involves various types of progress, including yield improvements, process engineering, and financial performance. Actions of private investors and public programs can accelerate the demonstration and deployment of new conversion technology pathways. These investors (both private and public) will pursue a range of pilot, demonstration, and pioneer scalemore » biorefinery investments; the most cost-effective set of investments for advancing the maturity of any given biomass to biofuel conversion technology pathway is unknown. In some cases, whether or not the pathway itself will ultimately be technically and financially successful is also unknown. This report presents results from the Biomass Scenario Model -- a system dynamics model of the biomass to biofuels system -- that estimate effects of investments in biorefineries at different maturity levels and operational scales. The report discusses challenges in estimating effects of such investments and explores the interaction between this deployment investment and a volumetric production incentive. Model results show that investments in demonstration and deployment have a substantial positive effect on the development of the biofuels industry. Results also show that other conditions, such as supportive policies, have major impacts on the effectiveness of such investments.« less

A review of catalytic microwave pyrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass for value-added fuel and chemicals.

PubMed

Morgan, Hervan Marion; Bu, Quan; Liang, Jianghui; Liu, Yujing; Mao, Hanping; Shi, Aiping; Lei, Hanwu; Ruan, Roger

2017-04-01

Lignocellulosic biomass is an abundant renewable resource and can be efficiently converted into bio-energy by a bio-refinery. From the various techniques available for biomass thermo-chemical conversion; microwave assisted pyrolysis (MAP) seems to be the very promising. The principles of microwave technology were reviewed and the parameters for the efficient production of bio-oil using microwave technology were summarized. Microwave technology by itself cannot efficiently produce high quality bio-oil products, catalysts are used to improve the reaction conditions and selectivity for valued products during MAP. The catalysts used to optimize MAP are revised in the development of this article. The origins for bio-oils that are phenol rich or hydrocarbon rich are reviewed and their experimental results were summarized. The kinetics of MAP is discussed briefly in the development of the article. Future prospects and scientific development of MAP are also considered in the development of this article. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Biomass Logistics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

J. Richard Hess; Kevin L. Kenney; William A. Smith

Equipment manufacturers have made rapid improvements in biomass harvesting and handling equipment. These improvements have increased transportation and handling efficiencies due to higher biomass densities and reduced losses. Improvements in grinder efficiencies and capacity have reduced biomass grinding costs. Biomass collection efficiencies (the ratio of biomass collected to the amount available in the field) as high as 75% for crop residues and greater than 90% for perennial energy crops have also been demonstrated. However, as collection rates increase, the fraction of entrained soil in the biomass increases, and high biomass residue removal rates can violate agronomic sustainability limits. Advancements inmore » quantifying multi-factor sustainability limits to increase removal rate as guided by sustainable residue removal plans, and mitigating soil contamination through targeted removal rates based on soil type and residue type/fraction is allowing the use of new high efficiency harvesting equipment and methods. As another consideration, single pass harvesting and other technologies that improve harvesting costs cause biomass storage moisture management challenges, which challenges are further perturbed by annual variability in biomass moisture content. Monitoring, sampling, simulation, and analysis provide basis for moisture, time, and quality relationships in storage, which has allowed the development of moisture tolerant storage systems and best management processes that combine moisture content and time to accommodate baled storage of wet material based upon “shelf-life.” The key to improving biomass supply logistics costs has been developing the associated agronomic sustainability and biomass quality technologies and processes that allow the implementation of equipment engineering solutions.« less

Experiment Investigation of the Influencing Factors on Bed Agglomeration During Fluidized-Bed Gasification of Biomass Fuels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Y. Q.; Chen, H. P.; Yang, H. P.; Wang, X. H.; Zhang, S. H.

With the depleting of fossil fuel and environmental polluting increasing, the utilization of biomass resources caught increasing concern. Biomass gasification in fluidized bed, as one promising technology, developed quickly. However, serious agglomeration was displayed as biomass ash reacted with bed material (silica sand) at higher temperature. It hindered the wide utilization of CFB gasifier. The objective ofthis work is to investigate the agglomeration behavior between biomass ash and silica sand, and catch the inherent mechanism. Firstly, the influence of ash compounds on the agglomeration behavior was analyzed with biomass ash and synthesis ash compounds addition in fixed bed as ash sample mixed with bed material evenly before every trial. The reaction temperature was set 850°C that is the operated temperature for many fluidized bed gasificated biomass fuels. Then the influence of reaction time was analyzed. The characteristics of the agglomerated silica sand particles were analyzed by the XRD. Finally, it was simulated with HSC computer mode based on thermodynamic equilibrium. It was observed that when the ratio of the biomass ash to the silica sand was above 0.2, the agglomeration was observed. With the increase of the reaction time, more silica sand particles agglomerated with the biomass ash. There are two kinds of silicate eutecticum investigated by the XRD. It is of great significance for the running ofCFB biomass gasifier and the development ofbiomass utilization technology.

Pyrolysis of corn stalk biomass briquettes in a scaled-up microwave technology.

PubMed

Salema, Arshad Adam; Afzal, Muhammad T; Bennamoun, Lyes

2017-06-01

Pyrolysis of corn stalk biomass briquettes was carried out in a developed microwave (MW) reactor supplied with 2.45GHz frequency using 3kW power generator. MW power and biomass loading were the key parameters investigated in this study. Highest bio-oil, biochar, and gas yield of 19.6%, 41.1%, and 54.0% was achieved at different process condition. In terms of quality, biochar exhibited good heating value (32MJ/kg) than bio-oil (2.47MJ/kg). Bio-oil was also characterised chemically using FTIR and GC-MS method. This work may open new dimension towards development of large-scale MW pyrolysis technology. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Study on new biomass energy systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1992-03-01

A biomass energy total system is proposed, and its feasibility is studied. It is the system in which liquid fuel is produced from eucalyptuses planted in the desert area in Australia for production of biomass resource. Eucalyptus tree planting aims at a growth amount of 40 cu m/ha. per year and a practical application area of 45,000ha. CO2 fixation in the biomass plantation becomes 540,000 tons at a 12 ton/ha. rate. Assuming that 0.55 ton of liquid fuel is produced from 1 ton of biomass, a petrochemical plant having a production of 2.5 million bbl/year per unit (equivalent to the fuel used in the 100,000kW class power plant) is needed. Moreover, survey is made on practicality of diesel substitution fuel by esterification of palm oil, and a marked effect of reduction in soot/smoke and particulates in exhaust gas is confirmed. The biomass conversion process technology and the technology for afforestation at the arid land and irrigation are important as future subjects, and the technology development using a bench plant and a pilot plant is needed.

Challenges and opportunities of torrefaction technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kosov, V. F.; Kuzmina, J. S.; Sytchev, G. A.; Zaichenko, V. M.

2016-11-01

Since the active exploitation and usage of classical non-renewable energy resources the most promising direction is the development of technologies of heat and electricity production from renewable sources—biomass. This is important in terms of reducing the harmful man-made influence of fuel-and-energy sector on the ecological balance. One of the most important aims when using biomass is its pre-treatment. The paper describes the fuel preliminary preparation for combustion with such technological process as torrefaction. Torrefaction allows bringing the biomass fuel as close as it possible to fossil coals for the main thermotechnical parameters. During torrefaction moisture is removed from initial material and the partial thermal decomposition of its components appears. The final torrefied product can be recommended for utilization in existing coal-fired boilers without their major reconstruction. Thus torrefaction technology enables the partial or complete replacement of fossil coal. At JIHT RAS, a torrefaction pilot plant is developed. As heat transfer medium the gas-piston engine exhaust gases were used. Results of researching and proposals for further development are showed in this paper.

IMPROVING BIOMASS LOGISTICS COST WITHIN AGRONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY CONSTRAINTS AND BIOMASS QUALITY TARGETS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

J. Richard Hess; Kevin L. Kenney; Christopher T. Wright

Equipment manufacturers have made rapid improvements in biomass harvesting and handling equipment. These improvements have increased transportation and handling efficiencies due to higher biomass densities and reduced losses. Improvements in grinder efficiencies and capacity have reduced biomass grinding costs. Biomass collection efficiencies (the ratio of biomass collected to the amount available in the field) as high as 75% for crop residues and greater than 90% for perennial energy crops have also been demonstrated. However, as collection rates increase, the fraction of entrained soil in the biomass increases, and high biomass residue removal rates can violate agronomic sustainability limits. Advancements inmore » quantifying multi-factor sustainability limits to increase removal rate as guided by sustainable residue removal plans, and mitigating soil contamination through targeted removal rates based on soil type and residue type/fraction is allowing the use of new high efficiency harvesting equipment and methods. As another consideration, single pass harvesting and other technologies that improve harvesting costs cause biomass storage moisture management challenges, which challenges are further perturbed by annual variability in biomass moisture content. Monitoring, sampling, simulation, and analysis provide basis for moisture, time, and quality relationships in storage, which has allowed the development of moisture tolerant storage systems and best management processes that combine moisture content and time to accommodate baled storage of wet material based upon “shelf-life.” The key to improving biomass supply logistics costs has been developing the associated agronomic sustainability and biomass quality technologies and processes that allow the implementation of equipment engineering solutions.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tan, Eric; Talmadge, M.; Dutta, Abhijit

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) promotes research for enabling cost-competitive liquid fuels production from lignocellulosic biomass feedstocks. The research is geared to advance the state of technology (SOT) of biomass feedstock supply and logistics, conversion, and overall system sustainability. As part of their involvement in this program, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) investigate the economics of conversion pathways through the development of conceptual biorefinery process models. This report describes in detail one potential conversion process for the production of high octane gasoline blendstock via indirect liquefaction (IDL). The steps involve themore » conversion of biomass to syngas via indirect gasification followed by gas cleanup and catalytic syngas conversion to a methanol intermediate; methanol is then further catalytically converted to high octane hydrocarbons. The conversion process model leverages technologies previously advanced by research funded by the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) and demonstrated in 2012 with the production of mixed alcohols from biomass. Biomass-derived syngas cleanup via tar and hydrocarbons reforming was one of the key technology advancements as part of that research. The process described in this report evaluates a new technology area with downstream utilization of clean biomass-syngas for the production of high octane hydrocarbon products through a methanol intermediate, i.e., dehydration of methanol to dimethyl ether (DME) which subsequently undergoes homologation to high octane hydrocarbon products.« less

Supply Chain Sustainability Analysis of Renewable Hydrocarbon Fuels via Indirect Liquefaction, Fast Pyrolysis, and Hydrothermal Liquefaction: Update of the 2016 State-of-Technology Cases and Design Cases

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cai, Hao; Dunn, Jennifer; Pegallapati, Ambica

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) aims to develop and deploy technologies to transform renewable biomass resources into commercially viable, high-performance biofuels, bioproducts and biopower through public and private partnerships (DOE, 2016). BETO and its national laboratory teams conduct in-depth technoeconomic assessments (TEA) of biomass feedstock supply and logistics and conversion technologies to produce biofuels, and life-cycle analysis of overall system sustainability.

EPA RE-Powering America's Lands: Kansas City Municipal Farm Site ₋ Biomass Power Analysis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hunsberger, R.; Mosey, G.

2015-01-01

Through the RE-Powering America's Land initiative, the economic and technical feasibility of utilizing biomass at the Kansas City, Missouri, Municipal Farm site, a group of City-owned properties, is explored. The study that none of the technologies we reviewed--biomass heat, power and CHP--are economically viable options for the Municipal Farms site. However, if the site were to be developed around a future central biomass heating or CHP facility, biomass could be a good option for the site.

Macroalgae as a Biomass Feedstock: A Preliminary Analysis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Roesijadi, Guritno; Jones, Susanne B.; Snowden-Swan, Lesley J.

2010-09-26

A thorough of macroalgae analysis as a biofuels feedstock is warranted due to the size of this biomass resource and the need to consider all potential sources of feedstock to meet current biomass production goals. Understanding how to harness this untapped biomass resource will require additional research and development. A detailed assessment of environmental resources, cultivation and harvesting technology, conversion to fuels, connectivity with existing energy supply chains, and the associated economic and life cycle analyses will facilitate evaluation of this potentially important biomass resource.

Decision Analysis and Policy Formulation for Technology-Specific Renewable Energy Targets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Okioga, Irene Teshamulwa

This study establishes a decision making procedure using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) for a U.S. national renewable portfolio standard, and proposes technology-specific targets for renewable electricity generation for the country. The study prioritizes renewable energy alternatives based on a multi-perspective view: from the public, policy makers, and investors' points-of-view, and uses multiple criteria for ranking the alternatives to generate a unified prioritization scheme. During this process, it considers a 'quadruple bottom-line' approach (4P), i.e. reflecting technical "progress", social "people", economic 'profits", and environmental "planet" factors. The AHP results indicated that electricity generation from solar PV ranked highest, and biomass energy ranked lowest. A "Benefits/Cost Incentives/Mandates" (BCIM) model was developed to identify where mandates are needed, and where incentives would instead be required to bring down costs for technologies that have potential for profitable deployment. The BCIM model balances the development of less mature renewable energy technologies, without the potential for rising near-term electricity rates for consumers. It also ensures that recommended policies do not lead to growth of just one type of technology--the "highest-benefit, least-cost" technology. The model indicated that mandates would be suited for solar PV, and incentives generally for geothermal and concentrated solar power. Development for biomass energy, as a "low-cost, low-benefits" alternative was recommended at a local rather than national level, mainly due to its low resource potential values. Further, biomass energy generated from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) had the least resource potential compared to other biomass sources. The research developed methodologies and recommendations for biogas electricity targets at WWTPs, to take advantage of the waste-to-energy opportunities.

Examination of the Potential of Structure-from-Motion (SfM) Photogrammetry and Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) for Rapid Nondestructive Field Measurement of Grass Biomass

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cooper, S. D.; Roy, D. P.; Sathyachandran, S. K.

2016-12-01

Quantifying the above ground biomass of grasslands is needed for a number of applications including monitoring grass productivity, wildlife habitat, carbon storage, and fuel bed characteristics. Destructive biomass measurements, although highly accurate, are time consuming and are not easily undertaken on a repeat basis or over large areas. A number of non-destructive techniques have been developed that relate vegetation structural properties to above ground biomass. Conventionally, the disc pasture meter is used for rapid grass biomass estimation and uses the settling height of a disk placed on the grass and allometry. Structure-from-Motion (SfM) photogrammetry and Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) are two technologies that have the potential to yield highly precise three-dimensional (3D) structural measurements of vegetation quite rapidly. Recent advances in computing and data acquisition technologies have led to the successful application of TLS and SfM in woody biomass estimation, but application in grassland systems remains largely untested. The Canopy Biomass Lidar (CBL) is one such advance and is a highly portable and relatively inexpensive TLS unit allowing for rapid and widespread data collection. We investigated the efficacy of a CBL unit as well as SfM in allometric estimation of grassland biomass from volumetric measurements derived from these two technologies, both separately and through the merging of the two independently generated 3D point clouds. The results are compared to biomass estimation from a pasture disc meter. Best use practices for grassland applications of these technologies are also presented.

Fundamentals of Hydrocarbon Upgrading to Liquid Fuels and Commodity Chemicals over Catalytic Metallic Nanoparticles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Tao

Promising new technologies for biomass conversion into fuels and chemical feedstocks rely on the production of bio-oils, which need to be upgraded in order to remove oxygen-containing hydrocarbons and water. A high oxygen concentration makes bio-oils acidic and corrosive, unstable during storage, and less energetically valuable per unit weight than petroleum-derived hydrocarbons. Although there are efficient processes for the production of bio-oils, there are no efficient technologies for their upgrading. Current technologies utilize traditional petroleum refining catalysts, which are not optimized for biomass processing. New upgrading technologies are, therefore, urgently needed for development of sustainable energy resources. Development of such new technologies, however, is severely hindered by a lack of fundamental understanding of how oxygen and oxygen-containing hydrocarbons derived from biomass interact with promising noble-metal catalysts. In this study, kinetic reaction measurements, catalyst characterization and quantum chemical calculations using density functional theory were combined for determining adsorption modes and reaction mechanisms of hydrocarbons in the presence of oxygen on surfaces of catalytic noble-metal nanoparticles. The results were used for developing improved catalyst formulations and optimization of reaction conditions. The addition of molybdenum to platinum catalysts was shown to improve catalytic activity, stability, and selectivity in hydrodeoxygenation of acetic acid, which served as a model biomass compound. The fundamental results that describe interactions of oxygen and hydrocarbons with noble-metal catalysts were extended to other reactions and fields of study: evaluation of the reaction mechanism for hydrogen peroxide decomposition, development of improved hydrogenation catalysts and determination of adsorption modes of a spectroscopic probe molecule.

Biomass and Solar Technologies Lauded | News | NREL

Science.gov Websites

4 » Biomass and Solar Technologies Lauded News Release: Biomass and Solar Technologies Lauded July security and reduce our reliance on foreign sources of oil." The Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Biomass Cellulose to Sugars technology is expected to allow a wide range of biomass resources to be used to produce

Systems Based Approaches for Conversion of Biomass to Bioenergy and Bioproducts

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Taylor, Steve; McDonald, Timothy; Adhikari, Sushil

The research provided data on applicability of agricultural energy crops and forest biomass production and logistics models. While much of the overall research effort was focused on lignocellulosic feedstocks, the research also recognized that there are important opportunities for the production and use of starch-based agricultural crops to serve as alternative regionally-appropriate biofuel feedstocks. Also, the research identified fractionation techniques that can be used to separate biomass feedstocks into their basic chemical constituents and then streamline the biorefining industry by developing commodity products for cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. Finally, models and techniques were developed to determine economically feasible technologies formore » production of biomass-derived synthesis gases that can be used for clean, renewable power generation and for production of liquid transportation fuels through Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis. Moreover, this research program educated the next generation of engineers and scientists needed to implement these technologies.« less

Blue to Green: How Past Energy Transitions Inform the Department of Defense’s Energy Strategy

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-06-01

www.netl.doe.gov/technologies/coalpower/ gasification /gasifipedia/5-support/5- 11_ftsynthesis.html (accessed March 19, 2012) 245 Biomass feedstock can be...fuels from renewable fuel sources. The two methods that are currently the furthest developed are Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis ( biomass to liquid...years of isolation brought on by apartheid.244 In the FT synthesis process proposed by renewable energy developers today, biomass feedstock is heated

Scope of Algae as Third Generation Biofuels

PubMed Central

Behera, Shuvashish; Singh, Richa; Arora, Richa; Sharma, Nilesh Kumar; Shukla, Madhulika; Kumar, Sachin

2015-01-01

An initiative has been taken to develop different solid, liquid, and gaseous biofuels as the alternative energy resources. The current research and technology based on the third generation biofuels derived from algal biomass have been considered as the best alternative bioresource that avoids the disadvantages of first and second generation biofuels. Algal biomass has been investigated for the implementation of economic conversion processes producing different biofuels such as biodiesel, bioethanol, biogas, biohydrogen, and other valuable co-products. In the present review, the recent findings and advance developments in algal biomass for improved biofuel production have been explored. This review discusses about the importance of the algal cell contents, various strategies for product formation through various conversion technologies, and its future scope as an energy security. PMID:25717470

Midwest vision for sustainable fuel production

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Meeting the challenge of providing 30% of the transportation fuels used in the USA from those developed from biomass will require significant improvements in technology across the supply chain, significant commercial investment in infrastructure, and, because of the unique characteristics of biomass...

ZOOPLANKTON - PHYTOPLANKTON BIOMASS SEZE STRUCTURE IN NEARSHORE REGIONS OF LAKE SUPERIOR

EPA Science Inventory

Presentation addresses new technologies and new strategies for developing biological indicators to assess the Great Lakes . . . We assessed biomass size-spectra acquired with an optical plankton counter (OPC) or laser optical counter (LOPC) and phytoplankton samples analyzed with...

Feasibility of Biomass Biodrying for Gasification Process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamidian, Arash

An important challenge of biomass gasification is the limitation of feedstock quality especially the moisture content, which plays a significant role on the performance of gasification process. Gasification requires low moisture levels (20% and less) and several reports have emphasized on the moisture as a typical problem while gasifying biomass. Moisture affects overall reaction rates in the gasifiers as a result of temperature drop and ultimately increases tar content, decreases gas yield, changes the composition of produced gas and affects the efficiency. Therefore, it is mandatory to pre-treat the biomass before gasification and reduce the moisture content to the suitable and economic level. The well-known solutions are either natural drying (not practical for commercial plants) or conventional drying technologies (have high operating costs). Biodrying is an alternative process, which uses both convective air and heat of biological reactions as a source of energy, to reduce the moisture. In the biodrying reactor heat is generated from exothermic decomposition of organic fraction of biomass and that is why the process is called "self-heating process". Employing such technology for drying biomass at pre-treatment units of gasification process returns several economic and environmental advantages to mills. In Europe, municipal waste treatment (MSW) plants use the biodrying at commercial scale to degrade a part of the biodegradable fraction of waste to generate heat and reduce the moisture content for high quality SRF (Solid Recovered Fuel) production. In Italy, wine industry is seeking to develop biodrying for energy recovery of grape wastes after fermentation and distillation, which returns economic benefits to the industry. In Canada, the development of biodrying technology for pulp and paper industry was started at Ecole polytechnique de Montreal as an option for sludge management solution. Therefore, batch biodrying reactor was successfully developed in 2004 and the pilot-scale continuous system was designed in 2010 to demonstrate the feasibility of mixed sludge biodrying for efficient combustion in biomass boilers. Mixed sludge was biodried in the reactor to 45% moisture level, which was the suitable level for boiler application. Techno-economic analysis also revealed the potential economic benefits for pulp and paper mills. However, considerable uncertainties existed in terms of feasibility of the biodrying technology for other types of biomass that are usually used in the gasification process, mainly because of low nutrient level of typical lignocellulosic biomass used as feedstock. Furthermore, the technology had not been shown to be economically viable in conjunction with gasification process at pulp and paper mills. In this work the feasibility of low-nutrient biomass biodrying was tested by experiments and techno-economic model was developed to identify the performance of biodrying process for commercial-scale application. In the economic analysis, a comprehensive approach for biodrying cost assessment was introduced that is based on the well-known approach widely used in the process industry and few sources of benefits were identified.

Assessment of Biomass Resources in Liberia

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Milbrandt, A.

2009-04-01

Biomass resources meet about 99.5% of the Liberian population?s energy needs so they are vital to basic welfare and economic activity. Already, traditional biomass products like firewood and charcoal are the primary energy source used for domestic cooking and heating. However, other more efficient biomass technologies are available that could open opportunities for agriculture and rural development, and provide other socio-economic and environmental benefits.The main objective of this study is to estimate the biomass resources currently and potentially available in the country and evaluate their contribution for power generation and the production of transportation fuels. It intends to inform policymore » makers and industry developers of the biomass resource availability in Liberia, identify areas with high potential, and serve as a base for further, more detailed site-specific assessments.« less

Research Extension and Education Programs on Bio-based Energy Technologies and Products

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jackson, Sam; Harper, David; Womac, Al

2010-03-02

The overall objectives of this project were to provide enhanced educational resources for the general public, educational and development opportunities for University faculty in the Southeast region, and enhance research knowledge concerning biomass preprocessing and deconstruction. All of these efforts combine to create a research and education program that enhances the biomass-based industries of the United States. This work was broken into five primary objective areas: • Task A - Technical research in the area of biomass preprocessing, analysis, and evaluation. • Tasks B&C - Technical research in the areas of Fluidized Beds for the Chemical Modification of Lignocellulosic Biomassmore » and Biomass Deconstruction and Evaluation. • Task D - Analyses for the non-scientific community to provides a comprehensive analysis of the current state of biomass supply, demand, technologies, markets and policies; identify a set of feasible alternative paths for biomass industry development and quantify the impacts associated with alternative path. • Task E - Efforts to build research capacity and develop partnerships through faculty fellowships with DOE national labs The research and education programs conducted through this grant have led to three primary results. They include: • A better knowledge base related to and understanding of biomass deconstruction, through both mechanical size reduction and chemical processing • A better source of information related to biomass, bioenergy, and bioproducts for researchers and general public users through the BioWeb system. • Stronger research ties between land-grant universities and DOE National Labs through the faculty fellowship program. In addition to the scientific knowledge and resources developed, funding through this program produced a minimum of eleven (11) scientific publications and contributed to the research behind at least one patent.« less

Effects of Deployment Investment on the Growth of the Biofuels Industry. 2016 Update

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vimmerstedt, Laura J.; Warner, Ethan S.; Stright, Dana

This report updates the 2013 report of the same title. Some text originally published in that report is retained and indicated in gray. In support of the national goals for biofuel use in the United States, numerous technologies have been developed that convert biomass to biofuels. Some of these biomass to biofuel conversion technology pathways are operating at commercial scales, while others are in earlier stages of development. The advancement of a new pathway toward commercialization involves various types of progress, including yield improvements, process engineering, and financial performance. Actions of private investors and public programs can accelerate the demonstrationmore » and deployment of new conversion technology pathways. These investors (both private and public) will pursue a range of pilot, demonstration, and pioneer scale biorefinery investments; the most cost-effective set of investments for advancing the maturity of any given biomass to biofuel conversion technology pathway is unknown. In some cases, whether or not the pathway itself will ultimately be technically and financially successful is also unknown. This report presents results from the Biomass Scenario Model--a system dynamics model of the biomass to biofuels system--that estimate effects of investments in biorefineries at different maturity levels and operational scales. The report discusses challenges in estimating effects of such investments and explores the interaction between this deployment investment and a volumetric production incentive. Model results show that investments in demonstration and deployment have a substantial growth impact on the development of the biofuels industry. Results also show that other conditions, such as accompanying incentives, have major impacts on the effectiveness of such investments. Results from the 2013 report are compared to new results. This report does not advocate for or against investments, incentives, or policies, but analyzes simulations of their hypothetical effects.« less

Mild Biomass Liquefaction Process for Economic Production of Stabilized Refinery-Ready Bio-oil

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gangwal, Santosh; Meng, Jiajia; McCabe, Kevin

Southern Research (SR) in cooperation with U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Bioenergy Technology Office (BETO), investigated a biomass liquefaction process for economic production of stabilized refinery-ready bio-oil. The project was awarded by DOE under a Funding Opportunity Announcement (DE-FOA-0000686) for Bio-oil Stabilization and Commoditization that intended to evaluate the feasibility of using bio-oil as a potential feedstock in an existing petroleum refinery. SR investigated Topic Area 1 of the FOA at Technology Readiness Level 2-3 to develop thermochemical liquefaction technologies for producing a bio-oil feedstock from high-impact biomass that can be utilized within a petroleum refinery. Bio-oil obtained from fastmore » pyrolysis of biomass is a green intermediate that can be further upgraded into a biofuel for blending in a petroleum refinery using a hydro-deoxygenation (HDO) route. Co-processing pyrolysis bio-oil in a petroleum refinery is an attractive approach to leverage the refinery’s existing capital. However, the petroleum industry is reluctant to accept pyrolysis bio-oil because of a lack of a standard definition for an acceptable bio-oil feedstock in existing refinery processes. Also per BETO’s multiyear program plan, fast pyrolysis-based bio-fuel is presently not cost competitive with petroleum-based transportation fuels. SR aims to develop and demonstrate a cost-effective low-severity thermal liquefaction and hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) process to convert woody biomass to stabilized bio-oils that can be directly blended with hydrotreater input streams in a petroleum refinery for production of gasoline and/or diesel range hydrocarbons. The specific project objectives are to demonstrate the processes at laboratory scale, characterize the bio-oil product and develop a plan in partnership with a refinery company to move the technology towards commercialization.« less

Metal catalysts for steam reforming of tar derived from the gasification of lignocellulosic biomass.

PubMed

Li, Dalin; Tamura, Masazumi; Nakagawa, Yoshinao; Tomishige, Keiichi

2015-02-01

Biomass gasification is one of the most important technologies for the conversion of biomass to electricity, fuels, and chemicals. The main obstacle preventing the commercial application of this technology is the presence of tar in the product gas. Catalytic reforming of tar appears a promising approach to remove tar and supported metal catalysts are among the most effective catalysts. Nevertheless, improvement of catalytic performances including activity, stability, resistance to coke deposition and aggregation of metal particles, as well as catalyst regenerability is greatly needed. This review focuses on the design and catalysis of supported metal catalysts for the removal of tar in the gasification of biomass. The recent development of metal catalysts including Rh, Ni, Co, and their alloys for steam reforming of biomass tar and tar model compounds is introduced. The role of metal species, support materials, promoters, and their interfaces is described. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Green technology for conversion of renewable hydrocarbon based on plasma-catalytic approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fedirchyk, Igor; Nedybaliuk, Oleg; Chernyak, Valeriy; Demchina, Valentina

2016-09-01

The ability to convert renewable biomass into fuels and chemicals is one of the most important steps on our path to green technology and sustainable development. However, the complex composition of biomass poses a major problem for established conversion technologies. The high temperature of thermochemical biomass conversion often leads to the appearance of undesirable byproducts and waste. The catalytic conversion has reduced yield and feedstock range. Plasma-catalytic reforming technology opens a new path for biomass conversion by replacing feedstock-specific catalysts with free radicals generated in the plasma. We studied the plasma-catalytic conversion of several renewable hydrocarbons using the air plasma created by rotating gliding discharge. We found that plasma-catalytic hydrocarbon conversion can be conducted at significantly lower temperatures (500 K) than during the thermochemical ( 1000 K) and catalytic (800 K) conversion. By using gas chromatography, we determined conversion products and found that conversion efficiency of plasma-catalytic conversion reaches over 85%. We used obtained data to determine the energy yield of hydrogen in case of plasma-catalytic reforming of ethanol and compared it with other plasma-based hydrogen-generating systems.

Phytoremediation of soils contaminated with toxic elements and radionuclides

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cornish, J.E.; Goldberg, W.C.; Levine, R.S.

1995-12-31

At many US Department of Energy (US DOE) facilities and other sites, surface soils over relatively large areas are contaminated with heavy metals, radionuclides, and other toxic elements, often at only a relatively small factor above regulatory action levels. Cleanup of such sites presents major challenges, because currently available soil remediation technologies can be very expensive. In response, the US DOE`s Office of Technology Development, through the Western Environmental Technology Office, is sponsoring research in the area of phytoremediation. Phytoremediation is an emerging technology that uses higher plants to transfer toxic elements and radionuclides from surface soils into aboveground biomass.more » Some plants, termed hyperaccumulators, take up toxic elements in substantial amounts, resulting in concentrations in aboveground biomass over 100 times those observed with conventional plants. After growth, the plant biomass is harvested, and the toxic elements are concentrated and reclaimed or disposed of. As growing, harvesting, and processing plant biomass is relatively inexpensive, phytoremediation can be a low-cost technology for remediation of extensive areas having lightly to moderately contaminated soils. This paper reviews the potential of hyper- and moderate accumulator plants in soil remediation, provides some comparative cost estimates, and outlines ongoing work initiated by the US DOE.« less

How to develop renewable power in China? A cost-effective perspective.

PubMed

Cong, Rong-Gang; Shen, Shaochuan

2014-01-01

To address the problems of climate change and energy security, Chinese government strived to develop renewable power as an important alternative of conventional electricity. In this paper, the learning curve model is employed to describe the decreasing unit investment cost due to accumulated installed capacity; the technology diffusion model is used to analyze the potential of renewable power. Combined with the investment cost, the technology potential, and scenario analysis of China social development in the future, we develop the Renewable Power Optimization Model (RPOM) to analyze the optimal development paths of three sources of renewable power from 2009 to 2020 in a cost-effective way. Results show that (1) the optimal accumulated installed capacities of wind power, solar power, and biomass power will reach 169000, 20000, and 30000 MW in 2020; (2) the developments of renewable power show the intermittent feature; (3) the unit investment costs of wind power, solar power, and biomass power will be 4500, 11500, and 5700 Yuan/KW in 2020; (4) the discounting effect dominates the learning curve effect for solar and biomass powers; (5) the rise of on-grid ratio of renewable power will first promote the development of wind power and then solar power and biomass power.

How to Develop Renewable Power in China? A Cost-Effective Perspective

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

To address the problems of climate change and energy security, Chinese government strived to develop renewable power as an important alternative of conventional electricity. In this paper, the learning curve model is employed to describe the decreasing unit investment cost due to accumulated installed capacity; the technology diffusion model is used to analyze the potential of renewable power. Combined with the investment cost, the technology potential, and scenario analysis of China social development in the future, we develop the Renewable Power Optimization Model (RPOM) to analyze the optimal development paths of three sources of renewable power from 2009 to 2020 in a cost-effective way. Results show that (1) the optimal accumulated installed capacities of wind power, solar power, and biomass power will reach 169000, 20000, and 30000 MW in 2020; (2) the developments of renewable power show the intermittent feature; (3) the unit investment costs of wind power, solar power, and biomass power will be 4500, 11500, and 5700 Yuan/KW in 2020; (4) the discounting effect dominates the learning curve effect for solar and biomass powers; (5) the rise of on-grid ratio of renewable power will first promote the development of wind power and then solar power and biomass power. PMID:24578672

Laboratory Scale Coal And Biomass To Drop-In Fuels (CBDF) Production And Assessment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lux, Kenneth; Imam, Tahmina; Chevanan, Nehru

This Final Technical Report describes the work and accomplishments of the project entitled, “Laboratory Scale Coal and Biomass to Drop-In Fuels (CBDF) Production and Assessment.” The main objective of the project was to fabricate and test a lab-scale liquid-fuel production system using coal containing different percentages of biomass such as corn stover and switchgrass at a rate of 2 liters per day. The system utilizes the patented Altex fuel-production technology, which incorporates advanced catalysts developed by Pennsylvania State University. The system was designed, fabricated, tested, and assessed for economic and environmental feasibility relative to competing technologies.

Evaluation on the Efficiency of Biomass Power Generation Industry in China

PubMed Central

Sun, Dong; Guo, Sen

2014-01-01

As a developing country with large population, China is facing the problems of energy resource shortage and growing environmental pollution arising from the coal-dominated energy structure. Biomass energy, as a kind of renewable energy with the characteristics of being easy to store and friendly to environment, has become the focus of China's energy development in the future. Affected by the advanced power generation technology and diversified geography environment, the biomass power generation projects show new features in recent years. Hence, it is necessary to evaluate the efficiency of biomass power generation industry by employing proper method with the consideration of new features. In this paper, the regional difference as a new feature of biomass power generation industry is taken into consideration, and the AR model is employed to modify the zero-weight issue when using data envelopment analysis (DEA) method to evaluate the efficiency of biomass power generation industry. 30 biomass power generation enterprises in China are selected as the sample, and the efficiency evaluation is performed. The result can provide some insights into the sustainable development of biomass power generation industry in China. PMID:25093209

Scaling laws and technology development strategies for biorefineries and bioenergy plants.

PubMed

Jack, Michael W

2009-12-01

The economies of scale of larger biorefineries or bioenergy plants compete with the diseconomies of scale of transporting geographically distributed biomass to a central location. This results in an optimum plant size that depends on the scaling parameters of the two contributions. This is a fundamental aspect of biorefineries and bioenergy plants and has important consequences for technology development as "bigger is better" is not necessarily true. In this paper we explore the consequences of these scaling effects via a simplified model of biomass transportation and plant costs. Analysis of this model suggests that there is a need for much more sophisticated technology development strategies to exploit the consequences of these scaling effects. We suggest three potential strategies in terms of the scaling parameters of the system.

Cultivation, photobioreactor design and harvesting of microalgae for biodiesel production: a critical review.

PubMed

Chen, Chun-Yen; Yeh, Kuei-Ling; Aisyah, Rifka; Lee, Duu-Jong; Chang, Jo-Shu

2011-01-01

Microalgae have the ability to mitigate CO(2) emission and produce oil with a high productivity, thereby having the potential for applications in producing the third-generation of biofuels. The key technologies for producing microalgal biofuels include identification of preferable culture conditions for high oil productivity, development of effective and economical microalgae cultivation systems, as well as separation and harvesting of microalgal biomass and oil. This review presents recent advances in microalgal cultivation, photobioreactor design, and harvesting technologies with a focus on microalgal oil (mainly triglycerides) production. The effects of different microalgal metabolisms (i.e., phototrophic, heterotrophic, mixotrophic, and photoheterotrophic growth), cultivation systems (emphasizing the effect of light sources), and biomass harvesting methods (chemical/physical methods) on microalgal biomass and oil production are compared and critically discussed. This review aims to provide useful information to help future development of efficient and commercially viable technology for microalgae-based biodiesel production. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Technological advances and applications of hydrolytic enzymes for valorization of lignocellulosic biomass.

PubMed

Manisha; Yadav, Sudesh Kumar

2017-12-01

Hydrolytic enzymes are indispensable tools in the production of various foodstuffs, drugs, and consumables owing to their applications in almost every industrial process nowadays. One of the foremost areas of interest involving the use of hydrolytic enzymes is in the transformation of lignocellulosic biomass into value added products. However, limitations of the processes due to inadequate enzyme activity and stability with a narrow range of pH and temperature optima often limit their effective usage. The innovative technologies, involving manipulation of enzyme activity and stability through mutagenesis, genetic engineering and metagenomics lead to a major leap in all the fields using hydrolytic enzymes. This article provides recent advancement towards the isolation and use of microbes for lignocellulosic biomass utilisation, microbes producing the hydrolytic enzymes, the modern age technologies used to manipulate and enhance the hydrolytic enzyme activity and the applications of such enzymes in value added products development from lignocellulosic biomass. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A paradigm shift in biomass technology from complete to partial cellulose hydrolysis: lessons learned from nature.

PubMed

Chen, Rachel

2015-01-01

A key characteristic of current biomass technology is the requirement for complete hydrolysis of cellulose and hemicellulose, which stems from the inability of microbial strains to use partially hydrolyzed cellulose, or cellodextrin. The complete hydrolysis paradigm has been practiced over the past 4 decades with major enzyme companies perfecting their cellulase mix for maximal yield of monosaccharides, with corresponding efforts in strain development focus almost solely on the conversion of monosaccharides, not cellodextrin, to products. While still in its nascent infancy, a new paradigm requiring only partial hydrolysis has begun to take hold, promising a shift in the biomass technology at its fundamental core. The new paradigm has the potential to reduce the requirement for cellulase enzymes in the hydrolysis step and provides new strategies for metabolic engineers, synthetic biologists and alike in engineering fermenting organisms. Several recent publications reveal that microorganisms engineered to metabolize cellodextrins, rather than monomer glucose, can reap significant energy gains in both uptake and subsequent phosphorylation. These energetic benefits can in turn be directed for enhanced robustness and increased productivity of a bioprocess. Furthermore, the new cellodextrin metabolism endows the biocatalyst the ability to evade catabolite repression, a cellular regulatory mechanism that is hampering rapid conversion of biomass sugars to products. Together, the new paradigm offers significant advantages over the old and promises to overcome several critical barriers in biomass technology. More research, however, is needed to realize these promises, especially in discovery and engineering of cellodextrin transporters, in developing a cost-effective method for cellodextrin generation, and in better integration of cellodextrin metabolism to endogenous glycolysis.

A study of palm biomass processing strategy in Sarawak

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, S. J. Y.; Ng, W. P. Q.; Law, K. H.

2017-06-01

In the past decades, palm industry is booming due to its profitable nature. An environmental concern regarding on the palm industry is the enormous amount of waste produced from palm industry. The waste produced or palm biomass is one significant renewable energy source and raw material for value-added products like fiber mats, activated carbon, dried fiber, bio-fertilizer and et cetera in Malaysia. There is a need to establish the palm biomass industry for the recovery of palm biomass for efficient utilization and waste reduction. The development of the industry is strongly depending on the two reasons, the availability and supply consistency of palm biomass as well as the availability of palm biomass processing facilities. In Malaysia, the development of palm biomass industry is lagging due to the lack of mature commercial technology and difficult logistic planning as a result of scattered locality of palm oil mill, where palm biomass is generated. Two main studies have been carried out in this research work: i) industrial study of the feasibility of decentralized and centralized palm biomass processing in Sarawak and ii) development of a systematic and optimized palm biomass processing planning for the development of palm biomass industry in Sarawak, Malaysia. Mathematical optimization technique is used in this work to model the above case scenario for biomass processing to achieve maximum economic potential and resource feasibility. An industrial study of palm biomass processing strategy in Sarawak has been carried out to evaluate the optimality of centralized processing and decentralize processing of the local biomass industry. An optimal biomass processing strategy is achieved.

Scoping Alternatives for Negative Emission Technologies. FRACCC - Possible Routes to Biomass-Derived Carbon Injection in Shallow Aquifers?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Correa Silva, R.; Larter, S.

2016-12-01

Atmospheric CO2 capture into biomass is one of the capture options for negative emission technologies, although proposed sequestration systems such as the permanent burial of total fresh biomass, algal lipids or soil amendment with biochar are yet to be successfully demonstrated as effective at scale. In the context of carbon sequestration, shallow geological reservoirs have not been exhaustively explored, even though they pose, away from groundwater protection zones, potentially low implementation cost, and geographically abundant potential carbon storage reservoirs. Typical carbon storage vectors considered, such as CO2 and biochar, are not suitable for shallow aquifer disposal, due either to cap rock containment requirements, or shallow aquifer CO2 densities, or issues related to formation damage from solid particles. Thus, a cost-effective technology, aimed at converting biomass into a large-scale carbon vector fit-for-disposal in shallow formations could be significant, linking promising carbon capture and containment strategies. In this work, we discuss the development of unconventional carbon vectors for subsurface storage in the form of Functionalized, Refractory and Aqueous Compatible Carbon Compounds (FRACCC), as a potential alternative negative emission technology (Larter et al., 2010). The concept is based on CO2 capture into microbial and algal biomass, followed by the modification of biomass constituents through facile chemical reactions aimed at rendering the biomass efficiently into a stable, biologically refractory but water soluble form, similar in some regards, to dissolved organic matter in the oceans, then sequestering the material in geological settings. As the injected material is not buoyant, containment specifications are more modest than for CO2 injection and potentially, more reservoirs could be accessible! This work analyses the technological, economic and societal implications of such potential FRACCC technologies, and make an assessment of whether such routes are likely to be technically, economically and politically viable.

BIOMASS REBURNING - MODELING/ENGINEERING STUDIES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vladimir Zamansky; Chris Lindsey

This project is designed to develop engineering and modeling tools for a family of NO{sub x}control technologies utilizing biomass as a reburning fuel. During the eighth reporting period (July 1--September 26, 1999), Antares Group Inc, under contract to Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation, evaluated the economic feasibility of biomass reburning options for Dunkirk Station. This report includes summary of the findings; complete information will be submitted in the next Quarterly Report.

Science and Technology in a Conserving Society.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Press, Frank

1979-01-01

The science and technology advisor to the President of the United States presents the challenges facing Americans today in the fields of science and technology. The major topics focused on are people and development, agriculture, biomass and bioconversion, and regulation. (SA)

Biogas production from vietnamese animal manure, plant residues and organic waste: influence of biomass composition on methane yield.

PubMed

Cu, T T T; Nguyen, T X; Triolo, J M; Pedersen, L; Le, V D; Le, P D; Sommer, S G

2015-02-01

Anaerobic digestion is an efficient and renewable energy technology that can produce biogas from a variety of biomasses such as animal manure, food waste and plant residues. In developing countries this technology is widely used for the production of biogas using local biomasses, but there is little information about the value of these biomasses for energy production. This study was therefore carried out with the objective of estimating the biogas production potential of typical Vietnamese biomasses such as animal manure, slaughterhouse waste and plant residues, and developing a model that relates methane (CH4) production to the chemical characteristics of the biomass. The biochemical methane potential (BMP) and biomass characteristics were measured. Results showed that piglet manure produced the highest CH4 yield of 443 normal litter (NL) CH4 kg(-1) volatile solids (VS) compared to 222 from cows, 177 from sows, 172 from rabbits, 169 from goats and 153 from buffaloes. Methane production from duckweed (Spirodela polyrrhiza) was higher than from lawn grass and water spinach at 340, 220, and 110.6 NL CH4 kg(-1) VS, respectively. The BMP experiment also demonstrated that the CH4 production was inhibited with chicken manure, slaughterhouse waste, cassava residue and shoe-making waste. Statistical analysis showed that lipid and lignin are the most significant predictors of BMP. The model was developed from knowledge that the BMP was related to biomass content of lipid, lignin and protein from manure and plant residues as a percentage of VS with coefficient of determination (R-square) at 0.95. This model was applied to calculate the CH4 yield for a household with 17 fattening pigs in the highlands and lowlands of northern Vietnam.

Biogas Production from Vietnamese Animal Manure, Plant Residues and Organic Waste: Influence of Biomass Composition on Methane Yield

PubMed Central

Cu, T. T. T.; Nguyen, T. X.; Triolo, J. M.; Pedersen, L.; Le, V. D.; Le, P. D.; Sommer, S. G.

2015-01-01

Anaerobic digestion is an efficient and renewable energy technology that can produce biogas from a variety of biomasses such as animal manure, food waste and plant residues. In developing countries this technology is widely used for the production of biogas using local biomasses, but there is little information about the value of these biomasses for energy production. This study was therefore carried out with the objective of estimating the biogas production potential of typical Vietnamese biomasses such as animal manure, slaughterhouse waste and plant residues, and developing a model that relates methane (CH4) production to the chemical characteristics of the biomass. The biochemical methane potential (BMP) and biomass characteristics were measured. Results showed that piglet manure produced the highest CH4 yield of 443 normal litter (NL) CH4 kg−1 volatile solids (VS) compared to 222 from cows, 177 from sows, 172 from rabbits, 169 from goats and 153 from buffaloes. Methane production from duckweed (Spirodela polyrrhiza) was higher than from lawn grass and water spinach at 340, 220, and 110.6 NL CH4 kg−1 VS, respectively. The BMP experiment also demonstrated that the CH4 production was inhibited with chicken manure, slaughterhouse waste, cassava residue and shoe-making waste. Statistical analysis showed that lipid and lignin are the most significant predictors of BMP. The model was developed from knowledge that the BMP was related to biomass content of lipid, lignin and protein from manure and plant residues as a percentage of VS with coefficient of determination (R-square) at 0.95. This model was applied to calculate the CH4 yield for a household with 17 fattening pigs in the highlands and lowlands of northern Vietnam. PMID:25557826

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Marker, Terry; Roberts, Michael; Linck, Martin

Cellulosic and woody biomass can be directly converted to hydrocarbon gasoline and diesel blending components through the use of integrated hydropyrolysis plus hydroconversion (IH 2). The IH 2 gasoline and diesel blending components are fully compatible with petroleum based gasoline and diesel, contain less than 1% oxygen and have less than 1 total acid number (TAN). The IH 2 gasoline is high quality and very close to a drop in fuel. The DOE funding enabled rapid development of the IH 2 technology from initial proof-of-principle experiments through continuous testing in a 50 kg/day pilot plant. As part of this project,more » engineering work on IH 2 has also been completed to design a 1 ton/day demonstration unit and a commercial-scale 2000 ton/day IH 2 unit. These studies show when using IH 2 technology, biomass can be converted directly to transportation quality fuel blending components for the same capital cost required for pyrolysis alone, and a fraction of the cost of pyrolysis plus upgrading of pyrolysis oil. Technoeconomic work for IH 2 and lifecycle analysis (LCA) work has also been completed as part of this DOE study and shows IH 2 technology can convert biomass to gasoline and diesel blending components for less than $2.00/gallon with greater than 90% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. As a result of the work completed in this DOE project, a joint development agreement was reached with CRI Catalyst Company to license the IH 2 technology. Further larger-scale, continuous testing of IH 2 will be required to fully demonstrate the technology, and funding for this is recommended. The IH 2 biomass conversion technology would reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil, reduce the price of transportation fuels, and significantly lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It is a breakthrough for the widespread conversion of biomass to transportation fuels.« less

Wastewater Treatment and Reuse Treatment Technology Evaluation and Development

EPA Science Inventory

This project will assess the effectiveness of a Biomass Concentrator Reactor (BCR) to remove endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) from wastewater. This technology could provide an alternative to traditional wastewater treatment methods.

BIOMASS REBURNING - MODELING/ENGINEERING STUDIES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vladimir Zamansky; Chris Lindsey; Vitali Lissianski

This project is designed to develop engineering and modeling tools for a family of NO{sub x} control technologies utilizing biomass as a reburning fuel. During the ninth reporting period (September 27--December 31, 1999), EER prepared a paper Kinetic Model of Biomass Reburning and submitted it for publication and presentation at the 28th Symposium (International) on Combustion, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, July 30--August 4, 2000. Antares Group Inc, under contract to Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation, evaluated the economic feasibility of biomass reburning options for Dunkirk Station. A preliminary report is included in this quarterly report.

National Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ferrell, John; Sarisky-Reed, Valerie

The framework for National Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap was constructed at the Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap Workshop, held December 9-10, 2008, at the University of Maryland-College Park. The Workshop was organized by the Biomass Program to discuss and identify the critical challenges currently hindering the development of a domestic, commercial-scale algal biofuels industry. This Roadmap presents information from a scientific, economic, and policy perspectives that can support and guide RD&D investment in algal biofuels. While addressing the potential economic and environmental benefits of using algal biomass for the production of liquid transportation fuels, the Roadmap describes the current status ofmore » algae RD&D. In doing so, it lays the groundwork for identifying challenges that likely need to be overcome for algal biomass to be used in the production of economically viable biofuels.« less

Pretreatment of woody biomass for biofuel production: energy efficiency, technologies, and recalcitrance

Treesearch

J.Y. Zhu; Xuejun Pan; Ronald S. Jr. Zalesny

2010-01-01

This mini review discusses several key technical issues associated with cellulosic ethanol production from woody biomass: energy consumption for woody biomass pretreatment, pretreatment energy efficiency, woody biomass pretreatment technologies, and quantification of woody biomass recalcitrance. Both total sugar yield and pretreatment energy efficiency, defined as the...

BIOMASS DRYING TECHNOLOGIES

EPA Science Inventory

The report examines the technologies used for drying of biomass and the energy requirements of biomass dryers. Biomass drying processes, drying methods, and the conventional types of dryers are surveyed generally. Drying methods and dryer studies using superheated steam as the d...

Nanostructured Photocatalysts and Their Applications in the Photocatalytic Transformation of Lignocellulosic Biomass: An Overview

PubMed Central

Colmenares, Juan Carlos; Luque, Rafael; Campelo, Juan Manuel; Colmenares, Fernando; Karpiński, Zbigniew; Romero, Antonio Angel

2009-01-01

Heterogeneous photocatalysis offer many possibilities for finding appropiate environmentally friendly solutions for many of the the problems affecting our society (i.e., energy issues). Researchers are still looking for novel routes to prepare solid photocatalysts able to transform solar into chemical energy more efficiently. In many developing countries, biomass is a major energy source, but currently such countries lack of the technology to sustainably obtain chemicals and/or fuels from it. The Roadmap for Biomass Technologies, authored by 26 leading experts from academia, industry, and government agencies, has predicted a gradual shift back to a carbohydrate-based economy. Biomass and biofuels appear to hold the key to satisfy the basic needs of our societies for the sustainable production of liquid fuels and high value-added chemicals without compromising the scenario of future generations. In this review, we aim to discuss various design routes for nanostructured photocatalytic solid materials in view of their applications in the selective transformation of lignocellulosic biomass to high value-added chemicals.

Biomass CHP Catalog of Technologies

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This report reviews the technical and economic characterization of biomass resources, biomass preparation, energy conversion technologies, power production systems, and complete integrated CHP systems.

Agromining: Farming for metals in the future?

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Over the last two decades, phytomining (an agricultural technology using plants to accumulate soil metals into harvestable shoot biomass) was developed, but due to patents on the technology and failure of the patent licensee to commercialize the technology, phytomining has not been adopted by indust...

Current technologies, economics, and perspectives for 2,5-dimethylfuran production from biomass-derived intermediates.

PubMed

Saha, Basudeb; Abu-Omar, Mahdi M

2015-04-13

Since the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) published a perspective article that described the potential of the top ten biomass-derived platform chemicals as petroleum replacements for high-value commodity and specialty chemicals, researchers around the world have been motivated to develop technologies for the conversion of biomass and biomass-derived intermediates into chemicals and fuels. Among several biorefinery processes, the conversion of biomass carbohydrates into 2,5-dimethylfuran (DMF) has received significant attention because of its low oxygen content, high energy content, and high octane value. DMF can further serve as a petroleum-replacement, biorenewable feedstock for the production of p-xylene (pX). In this review, we aim specifically to present a concise and up-to-date analysis of DMF production technologies with a critical discussion on catalytic systems, mechanistic insight, and process economics, which includes sensitivity analysis, so that more effective catalysts can be designed. Special emphasis has been given to bifunctional catalysts that improve DMF yields and selectivity and the synergistic effect of the bifunctional sites. Process economics for the current processes and the scope for further improvement are discussed. It is anticipated that the chemistry detailed in this review will guide researchers to develop more practical catalytic processes to enable the economic production of bio-based DMF. Processes for the upgrade of DMF to pX are also described. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Renewable energy from corn residues by thermochemical conversion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Fei

Declining fossil oil reserve, skyrocket price, unsecured supplies, and environment pollution are among the many energy problems we are facing today. It is our conviction that renewable energy is a solution to these problems. The long term goal of the proposed research is to develop commercially practical technologies to produce energy from renewable resources. The overall objective of my research is to study and develop thermochemical processes for converting bulky and low-energy-density biomass materials into bio-fuels and value-added bio-products. The rationale for the proposed research is that, once such processes are developed, processing facility can be set up on or near biomass product sites, reducing the costs associated with transport of bulky biomass which is a key technical barrier to biomass conversion. In my preliminary research, several conversion technologies including atmospheric pressure liquefaction, high pressure liquefaction, and microwave pyrolysis have been evaluated. Our data indicated that microwave pyrolysis had the potential to become a simple and economically viable biomass conversion technology. Microwave pyrolysis is an innovative process that provides efficient and uniform heating, and are robust to type, size and uniformity of feedstock and therefore suitable for almost any waste materials without needing to reduce the particle size. The proposed thesis focused on in-depth investigations of microwave pyrolysis of corn residues. My first specific aim was to examine the effects of processing parameters on product yields. The second specific research aim was to characterize the products (gases, bio-oils, and solid residues), which was critical to process optimization and product developments. Other research tasks included conducting kinetic modeling and preliminary mass and energy balance. This study demonstrated that microwave pyrolysis could be optimized to produce high value syngas, liquid fuels and pyrolytic carbons, and had a great potential to become a commercial process according to the mass and energy balance. One-step global model and two-step consecutive-reaction kinetic model offered a clue to the key mechanistic steps in the overall pyrolysis of corn residues. These results should have a positive impact on advancing renewable energy technologies and establishing the University's leadership status in the area of renewable energy development.

Three generation production biotechnology of biomass into bio-fuel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Chaocheng

2017-08-01

The great change of climate change, depletion of natural resources, and scarcity of fossil fuel in the whole world nowadays have witnessed a sense of urgency home and abroad among scales of researchers, development practitioners, and industrialists to search for completely brand new sustainable solutions in the area of biomass transforming into bio-fuels attributing to our duty-that is, it is our responsibility to take up this challenge to secure our energy in the near future with the help of sustainable approaches and technological advancements to produce greener fuel from nature organic sources or biomass which comes generally from organic natural matters such as trees, woods, manure, sewage sludge, grass cuttings, and timber waste with a source of huge green energy called bio-fuel. Biomass includes most of the biological materials, livings or dead bodies. This energy source is ripely used industrially, or domestically for rather many years, but the recent trend is on the production of green fuel with different advance processing systems in a greener. More sustainable method. Biomass is becoming a booming industry currently on account of its cheaper cost and abundant resources all around, making it fairly more effective for the sustainable use of the bio-energy. In the past few years, the world has witnessed a remarkable development in the bio-fuel production technology, and three generations of bio-fuel have already existed in our society. The combination of membrane technology with the existing process line can play a vital role for the production of green fuel in a sustainable manner. In this paper, the science and technology for sustainable bio-fuel production will be introduced in detail for a cleaner world.

Process Design and Economics for the Conversion of Lignocellulosic Biomass to Hydrocarbon Fuels. Thermochemical Research Pathways with In Situ and Ex Situ Upgrading of Fast Pyrolysis Vapors

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dutta, Abhijit; Sahir, Asad; Tan, Eric

This report was developed as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office’s efforts to enable the development of technologies for the production of infrastructurecompatible, cost-competitive liquid hydrocarbon fuels from biomass. Specifically, this report details two conceptual designs based on projected product yields and quality improvements via catalyst development and process integration. It is expected that these research improvements will be made within the 2022 timeframe. The two conversion pathways detailed are (1) in situ and (2) ex situ upgrading of vapors produced from the fast pyrolysis of biomass. While the base case conceptual designs and underlying assumptionsmore » outline performance metrics for feasibility, it should be noted that these are only two of many other possibilities in this area of research. Other promising process design options emerging from the research will be considered for future techno-economic analysis.« less

Potentials of macroalgae as feedstocks for biorefinery.

PubMed

Jung, Kyung A; Lim, Seong-Rin; Kim, Yoori; Park, Jong Moon

2013-05-01

Macroalgae, so-called seaweeds, have recently attracted attention as a possible feedstock for biorefinery. Since macroalgae contain various carbohydrates (which are distinctively different from those of terrestrial biomasses), thorough assessments of macroalgae-based refinery are essential to determine whether applying terrestrial-based technologies to macroalgae or developing completely new technologies is feasible. This comprehensive review was performed to show the potentials of macroalgae as biorefinery feedstocks. Their basic background information was introduced: taxonomical classification, habitat environment, and carbon reserve capacity. Their global production status showed that macroalgae can be mass-cultivated with currently available farming technology. Their various carbohydrate compositions implied that new microorganisms are needed to effectively saccharify macroalgal biomass. Up-to-date macroalgae conversion technologies for biochemicals and biofuels showed that molecular bioengineering would contribute to the success of macroalgae-based biorefinery. It was concluded that more research is required for the utilization of macroalgae as a new promising biomass for low-carbon economy. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Chemical and physicochemical pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass: a review.

PubMed

Brodeur, Gary; Yau, Elizabeth; Badal, Kimberly; Collier, John; Ramachandran, K B; Ramakrishnan, Subramanian

2011-01-01

Overcoming the recalcitrance (resistance of plant cell walls to deconstruction) of lignocellulosic biomass is a key step in the production of fuels and chemicals. The recalcitrance is due to the highly crystalline structure of cellulose which is embedded in a matrix of polymers-lignin and hemicellulose. The main goal of pretreatment is to overcome this recalcitrance, to separate the cellulose from the matrix polymers, and to make it more accessible for enzymatic hydrolysis. Reports have shown that pretreatment can improve sugar yields to higher than 90% theoretical yield for biomass such as wood, grasses, and corn. This paper reviews different leading pretreatment technologies along with their latest developments and highlights their advantages and disadvantages with respect to subsequent hydrolysis and fermentation. The effects of different technologies on the components of biomass (cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin) are also reviewed with a focus on how the treatment greatly enhances enzymatic cellulose digestibility.

Chemical and Physicochemical Pretreatment of Lignocellulosic Biomass: A Review

PubMed Central

Brodeur, Gary; Yau, Elizabeth; Badal, Kimberly; Collier, John; Ramachandran, K. B.; Ramakrishnan, Subramanian

2011-01-01

Overcoming the recalcitrance (resistance of plant cell walls to deconstruction) of lignocellulosic biomass is a key step in the production of fuels and chemicals. The recalcitrance is due to the highly crystalline structure of cellulose which is embedded in a matrix of polymers-lignin and hemicellulose. The main goal of pretreatment is to overcome this recalcitrance, to separate the cellulose from the matrix polymers, and to make it more accessible for enzymatic hydrolysis. Reports have shown that pretreatment can improve sugar yields to higher than 90% theoretical yield for biomass such as wood, grasses, and corn. This paper reviews different leading pretreatment technologies along with their latest developments and highlights their advantages and disadvantages with respect to subsequent hydrolysis and fermentation. The effects of different technologies on the components of biomass (cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin) are also reviewed with a focus on how the treatment greatly enhances enzymatic cellulose digestibility. PMID:21687609

Biological Conversion of Sugars to Hydrocarbons Technology Pathway

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Davis, Ryan; Biddy, Mary J.; Tan, Eric

2013-03-31

In support of the Bioenergy Technologies Office, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) are undertaking studies of biomass conversion technologies to identify barriers and target research toward reducing conversion costs. Process designs and preliminary economic estimates for each of these pathway cases were developed using rigorous modeling tools (Aspen Plus and Chemcad). These analyses incorporated the best information available at the time of development, including data from recent pilot and bench-scale demonstrations, collaborative industrial and academic partners, and published literature and patents. This technology pathway case investigates the biological conversion of biomass derivedmore » sugars to hydrocarbon biofuels, utilizing data from recent literature references and information consistent with recent pilot scale demonstrations at NREL. Technical barriers and key research needs have been identified that should be pursued for the pathway to become competitive with petroleum-derived gasoline, diesel and jet range hydrocarbon blendstocks.« less

Utilization of emergent aquatic plants for biomass-energy-systems development

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kresovich, S.; Wagner, C.K.; Scantland, D.A.

A review was conducted of the available literature pertaining to the following aspects of emergent aquatic biomass: identification of prospective emergent plant species for management; evaluation of prospects for genetic manipulation; evaluation of biological and environmental tolerances; examination of current production technologies; determination of availability of seeds and/or other propagules, and projections for probable end-uses and products. Species identified as potential candidates for production in biomass systems include Arundo donax, Cyperus papyrus, Phragmites communis, Saccharum spontaneum, Spartina alterniflora, and Typha latifolia. If these species are to be viable candidates in biomass systems, a number of research areas must be furthermore » investigated. Points such as development of baseline yield data for managed systems, harvesting conceptualization, genetic (crop) improvement, and identification of secondary plant products require refinement. However, the potential pay-off for developing emergent aquatic systems will be significant if development is successful.« less

Integration of microalgae cultivation with industrial waste remediation for biofuel and bioenergy production: opportunities and limitations.

PubMed

McGinn, Patrick J; Dickinson, Kathryn E; Bhatti, Shabana; Frigon, Jean-Claude; Guiot, Serge R; O'Leary, Stephen J B

2011-09-01

There is currently a renewed interest in developing microalgae as a source of renewable energy and fuel. Microalgae hold great potential as a source of biomass for the production of energy and fungible liquid transportation fuels. However, the technologies required for large-scale cultivation, processing, and conversion of microalgal biomass to energy products are underdeveloped. Microalgae offer several advantages over traditional 'first-generation' biofuels crops like corn: these include superior biomass productivity, the ability to grow on poor-quality land unsuitable for agriculture, and the potential for sustainable growth by extracting macro- and micronutrients from wastewater and industrial flue-stack emissions. Integrating microalgal cultivation with municipal wastewater treatment and industrial CO(2) emissions from coal-fired power plants is a potential strategy to produce large quantities of biomass, and represents an opportunity to develop, test, and optimize the necessary technologies to make microalgal biofuels more cost-effective and efficient. However, many constraints on the eventual deployment of this technology must be taken into consideration and mitigating strategies developed before large scale microalgal cultivation can become a reality. As a strategy for CO(2) biomitigation from industrial point source emitters, microalgal cultivation can be limited by the availability of land, light, and other nutrients like N and P. Effective removal of N and P from municipal wastewater is limited by the processing capacity of available microalgal cultivation systems. Strategies to mitigate against the constraints are discussed.

Relative Sustainability of Natural Gas Assisted High-Octane Gasoline Blendstock Production from Biomass

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tan, Eric C; Zhang, Yi Min; Cai, Hao

Biomass-derived hydrocarbon fuel technologies are being developed and pursued for better economy, environment, and society benefits underpinning the sustainability of transportation energy. Increasing availability and affordability of natural gas (NG) in the US can play an important role in assisting renewable fuel technology development, primarily in terms of economic feasibility. When a biorefinery is co-processing NG with biomass, the current low cost of NG coupled with the higher NG carbon conversion efficiency potentially allow for cost competitiveness of the fuel while achieving a minimum GHG emission reduction of 50 percent or higher compared to petroleum fuel. This study evaluates themore » relative sustainability of the production of high-octane gasoline blendstock via indirect liquefaction (IDL) of biomass (and with NG co-feed) through methanol/dimethyl ether intermediates. The sustainability metrics considered in this study include minimum fuel selling price (MFSP), carbon conversion efficiency, life cycle GHG emissions, life cycle water consumption, fossil energy return on investment (EROI), GHG emission avoidance cost, and job creation. Co-processing NG can evidently improve the MFSP. Evaluation of the relative sustainability can shed light on the biomass-NG synergistic impacts and sustainability trade-offs associated with the IDL as high-octane gasoline blendstock production.« less

Nutrient removal and biomass production: advances in microalgal biotechnology for wastewater treatment.

PubMed

Abinandan, Sudharsanam; Subashchandrabose, Suresh R; Venkateswarlu, Kadiyala; Megharaj, Mallavarapu

2018-05-17

Owing to certain drawbacks, such as energy-intensive operations in conventional modes of wastewater treatment (WWT), there has been an extensive search for alternative strategies in treatment technology. Biological modes for treating wastewaters are one of the finest technologies in terms of economy and efficiency. An integrated biological approach with chemical flocculation is being conventionally practiced in several-sewage and effluent treatment plants around the world. Overwhelming responsiveness to treat wastewaters especially by using microalgae is due to their simplest photosynthetic mechanism and ease of acclimation to various habitats. Microalgal technology, also known as phycoremediation, has been in use for WWT since 1950s. Various strategies for the cultivation of microalgae in WWT systems are evolving faster. However, the availability of innovative approaches for maximizing the treatment efficiency, coupled with biomass productivity, remains the major bottleneck for commercialization of microalgal technology. Investment costs and invasive parameters also delimit the use of microalgae in WWT. This review critically discusses the merits and demerits of microalgal cultivation strategies recently developed for maximum pollutant removal as well as biomass productivity. Also, the potential of algal biofilm technology in pollutant removal, and harvesting the microalgal biomass using different techniques have been highlighted. Finally, an economic assessment of the currently available methods has been made to validate microalgal cultivation in wastewater at the commercial level.

Evaluation of hydrotropic pretreatment on lignocellulosic biomass.

PubMed

Devendra, Leena P; Kiran Kumar, M; Pandey, Ashok

2016-08-01

The production of cellulosic ethanol from biomass is considered as a promising alternative to fossil fuels, providing a sustainable option for fuels production in an environmentally compatible manner. The presence of lignin poses a significant challenge for obtaining biofuels and bioproducts from biomass. Part of that problem involves understanding fundamental aspects of lignin structure which can provide a pathway for the development of improved technologies for biomass conversion. Hydrotropic pretreatment has several attractive features that make it an attractive alternative for biofuel production. This review highlights the recent developments on hydrotropic pretreatment processes for lignocellulosic biomass on a molecular structure basis for recalcitrance, with emphasis on lignin concerning chemical structure, transformation and recalcitrance. The review also evaluates the hydrotropic delignification in comparison to alkaline delignification on lignin reduction and surface coverage by lignin. The effect of hydrotrope pretreatment on enzymatic saccharification has also been discussed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Biomass for energy in the European Union - a review of bioenergy resource assessments

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

This paper reviews recent literature on bioenergy potentials in conjunction with available biomass conversion technologies. The geographical scope is the European Union, which has set a course for long term development of its energy supply from the current dependence on fossil resources to a dominance of renewable resources. A cornerstone in European energy policies and strategies is biomass and bioenergy. The annual demand for biomass for energy is estimated to increase from the current level of 5.7 EJ to 10.0 EJ in 2020. Assessments of bioenergy potentials vary substantially due to methodological inconsistency and assumptions applied by individual authors. Forest biomass, agricultural residues and energy crops constitute the three major sources of biomass for energy, with the latter probably developing into the most important source over the 21st century. Land use and the changes thereof is a key issue in sustainable bioenergy production as land availability is an ultimately limiting factor. PMID:22546368

Technology Innovations to Improve Biomass Cookstoves to Meet Tier 4 Standards

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Still, Dean K; Hatfield, Micheal S

Technology Innovations to Improve Biomass Cookstoves to Meet Tier 4 Standards. Protecting public health has become a major motivation for investigating how improved cook stoves might function as a viable intervention. Currently, the great majority of cookstoves for sale in the developing world were not designed for this purpose but instead success was based on criteria such as reduced fuel use, affordability, and ease of use. With DOE funding Aprovecho Research Center spent three years creating stoves using an iterative development and modeling approach resulting in four stoves that in lab tests met the World Health Organization (2014) intermediate ratemore » vented targets for PM2.5 and for CO.« less

Commercialization of Immobilized Amino-Siliane/Amine or Biochar Sorbents for the Capture of Carbon Dioxide from Various Methane Gas Streams. Abstract - Cooperative Research and Development Agreement between BioEnergy Development, LLC and National Energy Technology Laboratory

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gray, McMahan L.; Shipley, Greg

Currently, landfill gases are flared-off, which creates carbon dioxide (CO 2) and particulate matter air emissions, while still containing small amounts of unburned methane (CH 4). All of these pollutants contribute to environmental health hazards and global climate change. The same is true with industrial processes that use thermal technologies to process biomass, as these also generate the pollutant gases and particulates. In conjunction with BioEnegy Development (BED), NETL researchers will adapt the Basic Immobilized Amine Sorbent (BIAS) material technology for use in BED’s biorefineries. The goal of this proposed work is to develop NETL’s immobilized hydrophobic amino-silane/amine pellets inmore » combination with BED’s biochar materials (derived from the pyrolysis of biomass) into a commercially-accepted means of capturing/recovering CH 4 and CO 2 gases from landfills. Overall, the NETL-BioEnergy Development partnership will focus on the development and application of this carbon management sorbent technology to commercial carbon capture processes and promotion of clean methane based fuel streams.« less

Environmentally-benign conversion of biomass residues to electricity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davies, Andrew

As petroleum resources are finite, it is imperative to use them wisely in energy conversion applications and, at the same time, develop alternative energy sources. Biomass is one of the renewable energy sources that can be used to partially replace fossil fuels. Biomass-based fuels can be produced domestically and can reduce dependency on fuel imports. Due to their abundant supply, and given that to an appreciable extent they can be considered carbon-neutral, their use for power generation is of technological interest. However, whereas biomasses can be directly burned in furnaces, such a conventional direct combustion technique is ill-controlled and typically produces considerable amounts of health-hazardous airborne compounds [1,2]. Thus, an alternative technology for biomass utilization is described herein to address increasing energy needs in an environmentally-benign manner. More specifically, a multi-step process/device is presented to accept granulated or pelletized biomass, and generate an easily-identifiable form of energy as a final product. To achieve low emissions of products of incomplete combustion, the biomass is gasified pyrolytically, mixed with air, ignited and, finally, burned in nominally premixed low-emission flames. Combustion is thus indirect, since the biomass is not directly burned, instead its gaseous pyrolyzates are burned upon mixing with air. Thereby, combustion is well-controlled and can be complete. A demonstration device has been constructed to convert the internal energy of plastics into "clean" thermal energy and, eventually to electricity.

Report of National Institute for Resources and Environment. No. 5: Study on direct liquefaction of woody biomass

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ogi, Tomoko; Yokoyama, Shinya; Minowa, Tomoaki; Dote, Yutaka; Koguchi, Katsuya

1993-03-01

Various researches on the production of liquid fuels from biomass were undertaken. Carbon monoxide and/or hydrogen were used in most cases, while processes using a little or none of these reducing gas were investigated. The following results on thermochemical conversion of wood biomass are presented, in which wood is reacted in aqueous solution in the presence of an alkali catalyst without reducing gases, which yielded a liquid product: (1) the optimum reaction condition is determined from systematic studies carried out with reaction parameter and variety of catalyst; (2) the optimum organic solvents are determined from investigations concerning production of heavy oil which is easily separable from an aqueous layer; (3) the effectiveness of the repeated use of reaction solvent is indicated by experiments in which water or a 2-propanol/water mixture is used repeatedly as a reaction solvent; and (4) heavy oil obtained by the liquefaction process was analyzed by (1) H-NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance), GC (Gas Chromatography) - MS (Mass Spectrometry), and acid-base extraction. The liquefaction technology may be evaluated as one of the highly promising biomass conversion technologies, although some technical problems, such as separation or upgrading of heavy oils need to be solved. For the promotion of a total system, in which biomass is planted and grown and then the biomass is used as fuel and/or chemicals, further development of technologies are needed not only for conversion itself but also for plantation, afforestation, and irrigation.

The Ecosystems SAR (EcoSAR) an Airborne P-band Polarimetric InSAR for the Measurement of Vegetation Structure, Biomass and Permafrost

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rincon, Rafael F.; Fatoyinbo, Temilola; Ranson, K. Jon; Osmanoglu, Batuhan; Sun, Guoqing; Deshpande, Manohar D.; Perrine, Martin L.; Du Toit, Cornelis F.; Bonds, Quenton; Beck, Jaclyn;

Environmental implications of increased biomass energy use

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Miles, T.R. Sr.; Miles, T.R. Jr.

1992-03-01

This study reviews the environmental implications of continued and increased use of biomass for energy to determine what concerns have been and need to be addressed and to establish some guidelines for developing future resources and technologies. Although renewable biomass energy is perceived as environmentally desirable compared with fossil fuels, the environmental impact of increased biomass use needs to be identified and recognized. Industries and utilities evaluating the potential to convert biomass to heat, electricity, and transportation fuels must consider whether the resource is reliable and abundant, and whether biomass production and conversion is environmentally preferred. A broad range ofmore » studies and events in the United States were reviewed to assess the inventory of forest, agricultural, and urban biomass fuels; characterize biomass fuel types, their occurrence, and their suitability; describe regulatory and environmental effects on the availability and use of biomass for energy; and identify areas for further study. The following sections address resource, environmental, and policy needs. Several specific actions are recommended for utilities, nonutility power generators, and public agencies.« less

A Review of Biorefinery Separations for Bioproduct Production via Thermocatalytic Processing.

PubMed

Nguyen, Hannah; DeJaco, Robert F; Mittal, Nitish; Siepmann, J Ilja; Tsapatsis, Michael; Snyder, Mark A; Fan, Wei; Saha, Basudeb; Vlachos, Dionisios G

2017-06-07

With technological advancement of thermocatalytic processes for valorizing renewable biomass carbon, development of effective separation technologies for selective recovery of bioproducts from complex reaction media and their purification becomes essential. The high thermal sensitivity of biomass intermediates and their low volatility and high reactivity, along with the use of dilute solutions, make the bioproducts separations energy intensive and expensive. Novel separation techniques, including solvent extraction in biphasic systems and reactive adsorption using zeolite and carbon sorbents, membranes, and chromatography, have been developed. In parallel with experimental efforts, multiscale simulations have been reported for predicting solvent selection and adsorption separation. We discuss various separations that are potentially valuable to future biorefineries and the factors controlling separation performance. Particular emphasis is given to current gaps and opportunities for future development.

Biomass Pyrolysis to Hydrocarbon Fuels in the Petroleum Refining Context: Cooperative Research and Development Final Report, CRADA Number CRD-12-500

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chum, Helena L.

This work focuses on developing a thermochemical route to produce biofuels from agricultural wastes such as sugar cane bagasse, wood chips or corn stover; more specifically it intends to develop the biomass pyrolysis route, which produces bio-oils. Production of bio-oils by pyrolysis is a commercial technology. However, bio-oils are currently not being used for liquid fuels production. Although bio-oils can be produced by high-pressure liquefaction, pyrolysis is a less expensive technology. Nevertheless, bio-oils cannot be used directly as a transportation fuel without upgrading, since they are generally unstable, viscous, and acidic. Thus NREL and Petrobras intend to use their combinedmore » expertise to develop a two-step route to biofuels production: in the first step, a stable bio-oil is produced by NREL biomass pyrolysis technology, while in the second step it is upgraded by using two distinct catalytic processes under development by Petrobras. The first process converts bio-oil into gasoline, LPG, and fuel oil using the catalytic cracking process, while the second one, converts bio-oil into synthesis gas. Syngas gasification catalysts provided by both NREL and Petrobras will be tested. The work includes experiments at both sites to produce bio-oil and then biofuels, life-cycle analysis of each route, personnel training and development of analytical methods with a duration time of two years.« less

Design and Analysis of Offshore Macroalgae Biorefineries.

PubMed

Golberg, Alexander; Liberzon, Alexander; Vitkin, Edward; Yakhini, Zohar

2018-03-15

Displacing fossil fuels and their derivatives with renewables, and increasing sustainable food production are among the major challenges facing the world in the coming decades. A possible, sustainable direction for addressing this challenge is the production of biomass and the conversion of this biomass to the required products through a complex system coined biorefinery. Terrestrial biomass and microalgae are possible sources; however, concerns over net energy balance, potable water use, environmental hazards, and uncertainty in the processing technologies raise questions regarding their actual potential to meet the anticipated food, feed, and energy challenges in a sustainable way. Alternative sustainable sources for biorefineries are macroalgae grown and processed offshore. However, implementation of the offshore biorefineries requires detailed analysis of their technological, economic, and environmental performance. In this chapter, the basic principles of marine biorefineries design are shown. The methods to integrate thermodynamic efficiency, investment, and environmental aspects are discussed. The performance improvement by development of new cultivation methods that fit macroalgae physiology and development of new fermentation methods that address macroalgae unique chemical composition is shown.

Assessment of the emissions and air quality impacts of biomass and biogas use in California.

PubMed

Carreras-Sospedra, Marc; Williams, Robert; Dabdub, Donald

2016-02-01

It is estimated that there is sufficient in-state "technically" recoverable biomass to support nearly 4000 MW of bioelectricity generation capacity. This study assesses the emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants and resulting air quality impacts of new and existing bioenergy capacity throughout the state of California, focusing on feedstocks and advanced technologies utilizing biomass resources predominant in each region. The options for bioresources include the production of bioelectricity and renewable natural gas (NG). Emissions of criteria pollutants and greenhouse gases are quantified for a set of scenarios that span the emission factors for power generation and the use of renewable natural gas for vehicle fueling. Emissions are input to the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model to predict regional and statewide temporal air quality impacts from the biopower scenarios. With current technology and at the emission levels of current installations, maximum bioelectricity production could increase nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by 10% in 2020, which would cause increases in ozone and particulate matter concentrations in large areas of California. Technology upgrades would achieve the lowest criteria pollutant emissions. Conversion of biomass to compressed NG (CNG) for vehicles would achieve comparable emission reductions of criteria pollutants and minimize emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG). Air quality modeling of biomass scenarios suggest that applying technological changes and emission controls would minimize the air quality impacts of bioelectricity generation. And a shift from bioelectricity production to CNG production for vehicles would reduce air quality impacts further. From a co-benefits standpoint, CNG production for vehicles appears to provide the best benefits in terms of GHG emissions and air quality. This investigation provides a consistent analysis of air quality impacts and greenhouse gas emissions for scenarios examining increased biomass use. Further work involving economic assessment, seasonal or annual emissions and air quality modeling, and potential exposure analysis would help inform policy makers and industry with respect to further development and direction of biomass policy and bioenergy technology alternatives needed to meet energy and environmental goals in California.

Atomic-level structure characterization of biomass pre- and post-lignin treatment by dynamic nuclear polarization-enhanced solid-state NMR

DOE PAGES

Perras, Frederic A.; Luo, Hao; Zhang, Ximing; ...

2016-12-27

Here, lignocellulosic biomass is a promising sustainable feedstock for the production of biofuels, biomaterials, and biospecialty chemicals. However, efficient utilization of biomass has been limited by our poor understanding of its molecular structure. Here, we report a dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP)-enhanced solid-state (SS)NMR study of the molecular structure of biomass, both pre- and postcatalytic treatment. This technique enables the measurement of 2D homonuclear 13C– 13C correlation SSNMR spectra under natural abundance, yielding, for the first time, an atomic-level picture of the structure of raw and catalytically treated biomass samples. We foresee that further such experiments could be used to determinemore » structure–function relationships and facilitate the development of more efficient, and chemically targeted, biomass-conversion technologies.« less

Atomic-level structure characterization of biomass pre- and post-lignin treatment by dynamic nuclear polarization-enhanced solid-state NMR

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Perras, Frederic A.; Luo, Hao; Zhang, Ximing

Here, lignocellulosic biomass is a promising sustainable feedstock for the production of biofuels, biomaterials, and biospecialty chemicals. However, efficient utilization of biomass has been limited by our poor understanding of its molecular structure. Here, we report a dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP)-enhanced solid-state (SS)NMR study of the molecular structure of biomass, both pre- and postcatalytic treatment. This technique enables the measurement of 2D homonuclear 13C– 13C correlation SSNMR spectra under natural abundance, yielding, for the first time, an atomic-level picture of the structure of raw and catalytically treated biomass samples. We foresee that further such experiments could be used to determinemore » structure–function relationships and facilitate the development of more efficient, and chemically targeted, biomass-conversion technologies.« less

Progress in renewable energy.

PubMed

Gross, Robert; Leach, Matthew; Bauen, Ausilio

2003-04-01

This paper provides an overview of some of the key technological and market developments for leading renewable energy technologies--wind, wave and tidal, photovoltaics (PV) and biomass energy. Market growth, innovation and policy are closely interrelated in the development of renewables and the key issues in each area are explored for each of the main types of renewable energy technology. This enables the prospects for future development and cost reduction to be considered in detail. Key issues for policy are outlined. Copyright 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd.

Use of mechanical refining to improve the production of low-cost sugars from lignocellulosic biomass.

PubMed

Park, Junyeong; Jones, Brandon; Koo, Bonwook; Chen, Xiaowen; Tucker, Melvin; Yu, Ju-Hyun; Pschorn, Thomas; Venditti, Richard; Park, Sunkyu

2016-01-01

Mechanical refining is widely used in the pulp and paper industry to enhance the end-use properties of products by creating external fibrillation and internal delamination. This technology can be directly applied to biochemical conversion processes. By implementing mechanical refining technology, biomass recalcitrance to enzyme hydrolysis can be overcome and carbohydrate conversion can be enhanced with commercially attractive levels of enzymes. In addition, chemical and thermal pretreatment severity can be reduced to achieve the same level of carbohydrate conversion, which reduces pretreatment cost and results in lower concentrations of inhibitors. Refining is versatile and a commercially proven technology that can be operated at process flows of ∼ 1500 dry tons per day of biomass. This paper reviews the utilization of mechanical refining in the pulp and paper industry and summarizes the recent development in applications for biochemical conversion, which potentially make an overall biorefinery process more economically viable. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Integrated green algal technology for bioremediation and biofuel.

PubMed

Sivakumar, Ganapathy; Xu, Jianfeng; Thompson, Robert W; Yang, Ying; Randol-Smith, Paula; Weathers, Pamela J

2012-03-01

Sustainable non-food energy biomass and cost-effective ways to produce renewable energy technologies from this biomass are continuously emerging. Algae are capable of producing lipids and hydrocarbons quickly and their photosynthetic abilities make them a promising candidate for an alternative energy source. In addition, their favorable carbon life cycle and a renewed focus on rural economic development are attractive factors. In this review the focus is mainly on the integrated approach of algae culture for bioremediation and oil-based biofuel production with mention of possible other value-added benefits of using algae for those purposes. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Purifying, Separating, and Concentrating Cells From a Sample Low in Biomass

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Benardini, James N.; LaDuc, Myron T.; Diamond, Rochelle

2012-01-01

Frequently there is an inability to process and analyze samples of low biomass due to limiting amounts of relevant biomaterial in the sample. Furthermore, molecular biological protocols geared towards increasing the density of recovered cells and biomolecules of interest, by their very nature, also concentrate unwanted inhibitory humic acids and other particulates that have an adversarial effect on downstream analysis. A novel and robust fluorescence-activated cell-sorting (FACS)-based technology has been developed for purifying (removing cells from sampling matrices), separating (based on size, density, morphology), and concentrating cells (spores, prokaryotic, eukaryotic) from a sample low in biomass. The technology capitalizes on fluorescent cell-sorting technologies to purify and concentrate bacterial cells from a low-biomass, high-volume sample. Over the past decade, cell-sorting detection systems have undergone enhancements and increased sensitivity, making bacterial cell sorting a feasible concept. Although there are many unknown limitations with regard to the applicability of this technology to environmental samples (smaller cells, few cells, mixed populations), dogmatic principles support the theoretical effectiveness of this technique upon thorough testing and proper optimization. Furthermore, the pilot study from which this report is based proved effective and demonstrated this technology capable of sorting and concentrating bacterial endospore and bacterial cells of varying size and morphology. Two commercial off-the-shelf bacterial counting kits were used to optimize a bacterial stain/dye FACS protocol. A LIVE/DEAD BacLight Viability and Counting Kit was used to distinguish between the live and dead cells. A Bacterial Counting Kit comprising SYTO BC (mixture of SYTO dyes) was employed as a broad-spectrum bacterial counting agent. Optimization using epifluorescence microscopy was performed with these two dye/stains. This refined protocol was further validated using varying ratios and mixtures of cells to ensure homogenous staining compared to that of individual cells, and were utilized for flow analyzer and FACS labeling. This technology focuses on the purification and concentration of cells from low-biomass spacecraft assembly facility samples. Currently, purification and concentration of low-biomass samples plague planetary protection downstream analyses. Having a capability to use flow cytometry to concentrate cells out of low-biomass, high-volume spacecraft/ facility sample extracts will be of extreme benefit to the fields of planetary protection and astrobiology. Successful research and development of this novel methodology will significantly increase the knowledge base for designing more effective cleaning protocols, and ultimately lead to a more empirical and true account of the microbial diversity present on spacecraft surfaces. Refined cleaning and an enhanced ability to resolve microbial diversity may decrease the overall cost of spacecraft assembly and/or provide a means to begin to assess challenging planetary protection missions.

Feasibility study for biomass power plants in Thailand. Volume 1. Main report. Export trade information

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

This study, conducted by Black & Veatch, was funded by the U.S. Trade and Development Agency. The report presents a technical and commercial analysis for the development of three nearly identical electricity generating facilities (biomass steam power plants) in the towns of Chachoengsao, Suphan Buri, and Pichit in Thailand. The Main Report is divided into the following sections: (1.0) Executive Study; (2.0) Project Objectives; (3.0) Review of Combustion Technology for Biomass Fueled Steam Generator Units; (4.0) Conceptual Design; (5.0) Plant Descriptions; (6.0) Plant Operations Staffing; (7.0) Project Schedule; (8.0) Project Cost Estimate; (9.0) Financial Analysis; Appendix - Financial Analysis.

Life-Cycle Analysis of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Water Consumption – Effects of Coal and Biomass Conversion to Liquid Fuels as Analyzed with the GREET Model

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li, Qianfeng; Cai, Hao; Han, Jeongwoo

The vast reserves of coal in the U.S. provide a significant incentive for the development of processes for coal conversion to liquid fuels (CTL). Also, CTL using domestic coal can help move the U.S. toward greater energy independence and security. However, current conversion technologies are less economically competitive and generate greater greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than production of petroleum fuels. Altex Technologies Corporation (Altex, hereinafter) and Pennsylvania State University have developed a hybrid technology to produce jet fuel from a feedstock blend of coal and biomass. Collaborating with Altex, Argonne National Laboratory has expanded and used the Greenhouse gases, Regulatedmore » Emissions, and Energy use in Transportation (GREET®) model to assess the life-cycle GHG emissions and water consumption of this hybrid technology. Biomass feedstocks include corn stover, switchgrass, and wheat straw. The option of biomass densification (bales to pellets) is also evaluated in this study. The results show that the densification process generates additional GHG emissions as a result of additional biomass process energy demand. This process coproduces a large amount of char, and this study investigates two scenarios to treat char: landfill disposal (Char-LF) and combustion for combined heat and power (CHP). Since the CHP scenarios export excess heat and electricity as coproducts, two coproduct handling methods are used for well-to-wake (WTWa) analysis: displacement (Char-CHP-Disp) and energy allocation (Char-CHP-EnAllo). When the feedstock contains 15 wt% densified wheat straw and 85 wt% lignite coal, WTWa GHG emissions of the coal-and-biomass-to-liquid pathways are 116, 97, and 137 gCO2e per megajoule (MJ) under the Char-LF, Char-CHP-Disp, and Char-CHP-EnAllo scenarios, respectively, as compared to conventional jet fuel production at 84 gCO2e/MJ. WTWa water consumption values are 0.072, -0.046, and 0.044 gal/MJ for Char-LF, Char-CHP-Disp, and Char-CHP-EnAllo, respectively, as compared to conventional jet fuel production at 0.028 gal/MJ. To reach the break-even point of 84 gCO2e/MJ, under the assumptions of constant product yields and energy demands regardless of the share of biomass and coal feedstocks, 31 wt%, 23 wt%, and 53 wt% of the feedstock blend need to be biomass under the Char-LF, Char-CHP-Disp, and Char-CHP-EnAllo scenarios, respectively.« less

Environmental, Economic, and Scalability Considerations and Trends of Selected Fuel Economy-Enhancing Biomass-Derived Blendstocks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dunn, Jennifer B.; Biddy, Mary; Jones, Susanne

24 biomass-derived compounds and mixtures, identified based on their physical properties, that could be blended into fuels to improve spark ignition engine fuel economy were assessed for their economic, technology readiness, and environmental viability. These bio-blendstocks were modeled to be produced biochemically, thermochemically, or through hybrid processes. To carry out the assessment, 17 metrics were developed for which each bio-blendstock was determined to be favorable, neutral, or unfavorable. Cellulosic ethanol was included as a reference case. Overall, bio-blendstock yields in biochemical processes were lower than in thermochemical processes, in which all biomass, including lignin, is converted to a product. Bio-blendstockmore » yields were a key determinant in overall viability. Key knowledge gaps included the degree of purity needed for use as a bio-blendstock as compared to a chemical. Less stringent purification requirements for fuels could cut processing costs and environmental impacts. Additionally, more information is needed on the blendability of many of these bio-blendstocks with gasoline to support the technology readiness evaluation. Overall, the technology to produce many of these blendstocks from biomass is emerging and as it matures, these assessments must be revisited. Importantly, considering economic, environmental, and technology readiness factors in addition to physical properties of blendstocks that could be used to boost fuel economy can help spotlight those most likely to be viable in the near term.« less

Exploring Bioeconomy Growth through the Public Release of the Biomass Scenario Model

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Newes, Emily K; Biddy, Mary J; Bush, Brian W

The Biomass Scenario Model (BSM) is an important tool for exploring vibrant future bioeconomy scenarios that leverage domestic resources. Developed by NREL and BETO, this model of the domestic biofuels supply chain has been used to explore success strategies for BETO's activities towards bioeconomy growth. The BSM offers a robust test bed for detailed exploration of effects of BETO activities within the complex context of resource availability; physical, technological, and economic constraints; behavior; and policy. The public release of the model in 2017 will allow broad engagement with the theme of the conference as model users can analyze bioeconomy growth,more » domestic biomass resource use, and associated effects. The BSM is a carefully validated, state-of-the-art, dynamic model of the biomass to biofuels supply chain. Using a system dynamics simulation modeling approach, the model tracks long-term deployment of biofuels given technology development and investment, considering land availability, the competing oil market, consumer demand, and government policies over time. Sample outputs include biofuels production, feedstock use, capital investment, incentives, and costs of feedstocks and fuels. BSM scenarios reveal technological, economic, and policy challenges, as well as opportunities for dynamic growth of the bioeconomy with strategic public and private investment at key points in the system. The model logic and results have been reviewed extensively, through collaborative analysis, expert reviews and external publications (https://www.zotero.org/groups/bsm_publications/).« less

Hydrodeoxygenation of fast-pyrolysis bio-oils from various feedstocks using carbon-supported catalysts

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

While much work has been accomplished in developing hydrodeoxygenation technologies for bio-oil upgrading, very little translation has occurred to other biomass feedstocks and feedstock processing technologies. In this paper, we sought to elucidate the relationships between the feedstock type and th...

Combined Grinding and Drying of Biomass in One Operation Phase I

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sokhansanj, S

2008-06-26

First American Scientific Corporation (FASC) has developed a unique and innovative grinder/dryer called KDS Micronex. The KS (Kinetic Disintegration System) combines two operations of grinding and drying into a single operation which reduces dependence on external heat input. The machine captures the heat of comminution and combines it will centrifugal forces to expedite moisture extraction from wet biomass. Because it uses mechanical forces rather than providing direct heat to perform the drying operation, it is a simpler machine and uses less energy than conventional grinding and drying operations which occur as two separate steps. The entire compact unit can bemore » transported on a flatbed trailer to the site where biomass is available. Hence, the KDS Micronex is a technology that enables inexpensive pretreatment of waste materials and biomass. A well prepared biomass can be used as feed, fuel or fertilizer instead of being discarded. Electricity and chemical feedstock produced from such biomass would displace the use of fossil fuels and no net greenhouse gas emissions would result from such bio-based operations. Organic fertilizers resulting from the KS Micronex grinding/drying process will be pathogen-free unlike raw animal manures. The feasibility tests on KS during Phase I showed that a prototype machine can be developed, field tested and the technology demonstrated for commercial applications. The present KDS machine can remove up to 400 kg/h of water from a wet feed material. Since biomass processors demand a finished product that is only 10% moist and most raw materials like corn stover, bagasse, layer manure, cow dung, and waste wood have moisture contents of the order of 50%, this water removal rate translates to a production rate of roughly half a ton per hour. this is too small for most processors who are unwilling to acquire multiple machines because of the added complexity to the feed and product removal systems. The economics suffer due to small production rates, because the labor costs are a much larger fraction of the production cost. The goal for further research and development work is to scale up the KDS technology incorporating findings from Phase I into a machine that has superior performance characteristics.« less

Measuring carbon in forests: current status and future challenges.

PubMed

Brown, Sandra

2002-01-01

To accurately and precisely measure the carbon in forests is gaining global attention as countries seek to comply with agreements under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Established methods for measuring carbon in forests exist, and are best based on permanent sample plots laid out in a statistically sound design. Measurements on trees in these plots can be readily converted to aboveground biomass using either biomass expansion factors or allometric regression equations. A compilation of existing root biomass data for upland forests of the world generated a significant regression equation that can be used to predict root biomass based on aboveground biomass only. Methods for measuring coarse dead wood have been tested in many forest types, but the methods could be improved if a non-destructive tool for measuring the density of dead wood was developed. Future measurements of carbon storage in forests may rely more on remote sensing data, and new remote data collection technologies are in development.

State Bioenergy Primer: Information and Resources for States on Issues, Opportunities, and Options for Advancing Bioenergy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Byrnett, D. S.; Mulholland, D.; Zinsmeister, E.

One renewable energy option that states frequently consider to meet their clean energy goals is the use of biomass resources to develop bioenergy. Bioenergy includes bioheat, biopower, biofuels, and bioproducts. This document provides an overview of biomass feedstocks, basic information about biomass conversion technologies, and a discussion of benefits and challenges of bioenergy options. The Primer includes a step-wise framework, resources, and tools for determining the availability of feedstocks, assessing potential markets for biomass, and identifying opportunities for action at the state level. Each chapter contains a list of selected resources and tools that states can use to explore topicsmore » in further detail.« less

Putney Basketville Site Biomass CHP Analysis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hunsberger, Randolph; Mosey, Gail

2013-10-01

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response Center for Program Analysis developed the RE-Powering America's Land initiative to reuse contaminated sites for renewable energy generation when aligned with the community's vision for the site. The Putney, Vermont, Basketville site, formerly the location of a basket-making facility and a paper mill andwoolen mill, was selected for a feasibility study under the program. Biomass was chosen as the renewable energy resource based on abundant woody-biomass resources available in the area. Biomass combined heat and power (CHP) was selected as the technology due to nearby loads, includingmore » Putney Paper and Landmark College.« less

Cellulosic Biomass Sugars to Advantage Jet Fuel: Catalytic Conversion of Corn Stover to Energy Dense, Low Freeze Point Paraffins and Naphthenes: Cooperative Research and Development Final Report, CRADA Number CRD-12-462

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Elander, Rick

NREL will provide scientific and engineering support to Virent Energy Systems in three technical areas: Process Development/Biomass Deconstruction; Catalyst Fundamentals; and Technoeconomic Analysis. The overarching objective of this project is to develop the first fully integrated process that can convert a lignocellulosic feedstock (e.g., corn stover) efficiently and cost effectively to a mix of hydrocarbons ideally suited for blending into jet fuel. The proposed project will investigate the integration of Virent Energy System’s novel aqueous phase reforming (APR) catalytic conversion technology (BioForming®) with deconstruction technologies being investigated by NREL at the 1-500L scale. Corn stover was chosen as a representativemore » large volume, sustainable feedstock.« less

Coordinated development of leading biomass pretreatment technologies.

PubMed

Wyman, Charles E; Dale, Bruce E; Elander, Richard T; Holtzapple, Mark; Ladisch, Michael R; Lee, Y Y

2005-12-01

For the first time, a single source of cellulosic biomass was pretreated by leading technologies using identical analytical methods to provide comparative performance data. In particular, ammonia explosion, aqueous ammonia recycle, controlled pH, dilute acid, flowthrough, and lime approaches were applied to prepare corn stover for subsequent biological conversion to sugars through a Biomass Refining Consortium for Applied Fundamentals and Innovation (CAFI) among Auburn University, Dartmouth College, Michigan State University, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Purdue University, and Texas A&M University. An Agricultural and Industrial Advisory Board provided guidance to the project. Pretreatment conditions were selected based on the extensive experience of the team with each of the technologies, and the resulting fluid and solid streams were characterized using standard methods. The data were used to close material balances, and energy balances were estimated for all processes. The digestibilities of the solids by a controlled supply of cellulase enzyme and the fermentability of the liquids were also assessed and used to guide selection of optimum pretreatment conditions. Economic assessments were applied based on the performance data to estimate each pretreatment cost on a consistent basis. Through this approach, comparative data were developed on sugar recovery from hemicellulose and cellulose by the combined pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis operations when applied to corn stover. This paper introduces the project and summarizes the shared methods for papers reporting results of this research in this special edition of Bioresource Technology.

Creating a biopower agenda through grassroots organizing

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hauter, W.

1995-11-01

Biomass electricity provides both opportunities for strengthening the rural economy and advancing environmental goals. However, while large scale biomass development can be done in a manner that both furthers economic development and helps prevent environmental degradation, its commercialization requires a complex coordination of activities between utilities and farmers. Inherent problems exist in creating parallel development of a resource base and technological advancements. In fact, an understanding of the anthropology of biopower is necessary in order to advance it on a large scale. The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) published a report on renewable electricity, released in March 1992, that hasmore » been used as a foundation for state-based work promoting renewables. In several Midwestern states, such as Nebraska, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, we have used classic grassroots organizing skills to educate the public and key constituencies about the benefits of biomass. Besides working directly with utilities to promote biomass development, we also have a legislative agenda that helps create a climate favorable to biopower. This paper will focus on the grassroots aspect of our campaigns. It will also include an overview of some anthropological work that the author has done in communities with farmers. The main tool for this has been focus groups. We have found that people can be organized around biomass issues and that a grassroots base furthers biomass development.« less

Systems Based Approaches for Thermochemical Conversion of Biomass to Bioenergy and Bioproducts

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Taylor, Steven

2016-07-11

Auburn’s Center for Bioenergy and Bioproducts conducts research on production of synthesis gas for use in power generation and the production of liquid fuels. The overall goal of our gasification research is to identify optimal processes for producing clean syngas to use in production of fuels and chemicals from underutilized agricultural and forest biomass feedstocks. This project focused on construction and commissioning of a bubbling-bed fluidized-bed gasifier and subsequent shakedown of the gasification and gas cleanup system. The result of this project is a fully commissioned gasification laboratory that is conducting testing on agricultural and forest biomass. Initial tests onmore » forest biomass have served as the foundation for follow-up studies on gasification under a more extensive range of temperatures, pressures, and oxidant conditions. The laboratory gasification system consists of a biomass storage tank capable of holding up to 6 tons of biomass; a biomass feeding system, with loss-in-weight metering system, capable of feeding biomass at pressures up to 650 psig; a bubbling-bed fluidized-bed gasification reactor capable of operating at pressures up to 650 psig and temperatures of 1500oF with biomass flowrates of 80 lb/hr and syngas production rates of 37 scfm; a warm-gas filtration system; fixed bed reactors for gas conditioning; and a final quench cooling system and activated carbon filtration system for gas conditioning prior to routing to Fischer-Tropsch reactors, or storage, or venting. This completed laboratory enables research to help develop economically feasible technologies for production of biomass-derived synthesis gases that will be used for clean, renewable power generation and for production of liquid transportation fuels. Moreover, this research program provides the infrastructure to educate the next generation of engineers and scientists needed to implement these technologies.« less

Biochar provides a safe and value-added solution for hyperaccumulating plant disposal: A case study of Phytolacca acinosa Roxb. (Phytolaccaceae).

PubMed

Wang, Shengsen; Gao, Bin; Li, Yuncong; Ok, Yong Sik; Shen, Chaofeng; Xue, Shengguo

2017-07-01

In this work, an innovative approach using biochar technology for hyperaccumulator disposal was developed and evaluated. The heavy metal enriched P. acinosa biomass (PBM) was pyrolyzed to produce biochar (PBC). Both PBM and PBC were characterized with X-ray diffraction (XRD) for crystal phases, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for surface topography, and analyzed for elemental composition and mobility. The results revealed that whewellite, a dominant crystal form in biomass, was decomposed to calcite after pyrolysis. Elemental analysis indicated that 91-99% total non-volatile elements in the biomass were retained in the biochar. The toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) results revealed that 94.6% and 0.15% of total Mn was extracted for biomass and biochar, respectively. This suggests that mobility and bioavailability of Mn in biochar was much lower relative to pristine biomass. Batch sorption experiment showed that excellent removal of aqueous silver, lead, cadmium, and copper ions can be achieved with PBC. Findings from this work indicated that biochar technology can provide a value-added solution for hyperaccumulator disposal. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Computer modeling movement of biomass in the bioreactors with bubbling mixing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuschev, L. A.; Suslov, D. Yu; Alifanova, A. I.

2017-01-01

Recently in the Russian Federation there is an observation of the development of biogas technologies which are used in organic waste conversion of agricultural enterprises, consequently improving the ecological environment. To intensify the process and effective outstanding performance of the acquisition of biogas the application of systems of mixing of bubbling is used. In the case of bubbling mixing of biomass in the bioreactor two-phase portions consisting of biomass and bubbles of gas are formed. The bioreactor computer model with bubble pipeline has been made in a vertical spiral form forming a cone type turned upside down. With the help of computing program of OpenFVM-Flow, an evaluation experiment was conducted to determine the key technological parameters of process of bubbling mixing and to get a visual picture of biomass flows distribution in the bioreactor. For the experimental bioreactor the following equation of V=190 l, speed level, the biomass circulation, and the time of a single cycle of uax =0,029 m/s; QC =0,00087 m3/s, Δtbm .=159 s. In future, we plan to conduct a series of theoretical and experimental researches into the mixing frequency influence on the biogas acquisition process effectiveness.

White Pine Co. Public School System Biomass Conversion Heating Project

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Paul Johnson

The White Pine County School District and the Nevada Division of Forestry agreed to develop a pilot project for Nevada using wood chips to heat the David E. Norman Elementary School in Ely, Nevada. Consideration of the project was triggered by a ''Fuels for Schools'' grant that was brought to the attention of the School District. The biomass project that was part of a district-wide energy retrofit, called for the installation of a biomass heating system for the school, while the current fuel oil system remained as back-up. Woody biomass from forest fuel reduction programs will be the main sourcemore » of fuel. The heating system as planned and completed consists of a biomass steam boiler, storage facility, and an area for unloading and handling equipment necessary to deliver and load fuel. This was the first project of it's kind in Nevada. The purpose of the DOE funded project was to accomplish the following goals: (1) Fuel Efficiency: Purchase and install a fuel efficient biomass heating system. (2) Demonstration Project: Demonstrate the project and gather data to assist with further research and development of biomass technology; and (3) Education: Educate the White Pine community and others about biomass and other non-fossil fuels.« less

Biomass Direct Liquefaction Options. TechnoEconomic and Life Cycle Assessment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tews, Iva J.; Zhu, Yunhua; Drennan, Corinne

The purpose of this work was to assess the competitiveness of two biomass to transportation fuel processing routes, which were under development in Finland, the U.S. and elsewhere. Concepts included fast pyrolysis (FP), and hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL), both followed by hydrodeoxygenation, and final product refining. This work was carried out as a collaboration between VTT (Finland), and PNNL (USA). The public funding agents for the work were Tekes in Finland and the Bioenergy Technologies Office of the U.S. Department of Energy. The effort was proposed as an update of the earlier comparative technoeconomic assessment performed by the IEA Bioenergy Directmore » Biomass Liquefaction Task in the 1980s. New developments in HTL and the upgrading of the HTL biocrude product triggered the interest in reinvestigating this comparison of these biomass liquefaction processes. In addition, developments in FP bio-oil upgrading had provided additional definition of this process option, which could provide an interesting comparison.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Behnke, Craig

DOE Award # EE0000393 was awarded to fund research into the development of beneficial uses of surplus algal biomass and the byproducts of biofuel production. At the time of award, Sapphire’s intended fuel production pathway was a fairly conventional extraction of lipids from biomass, resulting in a defatted residue which could be processed using anaerobic digestion. Over the lifetime of the award, we conducted extensive development work and arrived at the conclusion that anaerobic digestion presented significant technical challenges for this high-nitrogen, high-ash, and low carbon material. Over the same timeframe, Sapphire’s fuel production efforts came to focus on hydrothermalmore » liquefaction. As a result of this technology focus, the residue from fuel production became unsuitable for either anaerobic digestion (or animal feed uses). Finally, we came to appreciate the economic opportunity that the defatted biomass could represent in the animal feed space, as well as understanding the impact of seasonal production on a biofuels extraction plant, and sought to develop uses for surplus biomass produced in excess of the fuel production unit’s capacity.« less

Application of metagenomic techniques in mining enzymes from microbial communities for biofuel synthesis.

PubMed

Xing, Mei-Ning; Zhang, Xue-Zhu; Huang, He

2012-01-01

Feedstock for biofuel synthesis is transitioning to lignocelluosic biomass to address criticism over competition between first generation biofuels and food production. As microbial catalysis is increasingly applied for the conversion of biomass to biofuels, increased import has been placed on the development of novel enzymes. With revolutionary advances in sequencer technology and metagenomic sequencing, mining enzymes from microbial communities for biofuel synthesis is becoming more and more practical. The present article highlights the latest research progress on the special characteristics of metagenomic sequencing, which has been a powerful tool for new enzyme discovery and gene functional analysis in the biomass energy field. Critical enzymes recently developed for the pretreatment and conversion of lignocellulosic materials are evaluated with respect to their activity and stability, with additional explorations into xylanase, laccase, amylase, chitinase, and lipolytic biocatalysts for other biomass feedstocks. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Alexander Samokutyaev conducts BTKh-14/Bioemulsiya (Bioemulsion) Experiment

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-05-05

ISS027-E-022454 (5 May 2011) --- Russian cosmonaut Alexander Samokutyaev, Expedition 27 flight engineer, uses a glovebox to service the Russian Bioemulsion science payload in the Poisk Mini-Research Module 2 (MRM2) of the International Space Station. The Bioemulsion experiment is attempting to develop faster technologies for obtaining microorganism biomass and biologically active substance biomass for creating highly efficient environmentally pure bacteria, enzymes, and medicinal/pharmaceutical preparations.

CO-FIRING COAL, FEEDLOT, AND LITTER BIOMASS (CFB AND LFB) FUELS IN PULVERIZED FUEL AND FIXED BED BURNERS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kalyan Annamalai; John Sweeten; Saqib Mukhtar

2002-01-15

Intensive animal feeding operations create large amounts of animal waste that must be safely disposed of in order to avoid environmental degradation. Cattle feedlots and chicken houses are two examples. In feedlots, cattle are confined to small pens and fed a high calorie grain diet in preparation for slaughter. In chicken houses, thousands of chickens are kept in close proximity. In both of these operations, millions of tons of manure are produced every year. In this project a co-firing technology is proposed which would use manure that cannot be used for fertilizer, for power generation. Since the animal manure hasmore » economic uses as both a fertilizer and as a fuel, it is properly referred to as feedlot biomass (FB) for cow manure, or litter biomass (LB) for chicken manure. The biomass will be used a as a fuel by mixing it with coal in a 90:10 blend and firing it in existing coal fired combustion devices. This technique is known as co-firing, and the high temperatures produced by the coal will allow the biomass to be completely combusted. Therefore, it is the goal of the current research to develop an animal biomass cofiring technology. A cofiring technology is being developed by performing: (1) studies on fundamental fuel characteristics, (2) small scale boiler burner experiments, (3) gasifier experiments, (4) computer simulations, and (5) an economic analysis. The fundamental fuel studies reveal that biomass is not as high a quality fuel as coal. The biomass fuels are higher in ash, higher in moisture, higher in nitrogen and sulfur (which can cause air pollution), and lower in heat content than coal. Additionally, experiments indicate that the biomass fuels have higher gas content, release gases more readily than coal, and less homogeneous. Small-scale boiler experiments revealed that the biomass blends can be successfully fired, and NO{sub x} pollutant emissions produced will be similar to or lower than pollutant emissions when firing coal. This is a surprising result as the levels of N are higher in the biomass fuel than in coal. Further experiments showed that biomass is twice or more effective than coal when used in a reburning process to reduce NO{sub x} emissions. Since crushing costs of biomass fuels may be prohibitive, stoker firing may be cost effective; in order simulate such a firing, future work will investigate the performance of a gasifier when fired with larger sized coal and biomass. It will be a fixed bed gasifier, and will evaluate blends, coal, and biomass. Computer simulations were performed using the PCGC-2 code supplied by BYU and modified by A&M with three mixture fractions for handling animal based biomass fuels in order to include an improved moisture model for handling wet fuels and phosphorus oxidation. Finally the results of the economic analysis show that considerable savings can be achieved with the use of biomass. In the case of higher ash and moisture biomass, the fuel cost savings will be reduced, due to increased transportation costs. A spreadsheet program was created to analyze the fuel savings for a variety of different moisture levels, ash levels, and power plant operating parameters.« less

Advanced Algal Systems Fact Sheet

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

2016-06-01

Research and development (R&D) on advanced algal biofuels and bioproducts presents an opportunity to sustainably expand biomass resource potential in the United States. The Bioenergy Technologies Office’s (BETO’s) Advanced Algal Systems Program is carrying out a long-term, applied R&D strategy to lower the costs of algal biofuel production by working with partners to develop revolutionary technologies and conduct crosscutting analyses to better understand the potential

Ethanol production from renewable resources.

PubMed

Gong, C S; Cao, N J; Du, J; Tsao, G T

1999-01-01

Vast amounts of renewable biomass are available for conversion to liquid fuel, ethanol. In order to convert biomass to ethanol, the efficient utilization of both cellulose-derived and hemicellulose-derived carbohydrates is essential. Six-carbon sugars are readily utilized for this purpose. Pentoses, on the other hand, are more difficult to convert. Several metabolic factors limit the efficient utilization of pentoses (xylose and arabinose). Recent developments in the improvement of microbial cultures provide the versatility of conversion of both hexoses and pentoses to ethanol more efficiently. In addition, novel bioprocess technologies offer a promising prospective for the efficient conversion of biomass and recovery of ethanol.

Aspen Plus Model for In Situ and Ex Situ Upgrading of Fast Pyrolysis Vapors for the Conversion of Biomass to Hydrocarbon Fuels

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

This is an Aspen Plus process model for in situ and ex situ upgrading of fast pyrolysis vapors for the conversion of biomass to hydrocarbon fuels. It is based on conceptual designs that allow projections of future commercial implementations of the technologies based on a combination of research and existing commercial technologies. The process model was developed from the ground up at NREL. Results from the model are documented in a detailed design report NREL/TP-5100-62455 (available at http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy15osti/62455.pdf).

Lignocellulosic Biomass Derived Functional Materials: Synthesis and Applications in Biomedical Engineering.

PubMed

Zhang, Lei; Peng, Xinwen; Zhong, Linxin; Chua, Weitian; Xiang, Zhihua; Sun, Runcang

2017-09-18

The pertinent issue of resources shortage arising from global climate change in the recent years has accentuated the importance of materials that are environmental friendly. Despite the merits of current material like cellulose as the most abundant natural polysaccharide on earth, the incorporation of lignocellulosic biomass has the potential to value-add the recent development of cellulose-derivatives in drug delivery systems. Lignocellulosic biomass, with a hierarchical structure, comprised of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. As an excellent substrate that is renewable, biodegradable, biocompatible and chemically accessible for modified materials, lignocellulosic biomass sets forth a myriad of applications. To date, materials derived from lignocellulosic biomass have been extensively explored for new technological development and applications, such as biomedical, green electronics and energy products. In this review, chemical constituents of lignocellulosic biomass are first discussed before we critically examine the potential alternatives in the field of biomedical application. In addition, the pretreatment methods for extracting cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin from lignocellulosic biomass as well as their biological applications including drug delivery, biosensor, tissue engineering etc will be reviewed. It is anticipated there will be an increasing interest and research findings in cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin from natural resources, which help provide important directions for the development in biomedical applications. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

Bioremediation of industrial effluents containing heavy metals using brewing cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a green technology: a review.

PubMed

Soares, Eduardo V; Soares, Helena M V M

2012-05-01

The release of heavy metals into the environment, mainly as a consequence of anthropogenic activities, constitutes a worldwide environmental pollution problem. Unlike organic pollutants, heavy metals are not degraded and remain indefinitely in the ecosystem, which poses a different kind of challenge for remediation. It seems that the "best treatment technologies" available may not be completely effective for metal removal or can be expensive; therefore, new methodologies have been proposed for the detoxification of metal-bearing wastewaters. The present work reviews and discusses the advantages of using brewing yeast cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in the detoxification of effluents containing heavy metals. The current knowledge of the mechanisms of metal removal by yeast biomass is presented. The use of live or dead biomass and the influence of biomass inactivation on the metal accumulation characteristics are outlined. The role of chemical speciation for predicting and optimising the efficiency of metal removal is highlighted. The problem of biomass separation, after treatment of the effluents, and the use of flocculent characteristics, as an alternative process of cell-liquid separation, are also discussed. The use of yeast cells in the treatment of real effluents to bridge the gap between fundamental and applied studies is presented and updated. The convenient management of the contaminated biomass and the advantages of the selective recovery of heavy metals in the development of a closed cycle without residues (green technology) are critically reviewed.

Predicting plant biomass accumulation from image-derived parameters

PubMed Central

Chen, Dijun; Shi, Rongli; Pape, Jean-Michel; Neumann, Kerstin; Graner, Andreas; Chen, Ming; Klukas, Christian

2018-01-01

Abstract Background Image-based high-throughput phenotyping technologies have been rapidly developed in plant science recently, and they provide a great potential to gain more valuable information than traditionally destructive methods. Predicting plant biomass is regarded as a key purpose for plant breeders and ecologists. However, it is a great challenge to find a predictive biomass model across experiments. Results In the present study, we constructed 4 predictive models to examine the quantitative relationship between image-based features and plant biomass accumulation. Our methodology has been applied to 3 consecutive barley (Hordeum vulgare) experiments with control and stress treatments. The results proved that plant biomass can be accurately predicted from image-based parameters using a random forest model. The high prediction accuracy based on this model will contribute to relieving the phenotyping bottleneck in biomass measurement in breeding applications. The prediction performance is still relatively high across experiments under similar conditions. The relative contribution of individual features for predicting biomass was further quantified, revealing new insights into the phenotypic determinants of the plant biomass outcome. Furthermore, methods could also be used to determine the most important image-based features related to plant biomass accumulation, which would be promising for subsequent genetic mapping to uncover the genetic basis of biomass. Conclusions We have developed quantitative models to accurately predict plant biomass accumulation from image data. We anticipate that the analysis results will be useful to advance our views of the phenotypic determinants of plant biomass outcome, and the statistical methods can be broadly used for other plant species. PMID:29346559

Overview of air biofiltration - basic technology, economics and integration with other control technologies for effective treatment of air toxics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Govind, R.; Bishop, D.F.

1996-12-31

This paper provides an overview of air biofiltration with experimental data on the performance of peat/compost, pelletized packed bed and structured media biofilters. It is shown that use of high surface area per unit volume structured media results in higher contaminant treatment rates per unit biofilter volume. Peat/compost biofilters exhibit lower removal efficiencies at high (> 100 ppmv) inlet contaminant concentrations and require control of media moisture content. Increase of temperature results in increasing biodegradation rates. It is shown that use of structured ceramic media allows effective control of biomass buildup by continuous removal of biomass from the biofilter mediamore » and that the biomass removal rate depends on nutrient flowrate. An experimental system is presented which enables biofilm kinetics to be determined and a simple biofilter model is developed in this paper. A group contribution approach has been developed to estimate biokinetic parameter which allows biofiltration effectiveness to be determined for a variety of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Finally, a procedure is presented, illustrated by an example, which is used to develop an integrated process for effective treatment of air contaminants. 22 refs., 12 figs., 4 tabs.« less

Development of the IBSAL-SimMOpt Method for the Optimization of Quality in a Corn Stover Supply Chain

DOE PAGES

Chavez, Hernan; Castillo-Villar, Krystel; Webb, Erin

2017-08-01

Variability on the physical characteristics of feedstock has a relevant effect on the reactor’s reliability and operating cost. Most of the models developed to optimize biomass supply chains have failed to quantify the effect of biomass quality and preprocessing operations required to meet biomass specifications on overall cost and performance. The Integrated Biomass Supply Analysis and Logistics (IBSAL) model estimates the harvesting, collection, transportation, and storage cost while considering the stochastic behavior of the field-to-biorefinery supply chain. This paper proposes an IBSAL-SimMOpt (Simulation-based Multi-Objective Optimization) method for optimizing the biomass quality and costs associated with the efforts needed to meetmore » conversion technology specifications. The method is developed in two phases. For the first phase, a SimMOpt tool that interacts with the extended IBSAL is developed. For the second phase, the baseline IBSAL model is extended so that the cost for meeting and/or penalization for failing in meeting specifications are considered. The IBSAL-SimMOpt method is designed to optimize quality characteristics of biomass, cost related to activities intended to improve the quality of feedstock, and the penalization cost. A case study based on 1916 farms in Ontario, Canada is considered for testing the proposed method. Analysis of the results demonstrates that this method is able to find a high-quality set of non-dominated solutions.« less

Development of the IBSAL-SimMOpt Method for the Optimization of Quality in a Corn Stover Supply Chain

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chavez, Hernan; Castillo-Villar, Krystel; Webb, Erin

Variability on the physical characteristics of feedstock has a relevant effect on the reactor’s reliability and operating cost. Most of the models developed to optimize biomass supply chains have failed to quantify the effect of biomass quality and preprocessing operations required to meet biomass specifications on overall cost and performance. The Integrated Biomass Supply Analysis and Logistics (IBSAL) model estimates the harvesting, collection, transportation, and storage cost while considering the stochastic behavior of the field-to-biorefinery supply chain. This paper proposes an IBSAL-SimMOpt (Simulation-based Multi-Objective Optimization) method for optimizing the biomass quality and costs associated with the efforts needed to meetmore » conversion technology specifications. The method is developed in two phases. For the first phase, a SimMOpt tool that interacts with the extended IBSAL is developed. For the second phase, the baseline IBSAL model is extended so that the cost for meeting and/or penalization for failing in meeting specifications are considered. The IBSAL-SimMOpt method is designed to optimize quality characteristics of biomass, cost related to activities intended to improve the quality of feedstock, and the penalization cost. A case study based on 1916 farms in Ontario, Canada is considered for testing the proposed method. Analysis of the results demonstrates that this method is able to find a high-quality set of non-dominated solutions.« less

Flotation: A promising microalgae harvesting and dewatering technology for biofuels production.

PubMed

Ndikubwimana, Theoneste; Chang, Jingyu; Xiao, Zongyuan; Shao, Wenyao; Zeng, Xianhai; Ng, I-Son; Lu, Yinghua

2016-03-01

Microalgal biomass as renewable energy source is believed to be of great potential for reliable and sustainable biofuels production. However, microalgal biomass production is pinned by harvesting and dewatering stage thus hindering the developing and growing microalgae biotechnology industries. Flotation technology applied in mineral industry could be potentially applied in microalgae harvesting and dewatering, however substantial knowledge on different flotation units is essential. This paper presents an overview on different flotation units as promising cost-effective technologies for microalgae harvesting thus bestowing for further research in development and commercialization of microalgae based biofuels. Dispersed air flotation was found to be less energy consuming. Moreover, Jameson cell flotation and dispersed ozone flotation are believed to be energy efficient microalgae flotation approaches. Microalgae harvesting and dewatering by flotation is still at embryonic stage, therefore extended studies with the focus on life cycle assessment, sustainability of the flotation unit, optimization of the operating parameters using different algal species is imperative. Though there are a number of challenges in microalgae harvesting and dewatering, with well designed and developed cultivation, harvesting/dewatering, extraction and conversion technologies, progressively, microalgae technology will be of great potential for biological carbon sequestration, biofuels and biochemicals production. Copyright © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Hydrodynamic cavitation as a strategy to enhance the efficiency of lignocellulosic biomass pretreatment.

PubMed

Terán Hilares, Ruly; Ramos, Lucas; da Silva, Silvio Silvério; Dragone, Giuliano; Mussatto, Solange I; Santos, Júlio César Dos

2018-06-01

Hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) is a process technology with potential for application in different areas including environmental, food processing, and biofuels production. Although HC is an undesirable phenomenon for hydraulic equipment, the net energy released during this process is enough to accelerate certain chemical reactions. The application of cavitation energy to enhance the efficiency of lignocellulosic biomass pretreatment is an interesting strategy proposed for integration in biorefineries for the production of bio-based products. Moreover, the use of an HC-assisted process was demonstrated as an attractive alternative when compared to other conventional pretreatment technologies. This is not only due to high pretreatment efficiency resulting in high enzymatic digestibility of carbohydrate fraction, but also, by its high energy efficiency, simple configuration, and construction of systems, besides the possibility of using on the large scale. This paper gives an overview regarding HC technology and its potential for application on the pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass. The parameters affecting this process and the perspectives for future developments in this area are also presented and discussed.

Simulation study on combustion of biomass

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, M. L.; Liu, X.; Cheng, J. W.; Liu, Y.; Jin, Y. A.

2017-01-01

Biomass combustion is the most common energy conversion technology, offering the advantages of low cost, low risk and high efficiency. In this paper, the transformation and transfer of biomass in the process of combustion are discussed in detail. The process of furnace combustion and gas phase formation was analyzed by numerical simulation. The experimental results not only help to optimize boiler operation and realize the efficient combustion of biomass, but also provide theoretical basis for the improvement of burner technology.

Heterologous Expression of Plant Cell Wall Degrading Enzymes for Effective Production of Cellulosic Biofuels

PubMed Central

Jung, Sang-Kyu; Parisutham, Vinuselvi; Jeong, Seong Hun; Lee, Sung Kuk

2012-01-01

A major technical challenge in the cost-effective production of cellulosic biofuel is the need to lower the cost of plant cell wall degrading enzymes (PCDE), which is required for the production of sugars from biomass. Several competitive, low-cost technologies have been developed to produce PCDE in different host organisms such as Escherichia coli, Zymomonas mobilis, and plant. Selection of an ideal host organism is very important, because each host organism has its own unique features. Synthetic biology-aided tools enable heterologous expression of PCDE in recombinant E. coli or Z. mobilis and allow successful consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) in these microorganisms. In-planta expression provides an opportunity to simplify the process of enzyme production and plant biomass processing and leads to self-deconstruction of plant cell walls. Although the future of currently available technologies is difficult to predict, a complete and viable platform will most likely be available through the integration of the existing approaches with the development of breakthrough technologies. PMID:22911272

Biomass resources for energy in Ohio: The OH-MARKAL modeling framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shakya, Bibhakar

The latest reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have indicated that human activities are directly responsible for a significant portion of global warming trends. In response to the growing concerns regarding climate change and efforts to create a sustainable energy future, biomass energy has come to the forefront as a clean and sustainable energy resource. Biomass energy resources are environmentally clean and carbon neutral with net-zero carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, since CO2 is absorbed or sequestered from the atmosphere during the plant growth. Hence, biomass energy mitigates greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions that would otherwise be added to the environment by conventional fossil fuels, such as coal. The use of biomass resources for energy is even more relevant in Ohio, as the power industry is heavily based on coal, providing about 90 percent of the state's total electricity while only 50 percent of electricity comes from coal at the national level. The burning of coal for electricity generation results in substantial GHG emissions and environmental pollution, which are responsible for global warming and acid rain. Ohio is currently one of the top emitters of GHG in the nation. This dissertation research examines the potential use of biomass resources by analyzing key economic, environmental, and policy issues related to the energy needs of Ohio over a long term future (2001-2030). Specifically, the study develops a dynamic linear programming model (OH-MARKAL) to evaluate biomass cofiring as an option in select coal power plants (both existing and new) to generate commercial electricity in Ohio. The OH-MARKAL model is based on the MARKAL (MARKet ALlocation) framework. Using extensive data on the power industry and biomass resources of Ohio, the study has developed the first comprehensive power sector model for Ohio. Hence, the model can serve as an effective tool for Ohio's energy planning, since it evaluates economic and environmental consequences of alternative energy scenarios for the future. The model can also be used to estimate the relative merits of various energy technologies. By developing OH-MARKAL as an empirical model, this study evaluates the prospects of biomass cofiring in Ohio to generate commercial electricity. As cofiring utilizes the existing infrastructure, it is an attractive option for utilizing biomass energy resources, with the objective of replacing non-renewable fuel (coal) with renewable and cleaner fuel (biomass). It addresses two key issues: first, the importance of diversifying the fuel resource base for the power industry; and second, the need to increase the use of biomass or renewable resources in Ohio. The results of the various model scenarios developed in this study indicate that policy interventions are necessary to make biomass co-firing competitive with coal, and that about 7 percent of electricity can be generated by using biomass feedstock in Ohio. This study recommends mandating an optimal level of a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) for Ohio to increase renewable electricity generation in the state. To set a higher goal of RPS than 7 percent level, Ohio needs to include other renewable sources such as wind, solar or hydro in its electricity generation portfolio. The results also indicate that the marginal price of electricity must increase by four fold to mitigate CO2 emissions 15 percent below the 2002 level, suggesting Ohio will also need to consider and invest in clean coal technologies and examine the option of carbon sequestration. Hence, Ohio's energy strategy should include a mix of domestic renewable energy options, energy efficiency, energy conservation, clean coal technology, and carbon sequestration options. It would seem prudent for Ohio to become proactive in reducing CO2 emissions so that it will be ready to deal with any future federal mandates, otherwise the consequences could be detrimental to the state's economy.

Biomass energy: Sustainable solution for greenhouse gas emission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sadrul Islam, A. K. M.; Ahiduzzaman, M.

2012-06-01

Biomass is part of the carbon cycle. Carbon dioxide is produced after combustion of biomass. Over a relatively short timescale, carbon dioxide is renewed from atmosphere during next generation of new growth of green vegetation. Contribution of renewable energy including hydropower, solar, biomass and biofuel in total primary energy consumption in world is about 19%. Traditional biomass alone contributes about 13% of total primary energy consumption in the world. The number of traditional biomass energy users expected to rise from 2.5 billion in 2004 to 2.6 billion in 2015 and to 2.7 billion in 2030 for cooking in developing countries. Residential biomass demand in developing countries is projected to rise from 771 Mtoe in 2004 to 818 Mtoe in 2030. The main sources of biomass are wood residues, bagasse, rice husk, agro-residues, animal manure, municipal and industrial waste etc. Dedicated energy crops such as short-rotation coppice, grasses, sugar crops, starch crops and oil crops are gaining importance and market share as source of biomass energy. Global trade in biomass feedstocks and processed bioenergy carriers are growing rapidly. There are some drawbacks of biomass energy utilization compared to fossil fuels viz: heterogeneous and uneven composition, lower calorific value and quality deterioration due to uncontrolled biodegradation. Loose biomass also is not viable for transportation. Pelletization, briquetting, liquefaction and gasification of biomass energy are some options to solve these problems. Wood fuel production is very much steady and little bit increase in trend, however, the forest land is decreasing, means the deforestation is progressive. There is a big challenge for sustainability of biomass resource and environment. Biomass energy can be used to reduce greenhouse emissions. Woody biomass such as briquette and pellet from un-organized biomass waste and residues could be used for alternative to wood fuel, as a result, forest will be saved and sustainable carbon sink will be developed. Clean energy production from biomass (such as ethanol, biodiesel, producer gas, bio-methane) could be viable option to reduce fossil fuel consumption. Electricity generation from biomass is increasing throughout the world. Co-firing of biomass with coal and biomass combustion in power plant and CHP would be a viable option for clean energy development. Biomass can produce less emission in the range of 14% to 90% compared to emission from fossil for electricity generation. Therefore, biomass could play a vital role for generation of clean energy by reducing fossil energy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The main barriers to expansion of power generation from biomass are cost, low conversion efficiency and availability of feedstock. Internationalization of external cost in power generation and effective policies to improve energy security and carbon dioxide reduction is important to boost up the bio-power. In the long run, bio-power will depend on technological development and on competition for feedstock with food production and arable land use.

Phytoremediation of soils and water contaminated with toxic elements and radionuclides

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cornish, J.E.; Huddleston, G.J.; Levine, R.S.

1995-12-31

At many U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) facilities and other sites, large volumes of soils, sediments and waters are contaminated with heavy metals and/or radionuclides, often at only a relatively small factor above regulatory action levels. In response, the DOE`s Office of Technology Development is evaluating the emerging biotechnology known as phytoremediation; this approach utilizes the accelerated transfer of contaminant mass from solution to either root or above ground biomass. After growth, the plant biomass - containing 100 to 1,000 times the contaminant levels observed with conventional plants - is processed to achieve further volume reduction and contaminant concentration. Thus,more » phytoremediation offers the potential for low cost remediation of highly to moderately contaminated media. Progress made to date by DOE in developing this technology will be summarized and evaluated.« less

Bioenergy Technologies Office FY 2017 Budget At-A-Glance

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

2016-03-01

The Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) is accelerating the commercialization of first-of-a-kind technologies that use our nation’s abundant renewable biomass resources for the production of advanced biofuels and biobased products. Non-food sources of biomass, such as algae, agricultural residues and forestry trimmings, and energy crops like switchgrass, are being used in BETO-supported, cutting-edge technologies to produce drop-in biofuels, including renewable gasoline, diesel, and jet fuels. BETO is also investigating how to improve the economics of biofuel production by converting biomass into higher-value chemicals and products that historically have always been derived from petroleum.

Solar energy to biofuels.

PubMed

Agrawal, Rakesh; Singh, Navneet R

2010-01-01

In a solar economy, sustainably available biomass holds the potential to be an excellent nonfossil source of high energy density transportation fuel. However, if sustainably available biomass cannot supply the liquid fuel need for the entire transport sector, alternatives must be sought. This article reviews biomass to liquid fuel conversion processes that treat biomass primarily as a carbon source and boost liquid fuel production substantially by using supplementary energy that is recovered from solar energy at much higher efficiencies than the biomass itself. The need to develop technologies for an energy-efficient future sustainable transport sector infrastructure that will use different forms of energy, such as electricity, H(2), and heat, in a synergistic interaction with each other is emphasized. An enabling template for such a future transport infrastructure is presented. An advantage of the use of such a template is that it reduces the land area needed to propel an entire transport sector. Also, some solutions for the transition period that synergistically combine biomass with fossil fuels are briefly discussed.

A Thermophilic Ionic Liquid-Tolerant Cellulase Cocktail for the Production of Cellulosic Biofuels

PubMed Central

Park, Joshua I.; Steen, Eric J.; Burd, Helcio; Evans, Sophia S.; Redding-Johnson, Alyssa M.; Batth, Tanveer; Benke, Peter I.; D'haeseleer, Patrik; Sun, Ning; Sale, Kenneth L.; Keasling, Jay D.; Lee, Taek Soon; Petzold, Christopher J.; Mukhopadhyay, Aindrila; Singer, Steven W.; Simmons, Blake A.; Gladden, John M.

2012-01-01

Generation of biofuels from sugars in lignocellulosic biomass is a promising alternative to liquid fossil fuels, but efficient and inexpensive bioprocessing configurations must be developed to make this technology commercially viable. One of the major barriers to commercialization is the recalcitrance of plant cell wall polysaccharides to enzymatic hydrolysis. Biomass pretreatment with ionic liquids (ILs) enables efficient saccharification of biomass, but residual ILs inhibit both saccharification and microbial fuel production, requiring extensive washing after IL pretreatment. Pretreatment itself can also produce biomass-derived inhibitory compounds that reduce microbial fuel production. Therefore, there are multiple points in the process from biomass to biofuel production that must be interrogated and optimized to maximize fuel production. Here, we report the development of an IL-tolerant cellulase cocktail by combining thermophilic bacterial glycoside hydrolases produced by a mixed consortia with recombinant glycoside hydrolases. This enzymatic cocktail saccharifies IL-pretreated biomass at higher temperatures and in the presence of much higher IL concentrations than commercial fungal cocktails. Sugars obtained from saccharification of IL-pretreated switchgrass using this cocktail can be converted into biodiesel (fatty acid ethyl-esters or FAEEs) by a metabolically engineered strain of E. coli. During these studies, we found that this biodiesel-producing E. coli strain was sensitive to ILs and inhibitors released by saccharification. This cocktail will enable the development of novel biomass to biofuel bioprocessing configurations that may overcome some of the barriers to production of inexpensive cellulosic biofuels. PMID:22649505

Waste biomass-to-energy supply chain management: a critical synthesis.

PubMed

Iakovou, E; Karagiannidis, A; Vlachos, D; Toka, A; Malamakis, A

2010-10-01

The development of renewable energy sources has clearly emerged as a promising policy towards enhancing the fragile global energy system with its limited fossil fuel resources, as well as for reducing the related environmental problems. In this context, waste biomass utilization has emerged as a viable alternative for energy production, encompassing a wide range of potential thermochemical, physicochemical and bio-chemical processes. Two significant bottlenecks that hinder the increased biomass utilization for energy production are the cost and complexity of its logistics operations. In this manuscript, we present a critical synthesis of the relative state-of-the-art literature as this applies to all stakeholders involved in the design and management of waste biomass supply chains (WBSCs). We begin by presenting the generic system components and then the unique characteristics of WBSCs that differentiate them from traditional supply chains. We proceed by discussing state-of-the-art energy conversion technologies along with the resulting classification of all relevant literature. We then recognize the natural hierarchy of the decision-making process for the design and planning of WBSCs and provide a taxonomy of all research efforts as these are mapped on the relevant strategic, tactical and operational levels of the hierarchy. Our critical synthesis demonstrates that biomass-to-energy production is a rapidly evolving research field focusing mainly on biomass-to-energy production technologies. However, very few studies address the critical supply chain management issues, and the ones that do that, focus mainly on (i) the assessment of the potential biomass and (ii) the allocation of biomass collection sites and energy production facilities. Our analysis further allows for the identification of gaps and overlaps in the existing literature, as well as of critical future research areas. (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hydrogen production from algal biomass - Advances, challenges and prospects.

PubMed

Show, Kuan-Yeow; Yan, Yuegen; Ling, Ming; Ye, Guoxiang; Li, Ting; Lee, Duu-Jong

2018-06-01

Extensive effort is being made to explore renewable energy in replacing fossil fuels. Biohydrogen is a promising future fuel because of its clean and high energy content. A challenging issue in establishing hydrogen economy is sustainability. Biohydrogen has the potential for renewable biofuel, and could replace current hydrogen production through fossil fuel thermo-chemical processes. A promising source of biohydrogen is conversion from algal biomass, which is abundant, clean and renewable. Unlike other well-developed biofuels such as bioethanol and biodiesel, production of hydrogen from algal biomass is still in the early stage of development. There are a variety of technologies for algal hydrogen production, and some laboratory- and pilot-scale systems have demonstrated a good potential for full-scale implementation. This work presents an elucidation on development in biohydrogen encompassing biological pathways, bioreactor designs and operation and techno-economic evaluation. Challenges and prospects of biohydrogen production are also outlined. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Environmental technologies of woody crop production systems

Treesearch

Ronald S. Zalesny Jr.; John A. Stanturf; Emile S. Gardiner; Gary S. Ba??uelos; Richard A. Hallett; Amir Hass; Craig M. Stange; James H. Perdue; Timothy M. Young; David R. Coyle; William L. Headlee

2016-01-01

Soil erosion, loss of productivity potential, biodiversity loss, water shortage, and soil and water pollution are ongoing processes that decrease or degrade provisioning (e.g., biomass, freshwater) and regulating (e.g., carbon sequestration, soil quality) ecosystem services. Therefore, developing environmental technologies that maximize these services is essential for...

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Das, K. C., Adams; Thomas, T; Eiteman, Mark A

In this project we focused on several aspects of technology development that advances the formation of an integrated biorefinery. These focus areas include: [ 1] pretreatment of biomass to enhance quality of products from thermochemical conversion; [2] characterization of and development of coproduct uses; [3] advancement in fermentation of lignocellulosics and particularly C5 and C6 sugars simultaneously, and [ 4] development of algal biomass as a potential substrate for the biorefinery. These advancements are intended to provide a diverse set of product choices within the biorefinery, thus improving the cost effectiveness of the system. Technical effectiveness was demonstrated in themore » thermochemical product quality in the form of lower tar production, simultaneous of use of multiple sugars in fermentation, use ofbiochar in environmental (ammonia adsorption) and agricultural applications, and production of algal biomass in wastewaters. Economic feasibility of algal biomass production systems seems attractive, relative to the other options. However, further optimization in all paths, and testing/demonstration at larger scales are required to fully understand the economic viabilities. The coproducts provide a clear picture that multiple streams of value can be generated within an integrated biorefinery, and these include fuels and products.« less

2007 Biomass Program Overview

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

none,

The Biomass Program is actively working with public and private partners to meet production and technology needs. With the corn ethanol market growing steadily, researchers are unlocking the potential of non-food biomass sources, such as switchgrass and forest and agricultural residues. In this way, the Program is helping to ensure that cost-effective technologies will be ready to support production goals for advanced biofuels.

Effects of LiDAR point density and landscape context on estimates of urban forest biomass

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, Kunwar K.; Chen, Gang; McCarter, James B.; Meentemeyer, Ross K.

2015-03-01

Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data is being increasingly used as an effective alternative to conventional optical remote sensing to accurately estimate aboveground forest biomass ranging from individual tree to stand levels. Recent advancements in LiDAR technology have resulted in higher point densities and improved data accuracies accompanied by challenges for procuring and processing voluminous LiDAR data for large-area assessments. Reducing point density lowers data acquisition costs and overcomes computational challenges for large-area forest assessments. However, how does lower point density impact the accuracy of biomass estimation in forests containing a great level of anthropogenic disturbance? We evaluate the effects of LiDAR point density on the biomass estimation of remnant forests in the rapidly urbanizing region of Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. We used multiple linear regression to establish a statistical relationship between field-measured biomass and predictor variables derived from LiDAR data with varying densities. We compared the estimation accuracies between a general Urban Forest type and three Forest Type models (evergreen, deciduous, and mixed) and quantified the degree to which landscape context influenced biomass estimation. The explained biomass variance of the Urban Forest model, using adjusted R2, was consistent across the reduced point densities, with the highest difference of 11.5% between the 100% and 1% point densities. The combined estimates of Forest Type biomass models outperformed the Urban Forest models at the representative point densities (100% and 40%). The Urban Forest biomass model with development density of 125 m radius produced the highest adjusted R2 (0.83 and 0.82 at 100% and 40% LiDAR point densities, respectively) and the lowest RMSE values, highlighting a distance impact of development on biomass estimation. Our evaluation suggests that reducing LiDAR point density is a viable solution to regional-scale forest assessment without compromising the accuracy of biomass estimates, and these estimates can be further improved using development density.

Production of Monosugars from Lignocellulosic Biomass in Molten Salt Hydrates: Process Design and Techno-Economic Analysis

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

ZnCl2 hydrate, the main molten salt used in biomass conversion, combined with low concentration HCl is an excellent solvent for the dissolution and hydrolysis of the carbohydrates present in lignocellulosic biomass. The most recalcitrant carbohydrate, cellulose, is dissolved in a residence time less than 1 h under mild conditions without significant degradation. This technology is referred to as BIOeCON-solvent technology. Separation of the sugars from the solution is the main challenge. The earlier conclusion regarding the potential of zeolite beta for selective adsorption has been used as the basis of a scale-up study. The technology of choice is continuous chromatographic separation (e.g., simulated moving bed, SMB). The sugar monomers are separated from the sugar oligomers, allowing the production of monosugars at high yield, using water as an eluent. Results of a pilot plant study are presented showing a stable operation at high selectivity. Several process designs are discussed, and the techno-economic performance of the BIOeCON-solvent technology is demonstrated by comparison with the state-of-the-art technology of NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory), which is based on enzymatic conversion of cellulose. It is concluded that the BIOeCON-solvent technology is technically and economically viable and is competitive to the NREL process. Because the BIOeCON-solvent process is in an early stage of development and far from fully optimized, it has the potential to outperform the existing processes. PMID:29170600

Production of Monosugars from Lignocellulosic Biomass in Molten Salt Hydrates: Process Design and Techno-Economic Analysis.

PubMed

van den Bergh, Johan; Babich, Igor V; O'Connor, Paul; Moulijn, Jacob A

2017-11-15

ZnCl 2 hydrate, the main molten salt used in biomass conversion, combined with low concentration HCl is an excellent solvent for the dissolution and hydrolysis of the carbohydrates present in lignocellulosic biomass. The most recalcitrant carbohydrate, cellulose, is dissolved in a residence time less than 1 h under mild conditions without significant degradation. This technology is referred to as BIOeCON-solvent technology. Separation of the sugars from the solution is the main challenge. The earlier conclusion regarding the potential of zeolite beta for selective adsorption has been used as the basis of a scale-up study. The technology of choice is continuous chromatographic separation (e.g., simulated moving bed, SMB). The sugar monomers are separated from the sugar oligomers, allowing the production of monosugars at high yield, using water as an eluent. Results of a pilot plant study are presented showing a stable operation at high selectivity. Several process designs are discussed, and the techno-economic performance of the BIOeCON-solvent technology is demonstrated by comparison with the state-of-the-art technology of NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory), which is based on enzymatic conversion of cellulose. It is concluded that the BIOeCON-solvent technology is technically and economically viable and is competitive to the NREL process. Because the BIOeCON-solvent process is in an early stage of development and far from fully optimized, it has the potential to outperform the existing processes.

Optimal policy for mitigating emissions in the European transport sector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leduc, Sylvain; Piera, Patrizio; Sennai, Mesfun; Igor, Staritsky; Berien, Elbersen; Tijs, Lammens; Florian, Kraxner

2017-04-01

A geographic explicit techno-economic model, BeWhere (www.iiasa.ac.at/bewhere), has been developed at the European scale (Europe 28, the Balkans countries, Turkey, Moldavia and Ukraine) at a 40km grid size, to assess the potential of bioenergy from non-food feedstock. Based on the minimization of the supply chain from feedstock collection to the final energy product distribution, the model identifies the optimal bioenergy production plants in terms of spatial location, technology and capacity. The feedstock of interests are woody biomass (divided into eight types from conifers and non-conifers) and five different crop residuals. For each type of feedstock, one or multiple technologies can be applied for either heat, electricity or biofuel production. The model is run for different policy tools such as carbon cost, biofuel support, or subsidies, and the optimal mix of technologies and biomass needed is optimized to reach a production cost competitive against the actual reference system which is fossil fuel based. From this approach, the optimal mix of policy tools that can be applied country wide in Europe will be identified. The preliminary results show that high carbon tax and biofuel support contribute to the development of large scale biofuel production based on woody biomass plants mainly located in the northern part of Europe. Finally the highest emission reduction is reached with low biofuel support and high carbon tax evenly distributed in Europe.

Green materials for sustainable development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Purwasasmita, B. S.

2017-03-01

Sustainable development is an integrity of multidiscipline concept combining ecological, social and economic aspects to construct a liveable human living system. The sustainable development can be support through the development of green materials. Green materials offers a unique characteristic and properties including abundant in nature, less toxic, economically affordable and versatility in term of physical and chemical properties. Green materials can be applied for a numerous field in science and technology applications including for energy, building, construction and infrastructures, materials science and engineering applications and pollution management and technology. For instance, green materials can be developed as a source for energy production. Green materials including biomass-based source can be developed as a source for biodiesel and bioethanol production. Biomass-based materials also can be transformed into advanced functionalized materials for advanced bio-applications such as the transformation of chitin into chitosan which further used for biomedicine, biomaterials and tissue engineering applications. Recently, cellulose-based material and lignocellulose-based materials as a source for the developing functional materials attracted the potential prospect for biomaterials, reinforcing materials and nanotechnology. Furthermore, the development of pigment materials has gaining interest by using the green materials as a source due to their unique properties. Eventually, Indonesia as a large country with a large biodiversity can enhance the development of green material to strengthen our nation competitiveness and develop the materials technology for the future.

Pilot-Scale Biorefinery: Sustainable Transport Fuels from Biomass via Integrated Pyrolysis and Catalytic Hydroconversion - Wastewater Cleanup by Catalytic Hydrothermal Gasification

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Elliott, Douglas C.; Olarte, Mariefel V.; Hart, Todd R.

2015-06-19

DOE-EE Bioenergy Technologies Office has set forth several goals to increase the use of bioenergy and bioproducts derived from renewable resources. One of these goals is to facilitate the implementation of the biorefinery. The biorefinery will include the production of liquid fuels, power and, in some cases, products. The integrated biorefinery should stand-alone from an economic perspective with fuels and power driving the economy of scale while the economics/profitability of the facility will be dependent on existing market conditions. UOP LLC proposed to demonstrate a fast pyrolysis based integrated biorefinery. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has expertise in an importantmore » technology area of interest to UOP for use in their pyrolysis-based biorefinery. This CRADA project provides the supporting technology development and demonstration to allow incorporation of this technology into the biorefinery. PNNL developed catalytic hydrothermal gasification (CHG) for use with aqueous streams within the pyrolysis biorefinery. These aqueous streams included the aqueous phase separated from the fast pyrolysis bio-oil and the aqueous byproduct streams formed in the hydroprocessing of the bio-oil to finished products. The purpose of this project was to demonstrate a technically and economically viable technology for converting renewable biomass feedstocks to sustainable and fungible transportation fuels. To demonstrate the technology, UOP constructed and operated a pilot-scale biorefinery that processed one dry ton per day of biomass using fast pyrolysis. Specific objectives of the project were to: The anticipated outcomes of the project were a validated process technology, a range of validated feedstocks, product property and Life Cycle data, and technical and operating data upon which to base the design of a full-scale biorefinery. The anticipated long-term outcomes from successful commercialization of the technology were: (1) the replacement of a significant fraction of petroleum based fuels with advanced biofuels, leading to increased energy security and decreased carbon footprint; and (2) establishment of a new biofuel industry segment, leading to the creation of U.S. engineering, manufacturing, construction, operations and agricultural jobs. PNNL development of CHG progressed at two levels. Initial tests were made in the laboratory in both mini-scale and bench-scale continuous flow reactor systems. Following positive results, the next level of evaluation was in the scaled-up engineering development system, which was operated at PNNL.« less

Technical evaluation of photobioreactors for microalgae cultivation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Płaczek, Małgorzata; Patyna, Agnieszka; Witczak, Stanisław

2017-10-01

This paper undertakes the description and assessment of various solutions applied for the design of photobioreactors as the type of apparatus, which can provide high output of green algae biomass. The design of such apparatus plays an important role in the context of the concurrent fulfillment of ecological and economic requirements, which are necessary to conduct an efficient and effective technology using cheap and easily accessible resources to produce different goods. Nowadays, algae is seen as one of the most promising sustainable way to produce energy in the future (biofuels, electricity, thermal energy) but technologies of biomass production and processing are still under development particularly to increase biomass and energy output. The cultivation costs in closed systems are still high, limiting their commercial applications to high-valued compounds but they can be reduced by efficient bioreactor designs, which are able to achieve high areal biomass productivities. This paper focuses on the advantages and drawbacks associated with the application of the particular types of bioreactors in algae production, description of their operation parameters and area for practical application, pointing of the constructions (tubular, flat panel, bubble column) that can contribute to improvement the profitability of large-scale production.

ATOM-ECONOMICAL PATHWAYS TO METHANOL FUEL CELL FROM BIOMASS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

MAHAJAN,D.; WEGRZYN,J.E.

1999-03-01

An economical production of alcohol fuels from biomass, a feedstock low in carbon and high in water content, is of interest. At Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), a Liquid Phase Low Temperature (LPLT) concept is under development to improve the economics by maximizing the conversion of energy carrier atoms (C,H) into energy liquids (fuel). So far, the LPLT concept has been successfully applied to obtain highly efficient methanol synthesis. This synthesis was achieved with specifically designed soluble catalysts, at temperatures < 150 C. A subsequent study at BNL yielded a water-gas-shift (WGS) catalyst for the production of hydrogen from a feedstockmore » of carbon monoxide and H{sub 2}O at temperatures < 120 C. With these LPLT technologies as a background, this paper extends the discussion of the LPLT concept to include methanol decomposition into 3 moles of H{sub 2} per mole of methanol. The implication of these technologies for the atom-economical pathways to methanol fuel cell from biomass is discussed.« less

Experimental substantiation of the possibility of developing selenium- and iodine-containing pharmaceuticals based on blue-green algae Spirulina platensis.

PubMed

Mosulishvili, L M; Kirkesali, E I; Belokobylsky, A I; Khizanishvili, A I; Frontasyeva, M V; Pavlov, S S; Gundorina, S F

2002-08-22

The great potential of using blue-green algae Spirulina platensis as a matrix for the production of selenium- and iodine-containing pharmaceuticals is shown experimentally. The background levels of 31 major, minor and trace elements (Na, Mg, Al, Cl, K, Ca, Sc, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni (using (n,p) reaction), As, Br, Zn, Rb, Mo, Ag, Sb, I, Ba, Sm, Tb, Tm, Hf, Ta, W, Au, Hg, Th) in S. platensis biomass were determined by means of epithermal neutron activation analysis. The dependence of selenium and iodine accumulation in spirulina biomass on a nutrient medium loading of the above elements was characterized. To demonstrate the possibilities of determining toxic element intake by spirulina biomass, mercury was selected. The technological parameters for production of iodinated treatment-and-prophylactic pills are developed.

Biochemical Conversion: Using Enzymes, Microbes, and Catalysis to Make Fuels and Chemicals

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

2013-07-26

This fact sheet describes the Bioenergy Technologies Office's biochemical conversion work and processes. BETO conducts collaborative research, development, and demonstration projects to improve several processing routes for the conversion of cellulosic biomass.

Economic feasibility of microalgal bacterial floc production for wastewater treatment and biomass valorization: A detailed up-to-date analysis of up-scaled pilot results.

PubMed

Vulsteke, Elien; Van Den Hende, Sofie; Bourez, Lode; Capoen, Henk; Rousseau, Diederik P L; Albrecht, Johan

2017-01-01

The economic potential of outdoor microalgal bacterial floc (MaB-floc) raceway ponds as wastewater treatment technology and bioresource of biomass for fertilizer, shrimp feed, phycobiliproteins and biogas in Northwest Europe is assessed. This assessment is based on cost data provided by industry experts, on experimental data obtained from pilot-scale outdoor MaB-floc ponds treating aquaculture and food-industry effluents, and from different biomass valorization tests. MaB-floc ponds exhibit a cost-performance of EUR 0.25-0.50m -3 wastewater which is similar to conventional wastewater treatment technologies. The production cost of MaB-flocs in aquaculture and food industry effluent is EUR 5.29 and 8.07kg -1 TSS, respectively. Capital costs and pond mixing costs are the major expenses. Commercializing MaB-flocs as aquaculture feed generates substantial revenues, but the largest profit potential lies in production of high-purity phycobiliproteins from MaB-flocs. These results highlight the large economic potential of MaB-floc technology, and justify its further development. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Process simulation of ethanol production from biomass gasification and syngas fermentation.

PubMed

Pardo-Planas, Oscar; Atiyeh, Hasan K; Phillips, John R; Aichele, Clint P; Mohammad, Sayeed

2017-12-01

The hybrid gasification-syngas fermentation platform can produce more bioethanol utilizing all biomass components compared to the biochemical conversion technology. Syngas fermentation operates at mild temperatures and pressures and avoids using expensive pretreatment processes and enzymes. This study presents a new process simulation model developed with Aspen Plus® of a biorefinery based on a hybrid conversion technology for the production of anhydrous ethanol using 1200tons per day (wb) of switchgrass. The simulation model consists of three modules: gasification, fermentation, and product recovery. The results revealed a potential production of about 36.5million gallons of anhydrous ethanol per year. Sensitivity analyses were also performed to investigate the effects of gasification and fermentation parameters that are keys for the development of an efficient process in terms of energy conservation and ethanol production. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Environmental, Economic, and Scalability Considerations and Trends of Selected Fuel Economy-Enhancing Biomass-Derived Blendstocks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dunn, Jennifer B.; Biddy, Mary; Jones, Susanne

Twenty-four biomass-derived compounds and mixtures, identified based on their physical properties, which could be blended into fuels to improve spark ignition engine fuel economy, were assessed for their economic, technology readiness, and environmental viability. These bio-blendstocks were modeled to be produced biochemically, thermochemically, or through hybrid processes. To carry out the assessment, 17 metrics were developed for which each bio-blendstock was determined to be favorable, neutral, or unfavorable. Cellulosic ethanol was included as a reference case. Overall economic and, to some extent, environmental viability is driven by projected yields for each of these processes. The metrics used in this analysismore » methodology highlight the near-term potential to achieve these targeted yield estimates when considering data quality and current technical readiness for these conversion strategies. Key knowledge gaps included the degree of purity needed for use as a bio-blendstock. Less stringent purification requirements for fuels could cut processing costs and environmental impacts. Additionally, more information is needed on the blending behavior of many of these bio-blendstocks with gasoline to support the technology readiness evaluation. Altogether, the technology to produce many of these blendstocks from biomass is emerging, and as it matures, these assessments must be revisited. Importantly, considering economic, environmental, and technology readiness factors, in addition to physical properties of blendstocks that could be used to boost engine efficiency and fuel economy, in the early stages of project research and development can help spotlight those most likely to be viable in the near term.« less

Impact of Pretreatment Technologies on Saccharification and Isopentenol Fermentation of Mixed Lignocellulosic Feedstocks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shi, Jian; George, Kevin W.; Sun, Ning

2015-02-28

In order to enable the large-scale production of biofuels or chemicals from lignocellulosic biomass, a consistent and affordable year-round supply of lignocellulosic feedstocks is essential. Feedstock blending and/or densification offers one promising solution to overcome current challenges on biomass supply, i.e., low energy and bulk densities and significant compositional variations. Therefore, it is imperative to develop conversion technologies that can process mixed pelleted biomass feedstocks with minimal negative impact in terms of overall performance of the relevant biorefinery unit operations: pretreatment, fermentable sugar production, and fuel titers. We processed the mixture of four feedstocks—corn stover, switchgrass, lodgepole pine, and eucalyptusmore » (1:1:1:1 on dry weight basis)—in flour and pellet form using ionic liquid (IL) 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate, dilute sulfuric acid (DA), and soaking in aqueous ammonia (SAA) pretreatments. Commercial enzyme mixtures, including cellulases and hemicellulases, were then applied to these pretreated feedstocks at low to moderate enzyme loadings to determine hydrolysis efficiency. Results show significant variations on the chemical composition, crystallinity, and enzymatic digestibility of the pretreated feedstocks across the different pretreatment technologies studied. The advanced biofuel isopentenol was produced during simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) of pretreated feedstocks using an engineered Escherichia coli strain. Results show that IL pretreatment liberates the most sugar during enzymatic saccharification, and in turn led to the highest isopentenol titer as compared to DA and SAA pretreatments. This study provides insights on developing biorefinery technologies that produce advanced biofuels based on mixed feedstock streams.« less

Environmental, Economic, and Scalability Considerations and Trends of Selected Fuel Economy-Enhancing Biomass-Derived Blendstocks

DOE PAGES

Dunn, Jennifer B.; Biddy, Mary; Jones, Susanne; ...

2017-10-30

Twenty-four biomass-derived compounds and mixtures, identified based on their physical properties, which could be blended into fuels to improve spark ignition engine fuel economy, were assessed for their economic, technology readiness, and environmental viability. These bio-blendstocks were modeled to be produced biochemically, thermochemically, or through hybrid processes. To carry out the assessment, 17 metrics were developed for which each bio-blendstock was determined to be favorable, neutral, or unfavorable. Cellulosic ethanol was included as a reference case. Overall economic and, to some extent, environmental viability is driven by projected yields for each of these processes. The metrics used in this analysismore » methodology highlight the near-term potential to achieve these targeted yield estimates when considering data quality and current technical readiness for these conversion strategies. Key knowledge gaps included the degree of purity needed for use as a bio-blendstock. Less stringent purification requirements for fuels could cut processing costs and environmental impacts. Additionally, more information is needed on the blending behavior of many of these bio-blendstocks with gasoline to support the technology readiness evaluation. Altogether, the technology to produce many of these blendstocks from biomass is emerging, and as it matures, these assessments must be revisited. Importantly, considering economic, environmental, and technology readiness factors, in addition to physical properties of blendstocks that could be used to boost engine efficiency and fuel economy, in the early stages of project research and development can help spotlight those most likely to be viable in the near term.« less

Biofuels Basics | NREL

Science.gov Websites

commonly made by fermenting any biomass high in carbohydrates through a process similar to beer brewing . Today, ethanol is made from starches and sugars, but NREL scientists are developing technology to allow plant matter. Cornstalks in a field with mountains in the background. NREL researchers are developing

Joint Peru/United States report on Peru/United States cooperative energy assessment. Volume 4 of 4 Volumes Annexes 8-11

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1979-08-01

A comprehensive assessment of the biofuel potential of Peru is presented. Topics discussed cover current biofuel utilization practices; evaluation of Peruvian biomass productivity; identification of Peruvian agricultural and forestry resources; assessment of resource development and management concerns; identification of market considerations; description of biofuel technological options; and regional identification of biofuel technology applications. The discussion of current biofuel utilization centers on a qualitative description of the main conversion approaches now being practiced in Peru. Biomass productivity is evaluated in the context of the terrain, soil, and climatic conditions found in Peru. A quantitative description of the energy potential that couldmore » be realized from agricultural and forestry resources of Peru follows. A regional picture is given for the production of agricultural residues and forest resources that could potentially supply energy. The assessment of resource development and management concerns focuses on harvesting, reforestation, training, and the environmental consequences of utilization of forest resources. Market factors assessed include: importation, internal market development, external market development, energy policy and pricing, and transportation. Ten biofuel technology options for Peru were identified: small- to medium-scale gasification, a wood waste inventory, stationary and mobile charcoal production systems, wood distillation, forest resource development and management, electrical cogeneration, anaerobic digestion technology, development of ethanol production capabilities, and agricultural strategies for fuel production.Based upon these biofuel options, nine applications were identified for the Costa Region, eight for the Sierra Region, and ten for the Selva Region.« less

Assessment of Peruvian biofuel resources and alternatives

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Harper, J.P.; Smith, W.; Mariani, E.

1979-08-01

Comprehensive assessment of the biofuel potential of Peru is based on: determination of current biofuel utilization practices, evauation of Peruvian biomass productivity, identification of Peruvian agricultural and forestry resources, assessment of resource development and management concerns, identification of market considerations, description of biofuel technological options, and identification of regional biofuel technology applications. Discussion of current biofuel utilization centers on a qualitative description of the main conversion approaches currently being practiced in Peru. Biomass productivity evaluations consider the terrain and soil, and climatic conditions found in Peru. The potential energy from Peruvian agricultural and forestry resources is described quantitatively. Potental regionalmore » production of agricultural residues and forest resources that could supply energy are identified. Assessment of resource development and management concerns focuses on harvesting, reforestation, training, and environmental consequences of utilization of forest resources. Market factors assessed include: importation, internal market development, external market development, energy policy and pricing, and transportation. Nine biofuel technology options for Peru are identified: (1) small-to-medium-scale gasification, (2) a wood waste inventory, (3) stationary and mobile charcoal production systems, (4) wood distillation, (5) forest resource development and management, (6) electrical cogeneration, (7) anaerobic digestion technology, (8) development of ethanol production capabilities, and (9) agricultural strategies for fuel production. Applications of these biofuel options are identified for each of the three major regions - nine applications for the Costa Region, eight for the Sierra Region, and ten for the Selva Region.« less

Spatial and temporal dynamics of agricultural residue resources in the last 30 years in China.

PubMed

Yang, Yanli; Zhang, Peidong; Yang, Xutong; Xu, Xiaoning

2016-12-01

The availability and distribution of biomass resources are important for the development of the bioenergy industry in a region. Biomass resources are abundant in China; however, the raw material is severely deficient, which makes the Chinese bioenergy industry an embarrassment and a contradiction. Unclear reserves and distribution and changing trends of biomass resources are the reason for this situation. A collection coefficient model of Chinese agricultural residue resources was established and the spatial and temporal pattern dynamics of agricultural residue resources in the last 30 years were analyzed. The results show that agricultural residue resources increased in stages from 1978 to 2011, including a rapid increase from 1978 to 1999, a significant fall from 2000 to 2004, and a slow increase from 2004 to 2011. Crops straw and livestock manure are the main ingredients of agricultural residue resources with proportions of 53-59% and 31-38%, respectively. However, the former has gradually decreased, while the latter is increasing. This mainly resulted from the strategic reorganization of the Chinese agriculture structure and the rapid development of large-scale livestock breeding and agricultural mechanization. Large regional differences existed in Chinese agricultural residue resources, and three distribution types formed, including resource-rich areas in North China, Northeast and Inner Mongolia, resource-limited areas in Central and Southwest China, and resource-poor areas along Northwest and Southeast coasts. This pattern is a reverse of the distributions of climatic conditions, water resources, economic development, human resources, and technological levels. Finally, it can be predicted that livestock manure and biomass conversion technology at low temperature will play increasingly significant roles in bioenergy industry development. © The Author(s) 2016.

Biomass measurement by flow cytometry during solid-state fermentation of basidiomycetes.

PubMed

Steudler, Susanne; Böhmer, Ulrike; Weber, Jost; Bley, Thomas

2015-02-01

Solid-state fermentation (SSF) is a robust process that is well suited to the on-site cultivation of basidiomycetes that produce enzymes for the treatment of lignocellulosics. Reliable methods for biomass quantification are essential for the analysis of fungal growth kinetics. However, direct biomass determination is not possible during SSF because the fungi grow into the substrate and use it as a nutrient source. This necessitates the use of indirect methods that are either very laborious and time consuming or can only provide biomass measurements during certain growth periods. Here, we describe the development and optimization of a new rapid method for fungal biomass determination during SSF that is based on counting fungal nuclei by flow cytometry. Fungal biomass was grown on an organic substrate and its concentration was measured by isolating the nuclei from the fungal hyphae after cell disruption, staining them with SYTOX(®) Green, and then counting them using a flow cytometer. A calibration curve relating the dry biomass of the samples to their concentrations of nuclei was established. Multiple buffers and disruption methods were tested. The results obtained were compared with values determined using the method of ergosterol determination, a classical technique for fungal biomass measurement during SSF. Our new approach can be used to measure fungal biomass on a range of different scales, from 15 mL cultures to a laboratory reactor with a working volume of 10 L (developed by the Research Center for Medical Technology and Biotechnology (fzmb GmbH)). © 2014 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry. © 2014 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry.

Biomass plug development and propagation in porous media.

PubMed

Stewart, T L; Fogler, H S

2001-02-05

Exopolymer-producing bacteria can be used to modify soil profiles for enhanced oil recovery or bioremediation. Understanding the mechanisms associated with biomass plug development and propagation is needed for successful application of this technology. These mechanisms were determined from packed-bed and micromodel experiments that simulate plugging in porous media. Leuconostoc mesenteroides was used, because production of dextran, a water-insoluble exopolymer, can be controlled by using different carbon sources. As dextran was produced, the pressure drop across the porous media increased and began to oscillate. Three pressure phases were identified under exopolymer-producing conditions: the exopolymer-induction phase, the plugging phase, and the plug-propagation phase. The exopolymer-induction phase extended from the time that exopolymer-producing conditions were induced until there was a measurable increase in pressure drop across the porous media. The plugging phase extended from the first increase in pressure drop until a maximum pressure drop was reached. Changes in pressure drop in these two phases were directly related to biomass distribution. Specifically, flow channels within the porous media filled with biomass creating a plugged region where convective flow occurred only in water channels within the biofilm. These water channels were more restrictive to flow causing the pressure drop to increase. At a maximum pressure drop across the porous media, the biomass yielded much like a Bingham plastic, and a flow channel was formed. This behavior marked the onset of the plug-propagation phase which was characterized by sequential development and breakthrough of biomass plugs. This development and breakthrough propagated the biomass plug in the direction of nutrient flow. The dominant mechanism associated with all three phases of plugging in porous media was exopolymer production; yield stress is an additional mechanism in the plug-propagation phase. Copyright 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Marine Algae: a Source of Biomass for Biotechnological Applications.

PubMed

Stengel, Dagmar B; Connan, Solène

2015-01-01

Biomass derived from marine microalgae and macroalgae is globally recognized as a source of valuable chemical constituents with applications in the agri-horticultural sector (including animal feeds and health and plant stimulants), as human food and food ingredients as well as in the nutraceutical, cosmeceutical, and pharmaceutical industries. Algal biomass supply of sufficient quality and quantity however remains a concern with increasing environmental pressures conflicting with the growing demand. Recent attempts in supplying consistent, safe and environmentally acceptable biomass through cultivation of (macro- and micro-) algal biomass have concentrated on characterizing natural variability in bioactives, and optimizing cultivated materials through strain selection and hybridization, as well as breeding and, more recently, genetic improvements of biomass. Biotechnological tools including metabolomics, transcriptomics, and genomics have recently been extended to algae but, in comparison to microbial or plant biomass, still remain underdeveloped. Current progress in algal biotechnology is driven by an increased demand for new sources of biomass due to several global challenges, new discoveries and technologies available as well as an increased global awareness of the many applications of algae. Algal diversity and complexity provides significant potential provided that shortages in suitable and safe biomass can be met, and consumer demands are matched by commercial investment in product development.

BIOMASS REBURNING - MEDELING/ENGINEERING STUDIES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vladimir Zamansky; Michael Booth

This project is designed to develop engineering and modeling tools for a family of NO{sub x} control technologies utilizing biomass as a reburning fuel. During the seventh reporting period (April 1--June 30, 1999), no information was received at EER on scheduled FETC R&D group's project activities. EER activities were on hold due to the pending purchase of the Niagara Mohawk's Dunkirk Station, a target demonstration site in this program, and then by the actual purchase of the Station by NRG. This report includes information about the current project status, recently submitted to NRG for soliciting their interest to proceed withmore » biomass reburn demonstration, and notes on alternative demonstrative partners.« less

Effects of pre-treatment technologies on quantity and quality of source-sorted municipal organic waste for biogas recovery.

PubMed

Hansen, Trine Lund; Jansen, Jes la Cour; Davidsson, Asa; Christensen, Thomas Højlund

2007-01-01

Source-sorted municipal organic waste collected from different dwelling types in five Danish cities and pre-treated at three different plants was sampled and characterized several times during one year to investigate the origin of any differences in composition of the pre-treated waste introduced by city, pre-treatment technology, dwelling type or annual season. The investigated pre-treatment technologies were screw press, disc screen and shredder+magnet. The average quantity of pre-treated organic waste (biomass) produced from the incoming waste varied between the investigated pre-treatment technologies: 59%, 66% and 98% wet weight, respectively (41%, 34% and 2% reject, respectively). The pre-treatment technologies showed differences with respect to distribution of the chemical components in the waste between the biomass and the rejected material (reject), especially for dry matter, ash, collection bag material (plastic or paper) and easily degradable organic matter. Furthermore, the particle size of the biomass was related to the pre-treatment technology. The content of plastic in the biomass depended both on the actual collection bag material used in the system and the pre-treatment technology. The sampled reject consisted mostly of organic matter. For cities using plastic bags for the source-separated organic waste, the expected content of plastic in the reject was up to 10% wet weight (in some cases up to 20%). Batch tests for methane potential of the biomass samples showed only minor variations caused by the factors city, pre-treatment technology, dwelling type and season when based on the VS content of the waste (overall average 459STPm(3)/tVS). The amount of methane generated from 1t of collected waste was therefore mainly determined by the efficiency of the chosen pre-treatment technology described by the mass distribution of the incoming waste between biomass and reject.

Biocommodity Engineering.

PubMed

Lynd; Wyman; Gerngross

1999-10-01

The application of biotechnology to the production of commodity products (fuels, chemicals, and materials) offering benefits in terms of sustainable resource supply and environmental quality is an emergent area of intellectual endeavor and industrial practice with great promise. Such "biocommodity engineering" is distinct from biotechnology motivated by health care at multiple levels, including economic driving forces, the importance of feedstocks and cost-motivated process engineering, and the scale of application. Plant biomass represents both the dominant foreseeable source of feedstocks for biotechnological processes as well as the only foreseeable sustainable source of organic fuels, chemicals, and materials. A variety of forms of biomass, notably many cellulosic feedstocks, are potentially available at a large scale and are cost-competitive with low-cost petroleum whether considered on a mass or energy basis, and in terms of price defined on a purchase or net basis for both current and projected mature technology, and on a transfer basis for mature technology. Thus the central, and we believe surmountable, impediment to more widespread application of biocommodity engineering is the general absence of low-cost processing technology. Technological and research challenges associated with converting plant biomass into commodity products are considered relative to overcoming the recalcitrance of cellulosic biomass (converting cellulosic biomass into reactive intermediates) and product diversification (converting reactive intermediates into useful products). Advances are needed in pretreatment technology to make cellulosic materials accessible to enzymatic hydrolysis, with increased attention to the fundamental chemistry operative in pretreatment processes likely to accelerate progress. Important biotechnological challenges related to the utilization of cellulosic biomass include developing cellulase enzymes and microorganisms to produce them, fermentation of xylose and other nonglucose sugars, and "consolidated bioprocessing" in which cellulase production, cellulose hydrolysis, and fermentation of soluble carbohydrates to desired products occur in a single process step. With respect to product diversification, a distinction is made between replacement of a fossil resource-derived chemical with a biomass-derived chemical of identical composition and substitution of a biomass-derived chemical with equivalent functional characteristics but distinct composition. The substitution strategy involves larger transition issues but is seen as more promising in the long term. Metabolic engineering pursuant to the production of biocommodity products requires host organisms with properties such as the ability to use low-cost substrates, high product yield, competitive fitness, and robustness in industrial environments. In many cases, it is likely to be more successful to engineer a desired pathway into an organism having useful industrial properties rather than trying to engineer such often multi-gene properties into host organisms that do not have them naturally. Identification of host organisms with useful industrial properties and development of genetic systems for these organisms is a research challenge distinctive to biocommodity engineering. Chemical catalysis and separations technologies have important roles to play in downstream processing of biocommodity products and involve a distinctive set of challenges relative to petrochemical processing. At its current nascent state of development, the definition and advancement of the biocommodity field can benefit from integration at multiple levels. These include technical issues associated with integrating unit operations with each other, integrating production of individual products into a multi-product biorefinery, and integrating biorefineries into the broader resource, economic, and environmental systems in which they function. We anticipate that coproduction of multiple products, for example, production of fuels, chemicals, power, and/or feed, is likely to be essential for economic viability. Lifecycle analysis is necessary to verify the sustainability and environmental quality benefits of a particular biocommodity product or process. We see biocommodity engineering as a legitimate focus for graduate study, which is responsive to an established personnel demand in an industry that is expected to grow in the future. Graduate study in biocommodity engineering is supported by a distinctive blend of intellectual elements, including biotechnology, process engineering, and resource and environmental systems.

Environmental and economic evaluation of bioenergy in Ontario, Canada.

PubMed

Zhang, Yimin; Habibi, Shiva; MacLean, Heather L

2007-08-01

We examined life cycle environmental and economic implications of two near-term scenarios for converting cellulosic biomass to energy, generating electricity from cofiring biomass in existing coal power plants, and producing ethanol from biomass in stand-alone facilities in Ontario, Canada. The study inventories near-term biomass supply in the province, quantifies environmental metrics associated with the use of agricultural residues for producing electricity and ethanol, determines the incremental costs of switching from fossil fuels to biomass, and compares the cost-effectiveness of greenhouse gas (GHG) and air pollutant emissions abatement achieved through the use of the bioenergy. Implementing a biomass cofiring rate of 10% in existing coal-fired power plants would reduce annual GHG emissions by 2.3 million metric tons (t) of CO2 equivalent (7% of the province's coal power plant emissions). The substitution of gasoline with ethanol/gasoline blends would reduce annual provincial lightduty vehicle fleet emissions between 1.3 and 2.5 million t of CO2 equivalent (3.5-7% of fleet emissions). If biomass sources other than agricultural residues were used, additional emissions reductions could be realized. At current crude oil prices ($70/barrel) and levels of technology development of the bioenergy alternatives, the biomass electricity cofiring scenario analyzed is more cost-effective for mitigating GHG emissions ($22/t of CO2 equivalent for a 10% cofiring rate) than the stand-alone ethanol production scenario ($92/t of CO2 equivalent). The economics of biomass cofiring benefits from existing capital, whereas the cellulosic ethanol scenario does not. Notwithstanding this result, there are several factors that increase the attractiveness of ethanol. These include uncertainty in crude oil prices, potential for marked improvements in cellulosic ethanol technology and economics, the province's commitment to 5% ethanol content in gasoline, the possibility of ethanol production benefiting from existing capital, and there being few alternatives for moderate-to-large-scale GHG emissions reductions in the transportation sector.

Green Power Initiative

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Butler, Patrick Barry

2013-01-28

National energy policy supports the gathering of more detailed and authoritative data on the introduction of renewable bio-based fuels into new and existing district energy systems via the application of biomass gasification. The University of Iowa developed a biomass-fueled, university-scale steam generation system based on biomass gasification technologies. The system serves as a state-of-the-art research and educational facility in the emerging application of gasification in steam generation. The facility, which includes a smaller down-draft gasifier and a larger multi-stage biomass boiler, was designed to operate primarily on wood-based fuels, but has provisions for testing other biomass fuel sources produced withinmore » a 100-mile radius, providing enough flexibility to meet the fluctuating local supply of biomass from industry and Midwest agriculture. The equipment was installed in an existing, staffed facility. The down-draft gasifier unit is operated by College of Engineering staff and students, under the direct technical supervision of qualified Utilities plant staff. The Green Power Initiative also includes a substantial, innovative educational component. In addition to an onsite, graduate-level research program in biomass fuels, the investigators have integrated undergraduate and graduate level teaching – through classroom studies and experiential learning – and applied research into a biomass-based, university-scale, functioning power plant. University of Iowa is unique in that it currently has multiple renewable energy technologies deployed, including significant biomass combustion (oat hulls) at its Main Power Plant and a new reciprocating engine based renewable district energy system. This project complements and supports the national energy policy and State of Iowa initiatives in ethanol and biodiesel. Byproducts of ethanol and biodiesel processes (distiller grains) as well as industry residues (oat hulls, wood chips, construction and demolition waste), farm related material (seed corn and soybean seed), and poplar trees for cleaning up ground water are logical feed stocks for gasification.« less

The intensive margin of technology adoption--Experimental evidence on improved cooking stoves in rural Senegal.

PubMed

Bensch, Gunther; Peters, Jörg

2015-07-01

Today, almost 3 billion people in developing countries rely on biomass as primary cooking fuel, with profound negative implications for their well-being. Improved biomass cooking stoves are alleged to counteract these adverse effects. This paper evaluates take-up and impacts of low-cost improved stoves through a randomized controlled trial. The randomized stove is primarily designed to curb firewood consumption, but not smoke emissions. Nonetheless, we find considerable effects not only on firewood consumption, but also on smoke exposure and, consequently, smoke-related disease symptoms. The reduced smoke exposure results from behavioural changes in terms of increased outside cooking and a reduction in cooking time. We conclude that in order to assess the effectiveness of a technology-oriented intervention, it is critical to not only account for the incidence of technology adoption - the extensive margin - but also for the way the new technology is used - the intensive margin. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Energy from wood biomass: The experience of the Brazilian forest sector

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Couto, L.; Graca, L.R.; Betters, D.R.

Wood biomass is one of the most significant renewable sources of energy in Brazil. Fuelwood and charcoal play a very important role not only for household energy consumption but also for the cement, iron and steel industries. Wood is used as an energy source by the pulp and paper, composite board and other industries of the country, mainly for steam and electricity generation. Ethanol, lignin-based coke and methanol from wood were produced at experimental units in Brazil but were not implemented on a commercial scale. Currently, a new experimental plant using a technology developed in the US is being builtmore » in the state of Bahia to generate electricity from Eucalyptus. This technology is a Biomass Integrated Gasification/Gas Turbine process which is expected to make the use of wood biomass economically feasible for electricity generation. Forest plantations are the main source of wood biomass for energy consumption by the Brazilian industrial sector. Fiscal incentives in the 1960s helped the country to begin a massive reforestation program mainly using Eucalyptus and Pinus species. A native species, bracatinga (Mimosa scabrella) has also been used extensively for wood energy plantations in southern Brazil. Technical, economic, social and environmental impacts of these plantation forests are discussed along with a forecast of the future wood energy utilization in Brazil.« less

Role of Bioreactors in Microbial Biomass and Energy Conversion

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhang, Liang; Zhang, Biao; Zhu, Xun

Bioenergy is the world’s largest contributor to the renewable and sustainable energy sector, and it plays a significant role in various energy industries. A large amount of research has contributed to the rapidly evolving field of bioenergy and one of the most important topics is the use of the bioreactor. Bioreactors play a critical role in the successful development of technologies for microbial biomass cultivation and energy conversion. In this chapter, after a brief introduction to bioreactors (basic concepts, configurations, functions, and influencing factors), the applications of the bioreactor in microbial biomass, microbial biofuel conversion, and microbial electrochemical systems aremore » described. Importantly, the role and significance of the bioreactor in the bioenergy process are discussed to provide a better understanding of the use of bioreactors in managing microbial biomass and energy conversion.« less

Fuzzy Bayesian Network-Bow-Tie Analysis of Gas Leakage during Biomass Gasification

PubMed Central

Yan, Fang; Xu, Kaili; Yao, Xiwen; Li, Yang

2016-01-01

Biomass gasification technology has been rapidly developed recently. But fire and poisoning accidents caused by gas leakage restrict the development and promotion of biomass gasification. Therefore, probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) is necessary for biomass gasification system. Subsequently, Bayesian network-bow-tie (BN-bow-tie) analysis was proposed by mapping bow-tie analysis into Bayesian network (BN). Causes of gas leakage and the accidents triggered by gas leakage can be obtained by bow-tie analysis, and BN was used to confirm the critical nodes of accidents by introducing corresponding three importance measures. Meanwhile, certain occurrence probability of failure was needed in PSA. In view of the insufficient failure data of biomass gasification, the occurrence probability of failure which cannot be obtained from standard reliability data sources was confirmed by fuzzy methods based on expert judgment. An improved approach considered expert weighting to aggregate fuzzy numbers included triangular and trapezoidal numbers was proposed, and the occurrence probability of failure was obtained. Finally, safety measures were indicated based on the obtained critical nodes. The theoretical occurrence probabilities in one year of gas leakage and the accidents caused by it were reduced to 1/10.3 of the original values by these safety measures. PMID:27463975

Biomass-derived Syngas Utilization for Fuels and Chemicals - Final Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dayton, David C

2010-03-24

Executive Summary The growing gap between petroleum production and demand, mounting environmental concerns, and increasing fuel prices have stimulated intense interest in research and development (R&D) of alternative fuels, both synthetic and bio-derived. Currently, the most technically defined thermochemical route for producing alternative fuels from lignocellulosic biomass involves gasification/reforming of biomass to produce syngas (carbon monoxide [CO] + hydrogen [H2]), followed by syngas cleaning, Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) or mixed alcohol synthesis, and some product upgrading via hydroprocessing or separation. A detailed techno-economic analysis of this type of process has recently been published [1] and it highlights the need for technicalmore » breakthroughs and technology demonstration for gas cleanup and fuel synthesis. The latter two technical barrier areas contribute 40% of the total thermochemical ethanol cost and 70% of the production cost, if feedstock costs are factored out. Developing and validating technologies that reduce the capital and operating costs of these unit operations will greatly reduce the risk for commercializing integrated biomass gasification/fuel synthesis processes for biofuel production. The objective of this project is to develop and demonstrate new catalysts and catalytic processes that can efficiently convert biomass-derived syngas into diesel fuel and C2-C4 alcohols. The goal is to improve the economics of the processes by improving the catalytic activity and product selectivity, which could lead to commercialization. The project was divided into 4 tasks: Task 1: Reactor Systems: Construction of three reactor systems was a project milestone. Construction of a fixed-bed microreactor (FBR), a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR), and a slurry bubble column reactor (SBCR) were completed to meet this milestone. Task 2: Iron Fischer-Tropsch (FT) Catalyst: An attrition resistant iron FT catalyst will be developed and tested. Task 3: Chemical Synthesis: Promising process routes will be identified for synthesis of selected chemicals from biomass-derived syngas. A project milestone was to select promising mixed alcohol catalysts and screen productivity and performance in a fixed bed micro-reactor using bottled syngas. This milestone was successfully completed in collaboration withour catalyst development partner. Task 4: Modeling, Engineering Evaluation, and Commercial Assessment: Mass and energy balances of conceptual commercial embodiment for FT and chemical synthesis were completed.« less

A New Synthetic Global Biomass Carbon Map for the year 2010

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spawn, S.; Lark, T.; Gibbs, H.

2017-12-01

Satellite technologies have facilitated a recent boom in high resolution, large-scale biomass estimation and mapping. These data are the input into a wide range of global models and are becoming the gold standard for required national carbon (C) emissions reporting. Yet their geographical and/or thematic scope may exclude some or all parts of a given country or region. Most datasets tend to focus exclusively on forest biomass. Grasslands and shrublands generally store less C than forests but cover nearly twice as much global land area and may represent a significant portion of a given country's biomass C stock. To address these shortcomings, we set out to create synthetic, global above- and below-ground biomass maps that combine recently-released satellite based data of standing forest biomass with novel estimates for non-forest biomass stocks that are typically neglected. For forests we integrated existing publicly available regional, global and biome-specific biomass maps and modeled below ground biomass using empirical relationships described in the literature. For grasslands, we developed models for both above- and below-ground biomass based on NPP, mean annual temperature and precipitation to extrapolate field measurements across the globe. Shrubland biomass was extrapolated from existing regional biomass maps using environmental factors to generate the first global estimate of shrub biomass. Our new synthetic map of global biomass carbon circa 2010 represents an update to the IPCC Tier-1 Global Biomass Carbon Map for the Year 2000 (Ruesch and Gibbs, 2008) using the best data currently available. In the absence of a single seamless remotely sensed map of global biomass, our synthetic map provides the only globally-consistent source of comprehensive biomass C data and is valuable for land change analyses, carbon accounting, and emissions modeling.

Biochemical Platform Processing Integration

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

The objective of this project is to facilitate deployment of enzyme-based biomass conversion technology. The immediate goal is to explore integration issues that impact process performance and to demonstrate improved performance of the lower-cost enzymes being developed by Genencor and Novozymes.

Integrated Biomass Gasification with Catalytic Partial Oxidation for Selective Tar Conversion

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhang, Lingzhi; Wei, Wei; Manke, Jeff

Biomass gasification is a flexible and efficient way of utilizing widely available domestic renewable resources. Syngas from biomass has the potential for biofuels production, which will enhance energy security and environmental benefits. Additionally, with the successful development of low Btu fuel engines (e.g. GE Jenbacher engines), syngas from biomass can be efficiently used for power/heat co-generation. However, biomass gasification has not been widely commercialized because of a number of technical/economic issues related to gasifier design and syngas cleanup. Biomass gasification, due to its scale limitation, cannot afford to use pure oxygen as the gasification agent that used in coal gasification.more » Because, it uses air instead of oxygen, the biomass gasification temperature is much lower than well-understood coal gasification. The low temperature leads to a lot of tar formation and the tar can gum up the downstream equipment. Thus, the biomass gasification tar removal is a critical technology challenge for all types of biomass gasifiers. This USDA/DOE funded program (award number: DE-FG36-O8GO18085) aims to develop an advanced catalytic tar conversion system that can economically and efficiently convert tar into useful light gases (such as syngas) for downstream fuel synthesis or power generation. This program has been executed by GE Global Research in Irvine, CA, in collaboration with Professor Lanny Schmidt's group at the University of Minnesota (UoMn). Biomass gasification produces a raw syngas stream containing H2, CO, CO2, H2O, CH4 and other hydrocarbons, tars, char, and ash. Tars are defined as organic compounds that are condensable at room temperature and are assumed to be largely aromatic. Downstream units in biomass gasification such as gas engine, turbine or fuel synthesis reactors require stringent control in syngas quality, especially tar content to avoid plugging (gum) of downstream equipment. Tar- and ash-free syngas streams are a critical requirement for commercial deployment of biomass-based power/heat co-generation and biofuels production. There are several commonly used syngas clean-up technologies: (1) Syngas cooling and water scrubbing has been commercially proven but efficiency is low and it is only effective at small scales. This route is accompanied with troublesome wastewater treatment. (2) The tar filtration method requires frequent filter replacement and solid residue treatment, leading to high operation and capital costs. (3) Thermal destruction typically operates at temperatures higher than 1000oC. It has slow kinetics and potential soot formation issues. The system is expensive and materials are not reliable at high temperatures. (4) In-bed cracking catalysts show rapid deactivation, with durability to be demonstrated. (5) External catalytic cracking or steam reforming has low thermal efficiency and is faced with problematic catalyst coking. Under this program, catalytic partial oxidation (CPO) is being evaluated for syngas tar clean-up in biomass gasification. The CPO reaction is exothermic, implying that no external heat is needed and the system is of high thermal efficiency. CPO is capable of processing large gas volume, indicating a very compact catalyst bed and a low reactor cost. Instead of traditional physical removal of tar, the CPO concept converts tar into useful light gases (eg. CO, H2, CH4). This eliminates waste treatment and disposal requirements. All those advantages make the CPO catalytic tar conversion system a viable solution for biomass gasification downstream gas clean-up. This program was conducted from October 1 2008 to February 28 2011 and divided into five major tasks. - Task A: Perform conceptual design and conduct preliminary system and economic analysis (Q1 2009 ~ Q2 2009) - Task B: Biomass gasification tests, product characterization, and CPO tar conversion catalyst preparation. This task will be conducted after completing process design and system economics analysis. Major milestones include identification of syngas cleaning requirements for proposed system design, identification and selection of tar compounds and 2 mixtures for use in CPO tests, and preparation of CPO catalysts for validation. (Q3 2009 ~ Q4 2009) - Task C: Test CPO with biomass gasification product gas. Optimize CPO performance with selected tar compounds. Optimize CPO performance with multi-component mixtures. Milestones include optimizing CPO catalysts design, collecting CPO experimental data for next stage kinetic modeling and understanding the effect of relative reactivities on ultimate tar conversion and syngas yields. (Q1 2010 ~ Q3 2010) - Task D: Develop tar CPO kinetic model with CPO kinetic model and modeling results as deliverables. (Q3 2010 ~ Q2 2011) - Task E: Project management and reporting. Milestone: Quarterly reports and presentations, final report, work presented at national technical conferences (Q1 2009 ~ Q2 2011) At the beginning of the program, IP landscaping was conducted to understand the operation of various types of biomass gasifiers, their unique syngas/tar compositions and potential tar mitigation options using the catalytic partial oxidation technology. A process simulation model was developed to quantify the system performance and economics impact of CPO tar removal technology. Biomass gasification product compositions used for performance evaluation tests were identified after literature review and system modeling. A reaction system for tar conversion tests was designed, constructed, with each individual component shaken-down in 2009. In parallel, University of Minnesota built a lab-scale unit and evaluated the tar removal performance using catalytic reforming. Benzene was used as the surrogate compound. The biomass gasification raw syngas composition was provided by GE through system studies. In 2010, GE selected different tar compounds and evaluated the tar removal effectiveness of the CPO catalyst. The catalytic performance was evaluated under different operating conditions, including catalyst geometry, S/C ratio, O/C ratio, GHSV, and N2 dilution. An understanding of how to optimize catalytic tar removal efficiency by varying operating conditions has been developed. GE collaborated with UoMn in examining inorganic impurities effects. Catalysts were pre-impregnated with inorganic impurities commonly present in biomass gasification syngas, including Si, Ca, Mg, Na, K, P and S. UoMn performed catalyst characterization and has acquired fundamental understandings of impurities effect on catalytic tar removal. Based on experimental data and the proposed reaction pathway, GE constructed a model to predict kinetic performance for biomass gasification tar cleanup process. Experimental data (eg. tar conversion, reactor inlet and outlet temperatures, product distribution) at different operating conditions were used to validate the model. A good fit between model predictions and experimental data was found. This model will be a valuable tool in designing the tar removal reactor and identifying appropriate operating conditions. We attended the 2011 DOE Biomass Program Thermochemical Platform Review held in Denver, CO from February 16 to 18 and received very positive comments from the review panel. Further, syngas utility and biomass to power/fuel companies expressed strong interest in our tar removal technology.« less

Lifecycle Assessment of Biofuel Production from Wood Pyrolysis Technology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Manyele, S. V.

2007-01-01

Due to a stronger dependency on biomass for energy, there is a need for improved technologies in biomass-to-energy conversion in Tanzania. This paper presents a life cycle assessment (LCA) of pyrolysis technology used for conversion of wood and wood waste to liquid biofuel. In particular, a survey of environmental impacts of the process is…

Catalytic oxidation of biorefinery lignin to value-added chemicals to support sustainable biofuel production.

PubMed

Ma, Ruoshui; Xu, Yan; Zhang, Xiao

2015-01-01

Transforming plant biomass to biofuel is one of the few solutions that can truly sustain mankind's long-term needs for liquid transportation fuel with minimized environmental impact. However, despite decades of effort, commercial development of biomass-to-biofuel conversion processes is still not an economically viable proposition. Identifying value-added co-products along with the production of biofuel provides a key solution to overcoming this economic barrier. Lignin is the second most abundant component next to cellulose in almost all plant biomass; the emerging biomass refinery industry will inevitably generate an enormous amount of lignin. Development of selective biorefinery lignin-to-bioproducts conversion processes will play a pivotal role in significantly improving the economic feasibility and sustainability of biofuel production from renewable biomass. The urgency and importance of this endeavor has been increasingly recognized in the last few years. This paper reviews state-of-the-art oxidative lignin depolymerization chemistries employed in the papermaking process and oxidative catalysts that can be applied to biorefinery lignin to produce platform chemicals including phenolic compounds, dicarboxylic acids, and quinones in high selectivity and yield. The potential synergies of integrating new catalysts with commercial delignification chemistries are discussed. We hope the information will build on the existing body of knowledge to provide new insights towards developing practical and commercially viable lignin conversion technologies, enabling sustainable biofuel production from lignocellulosic biomass to be competitive with fossil fuel. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

The differential impact of low-carbon technologies on climate change mitigation cost under a range of socioeconomic and climate policy scenarios.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Barron, Robert W.; McJeon, Haewon C.

2015-05-01

This paper considers the effect of several key parameters of low carbon energy technologies on the cost of abatement. A methodology for determining the minimum level of performance required for a parameter to have a statistically significant impact on CO2 abatement cost is developed and used to evaluate the impact of eight key parameters of low carbon energy supply technologies on the cost of CO2 abatement. The capital cost of nuclear technology is found to have the greatest impact of the parameters studied. The cost of biomass and CCS technologies also have impacts, while their efficiencies have little, if any.more » Sensitivity analysis of the results with respect to population, GDP, and CO2 emission constraint show that the minimum performance level and impact of nuclear technologies is consistent across the socioeconomic scenarios studied, while the other technology parameters show different performance under higher population, lower GDP scenarios. Solar technology was found to have a small impact, and then only at very low costs. These results indicate that the cost of nuclear is the single most important driver of abatement cost, and that trading efficiency for cost may make biomass and CCS technologies more competitive.« less

From photons to biomass and biofuels: evaluation of different strategies for the improvement of algal biotechnology based on comparative energy balances.

PubMed

Wilhelm, Christian; Jakob, Torsten

2011-12-01

Microalgal based biofuels are discussed as future sustainable energy source because of their higher photosynthetic and water use efficiency to produce biomass. In the context of climate CO2 mitigation strategies, algal mass production is discussed as a potential CO2 sequestration technology which uses CO2 emissions to produce biomass with high-oil content independent on arable land. In this short review, it is presented how complete energy balances from photon to harvestable biomass can help to identify the limiting processes on the cellular level. The results show that high productivity is always correlated with high metabolic costs. The overall efficiency of biomass formation can be improved by a photobioreactor design which is kinetically adapted to the rate-limiting steps in cell physiology. However, taking into account the real photon demand per assimilated carbon and the energy input for biorefinement, it becomes obvious that alternative strategies must be developed to reach the goal of a real CO2 sequestration.

Effect of carbon dioxide on the thermal degradation of lignocellulosic biomass.

PubMed

Kwon, Eilhann E; Jeon, Eui-Chan; Castaldi, Marco J; Jeon, Young Jae

2013-09-17

Using biomass as a renewable energy source via currently available thermochemical processes (i.e., pyrolysis and gasification) is environmentally advantageous owing to its intrinsic carbon neutrality. Developing methodologies to enhance the thermal efficiency of these proven technologies is therefore imperative. This study aimed to investigate the use of CO2 as a reaction medium to increase not only thermal efficiency but also environmental benefit. The influence of CO2 on thermochemical processes at a fundamental level was experimentally validated with the main constituents of biomass (i.e., cellulose and xylan) to avoid complexities arising from the heterogeneous matrix of biomass. For instance, gaseous products including H2, CH4, and CO were substantially enhanced in the presence of CO2 because CO2 expedited thermal cracking behavior (i.e., 200-1000%). This behavior was then universally observed in our case study with real biomass (i.e., corn stover) during pyrolysis and steam gasification. However, further study is urgently needed to optimize these experimental findings.

Making use of renewable energy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Johnston, J.C.

1984-01-01

This book describes renewable energy projects proposed for the rural areas of developing countries. Topics considered include biogas generation in Zimbabwe, biogas technology for water pumping in Botswana, soil fertility and energy problems in rural development in the Zaire rain forest, international scientific collaboration on biogas technologies for rural development, alcohol from biomass, an ethanol project in Zimbabwe, biomass alcohol and the fuel-food issue, solar water heating in Zimbabwe, absorbent box solar cookers, solar crop drying in Zimbabwe, the use of passive solar energy in Botswana buildings, the potential of mini hydro systems, woodfuel as a potential renewable energy source,more » small-scale afforestation for domestic needs in the communal lands of Zimbabwe, muscle power, the use of human energy in construction, hand-operated water pumps, animal power for water pumping in Botswana, the production of charcoal in Zambia, improving the efficiency of a traditional charcoal-burning Burmese cooking stove, social impacts, non-engineering constraints affecting energy use in a rural area, women and energy, and non-technical factors influencing the establishment of fuels-from-crops industries in developing countries.« less

Coal + Biomass → Liquids + Electricity (with CCS)

EPA Science Inventory

In this presentation, Matt Aitken applies the MARKet ALlocation energy system model to evaluate the market potential for a class of technologies that convert coal and biomass to liquid fuels and electricity (CBtLE), paired with carbon capture and storage (CCS). The technology is ...

Impact of novel energy sources: OTEC, wind, goethermal, biomass

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roberts, A. S., Jr.

1978-01-01

Alternate energy conversion methods such as ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC), wind power, geothermal wells and biomass conversion are being explored, and re-examined in some cases, for commercial viability. At a time when United States fossil fuel and uranium resources are found to be insufficient to supply national needs into the twenty-first century, it is essential to broaden the base of feasible energy conversion technologies. The motivations for development of these four alternative energy forms are established. Primary technical aspects of OTEC, wind, geothermal and biomass energy conversion systems are described along with a discussion of relative advantages and disadvantages of the concepts. Finally, the sentiment is voiced that each of the four systems should be developed to the prototype stage and employed in the region of the country and in the sector of economy which is complimentary to the form of system output.

Willow bioenergy plantation research in the Northeast

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

White, E.H.; Abrahamson, L.P.; Kopp, R.F.

1993-12-31

Experiments were established in Central New York in the spring of 1987 to evaluate the potential of Salix for biomass production in bioenergy plantations. Emphasis of the research was on developing and refining establishment, tending and maintenance techniques, with complimentary study of breeding, coppice physiology, pests, nutrient use and bioconversion to energy products. Current yields utilizing salix clones developed in cooperation with the University of Toronto in short-rotation intensive culture bioenergy plantations in the Northeast approximate 8 oven dry tons per acre per year with annual harvesting. Successful clones have been identified and culture techniques refined. The results are nowmore » being integrated to establish a 100 acre Salix large-scale bioenergy farm to demonstrate current successful biomass production technology and to provide plantations of sufficient size to test harvesters; adequately assess economics of the systems; and provide large quantities of uniform biomass for pilot-scale conversion facilities.« less

Review of the harvesting and extraction program within the National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts

DOE PAGES

Marrone, Babetta L.; Lacey, Ronald E.; Anderson, Daniel B.; ...

2017-08-07

Energy-efficient and scalable harvesting and lipid extraction processes must be developed in order for the algal biofuels and bioproducts industry to thrive. The major challenge for harvesting is the handling of large volumes of cultivation water to concentrate low amounts of biomass. For lipid extraction, the major energy and cost drivers are associated with disrupting the algae cell wall and drying the biomass before solvent extraction of the lipids. Here we review the research and development conducted by the Harvesting and Extraction Team during the 3-year National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts (NAABB) algal consortium project. The harvesting andmore » extraction team investigated five harvesting and three wet extraction technologies at lab bench scale for effectiveness, and conducted a techoeconomic study to evaluate their costs and energy efficiency compared to available baseline technologies. Based on this study, three harvesting technologies were selected for further study at larger scale. We evaluated the selected harvesting technologies: electrocoagulation, membrane filtration, and ultrasonic harvesting, in a field study at minimum scale of 100 L/h. None of the extraction technologies were determined to be ready for scale-up; therefore, an emerging extraction technology (wet solvent extraction) was selected from industry to provide scale-up data and capabilities to produce lipid and lipid-extracted materials for the NAABB program. One specialized extraction/adsorption technology was developed that showed promise for recovering high value co-products from lipid extracts. Overall, the NAABB Harvesting and Extraction Team improved the readiness level of several innovative, energy efficient technologies to integrate with algae production processes and captured valuable lessons learned about scale-up challenges.« less

Review of the harvesting and extraction program within the National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Marrone, Babetta L.; Lacey, Ronald E.; Anderson, Daniel B.

Energy-efficient and scalable harvesting and lipid extraction processes must be developed in order for the algal biofuels and bioproducts industry to thrive. The major challenge for harvesting is the handling of large volumes of cultivation water to concentrate low amounts of biomass. For lipid extraction, the major energy and cost drivers are associated with disrupting the algae cell wall and drying the biomass before solvent extraction of the lipids. Here we review the research and development conducted by the Harvesting and Extraction Team during the 3-year National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts (NAABB) algal consortium project. The harvesting andmore » extraction team investigated five harvesting and three wet extraction technologies at lab bench scale for effectiveness, and conducted a techoeconomic study to evaluate their costs and energy efficiency compared to available baseline technologies. Based on this study, three harvesting technologies were selected for further study at larger scale. We evaluated the selected harvesting technologies: electrocoagulation, membrane filtration, and ultrasonic harvesting, in a field study at minimum scale of 100 L/h. None of the extraction technologies were determined to be ready for scale-up; therefore, an emerging extraction technology (wet solvent extraction) was selected from industry to provide scale-up data and capabilities to produce lipid and lipid-extracted materials for the NAABB program. One specialized extraction/adsorption technology was developed that showed promise for recovering high value co-products from lipid extracts. Overall, the NAABB Harvesting and Extraction Team improved the readiness level of several innovative, energy efficient technologies to integrate with algae production processes and captured valuable lessons learned about scale-up challenges.« less

Woody biomass for bioenergy and biofuels in the United States -- a briefing paper

Treesearch

Eric M. White

2010-01-01

Woody biomass can be used for the generation of heat, electricity, and biofuels. In many cases, the technology for converting woody biomass into energy has been established for decades, but because the price of woody biomass energy has not been competitive with traditional fossil fuels, bioenergy production from woody biomass has not been widely adopted. However,...

Biomass and bioethanol production from Miscanthus x giganteus in Arkansas, USA

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Plants fix about 56 billion tons of CO2 and produce more than 170 billion tons of biomass annually, with cell walls representing about 70% of that biomass. This biomass represents a massive source of stored solar energy. Globally, a major technological goal is cost-effective lignocellulosic ethanol ...

A methodology and decision support tool for informing state-level bioenergy policymaking: New Jersey biofuels as a case study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brennan-Tonetta, Margaret

This dissertation seeks to provide key information and a decision support tool that states can use to support long-term goals of fossil fuel displacement and greenhouse gas reductions. The research yields three outcomes: (1) A methodology that allows for a comprehensive and consistent inventory and assessment of bioenergy feedstocks in terms of type, quantity, and energy potential. Development of a standardized methodology for consistent inventorying of biomass resources fosters research and business development of promising technologies that are compatible with the state's biomass resource base. (2) A unique interactive decision support tool that allows for systematic bioenergy analysis and evaluation of policy alternatives through the generation of biomass inventory and energy potential data for a wide variety of feedstocks and applicable technologies, using New Jersey as a case study. Development of a database that can assess the major components of a bioenergy system in one tool allows for easy evaluation of technology, feedstock and policy options. The methodology and decision support tool is applicable to other states and regions (with location specific modifications), thus contributing to the achievement of state and federal goals of renewable energy utilization. (3) Development of policy recommendations based on the results of the decision support tool that will help to guide New Jersey into a sustainable renewable energy future. The database developed in this research represents the first ever assessment of bioenergy potential for New Jersey. It can serve as a foundation for future research and modifications that could increase its power as a more robust policy analysis tool. As such, the current database is not able to perform analysis of tradeoffs across broad policy objectives such as economic development vs. CO2 emissions, or energy independence vs. source reduction of solid waste. Instead, it operates one level below that with comparisons of kWh or GGE generated by different feedstock/technology combinations at the state and county level. Modification of the model to incorporate factors that will enable the analysis of broader energy policy issues as those mentioned above, are recommended for future research efforts.

Sustainable Transportation Program 2011 Annual Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vaughan, Kathi H

2012-06-01

Highlights of selected research and development efforts at Oak Ridge National Laboratory funded by the Vehicle Technologies Program, Biomass Program, and Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program of the Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy; and the Department of Transportation.

Potential for Genetic Improvement of Sugarcane as a Source of Biomass for Biofuels

PubMed Central

Hoang, Nam V.; Furtado, Agnelo; Botha, Frederik C.; Simmons, Blake A.; Henry, Robert J.

2015-01-01

Sugarcane (Saccharum spp. hybrids) has great potential as a major feedstock for biofuel production worldwide. It is considered among the best options for producing biofuels today due to an exceptional biomass production capacity, high carbohydrate (sugar + fiber) content, and a favorable energy input/output ratio. To maximize the conversion of sugarcane biomass into biofuels, it is imperative to generate improved sugarcane varieties with better biomass degradability. However, unlike many diploid plants, where genetic tools are well developed, biotechnological improvement is hindered in sugarcane by our current limited understanding of the large and complex genome. Therefore, understanding the genetics of the key biofuel traits in sugarcane and optimization of sugarcane biomass composition will advance efficient conversion of sugarcane biomass into fermentable sugars for biofuel production. The large existing phenotypic variation in Saccharum germplasm and the availability of the current genomics technologies will allow biofuel traits to be characterized, the genetic basis of critical differences in biomass composition to be determined, and targets for improvement of sugarcane for biofuels to be established. Emerging options for genetic improvement of sugarcane for the use as a bioenergy crop are reviewed. This will better define the targets for potential genetic manipulation of sugarcane biomass composition for biofuels. PMID:26636072

Review of the Pyrolysis Platform for Producing Bio-oil and Biochar: Technology, Logistics, and Potential Impacts on Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Water Quality, Soil Quality, and Agricultural Productivity

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Pyrolysis is a relatively simple, inexpensive, and robust thermochemical technology for transforming biomass into bio-oil, biochar, and syngas. The robust nature of the pyrolysis technology, which allows considerable flexibility in both the type and quality of the biomass feedstock, combined with a ...

Subcritical Water Technology for Enhanced Extraction of Biochemical Compounds from Chlorella vulgaris

PubMed Central

Awaluddin, S. A.; Thiruvenkadam, Selvakumar; Izhar, Shamsul; Hiroyuki, Yoshida; Danquah, Michael K.; Harun, Razif

2016-01-01

Subcritical water extraction (SWE) technology has been used for the extraction of active compounds from different biomass materials with low process cost, mild operating conditions, short process times, and environmental sustainability. With the limited application of the technology to microalgal biomass, this work investigates parametrically the potential of subcritical water for high-yield extraction of biochemicals such as carbohydrates and proteins from microalgal biomass. The SWE process was optimized using central composite design (CCD) under varying process conditions of temperature (180–374°C), extraction time (1–20 min), biomass particulate size (38–250 μm), and microalgal biomass loading (5–40 wt.%). Chlorella vulgaris used in this study shows high volatile matter (83.5 wt.%) and carbon content (47.11 wt.%), giving advantage as a feedstock for biofuel production. The results showed maximum total carbohydrate content and protein yields of 14.2 g/100 g and 31.2 g/100 g, respectively, achieved under the process conditions of 277°C, 5% of microalgal biomass loading, and 5 min extraction time. Statistical analysis revealed that, of all the parameters investigated, temperature is the most critical during SWE of microalgal biomass for protein and carbohydrate production. PMID:27366748

Impact of Contaminants Present in Coal-Biomass Derived Synthesis Gas on Water-gas Shift and Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis Catalysts

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Alptekin, Gokhan

2013-02-15

Co-gasification of biomass and coal in large-scale, Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) plants increases the efficiency and reduces the environmental impact of making synthesis gas ("syngas") that can be used in Coal-Biomass-to-Liquids (CBTL) processes for producing transportation fuels. However, the water-gas shift (WGS) and Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) catalysts used in these processes may be poisoned by multiple contaminants found in coal-biomass derived syngas; sulfur species, trace toxic metals, halides, nitrogen species, the vapors of alkali metals and their salts (e.g., KCl and NaCl), ammonia, and phosphorous. Thus, it is essential to develop a fundamental understanding of poisoning/inhibition mechanisms before investingmore » in the development of any costly mitigation technologies. We therefore investigated the impact of potential contaminants (H 2S, NH 3, HCN, AsH 3, PH 3, HCl, NaCl, KCl, AS 3, NH 4NO 3, NH 4OH, KNO 3, HBr, HF, and HNO 3) on the performance and lifetime of commercially available and generic (prepared in-house) WGS and FT catalysts.« less

Production of hydrogen driven from biomass waste to power Remote areas away from the electric grid utilizing fuel cells and internal combustion engines vehicles

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tawfik, Hazem

Recent concerns over the security and reliability of the world’s energy supply has caused a flux towards the research and development of renewable sources. A leading renewable source has been found in the biomass gasification of biological materials derived from organic matters such as wood chips, forest debris, and farm waste that are found in abundance in the USA. Accordingly, there is a very strong interest worldwide in the development of new technologies that provide an in-depth understanding of this economically viable energy source. This work aims to allow the coupling of biomass gasification and fuel cell systems as wellmore » as Internal Combustion Engines (ICE) to produce high-energy efficiency, clean environmental performance and near-zero greenhouse gas emissions. Biomass gasification is a process, which produces synthesis gas (syngas) that contains 19% hydrogen and 20% carbon monoxide from inexpensive organic matter waste. This project main goal is to provide cost effective energy to the public utilizing remote farms’ waste and landfill recycling area.« less

Technical and economic assessment of processes for the production of butanol and acetone

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1982-01-01

This report represents a preliminary technical and economic evaluation of a process which produces mixed solvents (butaol/acetone/ethanol) via fermentation of sugars derived from renewable biomass resources. The objective is to assess the technology of producing butanol/acetone from biomass, and select a viable process capable of serving as a base case model for technical and economic analysis. It is anticipated that the base case process developed herein can then be used as the basis for subsequent studies concerning biomass conversion processes capable of producing a wide range of chemicals. The general criteria utilized in determining the design basis for the process are profit potential and non-renewable energy displacement potential. The feedstock chosen, aspen wood, was selected from a number of potential renewable biomass resources as the most readily available in the United States and for its relatively large potential for producing reducing sugars.

Effects of LiDAR point density and landscape context on the retrieval of urban forest biomass

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, K. K.; Chen, G.; McCarter, J. B.; Meentemeyer, R. K.

2014-12-01

Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), as an alternative to conventional optical remote sensing, is being increasingly used to accurately estimate aboveground forest biomass ranging from individual tree to stand levels. Recent advancements in LiDAR technology have resulted in higher point densities and better data accuracies, which however pose challenges to the procurement and processing of LiDAR data for large-area assessments. Reducing point density cuts data acquisition costs and overcome computational challenges for broad-scale forest management. However, how does that impact the accuracy of biomass estimation in an urban environment containing a great level of anthropogenic disturbances? The main goal of this study is to evaluate the effects of LiDAR point density on the biomass estimation of remnant forests in the rapidly urbanizing regions of Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. We used multiple linear regression to establish the statistical relationship between field-measured biomass and predictor variables (PVs) derived from LiDAR point clouds with varying densities. We compared the estimation accuracies between the general Urban Forest models (no discrimination of forest type) and the Forest Type models (evergreen, deciduous, and mixed), which was followed by quantifying the degree to which landscape context influenced biomass estimation. The explained biomass variance of Urban Forest models, adjusted R2, was fairly consistent across the reduced point densities with the highest difference of 11.5% between the 100% and 1% point densities. The combined estimates of Forest Type biomass models outperformed the Urban Forest models using two representative point densities (100% and 40%). The Urban Forest biomass model with development density of 125 m radius produced the highest adjusted R2 (0.83 and 0.82 at 100% and 40% LiDAR point densities, respectively) and the lowest RMSE values, signifying the distance impact of development on biomass estimation. Our evaluation suggests that reducing LiDAR point density is a viable solution to regional-scale forest biomass assessment without compromising the accuracy of estimation, which may further be improved using development density.

Bioregenerative life support: not a picnic

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Knott, W. M.

1998-01-01

If humans are to live permanently in space, regenerative life support systems are an enabling technology and must replace the picnic approach of taking all supplies required for each mission. These systems are classified by technologies as either physical/chemical or bioregenerative. Both of these system-types can recycle water, remove carbon dioxide, produce oxygen, and recover essential elements from waste products. Bioregenerative can also produce food, thus, making it essential if humans are to exist in space independent of earth. A solely bioregenerative life support system includes plants as a biomass production module and microbial organisms in bioreactors as a resource recovery module. In the Advanced Life Support Program, bioregenerative life support systems are being investigated through a research and technology development project which includes large scale testing as part of the Breadboard Project and human tests conducted in the soon to be constructed BioPlex facility. Research and technology development efforts are directed toward optimizing biomass productivity in controlled chambers by developing light weight, energy efficient, and automated systems; recycling liquid and solid wastes; baselining the operation of bioreactors; determining system microbial stability; assessing chemical contamination; and building models required for long term system operations. The program will include space flight studies in the near future to determine if these life support technologies will function in microgravity. When a bioregenerative system is finally incorporated into a mission, the conversion from a picnic and resupply mentality to permanent recycling and independence from earth will be complete.

Techno-economic analysis of a biomass depot

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jacobson, Jacob Jordan; Lamers, Patrick; Roni, Mohammad Sadekuzzaman

2014-10-01

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) promotes the production of an array of liquid fuels and fuel blendstocks from lignocellulosic biomass feedstocks by funding fundamental and applied research that advances the state of technology in biomass collection, conversion, and sustainability. As part of its involvement in this program, the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) investigates the technical, economic, and environmental performance of different feedstock supply systems and their impacts on the downstream conversion processes.

Development and bottlenecks of renewable electricity generation in China: a critical review.

PubMed

Hu, Yuanan; Cheng, Hefa

2013-04-02

This review provides an overview on the development and status of electricity generation from renewable energy sources, namely hydropower, wind power, solar power, biomass energy, and geothermal energy, and discusses the technology, policy, and finance bottlenecks limiting growth of the renewable energy industry in China. Renewable energy, dominated by hydropower, currently accounts for more than 25% of the total electricity generation capacity. China is the world's largest generator of both hydropower and wind power, and also the largest manufacturer and exporter of photovoltaic cells. Electricity production from solar and biomass energy is at the early stages of development in China, while geothermal power generation has received little attention recently. The spatial mismatch in renewable energy supply and electricity demand requires construction of long-distance transmission networks, while the intermittence of renewable energy poses significant technical problems for feeding the generated electricity into the power grid. Besides greater investment in research and technology development, effective policies and financial measures should also be developed and improved to better support the healthy and sustained growth of renewable electricity generation. Meanwhile, attention should be paid to the potential impacts on the local environment from renewable energy development, despite the wider benefits for climate change.

Bioenergy, the Carbon Cycle, and Carbon Policy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kammen, D. M.

2003-12-01

The evolving energy and land-use policies across North America and Africa provide critical case studies in the relationship between regional development, the management of natural resources, and the carbon cycle. Over 50 EJ of the roughly 430 EJ total global anthropogenic energy budget is currently utilized in the form of direct biomass combustion. In North America 3 - 4 percent of total energy is derived from biomass, largely in combined heat and power (CHP) combustion applications. By contrast Africa, which is a major consumer of 'traditional' forms of biomass, uses far more total bioenergy products, but largely in smaller batches, with quantities of 0.5 - 2 tons/capita at the household level. Several African nations rely on biomass for well over 90 percent of household energy, and in some nations major portions of the industrial energy supply is also derived from biomass. In much of sub-Saharan Africa the direct combustion of biomass in rural areas is exceeded by the conversion of wood to charcoal for transport to the cities for household use there. There are major health, and environmental repercussions of these energy flows. The African, as well as Latin American and Asian charcoal trade has a noticeable signature on the global greenhouse gas cycles. In North America, and notably Scandinavia and India as well, biomass energy and emerging conversion technologies are being actively researched, and provide tremendous opportunities for the evolution of a sustainable, locally based, energy economy for many nations. This talk will examine aspects of these current energy and carbon flows, and the potential that gassification and new silvicultural practices hold for clean energy systems in the 21st century. North America and Africa will be examined in particular as both sources of innovation in this field, and areas with specific promise for application of these energy technologies and biomass/land use practices to further energy and global climate management.

Techno-economic analysis of decentralized biomass processing depots

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lamers, Patrick; Roni, Mohammad S.; Tumuluru, Jaya S.

Decentralized biomass processing facilities, known as biomass depots, may be necessary to achieve feedstock cost, quantity, and quality required to grow the future U.S. bioeconomy. In this paper, we assess three distinct depot configurations for technical difference and economic performance. The depot designs were chosen to compare and contrast a suite of capabilities that a depot could perform ranging from conventional pelleting to sophisticated pretreatment technologies. Our economic analyses indicate that depot processing costs are likely to range from ~US$30 to US$63 per dry metric tonne (Mg), depending upon the specific technology implemented and the energy consumption for processing equipmentmore » such as grinders and dryers. We conclude that the benefits of integrating depots into the overall biomass feedstock supply chain will outweigh depot processing costs and that incorporation of this technology should be aggressively pursued.« less

Techno-economic analysis of decentralized biomass processing depots

DOE PAGES

Lamers, Patrick; Roni, Mohammad S.; Tumuluru, Jaya S.; ...

2015-07-08

Decentralized biomass processing facilities, known as biomass depots, may be necessary to achieve feedstock cost, quantity, and quality required to grow the future U.S. bioeconomy. In this paper, we assess three distinct depot configurations for technical difference and economic performance. The depot designs were chosen to compare and contrast a suite of capabilities that a depot could perform ranging from conventional pelleting to sophisticated pretreatment technologies. Our economic analyses indicate that depot processing costs are likely to range from ~US$30 to US$63 per dry metric tonne (Mg), depending upon the specific technology implemented and the energy consumption for processing equipmentmore » such as grinders and dryers. We conclude that the benefits of integrating depots into the overall biomass feedstock supply chain will outweigh depot processing costs and that incorporation of this technology should be aggressively pursued.« less

Process evaluation of the Regional Biomass Energy Program

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wilson, C.R.; Brown, M.A.; Perlack, R.D.

1994-03-01

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) established the Regional Biomass Energy Program (RBEP) in 1983 to increase the production and use of biomass energy resources. Through the creation of five regional program (the Great Lakes, Northeast, Pacific Northwest, Southeast, and West), the RBEP focuses on regionally specific needs and opportunities. In 1992, Oak Ridge National (ORNL) conducted a process evaluation of the RBEP Program designed to document and explain the development of the goals and strategies of the five regional programs; describe the economic and market context surrounding commercialization of bioenergy systems; assess the criteria used to select projects; describemore » experiences with cost sharing; identify program accomplishments in the transfer of information and technology; and offer recommendations for program improvement.« less

TRANSPORTATION FUEL FROM CELLULOSIC BIOMASS: A COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT OF ETHANOL AND METHANOL OPTIONS

EPA Science Inventory

Future sources of renewable fuel energy will be needed to supplement or displace petroleum. Biomass can be converted to ethanol or methanol, either having good properties as motor fuel, but distinctly different production technology. Those technologies are compared in terms of ...

An optimal renewable energy mix for Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leduc, Sylvain; Patrizio, Piera; Yowargana, Ping; Kraxner, Florian

2016-04-01

Indonesia has experienced a constant increase of the use of petroleum and coal in the power sector, while the share of renewable sources has remained stable at 6% of the total energy production during the last decade. As its domestic energy demand undeniably continues to grow, Indonesia is committed to increase the production of renewable energy. Mainly to decrease its dependency on fossil fuel-based resources, and to decrease the anthropogenic emissions, the government of Indonesia has established a 23 percent target for renewable energy by 2025, along with a 100 percent electrification target by 2020 (the current rate is 80.4 percent). In that respect, Indonesia has abundant resources to meet these targets, but there is - inter alia - a lack of proper integrated planning, regulatory support, investment, distribution in remote areas of the Archipelago, and missing data to back the planning. To support the government of Indonesia in its sustainable energy system planning, a geographic explicit energy modeling approach is applied. This approach is based on the energy systems optimization model BeWhere, which identifies the optimal location of energy conversion sites based on the minimization of the costs of the supply chain. The model will incorporate the existing fossil fuel-based infrastructures, and evaluate the optimal costs, potentials and locations for the development of renewable energy technologies (i.e., wind, solar, hydro, biomass and geothermal based technologies), as well as the development of biomass co-firing in existing coal plants. With the help of the model, an optimally adapted renewable energy mix - vis-à-vis the competing fossil fuel based resources and applicable policies in order to promote the development of those renewable energy technologies - will be identified. The development of the optimal renewable energy technologies is carried out with special focus on nature protection and cultural heritage areas, where feedstock (e.g., biomass harvesting) and green-field power plant sites will be limited - depending on the protection type and renewable energy technology. The results of the study provide indications to the policy makers on where, how and which technologies should be implemented, and what kind of policy support would be needed in order to increase and meet the Indonesian renewable energy target and to increase the energy access for all.

Defense-Wide Research and Development Near Term Energy-Efficient Technologies Projects

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-02-18

Continuous Building Commissioning USACE 6.80 5. Energy Enterprise Management USACE 1.94 6. Solid Waste Gasification USACE 2.92 7. Anaerobic...Building Commissioning – USACE, four contracts; • Energy Enterprise Management – USACE, one contract; • Solid Waste Gasification – USACE, four...Energy Supply and Distribution These include waste-to-energy and waste-to-fuel technology research and demonstrations, landfill gas use, biomass and

Biomass Program 2007 Accomplishments - Full Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

none,

2009-10-27

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's (EERE’s) Biomass Program works with industry, academia and its national laboratory partners on a balanced portfolio of research in biomass feedstocks and conversion technologies. This document provides Program accomplishments for 2007.

A Hybrid Catalytic Route to Fuels from Biomass Syngas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Harmon, Laurel; Hallen, Richard; Lilga, Michael

LanzaTech partnered with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Imperium Aviation Fuels, InEnTec, Orochem Technologies, the University of Delaware, Michigan Technological University, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and The Boeing Company, to develop a cost-effective hybrid conversion technology for catalytic upgrading of biomass-derived syngas to sustainable alternative jet fuel (SAJF) meeting the price, quality and environmental requirements of the aviation industry. Alternative “synthetic paraffinic kerosene” (SPK) blendstock produced from syngas via “Fischer-Tropsch” (F-T) or from lipids via “hydroprocessing of esters and fatty acids” (HEFA) are currently being used in commercial jet fuel blends containing at least 50% petroleum-based fuel. Thismore » project developed an alternative route to SAJF from ethanol, a type of “alcohol to jet” (ATJ) SPK. The project objective was to demonstrate a pathway that combines syngas fermentation to ethanol with catalytic upgrading of ethanol to sustainable alternative jet fuel and shows attractive overall system economics to drive down the price of biomass-derived jet fuel. The hybrid pathway was to be demonstrated on three biomass feedstocks: corn stover, woody biomass, and third biomass feedstock, cellulosic residues. The objective also included the co-production of chemicals, exemplified by 2,3-Butanediol (2,3-BDO), which can be converted to key chemical intermediates. The team successfully demonstrated that biomass syngas fermentation followed by catalytic conversion is a viable alternative to the Fischer-Tropsch process and produces a fuel with properties comparable to F-T and HEFA SPKs. Plasma gasification and gas fermentation were successfully integrated and demonstrated in continuous fermentations on waste wood, corn stover, and cellulosic bagasse. Gas fermentation was demonstrated to produce ethanol suitable for catalytic upgrading, isolating the upgrading from variations in biomass feed, syngas composition, and impurities. Ethanol feedstocks from all three types of biomass were demonstrated to be comparable to grain derived ethanol and suitable for the LT-PNNL ATJ process. The LT-PNNL ATJ catalytic upgrading process was demonstrated at lab scale for over 2000 hours of continuous operation on a single catalyst load. LanzaTech scaled up the ATJ process, producing 4000 gallons of jet and 600 gallons of diesel for testing and a future proving flight. The LT-PNNL ATJ process, at lab and pilot scale, using commercial grain-based ethanol and steel mill waste gas-based ethanol (“Lanzanol”), produces high-quality fuel-range distillates containing primarily normal paraffins and isoparaffins. The LT-PNNL ATJ fuel has equivalent properties to previously-approved SPKs such as F-T, HEFA, and ATJ from isobutanol, and conforms with critical properties needed to blend with conventional jet fuel. The project showed that the 2,3-BDO fermentation co-product can be separated economically utilizing Simulated Moving Bed (SMB) technology. 2,3-BDO can be catalytically converted to 1,3-butadiene (BD) in a two-step process with at least 70% yield, producing a chemical intermediate suitable for downstream applications. Technoeconomic and life cycle analyses of the biomass to jet process with and without 2,3-BDO production showed that capital costs are sensitive to the proportion of the 2,3-BDO co-product and biomass feedstock. The co-product 2,3-BDO, converted through to BD, significantly reduces the cash cost of production of the hydrocarbon fuels. Life cycle GHG emissions of ATJ SPK produced from biomass using a steam gasification system are projected to be significantly lower than those of conventional jet fuel. The project demonstrated that a high quality ATJ SPK, can be produced from biomass via a hybrid gas fermentation/catalytic route. Validation of the LT-PNNL ATJ process using a variety of ethanol feedstocks demonstrated the viability of a future model of distributed ATJ production, in which ethanol may be produced at multiple facilities from local feedstocks and shipped to a central facility for conversion. The project demonstrated that co-production of chemicals has the potential to reduce jet cost of production, thereby accelerating commercial production of SAJF from biomass.« less

Application of biomass pyrolytic polygeneration technology using retort reactors.

PubMed

Yang, Haiping; Liu, Biao; Chen, Yingquan; Chen, Wei; Yang, Qing; Chen, Hanping

2016-01-01

To introduce application status and illustrate the good utilisation potential of biomass pyrolytic polygeneration using retort reactors, the properties of major products and the economic viability of commercial factories were investigated. The capacity of one factory was about 3000t of biomass per year, which was converted into 1000t of charcoal, 950,000Nm(3) of biogas, 270t of woody tar, and 950t of woody vinegar. Charcoal and fuel gas had LHV of 31MJ/kg and 12MJ/m(3), respectively, indicating their potential for use as commercial fuels. The woody tar was rich in phenols, while woody vinegar contained large quantities of water and acetic acid. The economic analysis showed that the factory using this technology could be profitable, and the initial investment could be recouped over the factory lifetime. This technology offered a promising means of converting abundant agricultural biomass into high-value products. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Techno-economic analysis of decentralized biomass processing depots.

PubMed

Lamers, Patrick; Roni, Mohammad S; Tumuluru, Jaya S; Jacobson, Jacob J; Cafferty, Kara G; Hansen, Jason K; Kenney, Kevin; Teymouri, Farzaneh; Bals, Bryan

2015-10-01

Decentralized biomass processing facilities, known as biomass depots, may be necessary to achieve feedstock cost, quantity, and quality required to grow the future U.S. bioeconomy. In this paper, we assess three distinct depot configurations for technical difference and economic performance. The depot designs were chosen to compare and contrast a suite of capabilities that a depot could perform ranging from conventional pelleting to sophisticated pretreatment technologies. Our economic analyses indicate that depot processing costs are likely to range from ∼US$30 to US$63 per dry metric tonne (Mg), depending upon the specific technology implemented and the energy consumption for processing equipment such as grinders and dryers. We conclude that the benefits of integrating depots into the overall biomass feedstock supply chain will outweigh depot processing costs and that incorporation of this technology should be aggressively pursued. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Intersociety Energy Conversion Engineering Conference, 20th, Miami Beach, FL, August 18-23, 1985, Proceedings. Volumes 1, 2, & 3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1985-12-01

Topics related to aerospace power are discussed, taking into account trends and issues of military space power systems technology, space station power system advanced development, the application and use of nuclear power for future spacecraft, the current status of advanced solar array technology development, the application of a parabolic trough concentrator to space station power needs, life test results of the Intelsat-V nickel-cadmium battery, and metal hydride hydrogen storage in nickel hydrogen batteries. Other subjects explored are concerned with alternative fuels, biomass energy, biomedical power, coal gasification, electric power cycles, and electric propulsion. Attention is given to an advanced terrestrial vehicle electric propulsion systems assessment, fuel cells as electric propulsion power plants, a sinewave synthesis for high efficiency dc-ac conversion, steam desulfurization of coal, leadless transfer of energy into the body to power implanted blood pumps, oil production via entrained flow pyrolysis of biomass, and a New Zealand synthetic gasoline plant.

Bioreactor technology for production of valuable algal products

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Guo-Cai; Cao, Ying

1998-03-01

Bioreactor technology has long been employed for the production of various (mostly cheap) food and pharmaceutical products. More recently, research has been mainly focused on the development of novel bioreactor technology for the production of high—value products. This paper reports the employment of novel bioreactor technology for the production of high-value biomass and metabolites by microalgae. These high-value products include microalgal biomass as health foods, pigments including phycocyanin and carotenoids, and polyunsaturated fatty acids such as eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid. The processes involved include heterotrophic and mixotrophic cultures using organic substrates as the carbon source. We have demonstrated that these bioreactor cultivation systems are particularly suitable for the production of high-value products from various microalgae. These cultivation systems can be further modified to improve cell densities and productivities by using high cell density techniques such as fed-batch and membrane cell recycle systems. For most of the microalgae investigated, the maximum cell concentrations obtained using these bioreactor systems in our laboratories are much higher than any so far reported in the literature.

Towards Design of Sustainable Energy Systems in Developing Countries: Centralized and Localized Options

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kursun, Berrin

Energy use in developing countries is projected to equal and exceed the demand in developed countries in the next five years. Growing concern about environmental problems, depletion and price fluctuation of fossil fuels pushes the efforts for meeting energy demand in an environmentally friendly and sustainable way. Hence, it is essential to design energy systems consisting of centralized and localized options that generate the optimum energy mix to meet this increasing energy demand in a sustainable manner. In this study, we try to answer the question, "How can the energy demand in Rampura village be met sustainably?" via two centralized clean coal (CCC) technology and three localized energy technology options analyzed. We perform the analysis of these energy technologies through joint use of donor-side analysis technique emergy analysis (EA) and user-side analysis technique life cycle assessment (LCA). Sustainability of such an energy combination depends on its reliance on renewable inputs rather than nonrenewable or purchased inputs. CCC technologies are unsustainable energy systems dependent on purchased external inputs almost 100%. However, increased efficiency and significantly lower environmental impacts of CCC technologies can lead to more environmentally benign utilization of coal as an energy source. CCC technologies supply electricity at a lower price compared to the localized energy options investigated. Localized energy options analyzed include multi-crystalline solar PV, floating drum biogas digester and downdraft biomass gasifier. Solar PV has the lowest water and land use, however, solar electricity has the highest price with a high global warming potential (GWP). Contrary to general opinion, solar electricity is highly non-renewable. Although solar energy is a 100% renewable natural resource, materials utilized in the production of solar panels are mostly non-renewable purchased inputs causing the low renewability of solar electricity. Best sustainability results are obtained for full capacity operation in anaerobic digestion and for single fuel mode (SFM) operation in biomass gasification. For both of the processes, cost of electricity reduces 2-3 times if they are operated properly. However, there is not enough ipomea to run the biomass gasifier in SFM in Rampura, hence optimum operation scheme is ideal dual fuel mode (DFM) operation for the biomass gasifier analyzed. Emergy analysis of Rampura village and its subsystems reveal that sustainability is not achieved both at the village and in the subsystems levels since they are highly dependent on non-renewable material and energy inputs. To improve the overall sustainability in Rampura, dependency on purchased inputs fodder, fertilizer and diesel, non-renewable cooking fuel wood should be reduced. In satisfying energy demand in Rampura, biogas cooking and 70% biogas cooking scenarios perform better than electricity options in all of the objectives considered. Other than minimum land and water use objectives, electricity-RM and electricity-GM scenarios overlap and do not have a significant difference in terms of performance. Based on these results, the best option to meet the energy demand in Rampura would be to meet all the cooking energy with direct use of biogas. However, 70% biogas cooking scenario may be a more practical option since it both satisfies energy demand in an environmentally benign manner and satisfies the cultural needs of Rampura people. When 30% of cooking is performed by utilizing improved biomass cook stoves in the traditional way, the biogas potential becomes enough to meet all the remaining energy demand (70% of cooking, lighting and irrigation) in Rampura, hence energy security and reliability are ensured. Furthermore, utilizing biogas for cooking enables more agricultural residues to be available as fodder and eases the pressure on environment due to excessive woody biomass harvesting. Additionally, CH4 emissions from cow dung are avoided via production of biogas while the sanitation improves in the area. The GHG emissions related to cooking with inefficient cook stoves are also significantly mitigated through the use of biogas and improved biomass cook stoves. Energy demand in developing countries is subject to increase with increasing prosperity and consumerism. This increasing energy demand will necessitate the utilization of centralized energy options even in the rural areas of developing countries in the near future. Utilizing centralized clean coal technologies to meet this demand can ease energy related environmental problems, especially global warming significantly. And, adopting conscious and renewable energy oriented consumption patterns, avoiding consumption beyond the carrying capacity of these regions can contribute to achieve global level sustainability and ease the environmental burdens and problems in the developing countries.

Evaluation of a new pulping technology for pre-treating source-separated organic household waste prior to anaerobic digestion.

PubMed

Naroznova, Irina; Møller, Jacob; Larsen, Bjarne; Scheutz, Charlotte

2016-04-01

A new technology for pre-treating source-separated organic household waste prior to anaerobic digestion was assessed, and its performance was compared to existing alternative pre-treatment technologies. This pre-treatment technology is based on waste pulping with water, using a specially developed screw mechanism. The pre-treatment technology rejects more than 95% (wet weight) of non-biodegradable impurities in waste collected from households and generates biopulp ready for anaerobic digestion. Overall, 84-99% of biodegradable material (on a dry weight basis) in the waste was recovered in the biopulp. The biochemical methane potential for the biopulp was 469 ± 7 mL CH4/g ash-free mass. Moreover, all Danish and European Union requirements regarding the content of hazardous substances in biomass intended for land application were fulfilled. Compared to other pre-treatment alternatives, the screw-pulping technology showed higher biodegradable material recovery, lower electricity consumption and comparable water consumption. The higher material recovery achieved with the technology was associated with greater transfer of nutrients (N and P), carbon (total and biogenic) but also heavy metals (except Pb) to the produced biomass. The data generated in this study could be used for the environmental assessment of the technology and thus help in selecting the best pre-treatment technology for source separated organic household waste. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

NIR and Py-mbms coupled with multivariate data analysis as a high-throughput biomass characterization technique: a review

PubMed Central

Xiao, Li; Wei, Hui; Himmel, Michael E.; Jameel, Hasan; Kelley, Stephen S.

2014-01-01

Optimizing the use of lignocellulosic biomass as the feedstock for renewable energy production is currently being developed globally. Biomass is a complex mixture of cellulose, hemicelluloses, lignins, extractives, and proteins; as well as inorganic salts. Cell wall compositional analysis for biomass characterization is laborious and time consuming. In order to characterize biomass fast and efficiently, several high through-put technologies have been successfully developed. Among them, near infrared spectroscopy (NIR) and pyrolysis-molecular beam mass spectrometry (Py-mbms) are complementary tools and capable of evaluating a large number of raw or modified biomass in a short period of time. NIR shows vibrations associated with specific chemical structures whereas Py-mbms depicts the full range of fragments from the decomposition of biomass. Both NIR vibrations and Py-mbms peaks are assigned to possible chemical functional groups and molecular structures. They provide complementary information of chemical insight of biomaterials. However, it is challenging to interpret the informative results because of the large amount of overlapping bands or decomposition fragments contained in the spectra. In order to improve the efficiency of data analysis, multivariate analysis tools have been adapted to define the significant correlations among data variables, so that the large number of bands/peaks could be replaced by a small number of reconstructed variables representing original variation. Reconstructed data variables are used for sample comparison (principal component analysis) and for building regression models (partial least square regression) between biomass chemical structures and properties of interests. In this review, the important biomass chemical structures measured by NIR and Py-mbms are summarized. The advantages and disadvantages of conventional data analysis methods and multivariate data analysis methods are introduced, compared and evaluated. This review aims to serve as a guide for choosing the most effective data analysis methods for NIR and Py-mbms characterization of biomass. PMID:25147552

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McNeel, J.F.

Technological developments in biomass harvesting peaked in the early mid-seventies. Harvest operations in natural stands often included the removal of biomass material with conventional products like pulpwood and sawlogs. Since that time, forest management philosophies have changed dramatically, emphasizing partial harvests and thinnings over clearcut harvests. This change has, in turn, affected the type of equipment used for harvesting. The emphasis on leaving slash and debris on site, rather than remove it as a potential biomass product, has further affected the ability to effectively harvest biomass material from our forests. Newly developed logging systems, called cut-to-length systems, were introduced frommore » Scandinavia in the mid-eighties and produced a minor revolution in our forests. The design of these systems emphasized stand and site protection over high production and low costs. Biomass production has diminished as a priority of harvesting system design to a point where the cost of producing a ton of biomass may well exceed its market value. Harvest systems studies summarized in this report suggest that these newer systems do protect the forest environment, but at a cost to biomass and conventional production. Overall, the cost to produce conventional sawlogs and pulpwood may have increased by 40 to 50 percent using these newer systems. Biomass, typically produced at a smaller profit margin than conventional material, may have increased in cost even more than 50 percent. Even conventional systems cost 20 to 30 percent more to operate in the partial harvests commonly prescribed on our forests. In contrast, the value of biomass has not increased at the same rate as conventional products. Competing energy sources have affected the demand for energy wood and chips that were marketed only as fuel in the past, are now being sought for engineered wood products at a higher price. Current trends do not favor biomass production in many areas of North America.« less

Commercialization of fuels from Pinyon-Juniper biomass in Nevada

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Morris, G.P.

1994-12-31

This study analyzes and defines energy applications and markets that could stimulate the commercial use of Eastern Nevada`s Pinyon-Juniper resources. The commercialization potential for producing energy from Pinyon-Juniper biomass is analyzed by examining the resource base and resource availability for a commercial harvesting and processing operation. The study considered the spectrum of available equipment and technology for carrying out harvesting and processing operations, investigated the markets that might be able to use energy products derived from Pinyon-Juniper biomass, analyzed the costs of harvesting, processing, and transporting Pinyon-Juniper fuels, and set forth a plan for developing the commercial potential of thesemore » resources. The emerging residential pellet-fuels market is a promising entry market for the commercialization of an energy from Pinyon-Juniper biomass industry in Eastern Nevada, although there are serious technical issues that may render Pinyon-Juniper biomass an unsuitable feedstock for the manufacture of pellet fuels. These issues could be investigated at a moderate cost in order to determine whether to proceed with development efforts in this direction. In the longer term, one or two biomass-fired power plants in the size range of 5-10 MW could provide a stable and predictable market for the production and utilization of fuels derived from local Pinyon-Juniper biomass resources, and would provide valuable economic and environmental benefits to the region. Municipal utility ownership of such facilities could help to enhance the economic benefits of the investments by qualifying them for federal energy credits and tax-free financing.« less

FINAL TECHNICAL REPORT FOR FORESTRY BIOFUEL STATEWIDE COLLABORATION CENTER (MICHIGAN)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

LaCourt, Donna M.; Miller, Raymond O.; Shonnard, David R.

A team composed of scientists from Michigan State University (MSU) and Michigan Technological University (MTU) assembled to better understand, document, and improve systems for using forest-based biomass feedstocks in the production of energy products within Michigan. Work was funded by a grant (DE-EE-0000280) from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and was administered by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC). The goal of the project was to improve the forest feedstock supply infrastructure to sustainably provide woody biomass for biofuel production in Michigan over the long-term. Work was divided into four broad areas with associated objectives: • TASK A: Developmore » a Forest-Based Biomass Assessment for Michigan – Define forest-based feedstock inventory, availability, and the potential of forest-based feedstock to support state and federal renewable energy goals while maintaining current uses. • TASK B: Improve Harvesting, Processing and Transportation Systems – Identify and develop cost, energy, and carbon efficient harvesting, processing and transportation systems. • TASK C: Improve Forest Feedstock Productivity and Sustainability – Identify and develop sustainable feedstock production systems through the establishment and monitoring of a statewide network of field trials in forests and energy plantations. • TASK D: Engage Stakeholders – Increase understanding of forest biomass production systems for biofuels by a broad range of stakeholders. The goal and objectives of this research and development project were fulfilled with key model deliverables including: 1) The Forest Biomass Inventory System (Sub-task A1) of feedstock inventory and availability and, 2) The Supply Chain Model (Sub-task B2). Both models are vital to Michigan’s forest biomass industry and support forecasting delivered cost, as well as carbon and energy balance. All of these elements are important to facilitate investor, operational and policy decisions. All other sub-tasks supported the development of these two tools either directly or by building out supporting information in the forest biomass supply chain. Outreach efforts have, and are continuing to get these user friendly models and information to decision makers to support biomass feedstock supply chain decisions across the areas of biomass inventory and availability, procurement, harvest, forwarding, transportation and processing. Outreach will continue on the project website at http://www.michiganforestbiofuels.org/ and http://www.michiganwoodbiofuels.org/« less

Comparative Evaluation of Biomass Power Generation Systems in China Using Hybrid Life Cycle Inventory Analysis

PubMed Central

Liu, Huacai; Yin, Xiuli; Wu, Chuangzhi

2014-01-01

There has been a rapid growth in using agricultural residues as an energy source to generate electricity in China. Biomass power generation (BPG) systems may vary significantly in technology, scale, and feedstock and consequently in their performances. A comparative evaluation of five typical BPG systems has been conducted in this study through a hybrid life cycle inventory (LCI) approach. Results show that requirements of fossil energy savings, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions, as well as emission reductions of SO2 and NOx, can be best met by the BPG systems. The cofiring systems were found to behave better than the biomass-only fired system and the biomass gasification systems in terms of energy savings and GHG emission reductions. Comparing with results of conventional process-base LCI, an important aspect to note is the significant contribution of infrastructure, equipment, and maintenance of the plant, which require the input of various types of materials, fuels, services, and the consequent GHG emissions. The results demonstrate characteristics and differences of BPG systems and help identify critical opportunities for biomass power development in China. PMID:25383383

Comparative evaluation of biomass power generation systems in China using hybrid life cycle inventory analysis.

PubMed

Liu, Huacai; Yin, Xiuli; Wu, Chuangzhi

2014-01-01

There has been a rapid growth in using agricultural residues as an energy source to generate electricity in China. Biomass power generation (BPG) systems may vary significantly in technology, scale, and feedstock and consequently in their performances. A comparative evaluation of five typical BPG systems has been conducted in this study through a hybrid life cycle inventory (LCI) approach. Results show that requirements of fossil energy savings, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions, as well as emission reductions of SO2 and NOx, can be best met by the BPG systems. The cofiring systems were found to behave better than the biomass-only fired system and the biomass gasification systems in terms of energy savings and GHG emission reductions. Comparing with results of conventional process-base LCI, an important aspect to note is the significant contribution of infrastructure, equipment, and maintenance of the plant, which require the input of various types of materials, fuels, services, and the consequent GHG emissions. The results demonstrate characteristics and differences of BPG systems and help identify critical opportunities for biomass power development in China.

Modelling the regional application of stakeholder identified land management strategies.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Irvine, B. J.; Fleskens, L.; Kirkby, M. J.

2012-04-01

The DESIRE project has trialled a series of sustainable land management (SLM) technologies. These technologies have been identified as being beneficial in mitigating land degradation by local stakeholders from a range of semi-arid study sites. The field results and the qualitative WOCAT technology assessment ftom across the study sites have been used to develop the adapted PESERA SLM model. This paper considers the development of the adapted PESERA SLM model and the potential for applying locally successful SLM technologies across a wider range of climatic and environmental conditions with respect to degradation risk, biomass production and the investment cost interface (PESERA/DESMICE). The integrate PESERA/DESMICE model contributes to the policy debate by providing a biophysical and socio-economic assessment of technology and policy scenarios.

Hydrothermal liquefaction of agricultural and forestry wastes: state-of-the-art review and future prospects.

PubMed

Cao, Leichang; Zhang, Cheng; Chen, Huihui; Tsang, Daniel C W; Luo, Gang; Zhang, Shicheng; Chen, Jianmin

2017-12-01

Hydrothermal liquefaction has been widely applied to obtain bioenergy and high-value chemicals from biomass in the presence of a solvent at moderate to high temperature (200-550°C) and pressure (5-25MPa). This article summarizes and discusses the conversion of agricultural and forestry wastes by hydrothermal liquefaction. The history and development of hydrothermal liquefaction technology for lignocellulosic biomass are briefly introduced. The research status in hydrothermal liquefaction of agricultural and forestry wastes is critically reviewed, particularly for the effects of liquefaction conditions on bio-oil yield and the decomposition mechanisms of main components in biomass. The limitations of hydrothermal liquefaction of agricultural and forestry wastes are discussed, and future research priorities are proposed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Opportunities for using wood and biofibers for energy, chemical feedstocks, and structural applications

Treesearch

J. E. Winandy; R. S. Williams; A. W. Rudie; R. J. Ross

2008-01-01

This chapter describes 'integrated biomass technologies', a systematic approach for maximizing value, performance, resource sustainability, and profitability in the agriculture and forest products industries. The fundamental principles of integrated biomass technologies provide a global roadmap to a bio-based economy based on the systematic use of many less-...

Research and development to prepare and characterize robust coal/biomass mixtures for direct co-feeding into gasification systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Felix, Larry; Farthing, William; Hoekman, S. Kent

This project was initiated on October 1, 2010 and utilizes equipment and research supported by the Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory, under Award Number DE- FE0005349. It is also based upon previous work supported by the Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory, under Award Numbers DOE-DE-FG36-01GOl1082, DE-FG36-02G012011 or DE-EE0000272. The overall goal of the work performed was to demonstrate and assess the economic viability of fast hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) for transforming lignocellulosic biomass into a densified, friable fuel to gasify like coal that can be easily blended with ground coal and coal fines and then be formedmore » into robust, weather-resistant pellets and briquettes.« less

Methods of downstream processing for the production of biodiesel from microalgae.

PubMed

Kim, Jungmin; Yoo, Gursong; Lee, Hansol; Lim, Juntaek; Kim, Kyochan; Kim, Chul Woong; Park, Min S; Yang, Ji-Won

2013-11-01

Despite receiving increasing attention during the last few decades, the production of microalgal biofuels is not yet sufficiently cost-effective to compete with that of petroleum-based conventional fuels. Among the steps required for the production of microalgal biofuels, the harvest of the microalgal biomass and the extraction of lipids from microalgae are two of the most expensive. In this review article, we surveyed a substantial amount of previous work in microalgal harvesting and lipid extraction to highlight recent progress in these areas. We also discuss new developments in the biodiesel conversion technology due to the importance of the connectivity of this step with the lipid extraction process. Furthermore, we propose possible future directions for technological or process improvements that will directly affect the final production costs of microalgal biomass-based biofuels. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Age-dependent population dynamics of the bioenergy crop Miscanthus x giganteus in Illinois

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Rising global demand for liquid fuels, coupled with new technologies for converting biomass to ethanol, have generated intense interest in the development of herbaceous perennial bioenergy crops. Some plant species being considered as biofeedstocks share traits with invasive species and have histori...

Conversion of wastes into bioelectricity and chemicals by using microbial electrochemical technologies.

PubMed

Logan, Bruce E; Rabaey, Korneel

2012-08-10

Waste biomass is a cheap and relatively abundant source of electrons for microbes capable of producing electrical current outside the cell. Rapidly developing microbial electrochemical technologies, such as microbial fuel cells, are part of a diverse platform of future sustainable energy and chemical production technologies. We review the key advances that will enable the use of exoelectrogenic microorganisms to generate biofuels, hydrogen gas, methane, and other valuable inorganic and organic chemicals. Moreover, we examine the key challenges for implementing these systems and compare them to similar renewable energy technologies. Although commercial development is already underway in several different applications, ranging from wastewater treatment to industrial chemical production, further research is needed regarding efficiency, scalability, system lifetimes, and reliability.

Modelling of heat transfer during torrefaction of large lignocellulosic biomass

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Regmi, Bharat; Arku, Precious; Tasnim, Syeda Humaira; Mahmud, Shohel; Dutta, Animesh

2018-02-01

Preparation of feedstock is a major energy intensive process for the thermochemical conversion of biomass into fuel. By eliminating the need to grind biomass prior to the torrefaction process, there would be a potential gain in the energy requirements as the entire step would be eliminated. In regards to a commercialization of torrefaction technology, this study has examined heat transfer inside large cylindrical biomass both numerically and experimentally during torrefaction. A numerical axis-symmetrical 2-D model for heat transfer during torrefaction at 270°C for 1 h was created in COMSOL Multiphysics 5.1 considering heat generation evaluated from the experiment. The model analyzed the temperature distribution within the core and on the surface of biomass during torrefaction for various sizes. The model results showed similarities with experimental results. The effect of L/D ratio on temperature distribution within biomass was observed by varying length and diameter and compared with experiments in literature to find out an optimal range of cylindrical biomass size suitable for torrefaction. The research demonstrated that a cylindrical biomass sample of 50 mm length with L/D ratio of 2 can be torrefied with a core-surface temperature difference of less than 30 °C. The research also demonstrated that sample length has a negligible effect on core-surface temperature difference during torrefaction when the diameter is fixed at 25 mm. This information will help to design a torrefaction processing system and develop a value chain for biomass supply without using an energy-intensive grinding process.

Modelling of heat transfer during torrefaction of large lignocellulosic biomass

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Regmi, Bharat; Arku, Precious; Tasnim, Syeda Humaira; Mahmud, Shohel; Dutta, Animesh

2018-07-01

Preparation of feedstock is a major energy intensive process for the thermochemical conversion of biomass into fuel. By eliminating the need to grind biomass prior to the torrefaction process, there would be a potential gain in the energy requirements as the entire step would be eliminated. In regards to a commercialization of torrefaction technology, this study has examined heat transfer inside large cylindrical biomass both numerically and experimentally during torrefaction. A numerical axis-symmetrical 2-D model for heat transfer during torrefaction at 270°C for 1 h was created in COMSOL Multiphysics 5.1 considering heat generation evaluated from the experiment. The model analyzed the temperature distribution within the core and on the surface of biomass during torrefaction for various sizes. The model results showed similarities with experimental results. The effect of L/D ratio on temperature distribution within biomass was observed by varying length and diameter and compared with experiments in literature to find out an optimal range of cylindrical biomass size suitable for torrefaction. The research demonstrated that a cylindrical biomass sample of 50 mm length with L/D ratio of 2 can be torrefied with a core-surface temperature difference of less than 30 °C. The research also demonstrated that sample length has a negligible effect on core-surface temperature difference during torrefaction when the diameter is fixed at 25 mm. This information will help to design a torrefaction processing system and develop a value chain for biomass supply without using an energy-intensive grinding process.

Gasification and combustion technologies of agro-residues and their application to rural electric power systems in India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bharadwaj, Anshu

Biomass based power generation has the potential to add up to 20,000 MW of distributed capacity in India close to the rural load centers. However, the present production of biomass-based electricity is modest, contributing a mere 300 MW of installed capacity. In this thesis, we shall examine some of the scientific, technological and policy issues concerned with the generation and commercial viability of biomass-based electric power. We first consider the present status of biomass-based power in India and make an attempt to understand the reasons for low utilization. Our analysis suggests that the small-scale biomass power plants (<100 kW) when used for village electrification have a low Plant Load Factor (PLF) that adversely affects their economic viability. Medium Scale units (0.5 MW--5 MW) do not appear attractive because of the costs involved in the biomass transportation. There is thus a merit in considering power plants that use biomass available in large quantities in agro-processing centers such as rice or sugar mills where power plants of capacities in excess of 5 MW are possible without biomass transportation. We then simulate a biomass gasification combustion cycle using a naturally aspirated spark ignition engine since it can run totally on biomass gas. The gasifier and engine are modeled using the chemical equilibrium approach. The simulation is used to study the impact of fuel moisture and the performance of different biomass feedstock. Biomass power plants when used for decentralized power generation; close to the rural load centers can solve some of the problems of rural power supply: provide voltage support, reactive power and peak shaving. We consider an innovative option of setting up a rural electricity micro-grid using a decentralized biomass power plant and selected a rural feeder in Tumkur district, Karnataka for three-phase AC load flow studies. Our results suggest that this option significantly reduces the distribution losses and improves the voltage profiles. We examine a few innovative policy options for making a rural micro-grid economically viable and also a pricing mechanism for reactive power and wheeling. We next consider co-firing biomass and coal in utility boilers as an attractive option for biomass utilization because of low capital costs; high efficiency of utility boilers; lower CO2 emissions (per kWh) and also lower NOx and SO2. However, efficiency derating of the boilers caused by unburnt carbon in the fly ash is a major concern of the utilities. We develop a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) based model to understand the impact of co-firing on utility boilers. A detailed biomass devolatilization sub-model is also developed to study the importance of intra-particle heat and mass transport. Finally, we conduct an experimental study of the pyrolysis of rice husk. We conducted single particle experiments in a Confocal Scanning Laser Microscope (CSLM) at the Department of Material Science and Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University coupled with Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) analysis of partially and fully combusted particles. Our results seem to indicate that the role of silica fibers is not merely to act as geometric shields for the carbon atoms. Instead there appears to be a strong and thermally resistant inter-molecular bonding that prevents carbon conversion. Therefore, it may not be possible to achieve full carbon conversion.

Evaluating the use of biomass energy with carbon capture and storage in low emission scenarios

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vaughan, Naomi E.; Gough, Clair; Mander, Sarah; Littleton, Emma W.; Welfle, Andrew; Gernaat, David E. H. J.; van Vuuren, Detlef P.

2018-04-01

Biomass Energy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) is heavily relied upon in scenarios of future emissions that are consistent with limiting global mean temperature increase to 1.5 °C or 2 °C above pre-industrial. These temperature limits are defined in the Paris Agreement in order to reduce the risks and impacts of climate change. Here, we explore the use of BECCS technologies in a reference scenario and three low emission scenarios generated by an integrated assessment model (IMAGE). Using these scenarios we investigate the feasibility of key implicit and explicit assumptions about these BECCS technologies, including biomass resource, land use, CO2 storage capacity and carbon capture and storage (CCS) deployment rate. In these scenarios, we find that half of all global CO2 storage required by 2100 occurs in USA, Western Europe, China and India, which is compatible with current estimates of regional CO2 storage capacity. CCS deployment rates in the scenarios are very challenging compared to historical rates of fossil, renewable or nuclear technologies and are entirely dependent on stringent policy action to incentivise CCS. In the scenarios, half of the biomass resource is derived from agricultural and forestry residues and half from dedicated bioenergy crops grown on abandoned agricultural land and expansion into grasslands (i.e. land for forests and food production is protected). Poor governance of the sustainability of bioenergy crop production can significantly limit the amount of CO2 removed by BECCS, through soil carbon loss from direct and indirect land use change. Only one-third of the bioenergy crops are grown in regions associated with more developed governance frameworks. Overall, the scenarios in IMAGE are ambitious but consistent with current relevant literature with respect to assumed biomass resource, land use and CO2 storage capacity.

Market Assessment of Biomass Gasification and Combustion Technology for Small- and Medium-Scale Applications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Peterson, D.; Haase, S.

2009-07-01

This report provides a market assessment of gasification and direct combustion technologies that use wood and agricultural resources to generate heat, power, or combined heat and power (CHP) for small- to medium-scale applications. It contains a brief overview of wood and agricultural resources in the U.S.; a description and discussion of gasification and combustion conversion technologies that utilize solid biomass to generate heat, power, and CHP; an assessment of the commercial status of gasification and combustion technologies; a summary of gasification and combustion system economics; a discussion of the market potential for small- to medium-scale gasification and combustion systems; andmore » an inventory of direct combustion system suppliers and gasification technology companies. The report indicates that while direct combustion and close-coupled gasification boiler systems used to generate heat, power, or CHP are commercially available from a number of manufacturers, two-stage gasification systems are largely in development, with a number of technologies currently in demonstration. The report also cites the need for a searchable, comprehensive database of operating combustion and gasification systems that generate heat, power, or CHP built in the U.S., as well as a national assessment of the market potential for the systems.« less

Process Design and Economics for the Conversion of Algal Biomass to Biofuels: Algal Biomass Fractionation to Lipid-and Carbohydrate-Derived Fuel Products

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Davis, R.; Kinchin, C.; Markham, J.

2014-09-11

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) promotes the production of a range of liquid fuels and fuel blendstocks from biomass feedstocks by funding fundamental and applied research that advances the state of technology in biomass production, conversion, and sustainability. As part of its involvement in this program, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) investigates the conceptual production economics of these fuels. This includes fuel pathways from lignocellulosic (terrestrial) biomass, as well as from algal (aquatic) biomass systems.

Development of Lignocellulosic Biorefinery Technologies: Recent Advances and Current Challenges

DOE PAGES

Amore, Antonella; Ciesielski, Peter N.; Lin, Chien-Yuan; ...

2016-06-06

We describe some recent developments of the biorefinery concept within this review, which focuses on the efforts required to make the lignocellulosic biorefinery a sustainable and economically viable reality. In spite of the major research and development endeavours directed towards this goal over the past several decades, the integrated production of biofuel and other bio-based products still needs to be optimized from both technical and economical perspectives. This review will highlight recent progress towards the optimization of the major biorefinery processes, including biomass pretreatment and fractionation, saccharification of sugars, and conversion of sugars and lignin into fuels and chemical precursors.more » Additionally, advances in genetic modification of biomass structure and composition for the purpose of enhancing the efficacy of conversion processes, which is emerging as a powerful tool for tailoring biomass fated for the biorefinery, will be overviewed. The continual improvement of these processes and their integration in the format of a modern biorefinery is paving the way for a sustainable bio-economy which will displace large portions of petroleum-derived fuels and chemicals with renewable substitutes.« less

Development of Lignocellulosic Biorefinery Technologies: Recent Advances and Current Challenges

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Amore, Antonella; Ciesielski, Peter N.; Lin, Chien-Yuan

We describe some recent developments of the biorefinery concept within this review, which focuses on the efforts required to make the lignocellulosic biorefinery a sustainable and economically viable reality. In spite of the major research and development endeavours directed towards this goal over the past several decades, the integrated production of biofuel and other bio-based products still needs to be optimized from both technical and economical perspectives. This review will highlight recent progress towards the optimization of the major biorefinery processes, including biomass pretreatment and fractionation, saccharification of sugars, and conversion of sugars and lignin into fuels and chemical precursors.more » Additionally, advances in genetic modification of biomass structure and composition for the purpose of enhancing the efficacy of conversion processes, which is emerging as a powerful tool for tailoring biomass fated for the biorefinery, will be overviewed. The continual improvement of these processes and their integration in the format of a modern biorefinery is paving the way for a sustainable bio-economy which will displace large portions of petroleum-derived fuels and chemicals with renewable substitutes.« less

Augmented digestion of lignocellulose by steam explosion, acid and alkaline pretreatment methods: a review.

PubMed

Singh, Joginder; Suhag, Meenakshi; Dhaka, Anil

2015-03-06

Lignocellulosic materials can be explored as one of the sustainable substrates for bioethanol production through microbial intervention as they are abundant, cheap and renewable. But at the same time, their recalcitrant structure makes the conversion process more cumbersome owing to their chemical composition which adversely affects the efficiency of bioethanol production. Therefore, the technical approaches to overcome recalcitrance of biomass feedstock has been developed to remove the barriers with the help of pretreatment methods which make cellulose more accessible to the hydrolytic enzymes, secreted by the microorganisms, for its conversion to glucose. Pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass in cost effective manner is a major challenge to bioethanol technology research and development. Hence, in this review, we have discussed various aspects of three commonly used pretreatment methods, viz., steam explosion, acid and alkaline, applied on various lignocellulosic biomasses to augment their digestibility alongwith the challenges associated with their processing. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Biogas energy production from tropical biomass wastes by anaerobic digestion

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is an attractive technology in tropical regions for converting locally abundant biomass wastes into biogas which can be used to produce heat, electricity, and transportation fuels. However, investigations on AD of tropical forestry wastes, such as albizia biomass, and food w...

Novel storage technologies for raw and clarified syrup biomass feedstocks from sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench)

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Attention is currently focused on developing sustainable supply chains of sugar feedstocks for new, flexible biorefineries. Fundamental processing needs identified by industry for the large-scale manufacture of biofuels and bioproducts from sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) include stabiliz...

DEVELOPMENT OF BIO-BASED MOLECULAR TECHNOLOGIES FOR REMOVAL AND REAL-TIME MONITORING OF TOXIC METALS

EPA Science Inventory

Transformation of heavy-metal related genes from a hyper-accumulator to a high-biomass species is expected to promote a zinc hyper-accumulating phenotype in the normally non-hyper-accumulating poplar. Coupling fluorescence with heavy metal proteins is anticipated to allow ...

SITE EMERGING TECHNOLOGY SUMMARY. BIOSCRUBBER FOR REMOVING HAZARDOUS ORGANIC EMISSIONS FROM SOIL, WATER, AND AIR DECONTAMINATION PROCESSES

EPA Science Inventory

An advanced biofiltration system has been developed for the removal of trace organic contaminants in air. This bioscrubber uses activated carbon as a support for biogrowth. An advanced engineering design was incorporated into the bioscrubber to allow biomass removal and nutrient ...

7 CFR 3430.1002 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... Sun Grant Program § 3430.1002 Definitions. The definitions specific to the Sun Grant Program are from... biomass as a feedstock. Center means a Sun Grant Center identified in § 3430.1003(a)(1) through (5.... Subcenter means the Sun Grant Subcenter identified in § 3430.1003(a)(6). Technology development means the...

7 CFR 3430.1002 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... Sun Grant Program § 3430.1002 Definitions. The definitions specific to the Sun Grant Program are from... biomass as a feedstock. Center means a Sun Grant Center identified in § 3430.1003(a)(1) through (5.... Subcenter means the Sun Grant Subcenter identified in § 3430.1003(a)(6). Technology development means the...

7 CFR 3430.1002 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... Sun Grant Program § 3430.1002 Definitions. The definitions specific to the Sun Grant Program are from... biomass as a feedstock. Center means a Sun Grant Center identified in § 3430.1003(a)(1) through (5.... Subcenter means the Sun Grant Subcenter identified in § 3430.1003(a)(6). Technology development means the...

7 CFR 3430.1002 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... Sun Grant Program § 3430.1002 Definitions. The definitions specific to the Sun Grant Program are from... biomass as a feedstock. Center means a Sun Grant Center identified in § 3430.1003(a)(1) through (5.... Subcenter means the Sun Grant Subcenter identified in § 3430.1003(a)(6). Technology development means the...

Biorefinery.

PubMed

Ohara, H

2003-10-01

The biorefinery produces fuels, solvents, plastics and food for human beings. In some countries, these biorefinery products are made from waste biomass. The main processes in the biorefinery involve ethanol fermentation and lactic acid fermentation. For the biorefinery, many hybrid technologies were developed from different fields, such as bioengineering, polymer chemistry, food science and agriculture.

FUEL FLEXIBLE LOW EMISSIONS BURNER FOR WASTE-TO-ENERGY SYSTEMS - PHASE I

EPA Science Inventory

A mini review on renewable sources for biofuel.

PubMed

Ho, Dang P; Ngo, Huu Hao; Guo, Wenshan

2014-10-01

Rapid growth in both global energy demand and carbon dioxide emissions associated with the use of fossil fuels has driven the search for alternative sources which are renewable and have a lower environmental impact. This paper reviews the availability and bioenergy potentials of the current biomass feedstocks. These include (i) food crops such as sugarcane, corn and vegetable oils, classified as the first generation feedstocks, and (ii) lignocellulosic biomass derived from agricultural and forestry residues and municipal waste, as second generation feedstocks. The environmental and socioeconomic limitations of the first generation feedstocks have placed greater emphasis on the lignocellulosic biomass, of which the conversion technologies still faces major constraints to full commercial deployment. Key technical challenges and opportunities of the lignocellulosic biomass-to-bioenergy production are discussed in comparison with the first generation technologies. The potential of the emerging third generation biofuel from algal biomass is also reviewed. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Biomass potential resources identification in Togean Islands, Central Sulawesi

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bunyamin, A.; Purnomo, D.

2017-05-01

Togean Islands is one of remote area in Central Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. Togean has been already well known for its great underwater scenery which fascinating many foreign tourists stay there. The large number of visits to Togean doesn’t mean at the same time it brings much improvement to local economy. People in Togean was used to live with limited utilities. Water and electricity are the two major problems that have been faced by the communities for many years. On the other hand, Togean has a very good potential for the development of biomass as a renewable energy source. This paper evaluated the potency of each resources using some parameters including availability, social support, technology feasibilities and sustainability aspect. Biomass potential resources that were investigated are hardwoods and forestry product, agroindustrial waste and by-products, and also household waste. Advanced analysis has concluded that the most feasible resources that eligible to be considered as future biomass resources is household waste followed by agro-industrial and agricultural waste then hardwood and forestry products.

Analysing biomass torrefaction supply chain costs.

PubMed

Svanberg, Martin; Olofsson, Ingemar; Flodén, Jonas; Nordin, Anders

2013-08-01

The objective of the present work was to develop a techno-economic system model to evaluate how logistics and production parameters affect the torrefaction supply chain costs under Swedish conditions. The model consists of four sub-models: (1) supply system, (2) a complete energy and mass balance of drying, torrefaction and densification, (3) investment and operating costs of a green field, stand-alone torrefaction pellet plant, and (4) distribution system to the gate of an end user. The results show that the torrefaction supply chain reaps significant economies of scale up to a plant size of about 150-200 kiloton dry substance per year (ktonDS/year), for which the total supply chain costs accounts to 31.8 euro per megawatt hour based on lower heating value (€/MWhLHV). Important parameters affecting total cost are amount of available biomass, biomass premium, logistics equipment, biomass moisture content, drying technology, torrefaction mass yield and torrefaction plant capital expenditures (CAPEX). Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Application of membrane bioreactors in the preliminary treatment of early planetary base wastewater for long-duration space missions.

PubMed

Zhang, Kai; Choi, Hyeok; Dionysiou, Dionysios D; Oerther, Daniel B

2008-12-01

Membrane bioreactors (MBRs) are the preferred technology for the preliminary treatment of Early Planetary Base Wastewater (EPBW) because of their compact configuration and promising treatment performance. For long-duration space missions, irreversible membrane biofouling resulting from the strong attachment of biomass and the formation of biofilms are major concerns for the MBR process. In this study, a MBR was operated for 230 days treating synthetic EPBW. The reactor demonstrated excellent treatment performance, in terms of chemical oxygen demand removal and nitrification. Filtration resistance is mainly caused by concentration polarization, reversible fouling, and irreversible fouling. Analysis of the microbial communities in the planktonic and corresponding sessile biomass suggested that the microbial community of the planktonic biomass was significantly different from the one of the sessile biomass. This study provides valuable information for the development of the water reuse component in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (Washington, D.C.) Advanced Life Support system for long-term space missions.

A review on bioconversion of lignocellulosic biomass to H2: Key challenges and new insights.

PubMed

Ren, Nan-Qi; Zhao, Lei; Chen, Chuan; Guo, Wan-Qian; Cao, Guang-Li

2016-09-01

With the increasing energy crisis and rising concern over climate change, the development of clean alternative energy sources is of great importance. Biohydrogen produced from lignocellulosic biomass is a promising candidate, because of its positives such as readily available, no harmful emissions, environment friendly, efficient, and renewable. However, obstacles still exist to enable the commercialization of biological hydrogen production from lignocellulosic biomass. Thus the objective of this work is to provide update information about the recent progress on lignocellulosic hydrogen conversion via dark fermentation. In this review, the most important technologies associated with lignocellulosic hydrogen fermentation were covered. Firstly, pretreatment methods for better utilization of lignocellulosic biomass are presented, at the same time, hydrolysis methods assisting to achieve efficient hydrogen fermentation were discussed. Afterwards, issues related to bioprocesses for hydrogen production purposes were presented. Additionally, the paper gave challenges and new insights of lignocellulosic biohydrogen production. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Dry fractionation process as an important step in current and future lignocellulose biorefineries: a review.

PubMed

Barakat, Abdellatif; de Vries, Hugo; Rouau, Xavier

2013-04-01

The use of lignocellulosic biomass is promising for biofuels and materials and new technologies for the conversion need to be developed. However, the inherent properties of native lignocellulosic materials make them resistant to enzymatic and chemical degradation. Lignocellulosic biomass requires being pretreated to change the physical and chemical properties of lignocellulosic matrix in order to increase cell wall polymers accessibility and bioavailability. Mechanical size reduction may be chemical free intensive operation thanks to decreasing particles size and cellulose crystallinity, and increasing accessible surface area. Changes in these parameters improve the digestibility and the bioconversion of lignocellulosic biomass. However, mechanical size reduction requires cost-effective approaches from an energy input point of view. Therefore, the energy consumption in relation to physicochemical properties of lignocellulosic biomass was discussed. Even more, chemical treatments combined with physicochemical size reduction approaches are proposed to reduce energy consumption in this review. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Alternate Energy Research and Technology Challenges in the New Millennium

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-09-01

Methyl Ester (FAME) Hydro-treating (Hydrogen) Green diesel Multiple Biomass (Municipal Waste) Biomass to Liquid (BTL Gasification ) (formation...the depletion The Coming Oil Crisis, Colin J. Campbell 10
 • Conservation / Efficiency -- not enough Renewables • Biomass ...candidates for Navy / DOD) 11
 Biomass : A Potential Renewable Energy Source 12
 • The oldest known energy source since the discovery of fire

Water Stress & Biomass Monitoring and SWAP Modeling of Irrigated Crops in Saratov Region of Russia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zeyliger, Anatoly; Ermolaeva, Olga

2016-04-01

Development of modern irrigation technologies are balanced between the need to maximize production and the need to minimize water use which provides harmonious interaction of irrigated systems with closely-spaced environment. Thus requires an understanding of complex interrelationships between landscape and underground of irrigated and adjacent areas in present and future conditions aiming to minimize development of negative scenarios. In this way in each irrigated areas a combination of specific factors and drivers must be recognized and evaluated. Much can be obtained by improving the efficiency use of water applied for irrigation. Modern RS monitoring technologies offers the opportunity to develop and implement an effective irrigation control program permitting today to increase efficiency of irrigation water use. These technologies provide parameters with both high temporal and adequate spatial needed to monitor agrohydrological parameters of irrigated agricultural crops. Combination of these parameters with meteorological and biophysical parameters can be used to estimate crop water stress defined as ratio between actual (ETa) and potential (ETc) evapotranspiration. Aggregation of actual values of crop water stress with biomass (yield) data predicted by agrohydrological model based on weather forecasting and scenarios of irrigation water application may be used for indication of both rational timing and amount of irrigation water allocation. This type of analysis facilitating an efficient water management can be easily extended to irrigated areas by developing maps of water efficiency application serving as an irrigation advice system for farmers at his fields and as a decision support tool for the authorities on the large perimeter irrigation management. This contribution aims to communicate an illustrative explanation about the practical application of a data combination of agrohydrological modeling and ground & space based monitoring. For this aim some results of analyzing water stress during growing season of 2012 and yielded biomass of crops three types of crops alfalfa, corn and soya irrigated by sprinkling machines at left bank of Volga River at Saratov Region of Russia are presented and analyzed. For that a combination of data received from satellite, local meteorological station and farmers as well as SWAP model was used. Analyze of data sets of monitored water deficit of each crop averaged for irrigation period was done by linear regression with yielded biomass values. Following analyze of effectiveness of irrigation water application was done by SWAP agrohydrological model.

Breakdown Breakthrough: NREL Finds Easier Ways to Deconstruct Biomass |

Science.gov Websites

soften biomass. Photo by Dennis Schroeder, NREL If there's an easier, more efficient method, science will Dennis Schroeder, NREL The process normally used to deconstruct biomass, called simultaneous in NREL's Biosciences Center. Photo by Dennis Schroeder, NREL New Technology Could Provide Boost to

Waste-to-Energy and Fuel Cell Technologies Overview

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-01-13

Integration of stationary fuel cells with biomass gasification is a developing technology that is in need of demonstration. Innovation for Our...the PureCell®400 Innovation for Our Energy Future Gasification of wood wastes is another potential source of useful fuel gas. Wood waste... Gasification → Cleanup → Fuel Cell Gasification uses high temperature to convert cellulosic materials to fuel gas • Hydrogen (H2) • Carbon monoxide (CO

Review of the cultivation program within the National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts

DOE PAGES

Lammers, Peter J.; Huesemann, Michael; Boeing, Wiebke; ...

2016-12-12

The cultivation efforts within the National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts (NAABB) were developed to provide four major goals for the consortium, which included biomass production for downstream experimentation, development of new assessment tools for cultivation, development of new cultivation reactor technologies, and development of methods for robust cultivation. The NAABB consortium testbeds produced over 1500 kg of biomass for downstream processing. The biomass production included a number of model production strains, but also took into production some of the more promising strains found through the prospecting efforts of the consortium. Cultivation efforts at large scale are intensive andmore » costly, therefore the consortium developed tools and models to assess the productivity of strains under various environmental conditions, at lab scale, and validated these against scaled outdoor production systems. Two new pond-based bioreactor designs were tested for their ability to minimize energy consumption while maintaining, and even exceeding, the productivity of algae cultivation compared to traditional systems. Also, molecular markers were developed for quality control and to facilitate detection of bacterial communities associated with cultivated algal species, including the Chlorella spp. pathogen, Vampirovibrio chlorellavorus, which was identified in at least two test site locations in Arizona and New Mexico. Finally, the consortium worked on understanding methods to utilize compromised municipal wastewater streams for cultivation. In conclusion, this review provides an overview of the cultivation methods and tools developed by the NAABB consortium to produce algae biomass, in robust low energy systems, for biofuel production.« less

Supply Chain Sustainability Analysis of Indirect Liquefaction of Blended Biomass to Produce High Octane Gasoline

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cai, Hao; Canter, Christina E.; Dunn, Jennifer B.

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) aims at developing and deploying technologies to transform renewable biomass resources into commercially viable, high-performance biofuels, bioproducts and biopower through public and private partnerships (DOE, 2015). BETO also performs a supply chain sustainability analysis (SCSA). This report describes the SCSA of the production of renewable high octane gasoline (HOG) via indirect liquefaction (IDL) of lignocellulosic biomass. This SCSA was developed for the 2017 design case for feedstock logistics (INL, 2014) and for the 2022 target case for HOG production via IDL (Tan et al., 2015). The design includes advancements that aremore » likely and targeted to be achieved by 2017 for the feedstock logistics and 2022 for the IDL conversion process. The 2017 design case for feedstock logistics demonstrated a delivered feedstock cost of $80 per dry U.S. short ton by the year 2017 (INL, 2014). The 2022 design case for the conversion process, as modeled in Tan et al. (2015), uses the feedstock 2017 design case blend of biomass feedstocks consisting of pulpwood, wood residue, switchgrass, and construction and demolition waste (C&D) with performance properties consistent with a sole woody feedstock type (e.g., pine or poplar). The HOG SCSA case considers the 2017 feedstock design case (the blend) as well as individual feedstock cases separately as alternative scenarios when the feedstock blend ratio varies as a result of a change in feedstock availability. These scenarios could be viewed as bounding SCSA results because of distinctive requirements for energy and chemical inputs for the production and logistics of different components of the blend feedstocks.« less

Carbon mitigation with biomass: An engineering, economic and policy assessment of opportunities and implications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rhodes, James S., III

2007-12-01

Industrial bio-energy systems provide diverse opportunities for abating anthropogenic greenhouse gas ("GHG") emissions and for advancing other important policy objectives. The confluence of potential contributions to important social, economic, and environmental policy objectives with very real challenges to deployment creates rich opportunities for study. In particular, the analyses developed in this thesis aim to increase understanding of how industrial bio-energy may be applied to abate GHG emissions in prospective energy markets, the relative merits of alternate bio-energy systems, the extent to which public support for developing such systems is justified, and the public policy instruments that may be capable of providing such support. This objective is advanced through analysis of specific industrial bio-energy technologies, in the form of bottom-up engineering-economic analyses, to determine their economic performance relative to other mitigation options. These bottom-up analyses are used to inform parameter definitions in two higher-level stochastic models that explicitly account for uncertainty in key model parameters, including capital costs, operating and maintenance costs, and fuel costs. One of these models is used to develop supply curves for electricity generation and carbon mitigation from biomass-coal cofire in the U.S. The other is used to characterize the performance of multiple bio-energy systems in the context of a competitive market for low-carbon energy products. The results indicate that industrial bio-energy systems are capable of making a variety of potentially important contributions under scenarios that value anthropogenic GHG emissions. In the near term, cofire of available biomass in existing coal fired power plants has the potential to provide substantial emissions reductions at reasonable costs. Carbon prices between 30 and 70 per ton carbon could induce reductions in U.S. carbon emissions by 100 to 225 megatons carbon ("MtC"), equivalent to roughly 3% of U.S. GHG emissions. In the medium or longer term, integration of carbon capture and storage technologies with advanced bio-energy conversion technologies ("biomass-CCS"), in both liquid fuels production and electric sector applications, will likely be feasible. These systems are capable of generating useful energy products with negative net atmospheric carbon emissions at carbon prices between 100 and 200 per tC. Negative emissions from biomass-CCS could be applied to offset emissions sources that are difficult or expensive to abate directly. Such indirect mitigation may prove cost competitive and provide important flexibility in achieving stabilization of atmospheric GHG concentrations at desirable levels. With increasing deployments, alternate bio-energy systems will eventually compete for limited biomass resources and inputs to agricultural production--particularly land. In this context, resource allocation decisions will likely turn on the relative economic performance of alternate bio-energy systems in their respective energy markets. The relatively large uncertainty in forecasts of energy futures confounds reliable prediction of economically efficient uses for available biomass resources. High oil prices or large valuation of energy security benefits will likely enable bio-fuels production to dominate electric-sector options. In contrast, low oil prices and low valuation of energy security benefits will likely enable electric-sector applications to dominate. In the latter scenario, indirect mitigation of transportation-sector emissions via emissions offsets from electric-sector biomass-CCS could prove more efficient than direct fuel substitution with biofuels, both economically and in terms of the transportation-sector mitigation of available biomass resources [tC tbiomass-1]. The policy environment surrounding industrial bio-energy development is systematically examined. Specifically, the policy objectives that may be advanced with bio-energy and the challenges constraining deployment are examined to understand the extent to which public policy support is justified to accelerate development. Policy frameworks and specific policy instruments that have been proposed or enacted to support industrial bio-energy are evaluated to understand their current and potential future roles in shaping bio-energy development. This analysis indicates that deployment of industrial bio-energy systems to advance specified policy objectives has been compromised by inefficient and inconsistent public policies. Amending existing policies could substantially accelerate bio-energy deployment. More generally, public policies that set even prices across the economy for advancing targeted policy objectives should be developed. Industrial bio-energy systems can be expected to compete favorably in the context of such policies, including those valuing deep reductions in anthropogenic GHG emissions.

Molecular Breeding of Advanced Microorganisms for Biofuel Production

PubMed Central

Sakuragi, Hiroshi; Kuroda, Kouichi; Ueda, Mitsuyoshi

2011-01-01

Large amounts of fossil fuels are consumed every day in spite of increasing environmental problems. To preserve the environment and construct a sustainable society, the use of biofuels derived from different kinds of biomass is being practiced worldwide. Although bioethanol has been largely produced, it commonly requires food crops such as corn and sugar cane as substrates. To develop a sustainable energy supply, cellulosic biomass should be used for bioethanol production instead of grain biomass. For this purpose, cell surface engineering technology is a very promising method. In biobutanol and biodiesel production, engineered host fermentation has attracted much attention; however, this method has many limitations such as low productivity and low solvent tolerance of microorganisms. Despite these problems, biofuels such as bioethanol, biobutanol, and biodiesel are potential energy sources that can help establish a sustainable society. PMID:21318120

Understanding the impact of ionic liquid pretreatment on eucalyptus

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Centikol, Ozgul; Dibble, Dean; Cheng, Gang

2010-01-01

The development of cost-competitive biofuels necessitates the realization of advanced biomass pretreatment technologies. Ionic liquids provide a basis for one of the most promising pretreatment technologies and are known to allow effective processing of cellulose and some biomass species. Here, we demonstrate that the ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methyl imidazolium acetate, [C2mim][OAc], induces structural changes at the molecular level in the cell wall of Eucalyptus globulus. Deacetylation of xylan, acetylation of the lignin units, selective removal of guaiacyl units (increasing the syringyl:guaiacyl ratio) and decreased {beta}-ether content were the most prominent changes observed. Scanning electron microscopy images of the plant cell wallmore » sections reveal extensive swelling during [C2mim][OAc] pretreatment. X-ray diffraction measurements indicate a change in cellulose crystal structure from cellulose I to cellulose II after [C2mim][OAc] pretreatment. Enzymatic saccharification of the pretreated material produced increased sugar yields and improved hydrolysis kinetics after [C2mim][OAc] pretreatment. These results provide new insight into the mechanism of ionic liquid pretreatment and reaffirm that this approach may be promising for the production of cellulosic biofuels from woody biomass.« less

Heliosynthesis: A solar biotechnology based on direct bioconversion of solar energy by photosynthetic cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gudin, C.

1982-12-01

Certain limiting aspects of current technology should be studied, such as the lifetimes of tubing material and the utilization of renewable sources of energy for pumping. Only exocellular or cellular biomass with high specific value, involving small markets and small plant areas (less than 1 ha), will be economically possible for the short term and will allow improvement of this technology. A valorization of the totality of photosynthetic biomass with respect to economics and energy is an absolute necessity. There is an immediate need for genetic studies of microalgae that will allow enhancement or even creation of chemical production satisfying economic and energy needs. Such efforts should permit the rapid establishment of an aggressive and sophisticated solar biotechnology that integrates scientific and technical' developments to meet the new needs of humanity for food, chemicals, and energy, thereby complementing agriculture with a sort of cellular horticulture.

A Critical View of Current State of Phytotechnologies to Remediate Soils: Still a Promising Tool?

PubMed Central

Conesa, Héctor M.; Evangelou, Michael W. H.; Robinson, Brett H.; Schulin, Rainer

2012-01-01

Phytotechnologies are often shown as an emerging tool to remediate contaminated soils. Research in this field has resulted in many important findings relating to plant and soil sciences. However, there have been scant private and public investments and little commercial success with this technology. Here, we investigate the barriers to the adoption of phytotechnologies and determine whether it is still a fertile area for future research. The terminology used in phytotechnologies includes a confusing mish-mash of terms relating to concepts and processes increasing the difficulty of developing a unique commercial image. We argue that the commercial success of phytotechnologies depends on the generation of valuable biomass on contaminated land, rather than a pure remediation technique that may not compare favourably with the costs of inaction or alternative technologies. Valuable biomass includes timber, bioenergy, feedstock for pyrolosis, biofortified products, or ecologically important species. PMID:22272168

Investigation of Prediction Method and Fundamental Thermo-decomposition Properties on Gasification of Woody Biomass

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morita, Akihiro

Recently, development of energy transfer technology based on woody biomass remarkably has been forwarding accompanied biomass boom for gasification and liquefaction. To elevate on yield of energy into biomass for transportation and exergy is extremely important for essential utilization and production of bio-fuels. Because, conversion to bio-fuel must be discussion in detail thermo-decomposition characteristics for biomass main composition formed on cellulose and hemicelluloses, lignin. In this research, we analyze thermo-decomposition characteristics of each biomass main composition on both active (air) and passive (N2) atmosphere. Especially, we suggest predict model of gasification based on change of atomic carbon ratio with thermo-decomposition. 1) Even if it heat-treats cedar chip by 473K, loss of energy hardly produces it. From this, it acquired that the substance contributed to weight reduction was a low ingredient of energy value. 2) If cedar chip is heated in the 473K around, it can be predicted that the substance with a low energy value like water or acetic acid has arisen by thermal decomposition. It suggested that the transportation performance of the biomass improved by choosing and eliminating these. 3) Each ingredient of hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen which dissipated in the gasification process acquired that it was direct proportion to the carbonaceous dissipation rate. 4) The action at the time of thermo-decomposition of (the carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen which are) the main constituent factors of the biomass suggested a possibility of being predicted by a statistical method.

Co-firing coal and biomass blends and their influence on the post-combustion CO2 capture installation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Więckol-Ryk, Angelika; Smoliński, Adam

2017-10-01

Co-firing of biomass with coal for energy production is a well-known technology and plays an important role in the electricity sector. The post-combustion capture integrated with biomass-fired power plants (Bio-CCS) seems to be a new alternative for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This study refers to the best known and advanced technology for post-combustion CO2 capture (PCC) based on a chemical absorption in monoethanolamine (MEA). The co-firing of hard coal with four types of biomass was investigated using a laboratory fixed bed reactor system. The comparison of gaseous products emitted from the combustion of coal and different biomass blends were determined using gas chromatography. Research proved that co-firing of biomass in fossil fuel power plants is beneficial for PCC process. It may also reduce the corrosion of CO2 capture installation. The oxygen concentration in the flue gases from hard coal combustion was comparable with the respective value for a fuel blend of biomass content of 20% w/w. It was also noted that an increase in biomass content in a sample from 20 to 40 % w/w increased the concentration of oxygen in the flue gas streams. However, this concentration should not have a significant impact on the rate of amine oxidative degradation.

CHP Technologies

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Learn about CHP technologies, including reciprocating engines, combustion turbines, steam turbines, microturbines, fuel cells, and waste heat to power. Access the Catalog of CHP Technologies and the Biomass CHP Catalog of Technologies.

Effect of stocking biomass on solids, phytoplankton communities, common off-flavors, and production parameters in a channel catfish biofloc technology production system

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The effect of initial channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus, Rafinesque, 1818) fingerling biomass (1.4, 1.8, or 2.3 kg m-3) on phytoplankton communities, common off-flavors, and stocker catfish production parameters was evaluated in biofloc technology production tanks. Stocker catfish size (145.5 – 1...

Bioenergy Feedstock Development Program Status Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kszos, L.A.

2001-02-09

The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Bioenergy Feedstock Development Program (BFDP) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a mission-oriented program of research and analysis whose goal is to develop and demonstrate cropping systems for producing large quantities of low-cost, high-quality biomass feedstocks for use as liquid biofuels, biomass electric power, and/or bioproducts. The program specifically supports the missions and goals of DOE's Office of Fuels Development and DOE's Office of Power Technologies. ORNL has provided technical leadership and field management for the BFDP since DOE began energy crop research in 1978. The major components of the BFDP include energymore » crop selection and breeding; crop management research; environmental assessment and monitoring; crop production and supply logistics operational research; integrated resource analysis and assessment; and communications and outreach. Research into feedstock supply logistics has recently been added and will become an integral component of the program.« less

A Low-cost, High-yield Process for the Direct Productin of High Energy Density Liquid Fuel from Biomass

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Agrawal, Rakesh; Delgass, W. N.; Ribeiro, F.

2013-08-31

The primary objective and outcome of this project was the development and validation of a novel, low-cost, high-pressure fast-hydropyrolysis/hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) process (H 2Bioil) using supplementary hydrogen (H 2) to produce liquid hydrocarbons from biomass. The research efforts under the various tasks of the project have culminated in the first experimental demonstration of the H 2Bioil process, producing 100% deoxygenated >C4+ hydrocarbons containing 36-40% of the carbon in the feed of pyrolysis products from biomass. The demonstrated H{sub 2}Bioil process technology (i.e. reactor, catalyst, and downstream product recovery) is scalable to a commercial level and is estimated to be economically competitivemore » for the cases when supplementary H 2 is sourced from coal, natural gas, or nuclear. Additionally, energy systems modeling has revealed several process integration options based on the H 2Bioilprocess for energy and carbon efficient liquid fuel production. All project tasks and milestones were completed or exceeded. Novel, commercially-scalable, high-pressure reactors for both fast-hydropyrolysis and hydrodeoxygenation were constructed, completing Task A. These reactors were capable of operation under a wide-range of conditions; enabling process studies that lead to identification of optimum process conditions. Model compounds representing biomass pyrolysis products were studied, completing Task B. These studies were critical in identifying and developing HDO catalysts to target specific oxygen functional groups. These process and model compound catalyst studies enabled identification of catalysts that achieved 100% deoxygenation of the real biomass feedstock, sorghum, to form hydrocarbons in high yields as part of Task C. The work completed during this grant has identified and validated the novel and commercially scalable H 2Bioil process for production of hydrocarbon fuels from biomass. Studies on model compounds as well as real biomass feedstocks were utilized to identify optimized process conditions and selective HDO catalyst for high yield production of hydrocarbons from biomass. In addition to these experimental efforts, in Tasks D and E, we have developed a mathematical optimization framework to identify carbon and energy efficient biomass-to-liquid fuel process designs that integrate the use of different primary energy sources along with biomass (e.g. solar, coal or natural gas) for liquid fuel production. Using this tool, we have identified augmented biomass-to-liquid fuel configurations based on the fast-hydropyrolysis/HDO pathway, which was experimentally studied in this project. The computational approach used for screening alternative process configurations represents a unique contribution to the field of biomass processing for liquid fuel production.« less

RENEWABLE ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY USING BIOMASS FROM DAIRY AND BEEF ANIMAL PRODUCTION

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kalyan Annamalai, John M. Sweeten,

The Texas Panhandle is regarded as the 'Cattle Feeding Capital of the World', producing 42% of the fed beef cattle in the United States within a 200-mile radius of Amarillo generating more than 5 million tons of feedlot manure/year. Apart from feedlots, the Bosque River Region in Erath County, just north of Waco, Texas with about 110,000 dairy cattle in over 250 dairies, produces 1.8 million tons of manure biomass (excreted plus bedding) per year. While the feedlot manure has been used extensively for irrigated and dry land crop production, most dairies, as well as other concentrated animal feeding operationsmore » (CAFO's), the dairy farms utilize large lagoon areas to store wet animal biomass. Water runoff from these lagoons has been held responsible for the increased concentration of phosphorus and other contaminates in the Bosque River which drains into Lake Waco - the primary source of potable water for Waco's 108,500 people. The concentrated animal feeding operations may lead to land, water, and air pollution if waste handling systems and storage and treatment structures are not properly managed. Manure-based biomass (MBB) has the potential to be a source of green energy at large coal-fired power plants and on smaller-scale combustion systems at or near confined animal feeding operations. Although MBB particularly cattle biomass (CB) is a low quality fuel with an inferior heat value compared to coal and other fossil fuels, the concentration of it at large animal feeding operations can make it a viable source of fuel. The overall objective of this interdisciplinary proposal is to develop environmentally benign technologies to convert low-value inventories of dairy and beef cattle biomass into renewable energy. Current research expands the suite of technologies by which cattle biomass (CB: manure, and premature mortalities) could serve as a renewable alternative to fossil fuel. The work falls into two broad categories of research and development. Category 1 - Renewable Energy Conversion. This category addressed mostly in volume I involves developing. Thermo-chemical conversion technologies including cofiring with coal, reburn to reduce nitrogen oxide (NO, N2O, NOx, etc.) and Hg emissions and gasification to produce low-BTU gas for on-site power production in order to extract energy from waste streams or renewable resources. Category 2 - Biomass Resource Technology. This category, addressed mostly in Volume II, deals with the efficient and cost-effective use of CB as a renewable energy source (e.g. through and via aqueous-phase, anaerobic digestion or biological gasification). The investigators formed an industrial advisory panel consisting fuel producers (feedlots and dairy farms) and fuel users (utilities), periodically met with them, and presented the research results; apart from serving as dissemination forum, the PIs used their critique to red-direct the research within the scope of the tasks. The final report for the 5 to 7 year project performed by an interdisciplinary team of 9 professors is arranged in three volumes: Vol. I (edited by Kalyan Annamalai) addressing thermo-chemical conversion and direct combustion under Category 1 and Vol. II and Vol. III ( edited by J M Sweeten) addressing biomass resource Technology under Category 2. Various tasks and sub-tasks addressed in Volume I were performed by the Department of Mechanical Engineering (a part of TEES; see Volume I), while other tasks and sub-tasks addressed in Volume II and IIII were conducted by Texas AgriLife Research at Amarillo; the TAMU Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department (BAEN) College Station; and West Texas A and M University (WTAMU) (Volumes II and III). The three volume report covers the following results: fuel properties of low ash and high ash CB (particularly DB) and MB (mortality biomass) and coals, non-intrusive visible infrared (NVIR) spectroscopy techniques for ash determination, dairy energy use surveys at 14 dairies in Texas and California, cofiring of low quality CB with high quality coal, emission results and ash fouling behavior, using CB as reburn fuel for NOx and Hg reduction, gasification of fuels to produce low quality gases, modeling of reburn, pilot scale test results, synthesis of engineering characterization, geographical mapping, a transportation cost study to determine potential handling and transportation systems for co-firing with coal at regional coal-fired power plants, software analyses for the design of off-site manure, pre-processing and storage systems for a typical dairy farm or beef cattle feedlot, recursive production functions/systems models for both cattle feedlots, systems modeling, stocks and flows of energy involved in the CAFO system, feedback from an Industry Advisory Committee (IAC) to the investigators on project direction and task emphasis and economics of using CB as cofiring and reburn fuel.« less

RENEWABLE ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY USING BIOMASS FROM DAIRY AND BEEF ANIMAL PRODUCTION

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sweeten, John M; Annamalai, Kalyan; Auvermann, Brent

The Texas Panhandle is regarded as the "Cattle Feeding Capital of the World", producing 42% of the fed beef cattle in the United States within a 200-mile radius of Amarillo generating more than 5 million tons of feedlot manure/year. Apart from feedlots, the Bosque River Region in Erath County, just north of Waco, Texas with about 110,000 dairy cattle in over 250 dairies, produces 1.8 million tons of manure biomass (excreted plus bedding) per year. While the feedlot manure has been used extensively for irrigated and dry land crop production, most dairies, as well as other concentrated animal feeding operationsmore » (CAFO's), the dairy farms utilize large lagoon areas to store wet animal biomass. Water runoff from these lagoons has been held responsible for the increased concentration of phosphorus and other contaminates in the Bosque River which drains into Lake Waco -- the primary source of potable water for Waco's 108,500 people. The concentrated animal feeding operations may lead to land, water, and air pollution if waste handling systems and storage and treatment structures are not properly managed. Manure-based biomass (MBB) has the potential to be a source of green energy at large coal-fired power plants and on smaller-scale combustion systems at or near confined animal feeding operations. Although MBB particularly cattle biomass (CB) is a low quality fuel with an inferior heat value compared to coal and other fossil fuels, the concentration of it at large animal feeding operations can make it a viable source of fuel. The overall objective of this interdisciplinary proposal is to develop environmentally benign technologies to convert low-value inventories of dairy and beef cattle biomass into renewable energy. Current research expands the suite of technologies by which cattle biomass (CB: manure, and premature mortalities) could serve as a renewable alternative to fossil fuel. The work falls into two broad categories of research and development. Category 1 -- Renewable Energy Conversion. This category addressed mostly in volume I involves developing. Thermo-chemical conversion technologies including cofiring with coal, reburn to reduce nitrogen oxide (NO, N2O, NOx, etc.) and Hg emissions and gasification to produce low-BTU gas for on-site power production in order to extract energy from waste streams or renewable resources. Category 2 -- Biomass Resource Technology. This category, addressed mostly in Volume II, deals with the efficient and cost-effective use of CB as a renewable energy source (e.g. through and via aqueous-phase, anaerobic digestion or biological gasification). The investigators formed an industrial advisory panel consisting fuel producers (feedlots and dairy farms) and fuel users (utilities), periodically met with them, and presented the research results; apart from serving as dissemination forum, the PIs used their critique to re-direct the research within the scope of the tasks. The final report for the 5 to 7 year project performed by an interdisciplinary team of 9 professors is arranged in three volumes: Vol. I (edited by Kalyan Annamalai) addressing thermo-chemical conversion and direct combustion under Category 1 and Vol. II and Vol. III ( edited by J M Sweeten) addressing biomass resource Technology under Category 2. Various tasks and sub-tasks addressed in Volume I were performed by the Department of Mechanical Engineering (a part of TEES; see Volume I), while other tasks and sub-tasks addressed in Volume II and IIII were conducted by Texas AgriLife Research at Amarillo; the TAMU Biological & Agricultural Engineering Department (BAEN) College Station; and West Texas A&M University (WTAMU) (Volumes II and III). The three volume report covers the following results: fuel properties of low ash and high ash CB (particularly DB) and MB (mortality biomass and coals, non-intrusive visible infrared (NVIR) spectroscopy techniques for ash determination, dairy energy use surveys at 14 dairies in Texas and California, cofiring of low quality CB with high quality coal, emission results and ash fouling behavior, using CB as reburn fuel for NOx and Hg reduction, gasification of fuels to produce low quality gases, modeling of reburn, pilot scale test results, synthesis of engineering characterization, geographical mapping, a transportation cost study to determine potential handling and transportation systems for co-firing with coal at regional coal-fired power plants, software analyses for the design of off-site manure, pre-processing and storage systems for a typical dairy farm or beef cattle feedlot, recursive production functions/systems models for both cattle feedlots, systems modeling, stocks and flows of energy involved in the CAFO system, feedback from an Industry Advisory Committee (IAC) to the investigators on project direction and task emphasis and economics of using CB as cofiring and reburn fuel.« less

RENEWABLE ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY USING BIOMASS FROM DAIRY AND BEEF ANIMAL PRODUCTION

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sweeten, John; Annamalai, Kalyan; Auvermann, Brent

The Texas Panhandle is regarded as the "Cattle Feeding Capital of the World", producing 42% of the fed beef cattle in the United States within a 200-mile radius of Amarillo generating more than 5 million tons of feedlot manure /year. Apart from feedlots, the Bosque River Region in Erath County, just north of Waco, Texas with about 110,000 dairy cattle in over 250 dairies, produces 1.8 million tons of manure biomass (excreted plus bedding) per year. While the feedlot manure has been used extensively for irrigated and dry land crop production, most dairies, as well as other concentrated animal feedingmore » operations (CAFO's), the dairy farms utilize large lagoon areas to store wet animal biomass. Water runoff from these lagoons has been held responsible for the increased concentration of phosphorus and other contaminates in the Bosque River which drains into Lake Waco—the primary source of potable water for Waco's 108,500 people. The concentrated animal feeding operations may lead to land, water, and air pollution if waste handling systems and storage and treatment structures are not properly managed. Manure-based biomass (MBB) has the potential to be a source of green energy at large coal-fired power plants and on smaller-scale combustion systems at or near confined animal feeding operations. Although MBB particularly cattle biomass (CB) is a low quality fuel with an inferior heat value compared to coal and other fossil fuels, the concentration of it at large animal feeding operations can make it a viable source of fuel. The overall objective of this interdisciplinary proposal is to develop environmentally benign technologies to convert low-value inventories of dairy and beef cattle biomass into renewable energy. Current research expands the suite of technologies by which cattle biomass (CB: manure, and premature mortalities) could serve as a renewable alternative to fossil fuel. The work falls into two broad categories of research and development. Category 1 – Renewable Energy Conversion. This category addressed mostly in volume I involves developing. Thermo-chemical conversion technologies including cofiring with coal, reburn to reduce nitrogen oxide (NO, N2O, NOx, etc.) and Hg emissions and gasification to produce low-BTU gas for on-site power production in order to extract energy from waste streams or renewable resources. Category 2 – Biomass Resource Technology. This category, addressed mostly in Volume II, deals with the efficient and cost-effective use of CB as a renewable energy source (e.g. through and via aqueous-phase, anaerobic digestion or biological gasification). The investigators formed an industrial advisory panel consisting fuel producers (feedlots and dairy farms) and fuel users (utilities), periodically met with them, and presented the research results; apart from serving as dissemination forum, the PIs used their critique to red-direct the research within the scope of the tasks. The final report for the 5 to 7 year project performed by an interdisciplinary team of 9 professors is arranged in three volumes: Vol. I (edited by Kalyan Annamalai) addressing thermo-chemical conversion and direct combustion under Category 1 and Vol. II and Vol. III ( edited by J M Sweeten) addressing biomass resource Technology under Category 2. Various tasks and sub-tasks addressed in Volume I were performed by the Department of Mechanical Engineering (a part of TEES; see Volume I), while other tasks and sub-tasks addressed in Volume II and IIII were conducted by Texas AgriLife Research at Amarillo; the TAMU Biological & Agricultural Engineering Department (BAEN) College Station; and West Texas A&M University (WTAMU) (Volumes II and III). The three volume report covers the following results: fuel properties of low ash and high ash CB (particularly DB) and MB (mortality biomass and coals, non-intrusive visible infrared (NVIR) spectroscopy techniques for ash determination, dairy energy use surveys at 14 dairies in Texas and California, cofiring of low quality CB with high quality coal, emission results and ash fouling behavior, using CB as reburn fuel for NOx and Hg reduction, gasification of fuels to produce low quality gases, modeling of reburn, pilot scale test results, synthesis of engineering characterization, geographical mapping, a transportation cost study to determine potential handling and transportation systems for co-firing with coal at regional coal-fired power plants, software analyses for the design of off-site manure, pre-processing and storage systems for a typical dairy farm or beef cattle feedlot, recursive production functions/systems models for both cattle feedlots, systems modeling, stocks and flows of energy involved in the CAFO system, feedback from an Industry Advisory Committee (IAC) to the investigators on project direction and task emphasis and economics of using CB as cofiring and reburn fuel.« less

Data on development of new energy technologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1994-03-01

The paper compiles data on the trend of development of new energy technologies into a book. By category, renewable energy is solar energy, wind power generation, geothermal power generation, ocean energy, and biomass. As a category of fuel form conversion, cited are coal liquefaction/gasification, coal gasification combined cycle power generation, and natural gas liquefaction/decarbonization. The other categories are cogeneration by fuel cell and ceramic gas turbine, district heat supply system, power load leveling technology, transportation-use substitution-fuel vehicle, and others (Stirling engine, superconducting power generator, etc.). The data are systematically compiled on essential principles, transition of introduction, objectives of introduction, status of production, cost, development schedule, performance, etc. The paper also deals with the related legislation system, developmental organizations, and a menu for power companies' buying surplus power.

Current progress and future prospect of microalgal biomass harvest using various flocculation technologies.

PubMed

Wan, Chun; Alam, Md Asraful; Zhao, Xin-Qing; Zhang, Xiao-Yue; Guo, Suo-Lian; Ho, Shih-Hsin; Chang, Jo-Shu; Bai, Feng-Wu

2015-05-01

Microalgae have been extensively studied for the production of various valuable products. Application of microalgae for the production of renewable energy has also received increasing attention in recent years. However, high cost of microalgal biomass harvesting is one of the bottlenecks for commercialization of microalgae-based industrial processes. Considering harvesting efficiency, operation economics and technological feasibility, flocculation is a superior method to harvest microalgae from mass culture. In this article, the latest progress of various microalgal cell harvesting methods via flocculation is reviewed with the emphasis on the current progress and prospect in environmentally friendly bio-based flocculation. Harvesting microalgae through bio-based flocculation is a promising component of the low-cost microalgal biomass production technology. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Vision of the U.S. biofuel future: a case for hydrogen-enriched biomass gasification

Treesearch

Mark A. Dietenberger; Mark Anderson

2007-01-01

Researchers at the Forest Product Laboratory (FPL) and the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW) envision a future for biofuels based on biomass gasification with hydrogen enrichment. Synergisms between hydrogen production and biomass gasification technologies will be necessary to avoid being marginalized in the biofuel marketplace. Five feasible engineering solutions...

Process Design and Economics for the Conversion of Lignocellulosic Biomass to Hydrocarbon Fuels: Thermochemical Research Pathways with In Situ and Ex Situ Upgrading of Fast Pyrolysis Vapors

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dutta, Abhijit; Sahir, A. H.; Tan, Eric

This report was developed as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office’s efforts to enable the development of technologies for the production of infrastructure-compatible, cost-competitive liquid hydrocarbon fuels from biomass. Specifically, this report details two conceptual designs based on projected product yields and quality improvements via catalyst development and process integration. It is expected that these research improvements will be made within the 2022 timeframe. The two conversion pathways detailed are (1) in situ and (2) ex situ upgrading of vapors produced from the fast pyrolysis of biomass. While the base case conceptual designs and underlying assumptionsmore » outline performance metrics for feasibility, it should be noted that these are only two of many other possibilities in this area of research. Other promising process design options emerging from the research will be considered for future techno-economic analysis. Both the in situ and ex situ conceptual designs, using the underlying assumptions, project MFSPs of approximately $3.5/gallon gasoline equivalent (GGE). The performance assumptions for the ex situ process were more aggressive with higher distillate (diesel-range) products. This was based on an assumption that more favorable reaction chemistry (such as coupling) can be made possible in a separate reactor where, unlike in an in situ upgrading reactor, one does not have to deal with catalyst mixing with biomass char and ash, which pose challenges to catalyst performance and maintenance. Natural gas was used for hydrogen production, but only when off gases from the process was not sufficient to meet the needs; natural gas consumption is insignificant in both the in situ and ex situ base cases. Heat produced from the burning of char, coke, and off-gases allows for the production of surplus electricity which is sold to the grid allowing a reduction of approximately 5¢/GGE in the MFSP.« less

Historical emissions of carbonaceous aerosols from biomass and fossil fuel burning for the period 1870-2000

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ito, Akinori; Penner, Joyce E.

2005-06-01

Historical changes of black carbon (BC) and particulate organic matter (POM) emissions from biomass burning (BB) and fossil fuel (FF) burning are estimated from 1870 to 2000. A bottom-up inventory for open vegetation (OV) burning is scaled by a top-down estimate for the year 2000. Monthly and interannual variations are derived over the time period from 1979 to 2000 based on the TOMS satellite aerosol index (AI) and this global map. Prior to 1979, emissions are scaled to a CH4 emissions inventory based on land-use change. Biofuel (BF) emissions from a recent inventory for developing countries are scaled forward and backward in time using population statistics and crop production statistics. In developed countries, wood consumption data together with emission factors for cooking and heating practices are used for biofuel estimates. For fossil fuel use, we use fuel consumption data and specific emission factors for different fuel use categories to develop an inventory over 1950-2000, and emissions are scaled to a CO2 inventory prior to that time. Technology changes for emissions from the diesel transport sector are included. During the last decade of this time period, the BC and POM emissions from biomass burning (i.e., OV + BF) contribute a significant amount to the primary sources of BC and POM and are larger than those from FF. Thus 59% of the NH BC emissions and 90% of the NH POM emissions are from BB in 2000. Fossil fuel consumption technologies are needed prior to 1990 in order to improve estimates of fossil fuel emissions during the twentieth century. These results suggest that the aerosol emissions from biomass burning need to be represented realistically in climate change assessments. The estimated emissions are available on a 1° × 1° grid for global climate modeling studies of climate changes.

Energy, Environmental, and Economic Analyses of Design Concepts for the Co-Production of Fuels and Chemicals with Electricity via Co-Gasification of Coal and Biomass

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Eric Larson; Robert Williams; Thomas Kreutz

2012-03-11

The overall objective of this project was to quantify the energy, environmental, and economic performance of industrial facilities that would coproduce electricity and transportation fuels or chemicals from a mixture of coal and biomass via co-gasification in a single pressurized, oxygen-blown, entrained-flow gasifier, with capture and storage of CO{sub 2} (CCS). The work sought to identify plant designs with promising (Nth plant) economics, superior environmental footprints, and the potential to be deployed at scale as a means for simultaneously achieving enhanced energy security and deep reductions in U.S. GHG emissions in the coming decades. Designs included systems using primarily already-commercializedmore » component technologies, which may have the potential for near-term deployment at scale, as well as systems incorporating some advanced technologies at various stages of R&D. All of the coproduction designs have the common attribute of producing some electricity and also of capturing CO{sub 2} for storage. For each of the co-product pairs detailed process mass and energy simulations (using Aspen Plus software) were developed for a set of alternative process configurations, on the basis of which lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions, Nth plant economic performance, and other characteristics were evaluated for each configuration. In developing each set of process configurations, focused attention was given to understanding the influence of biomass input fraction and electricity output fraction. Self-consistent evaluations were also carried out for gasification-based reference systems producing only electricity from coal, including integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) and integrated gasification solid-oxide fuel cell (IGFC) systems. The reason biomass is considered as a co-feed with coal in cases when gasoline or olefins are co-produced with electricity is to help reduce lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for these systems. Storing biomass-derived CO{sub 2} underground represents negative CO{sub 2} emissions if the biomass is grown sustainably (i.e., if one ton of new biomass growth replaces each ton consumed), and this offsets positive CO{sub 2} emissions associated with the coal used in these systems. Different coal:biomass input ratios will produce different net lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for these systems, which is the reason that attention in our analysis was given to the impact of the biomass input fraction. In the case of systems that produce only products with no carbon content, namely electricity, ammonia and hydrogen, only coal was considered as a feedstock because it is possible in theory to essentially fully decarbonize such products by capturing all of the coal-derived CO{sub 2} during the production process.« less

Finding the chemistry in biomass pyrolysis: Millisecond chemical kinetics and visualization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krumm, Christoph

Biomass pyrolysis is a promising thermochemical method for producing fuels and chemicals from renewable sources. Development of a fundamental understanding of biomass pyrolysis chemistry is difficult due to the multi-scale and multi-phase nature of the process; biomass length scales span 11 orders of magnitude and pyrolysis phenomena include solid, liquid, and gas phase chemistry in addition to heat and mass transfer. These complexities have a significant effect on chemical product distributions and lead to variability between reactor technologies. A major challenge in the study of biomass pyrolysis is the development of kinetic models capable of describing hundreds of millisecond-scale reactions of biomass into lower molecular weight products. In this work, a novel technique for studying biomass pyrolysis provides the first- ever experimental determination of kinetics and rates of formation of the primary products from cellulose pyrolysis, providing insight into the millisecond-scale chemical reaction mechanisms. These findings highlight the importance of heat and mass transport limitations for cellulose pyrolysis chemistry and are used to identify the length scales at which transport limitations become relevant during pyrolysis. Through this technique, a transition is identified, known as the reactive melting point, between low and high temperature depolymerization. The transition between two mechanisms of cellulose decompositions unifies the mechanisms that govern low temperature char formation, intermediate pyrolysis conditions, and high temperature gas formation. The conditions under which biomass undergoes pyrolysis, including modes of heat transfer, have been shown to significantly affect the distribution of biorenewable chemical and fuel products. High-speed photography is used to observe the liftoff of initially crystalline cellulose particles when impinged on a heated surface, known as the Leidenfrost effect for room-temperature liquids. Order-of-magnitude changes in the lifetime of cellulose particles are observed as a result of changing modes in heat transfer as cellulose intermediate liquid droplets wet and de-wet polished ceramic surfaces. Introduction of surface macroporosity is shown to completely inhibit the cellulose Leidenfrost effect, providing avenues for surface modification and reactor design to control particle heat transfer in industrial pyrolysis applications. Cellulosic particles on surfaces consisting of microstructured, asymmetric ratchets were observed to spontaneously move orthogonal to ratchet wells above the cellulose reactive Leidenfrost temperature (>750 °C). Evaluation of the accelerating particles supported the mechanism of propelling viscous forces (50-200 nN) from rectified pyrolysis vapors, thus providing the first example of biomass conveyors with no moving parts driven by high temperature for biofuel reactors. Combined knowledge of pyrolysis chemistry, kinetics, and heat and mass transport effects direct the design of the next generation pyrolysis reactors for tuning bio- oil quality and design of improved catalytic upgrading technology.

Surface Modification of Naturally Available Biomass for Enhancement of Heavy Metal Removal Efficiency, Upscaling Prospects, and Management Aspects of Spent Biosorbents: A Review.

PubMed

Ramrakhiani, Lata; Ghosh, Sourja; Majumdar, Swachchha

2016-09-01

Heavy metal pollution in water emerges as a severe socio-environmental problem originating primarily from the discharge of industrial wastewater. In view of the toxic, non-biodegradable, and persistent nature of most of the heavy metal ions, remediation of such components becomes an absolute necessity. Biosorption is an emerging tool for bioremediation that has gained momentum for employing low-cost biological materials with effective metal binding capacities. Even though biological materials possess excellent metal adsorption abilities, they show poor mechanical strength and low rigidity. Other disadvantages include solid-liquid separation problems, possible biomass swelling, lower efficiency for regeneration or reuse, and frequent development of high pressure drop in the column mode that limits its applications under real conditions. To improve the biosorption efficiency, biomasses need to be modified with a simple technique for selective/multi-metal adsorption. This review is intended to cover discussion on biomass modification for enhanced biosorption efficiency, mechanism studies using various instrumental/analytical techniques, and future direction for research and development including the fate of spent biosorbent. In most of the previously published researches, difficulty of the process in scaling up has not been addressed. The current article outlines the application potential of biosorbents in the development of hybrid technology integrated with membrane processes for water and wastewater treatment in industrial scale.

PNNL Aviation Biofuels

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Plaza, John; Holladay, John; Hallen, Rich

2014-10-23

Commercial airplanes really don’t have the option to move away from liquid fuels. Because of this, biofuels present an opportunity to create new clean energy jobs by developing technologies that deliver stable, long term fuel options. The Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is working with industrial partners on processes to convert biomass to aviation fuels.

Life Cycle Cost of Solar Biomass Hybrid Dryer Systems for Cashew Drying of Nuts in India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dhanushkodi, Saravanan; Wilson, Vincent H.; Sudhakar, Kumarasamy

2015-12-01

Cashew nut farming in India is mostly carried out in small and marginal holdings. Energy consumption in the small scale cashew nut processing industry is very high and is mainly due to the high energy consumption of the drying process. The drying operation provides a lot of scope for energy saving and substitutions of other renewable energy sources. Renewable energy-based drying systems with loading capacity of 40 kg were proposed for application in small scale cashew nut processing industries. The main objective of this work is to perform economic feasibility of substituting solar, biomass and hybrid dryer in place of conventional steam drying for cashew drying. Four economic indicators were used to assess the feasibility of three renewable based drying technologies. The payback time was 1.58 yr. for solar, 1.32 for biomass and 1.99 for the hybrid drying system, whereas as the cost-benefit estimates were 5.23 for solar, 4.15 for biomass and 3.32 for the hybrid system. It was found that it is of paramount importance to develop solar biomass hybrid dryer for small scale processing industries.

High-throughput quantitative biochemical characterization of algal biomass by NIR spectroscopy; multiple linear regression and multivariate linear regression analysis.

PubMed

Laurens, L M L; Wolfrum, E J

2013-12-18

One of the challenges associated with microalgal biomass characterization and the comparison of microalgal strains and conversion processes is the rapid determination of the composition of algae. We have developed and applied a high-throughput screening technology based on near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy for the rapid and accurate determination of algal biomass composition. We show that NIR spectroscopy can accurately predict the full composition using multivariate linear regression analysis of varying lipid, protein, and carbohydrate content of algal biomass samples from three strains. We also demonstrate a high quality of predictions of an independent validation set. A high-throughput 96-well configuration for spectroscopy gives equally good prediction relative to a ring-cup configuration, and thus, spectra can be obtained from as little as 10-20 mg of material. We found that lipids exhibit a dominant, distinct, and unique fingerprint in the NIR spectrum that allows for the use of single and multiple linear regression of respective wavelengths for the prediction of the biomass lipid content. This is not the case for carbohydrate and protein content, and thus, the use of multivariate statistical modeling approaches remains necessary.

[Rapid determination of componential contents and calorific value of selected agricultural biomass feedstocks using spectroscopic technology].

PubMed

Sheng, Kui-Chuan; Shen, Ying-Ying; Yang, Hai-Qing; Wang, Wen-Jin; Luo, Wei-Qiang

2012-10-01

Rapid determination of biomass feedstock properties is of value for the production of biomass densification briquetting fuel with high quality. In the present study, visible and near-infrared (Vis-NIR) spectroscopy was employed to build prediction models of componential contents, i. e. moisture, ash, volatile matter and fixed-carbon, and calorific value of three selected species of agricultural biomass feedstock, i. e. pine wood, cedar wood, and cotton stalk. The partial least squares (PLS) cross validation results showed that compared with original reflection spectra, PLS regression models developed for first derivative spectra produced higher prediction accuracy with coefficients of determination (R2) of 0.97, 0.94 and 0.90, and residual prediction deviation (RPD) of 6.57, 4.00 and 3.01 for ash, volatile matter and moisture, respectively. Good prediction accuracy was achieved with R2 of 0.85 and RPD of 2.55 for fixed carbon, and R2 of 0.87 and RPD of 2.73 for calorific value. It is concluded that the Vis-NIR spectroscopy is promising as an alternative of traditional proximate analysis for rapid determination of componential contents and calorific value of agricultural biomass feedstock

Catalytic processes towards the production of biofuels in a palm oil and oil palm biomass-based biorefinery.

PubMed

Chew, Thiam Leng; Bhatia, Subhash

2008-11-01

In Malaysia, there has been interest in the utilization of palm oil and oil palm biomass for the production of environmental friendly biofuels. A biorefinery based on palm oil and oil palm biomass for the production of biofuels has been proposed. The catalytic technology plays major role in the different processing stages in a biorefinery for the production of liquid as well as gaseous biofuels. There are number of challenges to find suitable catalytic technology to be used in a typical biorefinery. These challenges include (1) economic barriers, (2) catalysts that facilitate highly selective conversion of substrate to desired products and (3) the issues related to design, operation and control of catalytic reactor. Therefore, the catalytic technology is one of the critical factors that control the successful operation of biorefinery. There are number of catalytic processes in a biorefinery which convert the renewable feedstocks into the desired biofuels. These include biodiesel production from palm oil, catalytic cracking of palm oil for the production of biofuels, the production of hydrogen as well as syngas from biomass gasification, Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) for the conversion of syngas into liquid fuels and upgrading of liquid/gas fuels obtained from liquefaction/pyrolysis of biomass. The selection of catalysts for these processes is essential in determining the product distribution (olefins, paraffins and oxygenated products). The integration of catalytic technology with compatible separation processes is a key challenge for biorefinery operation from the economic point of view. This paper focuses on different types of catalysts and their role in the catalytic processes for the production of biofuels in a typical palm oil and oil palm biomass-based biorefinery.

A Cost Estimation of Biofuels for Naval Aviation: Budgeting for the Great Green Fleet

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-12-01

from DLA-E, 2011).....10 Figure 8. Pathways for Biomass to Liquid Fuels Production (From Gorin, 2010) ........23 Figure 9. Simplified Process...edible biomass grown on marginal lands and coastal waters. Some are produced using coal to liquid technology. These may be the fuels of the future...liquefaction process  Renewable oils from biomass , and  Alcohols from fermentation of biomass (Hileman et al., 2009, p. 11) The report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

Coal, poultry litter, contaminated corn, rice hulls, moldly hay, manure sludge - these are representative materials that could be tested as fuel feedstocks in a hybrid gasification/combustion concept studied in a recent US Department of Energy (DOE) design project. DOE's National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) collaborated to develop a design concept of a power system that incorporates Hybrid Biomass Gasification. This system would explore the use of a wide range of biomass and agricultural waste products as gasifier feedstocks. The plant, if built, would supply one-third of electrical and steam heating needs atmore » the USDA's Beltsville (Maryland) Agricultural Research Center. 1 fig., 1 photo.« less

Cellulosic Biomass Sugars to Advantaged Jet Fuel – Catalytic Conversion of Corn Stover to Energy Dense, Low Freeze Point Paraffins and Naphthenes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cortright, Randy

The purpose of this project was to demonstrate the technical and commercial feasibility of producing liquid fuels, particularly jet fuel, from lignocellulosic materials, such as corn stover. This project was led by Virent, Inc. (Virent) which has developed a novel chemical catalytic process (the BioForming ® platform) capable of producing “direct replacement” liquid fuels from biomass-derived feedstocks. Virent has shown it is possible to produce an advantaged jet fuel from biomass that meets or exceeds specifications for commercial and military jet fuel through Fuel Readiness Level (FRL) 5, Process Validation. This project leveraged The National Renewable Energy Lab’s (NREL) expertisemore » in converting corn stover to sugars via dilute acid pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis. NREL had previously developed this deconstruction technology for the conversion of corn stover to ethanol. In this project, Virent and NREL worked together to condition the NREL generated hydrolysate for use in Virent’s catalytic process through solids removal, contaminant reduction, and concentration steps. The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) was contracted in this project for the procurement, formatting, storage and analysis of corn stover and Northwestern University developed fundamental knowledge of lignin deconstruction that can help improve overall carbon recovery of the combined technologies. Virent conducted fundamental catalytic studies to improve the performance of the catalytic process and NREL provided catalyst characterization support. A technoeconomic analysis (TEA) was conducted at each stage of the project, with results from these analyses used to inform the direction of the project.« less

Low/Medium Density Biomass, Coastal and Ocean Carbon: A Carbon Cycle Mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Esper, Jaime; Gervin, Jan; Kirchman, Frank; Middleton, Elizabeth; Knox, Robert; Gregg, Watson; Mannino, Antonio; McClain, Charles; Herman, Jay; Hall, Forrest

2003-01-01

As part of the Global Carbon Cycle research effort, an agency-wide planning initiative was organized between October 2000 and June 2001 by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) at the behest of the Associate Administrator for Earth Science. The goal was to define future research and technology development activities needed for implementing a cohesive scientific observation plan. A timeline for development of missions necessary to acquire the selected new measurements was laid out, and included missions for low - medium density terrestrial biomass / coastal ocean / and ocean carbon. This paper will begin with the scientific justification and measurement requirements for these specific activities, explore the options for having separate or combined missions, and follow-up with an implementation study centered on a hyperspectral imager at geosynchronous altitudes.

Research on Anaerobic Digestion: Optimization and Scalability of Mixed High-strength Food Processing Wastes for Renewable Biogas Energy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yu, Zhongtang; Hitzhusen, Fredrick

2012-12-27

This research project developed and improved anaerobic digestion technologies, created a comprehensive Inventory of Ohio Biomass and a database of microorganisms of anaerobic digesters, and advanced knowledge and understanding of the underpinning microbiology of the anaerobic digestion process. The results and finding of this research project may be useful for future development and implementation of anaerobic digesters, especially at livestock farms. Policy makers and investors may also find the information on the biomass availability in Ohio and valuation of energy projects useful in policy making and making of investment decisions. The public may benefit from the information on biogas asmore » an energy source and the potential impact of anaerobic digester projects on their neighborhoods.« less

Ground Penetrating Radar For Estimating Root Biomass Through Empirical Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wolfe, M.; Dobreva, I. D.; Delgado, A.; Hays, D. B.; Bishop, M. P.; Huo, D.; Wang, X.; Teare, B. L.; Burris, S.

2017-12-01

Variability in soil carbon storage due to agricultural practices is an important component of the carbon cycle. Enhancing soil organic content is a means for restoring degraded soils and for improving soil quality, but also for carbon sequestration. In particular, accurate estimates of soil organic content are essential for quantifying carbon sequestration capabilities of agricultural systems. This project aims to advance the technological and analytical capabilities of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) for diagnoses of the soil carbon storage occurring due to the perennial grasses which are often utilized as biofuels. A new GPR processing workflow applied via a prototype software was tested on simulated GPR data of roots with different densities and depths to determine the sensitivity and capability of this technology to quantify these parameters. Field experiments were also conducted in long-term trials of different genotypes of perennial grasses over field sites in Texas to determine the application in authentic environments. GPR scans and soil samples were collected, and root dry biomass was obtained. Evaluation of pre-processing techniques was conducted to provide optimal resolution for assessment. The novel backscatter spatial structure workflow was implemented, and empirical relationships between root biomass and GPR derived observations were developed. Preliminary results suggest that the backscatter spatial structure changes in the presence of high density root biomass conditions, and these variations are indicative of root zone depth and density. Our results illustrate promising applications in root detection, and therefore, the soil organic content accumulation that is pertinent to a healthy soil system.

Assessment of different pretreatment technologies for efficient bioconversion of lignocellulose to ethanol.

PubMed

Singh, Jitendra K; Vyas, Preeti; Dubey, Anamika; Upadhyaya, Chandrama Prakash; Kothari, Richa; Tyagi, Vineet Veer; Kumar, Ashwani

2018-06-01

The future supply of energy to meet growing energy demand of rapidly exapanding populations is based on wide energy resources, particularly the renewable ones. Among all resources, lignocellulosic biomasses such as agriculture, forest, and agro-industrial residues are the most abundant and easily available bioresource for biorefineries to provide fuels, chemicals, and materials. However, pretreatment of biomass is required to overcome the physical and chemical barriers that exist in the lignin-carbohydrate composite and pretreatment facilitate the entry of biocatalysts for the conversion of biomass into fermentable sugars and other by-products. Therefore, pretreatment of the biomass is necessary prerequisite for efficient hydrolysis of lignocelluloses into different type of fermentable sugars. The physiochemical, biochemical and biological pretreatment methods are considered as most promising technologies for the biomass hydrolysis and are discussed in this review article. We also discussed the recent advancements and modern trends in pretreatment methods of lignocelluloses conversion into ethanol with special focus on fermentation methods.

From first generation biofuels to advanced solar biofuels.

PubMed

Aro, Eva-Mari

2016-01-01

Roadmaps towards sustainable bioeconomy, including the production of biofuels, in many EU countries mostly rely on biomass use. However, although biomass is renewable, the efficiency of biomass production is too low to be able to fully replace the fossil fuels. The use of land for fuel production also introduces ethical problems in increasing the food price. Harvesting solar energy by the photosynthetic machinery of plants and autotrophic microorganisms is the basis for all biomass production. This paper describes current challenges and possibilities to sustainably increase the biomass production and highlights future technologies to further enhance biofuel production directly from sunlight. The biggest scientific breakthroughs are expected to rely on a new technology called "synthetic biology", which makes engineering of biological systems possible. It will enable direct conversion of solar energy to a fuel from inexhaustible raw materials: sun light, water and CO2. In the future, such solar biofuels are expected to be produced in engineered photosynthetic microorganisms or in completely synthetic living factories.

Extraction and utilization of saltcedar and Russian olive biomass

Treesearch

Dennis P. Dykstra

2010-01-01

This chapter assesses technologies that might be useful for utilization of saltcedar and Russian olive trees as biomass. These are invasive species that are being targeted for eradication by the Bureau of Reclamation under federal legislation passed in 2007. One option is to utilize the biomass from stems and branches, and possibly even from roots and foliage,...

Practical achievements on biomass steam gasification in a rotary tubular coiled-downdraft reactor.

PubMed

Andrew, Renny; Gokak, D T; Sharma, Pankaj; Gupta, Shalini

2016-12-01

Today, the impending stringent environmental norms and concerns about the depletion of fossil fuel reserves have added impetus on development of cutting edge technologies for production of alternative fuels from renewable sources, like biomass. The concept of biomass pyro-gasification offers a platform for production of (a) hydrogen, (b) hydrocarbons and (c) value added chemicals, etc. In this context, there exists potential for hydrogen production from biomass by superheated steam gasification. Apart from H 2 , gaseous products of biomass steam gasification contain CO, CH 4 and other hydrocarbons that can be converted to hydrogen through cracking, steam reforming and water gas shift reactions. In the present work, the characteristics of biomass steam gasification in an indigenously designed rotary tubular coiled-downdraft reactor for high value gaseous fuel production from rice husk was studied through a series of experiments. The robust reactor system enhances biomass conversion to gaseous products by improved mass and heat transfer within the system induced by a coiled flow pattern with increased heat transfer area. Also, the system has improved upon the reliability of operation and offered greater continuity of the process and easier control in comparison with a conventional process by making use of an innovative gas cooler assembly and efficient venturi-mixing system for biomass and steam. Subsequently, the effects of reactor temperature, steam-to-biomass ratio and residence time on overall product gas yield and hydrogen yield were investigated. From the experimental results, it can be deduced that an optimum reactor temperature of 750 °C, steam-to-biomass ratio of 2.0 and a residence time of 3.0 min contributed highest gas yield (1.252 Nm 3  kg -1 moisture-free biomass). Based on the obtained experimental results, a projected potential hydrogen yield of 8.6 wt% of the moisture-free biomass could be achieved, and is also practical for production of pure hydrogen. © The Author(s) 2016.

Bioprocessing of bio-based chemicals produced from lignocellulosic feedstocks.

PubMed

Kawaguchi, Hideo; Hasunuma, Tomohisa; Ogino, Chiaki; Kondo, Akihiko

2016-12-01

The feedstocks used for the production of bio-based chemicals have recently expanded from edible sugars to inedible and more recalcitrant forms of lignocellulosic biomass. To produce bio-based chemicals from renewable polysaccharides, several bioprocessing approaches have been developed and include separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF), simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF), and consolidated bioprocessing (CBP). In the last decade, SHF, SSF, and CBP have been used to generate macromolecules and aliphatic and aromatic compounds that are capable of serving as sustainable, drop-in substitutes for petroleum-based chemicals. The present review focuses on recent progress in the bioprocessing of microbially produced chemicals from renewable feedstocks, including starch and lignocellulosic biomass. In particular, the technological feasibility of bio-based chemical production is discussed in terms of the feedstocks and different bioprocessing approaches, including the consolidation of enzyme production, enzymatic hydrolysis of biomass, and fermentation. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Biorefineries - New Green Strategy For Development Of Smart And Innovative Industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Płaza, Grażyna A.; Wandzich, Dorota

2016-09-01

Ecological engineering or ecotechnology is defined as the design of sustainable production that integrate human society with the natural environment for the benefit of both. In order to reach the goal of sustainability therefore important that bioproduct production systems are converted from to natural cycle oriented. In natural cycles there are not waste, but products are generated at different stages of the cycle. The ecotechnology creates a sustainable bioeconomy using biomass in a smart and efficient way. The biorefining sector, which uses smart, innovative and efficient technologies to convert biomass feedstocks into a range of bio-based products including fuels, chemicals, power, food, and renewable oils, currently presents the innovative and efficient bio-based production can revitalize existing industries. The paper presents the concept of biorefinery as the ecotechnological approach for creating a sustainable bioeconomy using biomass in a smart and efficient way.

Biomass power for rural development. Technical progress report, January 1--March 31, 1998

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Neuhauser, E.

Brief progress reports are presented on the following tasks: design packages for retrofits at the Dunkirk Station; fuel supply and site development plans; major equipment guarantees and project risk sharing; power production commitment; power plant site plan, construction and environmental permits; and experimental strategies for system evaluation. The paper then discusses in more detail the following: feedstock development efforts; clone-site testing and genetic studies; and efforts at outreach, extension and technology transfer.

Cellulases: Role in Lignocellulosic Biomass Utilization.

PubMed

Soni, Sanjeev Kumar; Sharma, Amita; Soni, Raman

2018-01-01

Rapid depletion of fossil fuels worldwide presents a dire situation demanding a potential replacement to surmount the current energy crisis. Lignocellulose presents a logical candidate to be exploited at industrial scale owing to its vast availability, inexpensive and renewable nature. Microbial degradation of lignocellulosic biomass is a lucrative, sustainable, and promising approach to obtain valuable commercial commodities at gigantic scale. The enzymatic hydrolysis involving cellulases is fundamental to all the technologies needed to transform lignocellulosic biomass to valuable industry relevant products. Cellulases have enormous potential to utilize cellulosic biomass, thus reducing environmental stress in addition to production of commodity chemicals resolving the current challenge to meet the energy needs globally. The substitution of petroleum-based fuels with bio-based fuels is the subject of thorough research establishing biofuel production as the future technology to achieve a sustainable, eco-friendly society with a zero waste approach.

A review on hydrothermal pre-treatment technologies and environmental profiles of algal biomass processing.

PubMed

Patel, Bhavish; Guo, Miao; Izadpanah, Arash; Shah, Nilay; Hellgardt, Klaus

2016-01-01

The need for efficient and clean biomass conversion technologies has propelled Hydrothermal (HT) processing as a promising treatment option for biofuel production. This manuscript discussed its application for pre-treatment of microalgae biomass to solid (biochar), liquid (biocrude and biodiesel) and gaseous (hydrogen and methane) products via Hydrothermal Carbonisation (HTC), Hydrothermal Liquefaction (HTL) and Supercritical Water Gasification (SCWG) as well as the utility of HT water as an extraction medium and HT Hydrotreatment (HDT) of algal biocrude. In addition, the Solar Energy Retained in Fuel (SERF) using HT technologies is calculated and compared with benchmark biofuel. Lastly, the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) discusses the limitation of the current state of art as well as introduction to new potential input categories to obtain a detailed environmental profile. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The lignol approach to biorefining of woody biomass to produce ethanol and chemicals.

PubMed

Arato, Claudio; Pye, E Kendall; Gjennestad, Gordon

2005-01-01

Processes that produce only ethanol from lignocellulosics display poor economics. This is generally overcome by constructing large facilities having satisfactory economies of scale, thus making financing onerous and hindering the development of suitable technologies. Lignol Innovations has developed a biorefining technology that employs an ethanol-based organosolv step to separate lignin, hemicellulose components, and extractives from the cellulosic fraction of woody biomass. The resultant cellulosic fraction is highly susceptible to enzymatic hydrolysis, generating very high yields of glucose (>90% in 12-24 h) with typical enzyme loadings of 10-20 FPU (filter paper units)/g. This glucose is readily converted to ethanol, or possibly other sugar platform chemicals, either by sequential or simultaneous saccharification and fermentation. The liquor from the organosolv step is processed by well-established unit operations to recover lignin, furfural, xylose, acetic acid, and a lipophylic extractives fraction. The process ethanol is recovered and recycled back to the process. The resulting recycled process water is of a very high quality, low BOD5, and suitable for overall system process closure. Significant benefits can be attained in greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions, as per the Kyoto Protocol. Revenues from the multiple products, particularly the lignin, ethanol and xylose fractions, ensure excellent economics for the process even in plants as small as 100 mtpd (metric tonnes per day) dry woody biomass input a scale suitable for processing wood residues produced by a single large sawmill.

Environmental and economic evaluation of bioenergy in Ontario, Canada

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yimin Zhang; Shiva Habibi; Heather L. MacLean

2007-08-15

We examined life cycle environmental and economic implications of two near-term scenarios for converting cellulosic biomass to energy, generating electricity from cofiring biomass in existing coal power plants, and producing ethanol from biomass in stand-alone facilities in Ontario, Canada. The study inventories near-term biomass supply in the province, quantifies environmental metrics associated with the use of agricultural residues for producing electricity and ethanol, determines the incremental costs of switching from fossil fuels to biomass, and compares the cost-effectiveness of greenhouse gas (GHG) and air pollutant emissions abatement achieved through the use of the bioenergy. Implementing a biomass cofiring rate of 10% in existing coal-fired power plants would reduce annual GHG emissions by 2.3 million metric tons (t) of CO{sub 2} equivalent (7% of the province's coal power plant emissions). The substitution of gasoline with ethanol/gasoline blends would reduce annual provincial light-duty vehicle fleet emissions between 1.3 and 2.5 million t of CO{sub 2} equivalent (3.5-7% of fleet emissions). If biomass sources other than agricultural residues were used, additional emissions reductions could be realized. At current crude oil prices (more » $70/barrel) and levels of technology development of the bioenergy alternatives, the biomass electricity cofiring scenario analyzed is more cost-effective for mitigating GHG emissions ($$22/t of CO{sub 2} equivalent for a 10% cofiring rate) than the stand-alone ethanol production scenario ($$92/t of CO{sub 2} equivalent). 67 refs., 5 figs., 7 tabs.« less

EPRI-USDOE COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT: COFIRING BIOMASS WITH COAL

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

David A. Tillman

2001-09-01

The entire Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) cofiring program has been in existence of some 9 years. This report presents a summary of the major elements of that program, focusing upon the following questions: (1) In pursuit of increased use of renewable energy in the US economy, why was electricity generation considered the most promising target, and why was cofiring pursued as the most effective near-term technology to use in broadening the use of biomass within the electricity generating arena? (2) What were the unique accomplishments of EPRI before the development of the Cooperative Agreement, which made developing the partnershipmore » with EPRI a highly cost-effective approach for USDOE? (3) What were the key accomplishments of the Cooperative Agreement in the development and execution of test and demonstration programs-accomplishments which significantly furthered the process of commercializing cofiring?« less

Heat transfer mechanisms in poplar wood undergoing torrefaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sule, Idris O.; Mahmud, Shohel; Dutta, Animesh; Tasnim, Syeda Humaira

2016-03-01

Torrefaction, a thermal treatment process of biomass, has been proved to improve biomass combustible properties. Torrefaction is defined as a thermochemical process in reduced oxygen condition and at temperature range from 200 to 300 °C for shorter residence time whereby energy yield is maximized, can be a bridging technology that can lead the conventional system (e.g. coal-fired plants) towards a sustainable energy system. In efforts to develop a commercial operable torrefaction reactor, the present study examines the minimum input condition at which biomass is torrefied and explores the heat transfer mechanisms during torrefaction in poplar wood samples. The heat transfer through the wood sample is numerically modeled and analyzed. Each poplar wood is torrefied at temperature of 250, 270, and 300 °C. The experimental study shows that the 270 °C-treatment can be deduced as the optimal input condition for torrefaction of poplar wood. A good understanding of heat transfer mechanisms can facilitate the upscaling and downscaling of torrefaction process equipment to fit the feedstock input criteria and can help to develop treatment input specifications that can maximize process efficiency.

An applied methodology for assessment of the sustainability of biomass district heating systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vallios, Ioannis; Tsoutsos, Theocharis; Papadakis, George

2016-03-01

In order to maximise the share of biomass in the energy supplying system, the designers should adopt the appropriate changes to the traditional systems and become more familiar with the design details of the biomass heating systems. The aim of this study is to present the development of methodology and its associated implementation in software that is useful for the design of biomass thermal conversion systems linked with district heating (DH) systems, taking into consideration the types of building structures and urban settlement layout around the plant. The methodology is based on a completely parametric logic, providing an impact assessment of variations in one or more technical and/or economic parameters and thus, facilitating a quick conclusion on the viability of this particular energy system. The essential energy parameters are presented and discussed for the design of biomass power and heat production system which are in connection with DH network, as well as for its environmental and economic evaluation (i.e. selectivity and viability of the relevant investment). Emphasis has been placed upon the technical parameters of biomass logistics, energy system's design, the economic details of the selected technology (integrated cogeneration combined cycle or direct combustion boiler), the DH network and peripheral equipment (thermal substations) and the greenhouse gas emissions. The purpose of this implementation is the assessment of the pertinent investment financial viability taking into account the available biomass feedstock, the economical and market conditions, and the capital/operating costs. As long as biomass resources (forest wood and cultivation products) are available and close to the settlement, disposal and transportation costs of biomass, remain low assuring the sustainability of such energy systems.

Biomass and Neutral Lipid Production in Geothermal Microalgal Consortia

PubMed Central

Bywaters, Kathryn F.; Fritsen, Christian H.

2015-01-01

Recently, technologies have been developed that offer the possibility of using algal biomass as feedstocks to energy producing systems – in addition to oil-derived fuels (Bird et al., 2011, 2012). Growing native mixed microalgal consortia for biomass in association with geothermal resources has the potential to mitigate negative impacts of seasonally low temperatures on biomass production systems as well as mitigate some of the challenges associated with growing unialgal strains. We assessed community composition, growth rates, biomass, and neutral lipid production of microalgal consortia obtained from geothermal hot springs in the Great Basin/Nevada area that were cultured under different thermal and light conditions. Biomass production rates ranged from 39.0 to 344.1 mg C L−1 day−1. The neutral lipid production in these consortia with and without shifts to lower temperatures and additions of bicarbonate (both environmental parameters that have been shown to enhance neutral lipid production) ranged from 0 to 38.74 mg free fatty acids (FFA) and triacylglycerols (TAG) L−1 day−1; the upper value was approximately 6% of the biomass produced. The higher lipid values were most likely due to the presence of Achnanthidium sp. Palmitic and stearic acids were the dominant free fatty acids. The S/U ratio (the saturated to unsaturated FA ratio) decreased for cultures shifted from their original temperature to 15°C. Biomass production was within the upper limits of those reported for individual strains, and production of neutral lipids was increased with secondary treatment. All results demonstrate a potential of culturing and manipulating resultant microalgal consortia for biomass-based energy production and perhaps even for biofuels. PMID:25763368

Jobs and Renewable Energy Project

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sterzinger, George

2006-12-19

Early in 2002, REPP developed the Jobs Calculator, a tool that calculates the number of direct jobs resulting from renewable energy development under RPS (Renewable Portfolio Standard) legislation or other programs to accelerate renewable energy development. The calculator is based on a survey of current industry practices to assess the number and type of jobs that will result from the enactment of a RPS. This project built upon and significantly enhanced the initial Jobs Calculator model by (1) expanding the survey to include other renewable technologies (the original model was limited to wind, solar PV and biomass co-firing technologies); (2)more » more precisely calculating the economic development benefits related to renewable energy development; (3) completing and regularly updating the survey of the commercially active renewable energy firms to determine kinds and number of jobs directly created; and (4) developing and implementing a technology to locate where the economic activity related to each type of renewable technology is likely to occur. REPP worked directly with groups in the State of Nevada to interpret the results and develop policies to capture as much of the economic benefits as possible for the state through technology selection, training program options, and outreach to manufacturing groups.« less

Sonochemistry: what potential for conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into platform chemicals?

PubMed

Chatel, Gregory; De Oliveira Vigier, Karine; Jérôme, François

2014-10-01

This Review focuses on the use of ultrasound to produce chemicals from lignocellulosic biomass. However, the question about the potential of sonochemistry for valorization/conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into added-value chemicals is rather conceptual. Until now, this technology has been mainly used for the production of low-value chemicals such as biodiesel or as simple method for pretreatment or extraction. According to preliminary studies reported in literature, access to added-value chemicals can be easily and sometimes solely obtained by the use of ultrasound. The design of sonochemical parameters offers many opportunities to develop new eco-friendly and efficient processes. The goal of this Review is to understand why the use of ultrasound is focused rather on pretreatment or extraction of lignocellulosic biomass rather than on the production of chemicals and to understand, through the reported examples, which directions need to be followed to favor strategies based on ultrasound-assisted production of chemicals from lignocellulosic biomass. We believe that ultrasound-assisted processes represent an innovative approach and will create a growing interest in academia but also in the industry in the near future. Based on the examples reported in the literature, we critically discuss how sonochemistry could offer new strategies and give rise to new results in lignocellulosic biomass valorization. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Composite materials from forest biomass : a review of current practices, science, and technology

Treesearch

Roger M. Rowell

2007-01-01

Renewable and sustainable composite materials can be produced using forest biomass if we maintain healthy forests. Small diameter trees and other forest biomass can be processed in the forest into small solid wood pieces, sliced veneers, strands, flakes, chips, particles and fiber that can be used to make construction composite products such as glued-laminated lumber,...

Chemometric modeling of thermogravimetric data for the compositional analysis of forest biomass

PubMed Central

Via, Brian K.; Fasina, Oladiran O.; Adhikari, Sushil; Billor, Nedret; Eckhardt, Lori G.

2017-01-01

The objective of this study was to investigated the use of chemometric modeling of thermogravimetric (TG) data as an alternative approach to estimate the chemical and proximate (i.e. volatile matter, fixed carbon and ash contents) composition of lignocellulosic biomass. Since these properties affect the conversion pathway, processing costs, yield and / or quality of products, a capability to rapidly determine these for biomass feedstock entering the process stream will be useful in the success and efficiency of bioconversion technologies. The 38-minute long methodology developed in this study enabled the simultaneous prediction of both the chemical and proximate properties of forest-derived biomass from the same TG data. Conventionally, two separate experiments had to be conducted to obtain such information. In addition, the chemometric models constructed with normalized TG data outperformed models developed via the traditional deconvolution of TG data. PLS and PCR models were especially robust in predicting the volatile matter (R2–0.92; RPD– 3.58) and lignin (R2–0.82; RPD– 2.40) contents of the biomass. The application of chemometrics to TG data also made it possible to predict some monomeric sugars in this study. Elucidation of PC loadings obtained from chemometric models also provided some insights into the thermal decomposition behavior of the chemical constituents of lignocellulosic biomass. For instance, similar loadings were noted for volatile matter and cellulose, and for fixed carbon and lignin. The findings indicate that common latent variables are shared between these chemical and thermal reactivity properties. Results from this study buttresses literature that have reported that the less thermally stable polysaccharides are responsible for the yield of volatiles whereas the more recalcitrant lignin with its higher percentage of elementary carbon contributes to the yield of fixed carbon. PMID:28253322

Chemometric modeling of thermogravimetric data for the compositional analysis of forest biomass.

PubMed

Acquah, Gifty E; Via, Brian K; Fasina, Oladiran O; Adhikari, Sushil; Billor, Nedret; Eckhardt, Lori G

2017-01-01

The objective of this study was to investigated the use of chemometric modeling of thermogravimetric (TG) data as an alternative approach to estimate the chemical and proximate (i.e. volatile matter, fixed carbon and ash contents) composition of lignocellulosic biomass. Since these properties affect the conversion pathway, processing costs, yield and / or quality of products, a capability to rapidly determine these for biomass feedstock entering the process stream will be useful in the success and efficiency of bioconversion technologies. The 38-minute long methodology developed in this study enabled the simultaneous prediction of both the chemical and proximate properties of forest-derived biomass from the same TG data. Conventionally, two separate experiments had to be conducted to obtain such information. In addition, the chemometric models constructed with normalized TG data outperformed models developed via the traditional deconvolution of TG data. PLS and PCR models were especially robust in predicting the volatile matter (R2-0.92; RPD- 3.58) and lignin (R2-0.82; RPD- 2.40) contents of the biomass. The application of chemometrics to TG data also made it possible to predict some monomeric sugars in this study. Elucidation of PC loadings obtained from chemometric models also provided some insights into the thermal decomposition behavior of the chemical constituents of lignocellulosic biomass. For instance, similar loadings were noted for volatile matter and cellulose, and for fixed carbon and lignin. The findings indicate that common latent variables are shared between these chemical and thermal reactivity properties. Results from this study buttresses literature that have reported that the less thermally stable polysaccharides are responsible for the yield of volatiles whereas the more recalcitrant lignin with its higher percentage of elementary carbon contributes to the yield of fixed carbon.

Lignite-plus-Biomass to Synthetic Jet Fuel with CO2 Capture and Storage: Design, Cost, and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Analysis for a Near-Term First-of-a-Kind Demonstration Project and Prospective Future Commercial Plants

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Greig, Chris; Larson, Eric; Kreutz, Thomas

We report on a 30-month design study for a first-of-a-kind (FOAK) demonstration plant that would be built at a site near Meridian, Mississippi, to coprocess lignite coal and woody biomass into jet fuel. The design uses an oxygen-blown TRIG™ gasifier developed by KBR and Southern Company. Fischer-Tropsch conversion of the syngas produces synthetic paraffinic kerosene (SPK) as the primary product, plus naphtha. Other co-products include electricity sold to the grid and CO2 sold for use in enhanced oil recovery (EOR). Previous studies have identified coprocessing of various coals and biomass with CO2 capture as promising options for cost-competitive production ofmore » low net lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions synthetic fuels. The effort reported here goes beyond earlier studies in the level of detail in process design and cost estimation with the aim of improving the understanding of the economic prospects for lignite and woody biomass coprocessing systems. Key objectives in the design of the FOAK lignite/biomass-to-jet (LBJ) plant were to achieve net lifecycle GHG emissions for the SPK that are less than for conventional petroleum-derived jet fuel and to make process design and equipment selections such that the plant could be built and operated in the near term, e.g., before 2025. The process design was developed by researchers at Princeton University and the University of Queensland and validated by engineers at the WorleyParsons Group (WP). Commercial vendors provided design and cost estimates for several major plant components. Bare-erected capital costs and operating and maintenance costs were estimated by WP. The primary objective in building and operating the FOAK plant would be to demonstrate the technical viability of the LBJ concept as an essential first step toward launching commercial-scale plants in the longer term. With this in mind, the project team developed a set of principles to help guide the process design: the total plant cost should be less than $2 billion (to limit investment risk); the level of input biomass should be both proportionally significant to reflect biomass/lignite co-gasification and sufficient to achieve GHG emissions goals; process design decisions and vendor/equipment selections should prioritize the likelihood of technical success over minimizing the cost of jet fuel production. The resulting FOAK plant design capacity is 1,551 metric t/d (45.5% moisture) lignite and 556 t/d (43.3% moisture) biomass, for a total input of 295 MWHHV, of which 25% is biomass. The design output is 1,252 actual barrels per day of liquids, of which 80% is SPK (62.3 MWLHV) and 20% is naphtha (13.9 MWLHV). It exports 15 MWe of electricity after satisfying a 38 MWe onsite auxiliary load. Additional products are 1,326 t/d of pressurized pipeline-quality CO2 and 49 t/day of sulfuric acid (93 wt% H2SO4). With thinnings from sustainably-managed southern pine plantations as the biomass, and with captured CO2 stored underground via EOR, the net lifecycle emissions for the SPK product are estimated to be about one-quarter of those for petroleum-derived jet fuel. The bare-erected cost (BEC) estimated by WP for this plant is $588 million (2015$). The authors’ best estimate of total plant cost (TPC) is $1,230 million, arrived at by assuming engineering, procurement and construction management services (20% of BEC), process 5 contingencies (35% of BEC), and project contingencies (35% of the sum of all other costs, i.e., 35% of 1.55xBEC). Not surprisingly, an annual discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis determined that it would be impossible to generate a positive net present value (NPV) over a wide range in key input assumptions. An SPK production cost subsidy of nearly $400/bbl over a 20-year plant life would be required to achieve zero NPV under a baseline set of assumptions (including 3% real weighted average cost of capital and a levelized crude oil price of $80/bbl). Alternatively, a capital grant in excess of the TPC value would also achieve zero NPV. The poor financial results reflect the small scale of the plant, the design principle to prioritize technical success, the levels of contingencies appropriate for the relatively early stage of project development, and the first-of-a-kind nature of the plant. Technology innovations, learning via construction and operating experience, alternative plant configurations, and larger scale should improve economics of future plants. To help understand these prospects, a preliminary analysis of Nth-of-a-kind (NOAK) plants was developed, but with the limitation that plants would use only equipment components that for the most part are already commercial today: consideration of advanced, not-yet-commercial technologies and of R&D-driven improvements in existing technologies were beyond the scope of this analysis. The analysis found that a variety of NOAK plant designs that coprocess lignite and woody biomass to make jet fuel are unlikely to be economically competitive without subsidy even in the presence of a high future carbon tax or equivalent greenhouse gas mitigation policy. This conclusion applies to process configurations and input biomass/lignite ratios that result in net GHG emissions as high as those for petroleum-derived jet fuel and as low as zero. In contrast, encouraging results were found for plants processing only biomass. The economics of these “BECCS” plants (biomass energy with CCS) improve dramatically with the strength of carbon mitigation policies because of their strongly negative net GHG emissions. These findings do not imply that coal/biomass coprocessing strategies for making synfuels with CCS are not economically promising – only that, in the case of lignite, much more than a 25% biomass coprocessing rate would be needed. However, our analysis shows that all such systems are unlikely to be economic in the absence of a strong carbon mitigation policy. Future R&D driven technological innovations could modify this conclusion. Among other R&D priorities, an emphasis on better understanding and reducing plant auxiliary loads is warranted.« less

Renewable Enhanced Feedstocks for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts (REFABB)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Peoples, Oliver; Snell, Kristi

The basic concept of the REFABB project was that by genetically engineering the biomass crop switchgrass to produce a natural polymer PHB, which is readily broken down by heating (thermolysis) into the chemical building block crotonic acid, sufficient additional economic value would be added for the grower and processor to make it an attractive business at small scale. Processes for using thermolysis to upgrade biomass to densified pellets (char) or bio-oil are well known and require low capital investment similar to a corn ethanol facility. Several smaller thermolysis plants would then supply the densified biomass, which is easier to handlemore » and transport to a centralized biorefinery where it would be used as the feedstock. Crotonic acid is not by itself a large volume commodity chemical, however, the project demonstrated that it can be used as a feedstock to produce a number of large volume chemicals including butanol which itself is a biofuel target. In effect the project would try to address three key technology barriers, feedstock logistics, feedstock supply and cost effective biomass conversion. This project adds to our understanding of the potential for future biomass biorefineries in two main areas. The first addressed in Task A was the importance and potential of developing an advanced value added biomass feedstock crop. In this Task several novel genetic engineering technologies were demonstrated for the first time. One important outcome was the identification of three novel genes which when re-introduced into the switchgrass plants had a remarkable impact on increasing the biomass yield based on dramatically increasing photosynthesis. These genes also turned out to be critical to increasing the levels of PHB in switchgrass by enabling the plants to fix carbon fast enough to support both plant growth and higher levels of the polymer. Challenges in the critical objective of Task B, demonstrating conversion of the PHB in biomass to crotonic acid at over 90% yield, demonstrated the need to consider up-front the limitations of trying to adopt existing equipment to a task for which subsequent basic research studies indicated it was not suitable. New information was developed in the most complex of the chemical conversions studied, advanced catalysis to make acrylic acid, a chemical used widely to make paints, and this was published in a scientific journal. In regard to the technical effectiveness, the crop science aspects were for the most part remarkably effective in addressing the underlying objectives indicating the soundness of the technical approach. With time, it should be possible to fully develop the advanced biomass biorefinery feedstock. Challenges within the thermolysis step to recover crotonic acid meant that by the end of the project we were not able to demonstrate an economic case based on data from scaled up equipment. Solving this will take further research and development work. As a general statement, the broadest public good is in demonstrating the value of funding a very unique approach to the complex problem of enabling large-scale biomass biorefineries which resulted in significant progress towards the ultimate goal and a clearer understanding of the technical hurdles remaining. Perhaps not surprisingly, some of the broader benefits to the public come from the use of the REFABB project innovations in areas unrelated to the initial objective. It is worth highlighting the breakthrough developments in identifying three single global regulator genes which can be engineered into plants to dramatically increase photosynthesis and carbon capturing ability. These genes have tremendous potential for use in major food crops, in particular corn to enhance grain yield and based on recent findings, increase the root density, a critical key to increasing carbon sequestration in agriculture and improving the sustainability of global food and biofuel production.« less

Health and safety implications of alternative energy technologies. I. Geothermal and biomass

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Watson, A. P.; Etnier, E. L.

1981-07-01

An evaluation of potential occupational and public health aspects of geopressure, hydrothermal, hot dry rock, silviculture, crop and animal residues, fermentable plant products, municipal waste, and plantation energy technologies has been performed. Future development of these energy options in the United States will contain hazards that could easily be eliminated by safer equipment design and common-sense attention to operation and maintenance. Occupational exposure to hydrogen sulfide gas occurs near all geothermal sites and wherever organic matter decomposes anaerobically. Respiratory damage has occurred to laborers in geothermal fields, while farm workers have been fatally overcome when employed near agitating liquid manure systems. However, the most frequent and severe of reported injuries to geothermal workers is dermal exposure to caustic sludges produced by H2S abatement systems. Principal health and safety considerations of biomass pathways are directly related to the diffuse nature of solar energy fixation by photosynthesis and subsequent transfer to animal food chains. Since the potential fuel is in an unconcentrated form, cultivation, harvest, and transport are necessarily laborintensive. Thus, a significant potential for occupational injuries and fatalities exists. Of all biomass systems evaluated, direct burning of solid fuels presents the greatest public health risk. Data are presented to characterize the population at risk and the frequency and severity of injuries.

Is biosorption suitable for decontamination of metal-bearing wastewaters? A critical review on the state-of-the-art of biosorption processes and future directions.

PubMed

Vijayaraghavan, K; Balasubramanian, R

2015-09-01

For the past few decades, biosorption has been widely investigated for the removal of different contaminants in aqueous media. A number of biomasses of different genre have been identified to possess good biosorption capacity. Insights into biosorption mechanisms have been provided by various researchers in order to develop a fundamental scientific understanding of the biosorption process. However, biosorption has not been employed widely for its large-scale commercial applications. The key factors that affect the growth and evolution of biosorption as a practical technology for decontamination of wastewaters include, (1) lack of investigations on multi-component solutions and wastewaters with complex matrix effects, (2) incomplete understanding of physico-chemical characteristics of biomasses of different types, (3) lack of studies to improve the performance of biosorbents through surface functionalization, and (4) non-integration of biosorption in wastewater/water treatment plants. This critical review aims to identify and discuss the practical limitations of biosorption and provide future research directions to make biosorption a technologically viable process with emphasis on selection and modification of biomasses to suit desired treatment applications, identify appropriate operation modes for large-scale applications of biosorption, and perform techno-economic evaluation of overall biosorption processes. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

John M. Sweeten, Kalyan Annamalai

The Texas Panhandle is regarded as the 'Cattle Feeding Capital of the World', producing 42% of the fed beef cattle in the United States within a 200-mile radius of Amarillo generating more than 5 million tons of feedlot manure/year. Apart from feedlots, the Bosque River Region in Erath County, just north of Waco, Texas with about 110,000 dairy cattle in over 250 dairies, produces 1.8 million tons of manure biomass (excreted plus bedding) per year. While the feedlot manure has been used extensively for irrigated and dry land crop production, most dairies, as well as other concentrated animal feeding operationsmore » (CAFO's), the dairy farms utilize large lagoon areas to store wet animal biomass. Water runoff from these lagoons has been held responsible for the increased concentration of phosphorus and other contaminates in the Bosque River which drains into Lake Waco - the primary source of potable water for Waco's 108,500 people. The concentrated animal feeding operations may lead to land, water, and air pollution if waste handling systems and storage and treatment structures are not properly managed. Manure-based biomass (MBB) has the potential to be a source of green energy at large coal-fired power plants and on smaller-scale combustion systems at or near confined animal feeding operations. Although MBB particularly cattle biomass (CB) is a low quality fuel with an inferior heat value compared to coal and other fossil fuels, the concentration of it at large animal feeding operations can make it a viable source of fuel. The overall objective of this interdisciplinary proposal is to develop environmentally benign technologies to convert low-value inventories of dairy and beef cattle biomass into renewable energy. Current research expands the suite of technologies by which cattle biomass (CB: manure, and premature mortalities) could serve as a renewable alternative to fossil fuel. The work falls into two broad categories of research and development. Category 1 - Renewable Energy Conversion. This category addressed mostly in volume I involves developing. Thermo-chemical conversion technologies including cofiring with coal, reburn to reduce nitrogen oxide (NO, N2O, NOx, etc.) and Hg emissions and gasification to produce low-BTU gas for on-site power production in order to extract energy from waste streams or renewable resources. Category 2 - Biomass Resource Technology. This category, addressed mostly in Volume II, deals with the efficient and cost-effective use of CB as a renewable energy source (e.g. through and via aqueous-phase, anaerobic digestion or biological gasification). The investigators formed an industrial advisory panel consisting fuel producers (feedlots and dairy farms) and fuel users (utilities), periodically met with them, and presented the research results; apart from serving as dissemination forum, the PIs used their critique to red-direct the research within the scope of the tasks. The final report for the 5 to 7 year project performed by an interdisciplinary team of 9 professors is arranged in three volumes: Vol. I (edited by Kalyan Annamalai) addressing thermo-chemical conversion and direct combustion under Category 1 and Vol. II and Vol. III ( edited by J M Sweeten) addressing biomass resource Technology under Category 2. Various tasks and sub-tasks addressed in Volume I were performed by the Department of Mechanical Engineering (a part of TEES; see Volume I), while other tasks and sub-tasks addressed in Volume II and IIII were conducted by Texas AgriLife Research at Amarillo; the TAMU Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department (BAEN) College Station; and West Texas A and M University (WTAMU) (Volumes II and III). The three volume report covers the following results: fuel properties of low ash and high ash CB (particularly DB) and MB (mortality biomass) and coals, non-intrusive visible infrared (NVIR) spectroscopy techniques for ash determination, dairy energy use surveys at 14 dairies in Texas and California, cofiring of low quality CB with high quality coal, emission results and ash fouling behavior, using CB as reburn fuel for NOx and Hg reduction, gasification of fuels to produce low quality gases, modeling of reburn, pilot scale test results, synthesis of engineering characterization, geographical mapping, a transportation cost study to determine potential handling and transportation systems for co-firing with coal at regional coal-fired power plants, software analyses for the design of off-site manure, pre-processing and storage systems for a typical dairy farm or beef cattle feedlot, recursive production functions/systems models for both cattle feedlots, systems modeling, stocks and flows of energy involved in the CAFO system, feedback from an Industry Advisory Committee (IAC) to the investigators on project direction and task emphasis and economics of using CB as cofiring and reburn fuel.« less

Sustainable Development Strategies of Biomass Energy in Beijing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, H. Z.; Huang, B. R.

2017-10-01

The development of biomass energy industry can effectively improve the rural environment and alleviate the shortage of living energy in rural areas, especially in mountain areas. In order to make clear the current situation of biomass energy industry development in Beijing, this paper analyzed the status of biomass resources and biomass energy utilization and discussed the factors hindering the development of biomass energy industry in Beijing. Based on the analysis, suggestions for promoting sustainable development of Biomass Energy Industry in Beijing are put forward.

Algal treatment of wastewater generated during oil and gas production using hydraulic fracturing technology.

PubMed

Lutzu, Giovanni Antonio; Dunford, Nurhan Turgut

2017-12-19

Hydraulic fracturing technology is widely used for recovering natural gas and oil from tight oil and gas reserves. Large volumes of wastewater, flowback water, are produced during the fracturing process. This study examines algal treatment of flowback water. Thirteen microalgae strains consisting of cyanobacteria and green algae were examined. Wastewater quality before and after algae treatment, as well as volatile matter, fixed carbon and ash contents of the biomass grown in flowback water were examined. The experimental results demonstrated that microalgae can grow in flowback water. The chemical composition of the algal biomass produced in flowback water was strain specific. Over 65% total dissolved solids, 100% nitrate and over 95% boron reduction in flowback water could be achieved. Hence, algal treatment of flowback water can significantly reduce the adverse environmental impact of hydraulic fracturing technology and produce biomass that can be converted to bioproducts.

Gasification of Wood and Non-wood Waste of Timber Production as Perspectives for Development of Bioenergy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kislukhina, Irina A.; Rybakova, Olga G.

2018-03-01

The article deals with biomass gasification technology using the gasification plant running on wood chips and pellets, produced from essential oils waste (waste of coniferous boughs). During the study, the authors solved the process task of improving the quality of the product gas derived from non-wood waste of timber production (coniferous boughs) due to the extraction of essential oils and the subsequent thermal processing of spent coniferous boughs at a temperature of 250-300°C degrees without oxygen immediately before pelleting. The paper provides the improved biomass gasification process scheme including the grinding of coniferous boughs, essential oil distillation and thermal treatment of coniferous boughs waste and pelletizing.

NREL Research on Converting Biomass to Liquid Fuels

ScienceCinema

None

2017-12-09

Unlike other renewable energy sources, biomass can be converted directly into liquid fuels, called "biofuels," to help meet transportation fuel needs. The two most common types of biofuels are ethanol and biodiesel. Today, ethanol is made from starches and sugars, but at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) scientists are developing technology to allow it to be made from cellulose and hemicellulose, the fibrous material that makes up the bulk of most plant matter. Biodiesel is made by combining alcohol (usually methanol) with vegetable oil, animal fat, or recycled cooking grease. It can be used as an additive (typically 20%) to reduce vehicle emissions or in its pure form as a renewable alternative fuel for diesel engines.

Vermont Biofuels Initiative: Local Production for Local Use to Supply a Portion of Vermont's Energy Needs

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sawyer, Scott; Kahler, Ellen

2009-05-31

The Vermont Biofuels initiative (VBI) is the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund's (VSJF) biomass-to-biofuels market development program. Vermont is a small state with a large petroleum dependency for transportation (18th in per capita petroleum consumption) and home heating (55% of all households use petroleum for heating). The VBI marks the first strategic effort to reduce Vermont's dependency on petroleum through the development of homegrown alternatives. As such, it supports the four key priorities of the U.S. Department of Energy's Multi-year Biomass Plan: 1.) Dramatically reduce dependence on foreign oil; 2.) Promote the use of diverse, domestic and sustainable energy resources; 3.)more » Reduce carbon emissions from energy production and consumption; 4.) Establish a domestic bioindustry. In 2005 VSJF was awarded with a $496,000 Congressionally directed award from U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy. This award was administered through the U.S. Department of Energy (DE-FG36- 05GO85017, hereafter referred to as DOE FY05) with $396,000 to be used by VSJF for biodiesel development and $100,000 to be used by the Vermont Department of Public Service for methane biodigester projects. The intent and strategic focus of the VBI is similar to another DOE funded organization-the Biofuels Center of North Carolina-in that it is a nonprofit driven, statewide biofuels market development effort. DOE FY05 funds were expensed from 2006 through 2008 for seven projects: 1) a feedstock production, logistics, and biomass conversion research project conducted by the University of Vermont Extension; 2) technical assistance in the form of a safety review and engineering study of State Line Biofuels existing biodiesel production facility; 3) technical assistance in the form of a safety review and engineering study of Borderview Farm's proposed biodiesel production facility; 4) technology and infrastructure purchases for capacity expansion at Green Technologies, LLC, a waste vegetable biodiesel producer; 5) technical assistance in the form of feasibility studies for AgNorth Biopower LLC's proposed multi-feedstock biodigester; 6) technology and infrastructure purchases for the construction of a "Cow Power" biodigester at Gervais Family Farm; and 7) the education and outreach activities of the Vermont Biofuels Association. DOE FY05 funded research, technical assistance, and education and outreach activities have helped to provide Vermont farmers and entrepreneurs with important feedstock production, feedstock logistics, and biomass conversion information that did not exist prior as we work to develop an instate biodiesel sector. The efficacy of producing oilseed crops in New England is now established: Oilseed crops can grow well in Vermont, and good yields are achievable given improved harvesting equipment and techniques. DOE FY05 funds used for technology and infrastructure development have expanded Vermont's pool of renewable electricity and liquid fuel generation. It is now clear that on-farm energy production provides an opportunity for Vermont farmers and entrepreneurs to reduce on-farm expenditures of feed and fuel while providing for their energy security. Meanwhile they are developing new value-added revenue sources (e.g., locally produced livestock meal), retaining more dollars in the local economy, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.« less

Supply Chain Sustainability Analysis of Fast Pyrolysis and Hydrotreating Bio-Oil to Produce Hydrocarbon Fuels

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Adom, Felix K.; Cai, Hao; Dunn, Jennifer B.

2016-03-01

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technology Office (BETO) aims at developing and deploying technologies to transform renewable biomass resources into commercially viable, high-performance biofuels, bioproducts and biopower through public and private partnerships (DOE, 2015). BETO and its national laboratory teams conduct in-depth techno-economic assessments (TEA) of technologies to produce biofuels. These assessments evaluate feedstock production, logistics of transporting the feedstock, and conversion of the feedstock to biofuel. There are two general types of TEAs. A design case is a TEA that outlines a target case for a particular biofuel pathway. It enables identification of data gaps and research andmore » development needs, and provides goals and targets against which technology progress is assessed. On the other hand, a state of technology (SOT) analysis assesses progress within and across relevant technology areas based on actual experimental results relative to technical targets and cost goals from design cases, and includes technical, economic, and environmental criteria as available.« less

Cultivation of algal biofilm using different lignocellulosic materials as carriers.

PubMed

Zhang, Qi; Liu, Cuixia; Li, Yubiao; Yu, Zhigang; Chen, Zhihua; Ye, Ting; Wang, Xun; Hu, Zhiquan; Liu, Shiming; Xiao, Bo; Jin, Shiping

2017-01-01

Algal biofilm technology is recently supposed to be a promising method to produce algal biomass as the feedstock for the production of biofuels. However, the carrier materials currently used to form algal biofilm are either difficult to be obtained at a low price or undurable. Commercialization of the biofilm technology for algal biomass production extremely requires new and inexpensive materials as biofilm carriers with high biomass production performances. Four types of lignocellulosic materials were investigated to evaluate their performance of acting as carriers for algal cells attachment and the relevant effects on the algal biomass production in this study. The cultivation of algal biofilm was processed in a self-designed flat plate photo-bioreactor. The biofilm production and chemical composition of the harvested biomass were determined. The surface physics properties of the materials were examined through a confocal laser-scanning microscopy. Algal biomass production varied significantly with the variation of the carriers ( P  < 0.05). All the lignocellulosic materials showed better performances in biofilm production than poly methyl methacrylate, and the application of pine sawdust as the carrier could gain the maximum biofilm productivity of 10.92 g m -2  day -1 after 16-day cultivation. In addition, 20.10-23.20% total lipid, 30.35-36.73% crude proteins, and 20.29-25.93% carbohydrate were achieved from the harvested biomasses. Biomass productivity increased linearly as the increase of surface roughness, and Wenzel's roughness factor of the tested materials, and surface roughness might significantly affect the biomass production through the size of surface morphology and the area of surface ( P  < 0.05). The results showed that lignocellulosic materials can be efficient carriers for low-cost cultivation of algal biofilm and the enhancement of biomass productivity.

An analysis of alternative technologies for the removal of ethylene from the CELSS biomass production chamber

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rakow, Allen L.

1995-01-01

A variety of technologies were analyzed for their potential to remove ethylene from the CELSS Biomass Production Chamber (BPC). During crop production (e.g., lettuce, wheat, soybean, potato) in the BPC ethylene can accumulate in the airspace and subsequently affect plant viability. The chief source of ethylene is the plants themselves which reside in plastic trays containing nutrient solution. The main sink for ethylene is chamber leakage. The removal technology can be employed when deleterious levels (e.g., 50 ppb for potato) of ethylene are exceeded in the BPC and perhaps to optimize the plant growth process once a better understanding is developed of the relationship between exogenous ethylene concentration and plant growth. The technologies examined were catalytic oxidation, molecular sieve, cryotrapping, permanganate absorption, and UV degradation. Upon analysis, permanganate was chosen as the most suitable method. Experimental data for ethylene removal by permanganate during potato production was analyzed in order to design a system for installation in the BPC air duct. In addition, an analysis of the impact on ethylene concentration in the BPC of integrating the Breadboard Scale Aerobic Bioreactor (BSAB) with the BPC was performed. The result indicates that this unit has no significant effect on the ethylene material balance as a source or sink.

Sun Grant Initiative Regional Biomass Feedstock Partnership Competitive Grants Program

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Owens, Vance

The Sun Grant Initiative partnered with the US Department of Energy (DOE) in 2008 to create the Regional Biomass Feedstock Partnership Competitive Grants Program. The overall goal of this project was to utilize congressionally directed funds to leverage the North Central Regional Sun Grant’s Competitive Grant program at South Dakota State University (SDSU) to address key issues and research gaps related to development of the bioeconomy. Specific objectives of this program were to: 1. Identify research projects through a Regional Competitive Grants program that were relevant to the sustainable production, harvest, transport, delivery, and processing/conversion of cost-competitive, domestically grown biomass.more » 2. Build local expertise and capacity at the North Central Regional Sun Grant Center at SDSU through an internal selection of key bioenergy research projects. To achieve these, three nationwide Request for Applications (RFA) were developed: one each in 2008, 2009, and 2010. Internal, capacity building projects at SDSU were also selected during each one of these RFAs. In 2013 and 2015, two additional Proof of Concept RFAs were developed for internal SDSU projects. Priority areas for each RFA were 1) Biomass feedstock logistics including biomass harvesting, handling, transportation, storage, and densification; 2) Sustainable biomass feedstock production systems including biomass crop development, production, and life-cycle analysis; 3) Biomass production systems that optimize biomass feedstock yield and economic return across a diverse landscape while minimizing negative effects on the environment and food/feed production; and 4) Promotion of knowledge-based economic development in science and technology and to advance commercialization of inventions that meet the mission of the Sun Grant Initiative. A total of 33 projects were selected for funding through this program. Final reports for each of these diverse projects are included in this summary report. Projects funded under this award have contributed significantly to and advanced the bioeconomy body of knowledge. Specifically, no fewer than 109 peer-reviewed publications, 2 patents, 4 invention disclosures, 5 book chapters, 30 conference papers, 224 professional presentations, 31 outreach publications, and 1 website have been generated. This contribution to the scientific community (peer-reviewed literature, presentations, etc.) and to the public (outreach publications, websites, etc.) has been significant. In addition, a number of projects funded through this award included significant industry involvement and support both in terms of funding (both in-kind and direct) and input. Key industry stakeholders included AGCO, Alliant Energy, Applied Nanofilms, Archer Daniels Midland, ConocoPhillips, DuPont-Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol, EcoSun Prairie Farm, Federal Machine Co., Hawkeye Renewables, John Deere, Mendel, SD Innovation Partners, and Thermo-Ag.« less

78 FR 46331 - Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-31

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee AGENCY: Energy... Energy is soliciting nominations for candidates to fill vacancies on the Biomass Research and Development... INFORMATION: The Biomass Research and Development Act of 2000 (Biomass Act) [Pub. L. 106-224] requires...

Roadmap for Biomass Technologies in the United States

DTIC Science & Technology

2002-12-01

landfill gases, anaerobic digestion of animal manure and food/feed/grain products and by-products, use of wastewater treatment digestion gas, sludge...include ethanol, biodiesel, and methanol. Biogas : A methane-bearing gas from the digestion of biomass. Biomass: Any organic matter that is available...Research pathways and milestones to improving the understanding of plant biochemis- try and enzyme production are provided in Exhibit 4. Objective Two

Proceedings of the 1st Army Installation Waste to Energy Workshop

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-08-01

Center 2902 Newmark Dr. Champaign, IL 61824 René S. Parker Select Engineering Services (SES) 1544 Woodland Park Ave. Suite 310 Layton , UT 84041...gasification technologies at different scales (Source: Larson, Eric D., “Small-Scale Gasification-Based Biomass Power Generation,” January 1998...Engineering Research Laboratory. Larson, Eric D. 1998. Small-scale gasification-based biomass power generation. Prepared for the Biomass Workshop

LED Systems Target Plant Growth

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2010-01-01

To help develop technologies for growing edible biomass (food crops) in space, Kennedy Space Center partnered with Orbital Technologies Corporation (ORBITEC), of Madison, Wisconsin, through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. One result of this research was the High Efficiency Lighting with Integrated Adaptive Control (HELIAC) system, components of which have been incorporated into a variety of agricultural greenhouse and consumer aquarium lighting features. The new lighting systems can be adapted to a specific plant species during a specific growth stage, allowing maximum efficiency in light absorption by all available photosynthetic tissues.

Green-House-Gas-Reduced Coal-and-Biomass-to-Liquid-Based Jet Fuel (GHGR-CBTL) Process - Final Technical report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lux, Kenneth; Imam, Thamina; Chevanan, Nehru

This Final Technical Report describes the work and accomplishments of the project entitled, “Green-House-Gas-Reduced Coal-and-Biomass-to-Liquid-Based Jet Fuel (GHGR-CBTL) Process”. The main objective of the project was to raise the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of the GHGR-CBTL fuel-production technology from TRL 4 to TRL 5 by producing a drop-in synthetic Jet Propellant 8 (JP-8) with a greenhouse-gas footprint less than or equal to petroleum-based JP-8 by utilizing mixtures of coal and biomass as the feedstock. The system utilizes the patented Altex fuel-production technology, which incorporates advanced catalysts developed by Pennsylvania State University. While the system was not fabricated and tested, majormore » efforts were expended to design the 1-TPD and a full-scale plant. The system was designed, a Block-Flow Diagram (BFD), a Process-Flow Diagram (PFD), and Piping-and-Instrumentation Diagrams (P&IDs) were produced, a Bill of Materials (BOM) and associated spec sheets were produced, commercially available components were selected and procured, custom components were designed and fabricated, catalysts were developed and screened for performance, and permitting activities were conducted. Optimization tests for JP-8 production using C2 olefin as the feed were performed over a range of temperatures, pressures and WHSVs. Liquid yields of between 63 to 65% with 65% JP-8 fraction (41-42% JP-8 yield) at 50 psig were achieved. Life-Cycle Analysis (LCA) was performed by Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), and a GHGR-CBTL module was added to the Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Transportation (GREET®) model. Based upon the experimental results, the plant design was reconfigured for zero natural-gas imports and minimal electricity imports. The LCA analysis of the reconfigured process utilizing the GREET model showed that if the char from the process was utilized to produce combined heat and power (CHP) then a feed containing 23 wt% biomass and 77 wt% lignite would be needed for parity with petroleum-based JP-8. If the char is not utilized for CHP, but sequestered in a land fill, 24 wt% biomass and 76 wt% lignite would be required. A TEA was performed on this configuration following DOE guidelines and using the ANL-developed GREET module that showed that the GHGR-CBTL TOC and ECO are 69% and 58% of those for the DOE FT-Liquids Baseline Case, respectively. This analysis shows that the economics of the GHGR-CBTL process are significantly better than a gasification/FT process. No technical barriers were identified. The lower costs and the detailed design that was performed under this project are being used by Altex to attract funding partners to move the GHGR-CBTL development forward.« less

Mission analysis for the federal fuels from biomass program. Volume IV. Termochemical conversion of biomass to fuels and chemicals

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kohan, S.M.; Barkhordar, P.M.

1979-01-01

The thermochemical conversion of biomass feedstocks generally denotes technologies that use elevated temperatures to convert the fixed carbon content of biomass materials to produce other, more useful energy forms. Examples are combustion to produce heat, steam, electricity, or combinations of these; pyrolysis to produce gas (low- or intermediate-Btu), pyrolytic liquids and chemicals, and char; gasification to produce low or intermediate Btu gas (and, from IBG, additional products such as SNG, ammonia, methanol, or Fischer-Tropsch liquids); and liquefaction to produce heavy fuel oil or, with upgrading, lighter-boiling liquid products such as distillates, light fuel oils, or gasoline. This section discusses themore » selection of the feedstock used in the analysis of thermochemical conversion technologies. The following sections present detailed technical and economic evaluations of biomass conversion to electricity and steam by combustion, SNG by gasification and methanation, methanol by gasification and synthesis, oil by catalytic liquefaction, oil and char by pyrolysis, and ammonia by gasification and synthesis. The conversion options were reviewed with DOE for approval at the start of the project.« less

Two-step fast microwave-assisted pyrolysis of biomass for bio-oil production using microwave absorbent and HZSM-5 catalyst.

PubMed

Zhang, Bo; Zhong, Zhaoping; Xie, Qinglong; Liu, Shiyu; Ruan, Roger

2016-07-01

A novel technology of two-step fast microwave-assisted pyrolysis (fMAP) of corn stover for bio-oil production was investigated in the presence of microwave absorbent (SiC) and HZSM-5 catalyst. Effects of fMAP temperature and catalyst-to-biomass ratio on bio-oil yield and chemical components were examined. The results showed that this technology, employing microwave, microwave absorbent and HZSM-5 catalyst, was effective and promising for biomass fast pyrolysis. The fMAP temperature of 500°C was considered the optimum condition for maximum yield and best quality of bio-oil. Besides, the bio-oil yield decreased linearly and the chemical components in bio-oil were improved sequentially with the increase of catalyst-to-biomass ratio from 1:100 to 1:20. The elemental compositions of bio-char were also determined. Additionally, compared to one-step fMAP process, two-step fMAP could promote the bio-oil quality with a smaller catalyst-to-biomass ratio. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

2015 Peer Review Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None, None

In the spring and summer of 2015, the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO or the Office) of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) implemented an external peer review of the projects in its research, development and demonstration (RD&D) portfolio. The Office manages a diverse portfolio of technologies across the spectrum of applied RD&D within the dynamic context of changing budgets and Administration priorities. The Office portfolio is organized according to the biomass-to-bioenergy supply chain—from the feedstock source to the end user (see Figure 1)—with major focus on feedstock supply and biomass conversion. The 2015 Project Peer Review took place March 23-27,more » 2015, outside of Washington, D.C., in Alexandria, Virginia, and evaluated most of the publicly funded projects in BETO’s portfolio. The subsequent Program Management Review took place on June 25, 2015, in Washington, D.C., and provided an Office- level assessment of strategic planning and programmatic initiatives. The peer review process enables external stakeholders to provide feedback on the responsible use of taxpayer funding and develop recommendations for the most efficient and effective ways to accelerate the development of an advanced bioenergy industry. The planning and execution of these reviews was completed over the course of 10 months, and this report includes the results of both events.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Overend, R.P.; Rivard, C.J.

Gasification is being developed to enable a diverse range of biomass resources to meet modern secondary energy uses, especially in the electrical utility sector. Biological or anaerobic gasification in US landfills has resulted in the installation of almost 500 MW(e) of capacity and represents the largest scale application of gasification technology today. The development of integrated gasification combined cycle generation for coal technologies is being paralleled by bagasse and wood thermal gasification systems in Hawaii and Scandinavia, and will lead to significant deployment in the next decade as the current scale-up activities are commercialized. The advantages of highly reactive biomassmore » over coal in the design of process units are being realized as new thermal gasifiers are being scaled up to produce medium-energy-content gas for conversion to synthetic natural gas and transportation fuels and to hydrogen for use in fuel cells. The advent of high solids anaerobic digestion reactors is leading to commercialization of controlled municipal solid waste biological gasification rather than landfill application. In both thermal and biological gasification, high rate process reactors are a necessary development for economic applications that address waste and residue management and the production and use of new crops for energy. The environmental contribution of biomass in reducing greenhouse gas emission will also be improved.« less

Novel Catalysts and Processing Technologies for Production of Aerospace Fuels from Non-Petroleum Raw Materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hepp, Aloysius F.; Kulis, Michael J.; Psarras, Peter C.; Ball, David W.; Timko, Michael T.; Wong, Hsi-Wu; Peck, Jay; Chianelli, Russell R.

2014-01-01

Transportation fuels production (including aerospace propellants) from non-traditional sources (gases, waste materials, and biomass) has been an active area of research and development for decades. Reducing terrestrial waste streams simultaneous with energy conversion, plentiful biomass, new low-cost methane sources, and/or extra-terrestrial resource harvesting and utilization present significant technological and business opportunities being realized by a new generation of visionary entrepreneurs. We examine several new approaches to catalyst fabrication and new processing technologies to enable utilization of these nontraditional raw materials. Two basic processing architectures are considered: a single-stage pyrolysis approach that seeks to basically re-cycle hydrocarbons with minimal net chemistry or a two-step paradigm that involves production of supply or synthesis gas (mainly carbon oxides and H2) followed by production of fuel(s) via Sabatier or methanation reactions and/or Fischer-Tröpsch synthesis. Optimizing the fraction of product stream relevant to targeted aerospace (and other transportation) fuels via modeling, catalyst fabrication and novel reactor design are described. Energy utilization is a concern for production of fuels for either terrestrial or space operations; renewable sources based on solar energy and/or energy efficient processes may be mission enabling. Another important issue is minimizing impurities in the product stream(s), especially those potentially posing risks to personnel or operations through (catalyst) poisoning or (equipment) damage. Technologies being developed to remove (and/or recycle) heteroatom impurities are briefly discussed as well as the development of chemically robust catalysts whose activities are not diminished during operation. The potential impacts on future missions by such new approaches as well as balance of system issues are addressed.

Novel Catalysts and Processing Technologies for Production of Aerospace Fuels from Non-Petroleum Raw Materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hepp, A. F.; Kulis, M. J.; Psarras, P. C.; Ball, D. W.; Timko, M. T.; Wong, H.-W.; Peck, J.; Chianelli, R. R.

2014-01-01

Transportation fuels production (including aerospace propellants) from non-traditional sources (gases, waste materials, and biomass) has been an active area of research and development for decades. Reducing terrestrial waste streams simultaneous with energy conversion, plentiful biomass, new low-cost methane sources, and/or extra-terrestrial resource harvesting and utilization present significant technological and business opportunities being realized by a new generation of visionary entrepreneurs. We examine several new approaches to catalyst fabrication and new processing technologies to enable utilization of these non-traditional raw materials. Two basic processing architectures are considered: a single-stage pyrolysis approach that seeks to basically re-cycle hydrocarbons with minimal net chemistry or a two-step paradigm that involves production of supply or synthesis gas (mainly carbon oxides and hydrogen) followed by production of fuel(s) via Sabatier or methanation reactions and/or Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. Optimizing the fraction of product stream relevant to targeted aerospace (and other transportation) fuels via modeling, catalyst fabrication and novel reactor design are described. Energy utilization is a concern for production of fuels for either terrestrial or space operations; renewable sources based on solar energy and/or energy efficient processes may be mission enabling. Another important issue is minimizing impurities in the product stream(s), especially those potentially posing risks to personnel or operations through (catalyst) poisoning or (equipment) damage. Technologies being developed to remove (and/or recycle) heteroatom impurities are briefly discussed as well as the development of chemically robust catalysts whose activity are not diminished during operation. The potential impacts on future missions by such new approaches as well as balance of system issues are addressed.

Recent Inventions and Trends in Algal Biofuels Research.

PubMed

Karemore, Ankush; Nayak, Manoranjan; Sen, Ramkrishna

2016-01-01

In recent times, when energy crisis compounded by global warming and climate change is receiving worldwide attention, the emergence of algae, as a better feedstock for third-generation biofuels than energy crops or plants, holds great promise. As compared to conventional biofuels feedstocks, algae offer several advantages and can alone produce a significant amount of biofuels sustainably in a shorter period to fulfill the rising demand for energy. Towards commercialisation, there have been numerous efforts put for- ward for the development of algae-derived biofuel. This article reviews and summarizes the recent inventions and the current trends that are reported and captured in relevant patents pertaining to the novel methods of algae biomass cultivation and processing for biofuels and value-added products. In addition, the recent advancement in techniques and technologies for microalgal biofuel production has been highlighted. Various steps involved in the production of algal biofuels have been considered in this article. Moreover, the work that advances to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the processes for the manufacture of biofuels has been presented. Our survey was conducted in the patent databases: WIPO, Spacenet and USPTO. There are still some technological bottlenecks that could be overcome by designing advanced photobioreactor and raceway ponds, developing new and low cost technologies for biomass cultivation, harvesting, drying and extraction. Recent advancement in algae biofuels methods is directed toward developing efficient and integrated systems to produce biofuels by overcoming the current challenges. However, further research effort is required to scale-up and improve the efficiency of these methods in the upstream and downstream technologies to make the cost of biofuels competitive with petroleum fuels.

The Science and Application of Satellite Based Fire Radiative Energy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ellicott, Evan; Vermote, Eric (Editor)

2012-01-01

The accurate measurement of ecosystem biomass is of great importance in scientific, resource management and energy sectors. In particular, biomass is a direct measurement of carbon storage within an ecosystem and of great importance for carbon cycle science and carbon emission mitigation. Remote Sensing is the most accurate tool for global biomass measurements because of the ability to measure large areas. Current biomass estimates are derived primarily from ground-based samples, as compiled and reported in inventories and ecosystem samples. By using remote sensing technologies, we are able to scale up the sample values and supply wall to wall mapping of biomass.

A STELLA model to estimate water and nitrogen dynamics in a short-rotation woody crop plantation

Treesearch

Ying Ouyang; Jiaen Zhang; Theodor D. Leininger; Brent R. Frey

2015-01-01

Although short-rotation woody crop biomass production technology has demonstrated a promising potential to supply feedstocks for bioenergy production, the water and nutrient processes in the woody crop planation ecosystem are poorly understood. In this study, a computer model was developed to estimate the dynamics of water and nitrogen (N) species (e.g., NH4...

PNNL Aviation Biofuels

ScienceCinema

Plaza, John; Holladay, John; Hallen, Rich

2018-06-06

Commercial airplanes really don’t have the option to move away from liquid fuels. Because of this, biofuels present an opportunity to create new clean energy jobs by developing technologies that deliver stable, long term fuel options. The Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is working with industrial partners on processes to convert biomass to aviation fuels.

A Spectroscopic study on the fuel value of softwoods in relation to chemical composition

Treesearch

Chi-Leung So; Thomas L. Eberhardt; Les Groom; Todd F. Shupe

2012-01-01

The recent focus on bioenergy has led to interest in developing alternative technologies for assessing the fuel value of available biomass resources. In this study, both near- and mid-infrared spectroscopic datawere used to predict fuel value in relation to extractives and lignin contents for longleaf pine wood. Samples were analyzed both before and after extraction....

Irradiation enhancement of biomass conversion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, G. S.; Kiesling, H. E.; Galyean, M. L.; Bader, J. R.

The vast supply of cellulosic agricultural residues and industrial by-products that is produced each year is a prospective resource of biomass suitable for conversion to useful products such as feedstock for the chemicals industry and feedstuffs for the livestock industry. Conversions of such biomass is poor at present, and utilization is inefficient, because of physio-chemical barriers to biological degradation and (or) anti-quality components such as toxicants that restrict biological usages. Improvements in biodegradability of ligno-cellulosic materials have been accomplished by gamma-ray and electron-beam irradiation at intermediate dosage (˜ 50 Mrad; .5 MGy); but applications of the technology have been hampered by questionable interpretations of results. Recent research with organic wastes such as sewage sludge and straw suggests opportunity for important applications of irradiation technology in enhancement of biomass conversion. Data from experiments using irradiated straw as feed for ruminants are presented and discussed in relation to research on prospective usage of sewage products as feed for ruminants. Findings are discussed in regard to prospective applications in industrial fermentation processes. Possible usage of irradiation technology for destruction of toxicants in exotic plants is considered in regard to prospective new feedstuffs.

Experimental and numerical studies of rotating drum grate furnace

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Basista, Grzegorz; Szubel, Mateusz; Filipowicz, Mariusz; Tomczyk, Bartosz; Krakowiak, Joanna

Waste material from the meat industry can be taken into account as a biofuel. Studies confirm, that calorific value is higher and ash content is lower comparing to some conventional fuels. EU directives regulate details of thermal disposal of the waste material from the meat industry - especially in range of the process temperature and time of the particle presence in area of the combustion zone. The paper describes design of the rotating drum grate stove, dedicated to thermal disposal of the meat wastes as well as solid biomass (pellet, small bricket, wood chips) combustion. Device has been developed in frames of cooperation between AGH University of Science and Technology (Krakow, Poland) and producer focused on technologies of energy utilization of biomass in distributed generation. Results of measurements of selected operational parameters performed during startup of the furnace have been presented and discussed. Furthermore, numerical model of the combustion process has been developed to complement experimental results in range of the temperature and oxygen distribution in the area of the combustion chamber. ANSYS CFX solver has been applied to perform simulations including rotational domain related with specifics of operation of the device. Results of numerical modelling and experimental studies have been summarized and compared.

Microalgae as sustainable renewable energy feedstock for biofuel production.

PubMed

Medipally, Srikanth Reddy; Yusoff, Fatimah Md; Banerjee, Sanjoy; Shariff, M

2015-01-01

The world energy crisis and increased greenhouse gas emissions have driven the search for alternative and environmentally friendly renewable energy sources. According to life cycle analysis, microalgae biofuel is identified as one of the major renewable energy sources for sustainable development, with potential to replace the fossil-based fuels. Microalgae biofuel was devoid of the major drawbacks associated with oil crops and lignocelluloses-based biofuels. Algae-based biofuels are technically and economically viable and cost competitive, require no additional lands, require minimal water use, and mitigate atmospheric CO2. However, commercial production of microalgae biodiesel is still not feasible due to the low biomass concentration and costly downstream processes. The viability of microalgae biodiesel production can be achieved by designing advanced photobioreactors, developing low cost technologies for biomass harvesting, drying, and oil extraction. Commercial production can also be accomplished by improving the genetic engineering strategies to control environmental stress conditions and by engineering metabolic pathways for high lipid production. In addition, new emerging technologies such as algal-bacterial interactions for enhancement of microalgae growth and lipid production are also explored. This review focuses mainly on the problems encountered in the commercial production of microalgae biofuels and the possible techniques to overcome these difficulties.

Microalgae as Sustainable Renewable Energy Feedstock for Biofuel Production

PubMed Central

Yusoff, Fatimah Md.; Shariff, M.

2015-01-01

The world energy crisis and increased greenhouse gas emissions have driven the search for alternative and environmentally friendly renewable energy sources. According to life cycle analysis, microalgae biofuel is identified as one of the major renewable energy sources for sustainable development, with potential to replace the fossil-based fuels. Microalgae biofuel was devoid of the major drawbacks associated with oil crops and lignocelluloses-based biofuels. Algae-based biofuels are technically and economically viable and cost competitive, require no additional lands, require minimal water use, and mitigate atmospheric CO2. However, commercial production of microalgae biodiesel is still not feasible due to the low biomass concentration and costly downstream processes. The viability of microalgae biodiesel production can be achieved by designing advanced photobioreactors, developing low cost technologies for biomass harvesting, drying, and oil extraction. Commercial production can also be accomplished by improving the genetic engineering strategies to control environmental stress conditions and by engineering metabolic pathways for high lipid production. In addition, new emerging technologies such as algal-bacterial interactions for enhancement of microalgae growth and lipid production are also explored. This review focuses mainly on the problems encountered in the commercial production of microalgae biofuels and the possible techniques to overcome these difficulties. PMID:25874216

Non-invasive monitoring of below ground cassava storage root bulking by ground penetrating radar technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ruiz Vera, U. M.; Larson, T. H.; Mwakanyamale, K. E.; Grennan, A. K.; Souza, A. P.; Ort, D. R.; Balikian, R. J.

2017-12-01

Agriculture needs a new technological revolution to be able to meet the food demands, to overcome weather and natural hazards events, and to monitor better crop productivity. Advanced technologies used in other fields have recently been applied in agriculture. Thus, imagine instrumentation has been applied to phenotype above-ground biomass and predict yield. However, the capability to monitor belowground biomass is still limited. There are some existing technologies available, for example the ground penetrating radar (GPR) which has been used widely in the area of geology and civil engineering to detect different kind of formations under the ground without the disruption of the soil. GPR technology has been used also to monitor tree roots but as yet not crop roots. Some limitation are that the GPR cannot discern roots smaller than 2 cm in diameter, but it make it feasible for application in tuber crops like Cassava since harvest diameter is greater than 4 cm. The objective of this research is to test the availability to use GPR technology to monitor the growth of cassava roots by testing this technique in the greenhouse and in the field. So far, results from the greenhouse suggest that GPR can detect mature roots of cassava and this data could be used to predict biomass.

Review of Biojet Fuel Conversion Technologies

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wang, Wei-Cheng; Tao, Ling; Markham, Jennifer

Biomass-derived jet (biojet) fuel has become a key element in the aviation industry’s strategy to reduce operating costs and environmental impacts. Researchers from the oil-refining industry, the aviation industry, government, biofuel companies, agricultural organizations, and academia are working toward developing commercially viable and sustainable processes that produce long-lasting renewable jet fuels with low production costs and low greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, jet fuels must meet ASTM International specifications and potentially be a 100% drop-in replacement for the current petroleum jet fuel. The combustion characteristics and engine tests demonstrate the benefits of running the aviation gas turbine with biojet fuels. Inmore » this study, the current technologies for producing renewable jet fuels, categorized by alcohols-to-jet, oil-to-jet, syngas-to-jet, and sugar-to-jet pathways, are reviewed. The main challenges for each technology pathway, including feedstock availability, conceptual process design, process economics, life-cycle assessment of greenhouse gas emissions, and commercial readiness, are discussed. Although the feedstock price and availability and energy intensity of the process are significant barriers, biomass-derived jet fuel has the potential to replace a significant portion of conventional jet fuel required to meet commercial and military demand.« less

Recent developments in microbial fuel cell technologies for sustainable bioenergy.

PubMed

Watanabe, Kazuya

2008-12-01

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are devices that exploit microbial catabolic activities to generate electricity from a variety of materials, including complex organic waste and renewable biomass. These sources provide MFCs with a great advantage over chemical fuel cells that can utilize only purified reactive fuels (e.g., hydrogen). A developing primary application of MFCs is its use in the production of sustainable bioenergy, e.g., organic waste treatment coupled with electricity generation, although further technical developments are necessary for its practical use. In this article, recent advances in MFC technologies that can become fundamentals for future practical MFC developments are summarized. Results of recent studies suggest that MFCs will be of practical use in the near future and will become a preferred option among sustainable bioenergy processes.

75 FR 6178 - Mission Statement

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-02-08

... geothermal, biomass, hydropower, wind, solar, and energy efficiency sectors. The mission will focus on... offers potential growth, barriers still exist that prevent U.S. companies from accessing the market and... additional opportunities in solar, biomass, ``clean coal'' technology such as gasification or wet coal...

Department of Defense Operational Energy Strategy: A Content Analysis of Energy Literature from 1973-2014

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-03-27

Globalization has resulted in increased demand for energy, specifically, crude oil as the primary means to power economic development. As countries continue...represent technologies that produce energy from wind, solar, biomass, hydropower, nuclear power , natural gas, and clean coal (The White House, 2011). On...dollars whereby the largest partition of that money ($11B) was appropriated for development of an electric “smart grid” to digitize power distribution and

Overview of Advanced Turbine Systems Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Webb, H. A.; Bajura, R. A.

The US Department of Energy initiated a program to develop advanced gas turbine systems to serve both central power and industrial power generation markets. The Advanced Turbine Systems (ATS) Program will lead to commercial offerings by the private sector by 2002. ATS will be developed to fire natural gas but will be adaptable to coal and biomass firing. The systems will be: highly efficient (15 percent improvement over today's best systems); environmentally superior (10 percent reduction in nitrogen oxides over today's best systems); and cost competitive (10 percent reduction in cost of electricity). The ATS Program has five elements. Innovative cycle development will lead to the demonstration of systems with advanced gas turbine cycles using current gas turbine technology. High temperature development will lead to the increased firing temperatures needed to achieve ATS Program efficiency goals. Ceramic component development/demonstration will expand the current DOE/CE program to demonstrate industrial-scale turbines with ceramic components. Technology base will support the overall program by conducting research and development (R&D) on generic technology issues. Coal application studies will adapt technology developed in the ATS program to coal-fired systems being developed in other DOE programs.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Davis, R.; Tao, L.; Scarlata, C.

This report describes one potential conversion process to hydrocarbon products by way of catalytic conversion of lignocellulosic-derived hydrolysate. This model leverages expertise established over time in biomass deconstruction and process integration research at NREL, while adding in new technology areas for sugar purification and catalysis. The overarching process design converts biomass to die die diesel- and naphtha-range fuels using dilute-acid pretreatment, enzymatic saccharification, purifications, and catalytic conversion focused on deoxygenating and oligomerizing biomass hydrolysates.

Preliminary review of biomass energy options in Costa Rica and the national alcohol fuel program. Summary report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jones, J.L.

1981-01-30

For an agricultural, oil-importing country such as Costa Rica, the use of biomass as a source of transportation fuels is a topic of great interest. This analysis is intended to assist the Costa Rican government and USAID/CR to identify possible biomass energy projects. While emphasis is on technologies for converting biomass into liquid fuels, agronomic issues and alternative energy options are also explored. Costa Rica plans to build six facilities for converting biomass (primarily sugarcane, supplemented by molasses, cassava, and banana wastes) to hydrous ethanol. The following issues relating to biomass conversion technologies are identified: use of hydroelectrically powered drivesmore » in sugarcane processing to allow use of bagasse as a fuel; possible sources and costs of energy for converting starch crops like cassava to ethanol; the optimal method for treating stillage; and the feasibility of using fermentation reactors. No definitive recommendation on the scale of ethanol production is made due to the lack of an environmental impact assessment. Finally, with regard to nonalcohol renewable energy, several ideas warrant consideration: electrically powered mass transit; electric cars; vehicle-mounted gasifiers operating on wood chips or pelletized fuels produced from excess bagasse; anaerobic digestion of animal manure and other agricultural wastes; and energy recovery from municipal solid wastes.« less

Membranes for Food and Bioproduct Processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Avram, Alexandru M.

Modified membranes for process intensification in biomass hydrolysis: Production of biofuels and chemicals from lignocellulosic biomass is one of the leading candidates for replacement of petroleum based fuels and chemicals. However, conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into fuels and chemicals is not cost effective compared to the production of fuels and chemicals from crude oil reserves. Some novel and economically feasible approaches involve the use of ionic liquids as solvents or co-solvents, since these show improved solvation capability of cellulose over simple aqueous systems. Membranes offer unique opportunities for process intensification which involves fractionation of the resulting biomass hydrolysate leading to a more efficient and cheaper operation. This research attempts to develop membranes that would usher the economics of the biochemical conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into fuels and chemicals by recycling the expensive ionic liquid. The overall aim of this work is the development of novel membranes with unique surface properties that enable the selective separation of non-reacted cellulose and hydrolysis sugars from ionic liquids. Nanofiltration separation for application in food product engineering: With the advent of the modern, well-informed consumer who has high expectations from the nutritional value of consumed food products, novel approaches are being developed to produce nutrient-enhanced foods and drinks. As a response to the consumer needs, different techniques to recover, concentrate and retain as much as possible of bioactive compounds are being investigated. Membrane technology has the advantage of selective fractionation of food products (e.g. salt removal, removal of bitter-tasting compounds or removal of sugar for sweet taste adjustment), volume reduction, and product recovery at mild conditions. In this work, we use nanofiltration in dead-end and crossflow mode to concentrate polyphenols from blueberry pomace. Blueberry pomace is an overlooked waste product form the juice pressing of blueberries that contains high amounts of health-beneficial antioxidants. We aim at developing a simple, yet efficient membrane process that reduces the amount of water and thus concentrates the amount of polyphenols in the retentate.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McMillan, J.D.

This paper reviews existing and proposed pretreatment processes for biomass. The focus is on the mechanisms by which the various pretreatments act and the influence of biomass structure and composition on the efficacy of particular pretreatment techniques. This analysis is used to identify pretreatment technologies and issues that warrant further research.

Holistic processes and practices for clean energy in strengthening bioeconomic strategies (INDO-NORDEN)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shurpali, Narasinha J.; Parameswaran, Binod; Raud, Merlin; Pumpanen, Jukka; Sippula, Olli; Jokiniemi, Jorma; Lusotarinen, Sari; Virkajarvi, Perttu

2017-04-01

We are proud to introduce the project, INDO-NORDEN, funded in response to the Science and Technology call of the INNO INDIGO Partnership Program (IPP) on Biobased Energy. The project is scheduled to begin from April 2017. The proposed project aims to address both subtopics of the call, Biofuels and From Waste to Energy with research partners from Finland (coordinating unit), India and Estonia. The EU and India share common objectives in enhancing energy security, promoting energy efficiency and energy safety, and the pursuit of sustainable development of clean and renewable energy source. The main objective of INDO-NORDEN is to investigate, evaluate and develop efficient processes and land use practices of transforming forest and agricultural biomass, agricultural residues and farm waste into clean fuels (solid, liquid or gas), by thermochemical or biochemical conversions. Forestry and agriculture are the major bioenergy sectors in Finland. Intensive forest harvesting techniques are being used in Finland to enhance the share of bioenergy in the total energy consumption in the future. However, there are no clear indications how environmentally safe are these intensive forestry practices in Finland. We address this issue through field studies addressing the climate impacts on the ecosystem carbon balance and detailed life cycle assessment. The role of agriculture in Finland is expected to grow significantly in the years to come. Here, we follow a holistic field experimental approach addressing several major issues relevant to Nordic agriculture under changing climatic conditions - soil nutrient management, recycling of nutrients, farm and agricultural waste management, biogas production potentials, greenhouse gas inventorying and entire production chain analysis. There is a considerable potential for process integration in the biofuel sector. This project plans to develop biofuel production processes adopted in Estonia and India with a major aim of enhancing biofuel yields. Additionally, the effects of biomass raw material on ash characteristics and behavior as well as on the fine particle and gas emissions in biomass-fired combustion plants will be evaluated. Thus, the project goes an extra mile in addressing both technological and environmental effects of bioenergy production with combustion processes. Finally, with a voluntary participation of companies with excellent track record in biogas production and CHP technology in participating countries, the project aims to bridge the gap between science, technology and industries.

Stories about ourselves: How national narratives influence the diffusion of large-scale energy technologies

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Malone, Elizabeth L.; Hultman, Nathan E.; Anderson, Kate

Examining past examples of rapid, transformational changes in energy technologies could help governments understand the factors associated with such transitions. We used an existing dataset to assess government strategies to connect new energy technologies with national narratives. Analyzing the diffusion stories told by experts, we demonstrate how governments connected the new technologies with their national narratives. The United States government supported the development of nuclear power after World War II with the national narrative that the United States was destined to improve creation, increasing the potential of raw materials exponentially for the nation’s good (“atoms for peace,” electricity “too cheapmore » to meter”). In Brazil, the development of sugar cane ethanol was supported by the government’s invoking the national narrative of suffering leading to knowledge and redemption, coupled with the quest for improved societal well-being (technological development to produce ethanol and employment for farmers). In Sweden, biomass energy was tied to the national narrative of local control, as well as love of nature and tradition (the use of natural products). We found strong evidence that the pairing of technological transformations with national narratives facilitated the successful development and implementation of these major energy technologies in the three cases analyzed here.« less

Stories about ourselves: How national narratives influence the diffusion of large-scale energy technologies

DOE PAGES

Malone, Elizabeth L.; Hultman, Nathan E.; Anderson, Kate; ...

2017-07-03

Examining past examples of rapid, transformational changes in energy technologies could help governments understand the factors associated with such transitions. We used an existing dataset to assess government strategies to connect new energy technologies with national narratives. Analyzing the diffusion stories told by experts, we demonstrate how governments connected the new technologies with their national narratives. The United States government supported the development of nuclear power after World War II with the national narrative that the United States was destined to improve creation, increasing the potential of raw materials exponentially for the nation’s good (“atoms for peace,” electricity “too cheapmore » to meter”). In Brazil, the development of sugar cane ethanol was supported by the government’s invoking the national narrative of suffering leading to knowledge and redemption, coupled with the quest for improved societal well-being (technological development to produce ethanol and employment for farmers). In Sweden, biomass energy was tied to the national narrative of local control, as well as love of nature and tradition (the use of natural products). We found strong evidence that the pairing of technological transformations with national narratives facilitated the successful development and implementation of these major energy technologies in the three cases analyzed here.« less

MSU-Northern Bio-Energy Center of Excellence

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kegel, Greg; Windy Boy, Jessica; Maglinao, Randy Latayan

The goal of this project was to establish the Bio-Energy Center (the Center) of Montana State University Northern (MSUN) as a Regional Research Center of Excellence in research, product development, and commercialization of non-food biomass for the bio-energy industry. A three-step approach, namely, (1) enhance the Center’s research and testing capabilities, (2) develop advanced biofuels from locally grown agricultural crops, and (3) educate the community through outreach programs for public understanding and acceptance of new technologies was identified to achieve this goal. The research activities aimed to address the obstacles concerning the production of biofuels and other bio-based fuel additivesmore » considering feedstock quality, conversion process, economic viability, and public awareness. First and foremost in enhancing the capabilities of the Center is the improvement of its laboratories and other physical facilities for investigating new biomass conversion technologies and the development of its manpower complement with expertise in chemistry, engineering, biology, and energy. MSUN renovated its Auto Diagnostics building and updated its mechanical and electrical systems necessary to house the state-of-the-art 525kW (704 hp) A/C Dynamometer. The newly renovated building was designated as the Advanced Fuels Building. Two laboratories, namely Biomass Conversion lab and Wet Chemistry lab were also added to the Center’s facilities. The Biomass Conversion lab was for research on the production of advanced biofuels including bio-jet fuel and bio-based fuel additives while the Wet Chemistry lab was used to conduct catalyst research. Necessary equipment and machines, such as gas chromatograph-mass spectrometry, were purchased and installed to help in research and testing. With the enhanced capabilities of the Center, research and testing activities were very much facilitated and more precise. New biofuels derived from Camelina sativa (camelina), a locally-grown oilseed crop was developed through a chemical process for converting the oil extracted into jet fuel. Promising methods of synthesizing heterogeneous metal complex catalyst that support the chemical conversion process were likewise developed. Breaking-down lignin to valuable chemicals using a metal complex catalyst was also investigated. Lignin is an organic polymer that binds around cellulose and hemicellulose fibers which strengthen cell walls in woody biomass. Test results showed promise and could lead to further exploration of using lignin for fuels and fuel additives. These findings could create another value-added product from lignin that can be sourced from beetle kill trees and product residues from cellulose ethanol plants. Coupled with these research discoveries was the provision of technical support to businesses in terms of product development and commercialization of bio-based products. This in turn opened new avenues for advancing the bio-energy industry in the region and helped support the regional agricultural-based economy through developing biofuels derived from feedstock that are grown locally. It assisted in developing biofuels that reduce exhaust emissions and improve engine performance.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

O'Neil, D.J.; Colcord, A.R.; Bery, M.K.

The objective of this project is to design, fabricate, and operate a fermentation facility which will demonstrate on a pilot-scale level (3 oven-dry tons (ODT) per day of feedstock) the economic and technical feasibility of producing anhydrous ethyl alcohol from lignocellulosic biomass residues (wood, corn stover, and wheat straw principally). The resultant process development unit (PDU) will be flexibly designed so as to evaluate current and projected unit operations, materials of construction, chemical and enzymatic systems which offer the potential of significant technological and economic breakthroughs in alcohol production from biomass. The principal focus of the project is to generatemore » fuels from biomass. As such, in addition to alcohol which can be used as a transportation fuel, by-products are to be directed where possible to fuel applications. The project consists of two parts: (1) conceptual design, and (2) detailed engineering design. The first quarter's activities have focused on a critical review of several aspects of the conceptual design of the 3 ODT/day PDU, viz.: (1) biomass cost, availability, and characterization; (2) pretreatment processes for lignocellulosic residues; (3) hydrolytic processes (enzymatic and acidic); (4) fermentation processes; (5) alcohol recovery systems; (6) by-product streams utilization; and (7) process economics.« less

An On-Line Technology Information System (OTIS) for Advanced Life Support

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Levri, Julie A.; Boulanger, Richard; Hoganm John A.; Rodriquez, Luis

2003-01-01

An On-line Technology Information System (OTIS) is currently being developed for the Advanced Life Support (ALS) Program. This paper describes the preliminary development of OTIS, which is a system designed to provide centralized collection and organization of technology information. The lack of thorough, reliable and easily understood technology information is a major obstacle in effective assessment of technology development progress, trade studies, metric calculations, and technology selection for integrated testing. OTIS will provide a formalized, well-organized protocol to communicate thorough, accurate, current and relevant technology information between the hands-on technology developer and the ALS Community. The need for this type of information transfer system within the Solid Waste Management (SWM) element was recently identified and addressed. A SWM Technology Information Form (TIF) was developed specifically for collecting detailed technology information in the area of SWM. In the TIF, information is requested from SWM technology developers, based upon the Technology Readiness Level (TRL). Basic information is requested for low-TRL technologies, and more detailed information is requested as the TRL of the technology increases. A comparable form is also being developed for the wastewater processing element. In the future, similar forms will also be developed for the ALS elements of air revitalization, food processing, biomass production and thermal control. These ALS element-specific forms will be implemented in OTIS via a web-accessible interface,with the data stored in an object-oriented relational database (created in MySQLTM) located on a secure server at NASA Ames Research Center. With OTIS, ALS element leads and managers will be able to carry out informed research and development investment, thereby promoting technology through the TRL scale. OTIS will also allow analysts to make accurate evaluations of technology options. Additionally, the range and specificity of information solicited will help educate technology developers of programmatic needs.

[Preface for special issue on bio-based materials (2016)].

PubMed

Weng, Yunxuan

2016-06-25

Bio-based materials are new materials or chemicals with renewable biomass as raw materials such as grain, legume, straw, bamboo and wood powder. This class of materials includes bio-based polymer, biobased fiber, glycotechnology products, biobased rubber and plastics produced by biomass thermoplastic processing and basic biobased chemicals, for instance, bio-alcohols, organic acids, alkanes, and alkenes, obtained by bio-synthesis, bio-processing and bio-refinery. Owing to its environmental friendly and resource conservation, bio-based materials are becoming a new dominant industry taking the lead in the world scientific and technological innovation and economic development. An overview of bio-based materials development is reported in this special issue, and the industrial status and research progress of the following aspects, including biobased fiber, polyhydroxyalkanoates, biodegradable mulching film, bio-based polyamide, protein based biomedical materials, bio-based polyurethane, and modification and processing of poly(lactic acid), are introduced.

Experimental binding of lead to a low cost on biosorbent: Nopal (Opuntia streptacantha).

PubMed

Miretzky, Patricia; Muñoz, Carolina; Carrillo-Chávez, Alejandro

2008-03-01

The use of nopal cladodes (Opuntia streptacantha) as raw material for Pb(2+) biosorption was investigated. Batch experiments were carried out to determine Pb(2+) sorption capacity and the efficiency of the sorption process under different pH, initial Pb(2+) and nopal biomass concentrations. The experimental data showed a good fit to Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms models. The maximum adsorption capacity for Pb(2+) was 0.14 mmol g(-1) with an efficiency higher than 94% (pH 5.0 and 2.5 g L(-1) nopal biomass). The Pb(2+) kinetics were best described by the pseudo-second-order rate model. The rate constant, the initial sorption rate and the equilibrium sorption capacity were determined. The practical implication of this study is the development of an effective and economic technology in which the nopal biomass did not undergo any chemical or physical pretreatment, which added to nopal abundance in Mexico and its low cost makes it a good option for Pb(2+) removal from contaminated waters.

High quality fuel gas from biomass pyrolysis with calcium oxide.

PubMed

Zhao, Baofeng; Zhang, Xiaodong; Chen, Lei; Sun, Laizhi; Si, Hongyu; Chen, Guanyi

2014-03-01

The removal of CO2 and tar in fuel gas produced by biomass thermal conversion has aroused more attention due to their adverse effects on the subsequent fuel gas application. High quality fuel gas production from sawdust pyrolysis with CaO was studied in this paper. The results of pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) experiments indicate that the mass ratio of CaO to sawdust (Ca/S) remarkably affects the behavior of sawdust pyrolysis. On the basis of Py-GC/MS results, one system of a moving bed pyrolyzer coupled with a fluid bed combustor has been developed to produce high quality fuel gas. The lower heating value (LHV) of the fuel gas was above 16MJ/Nm(3) and the content of tar was under 50mg/Nm(3), which is suitable for gas turbine application to generate electricity and heat. Therefore, this technology may be a promising route to achieve high quality fuel gas for biomass utilization. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

FETC/EPRI Biomass Cofiring Cooperative Agreement. Quarterly technical report, April 1-June 30, 1997

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hughes, E.; Tillman, D.

1997-12-01

The FETC/EPRI Biomass Cofiring Program has accelerated the pace of cofiring development by increasing the testing activities plus the support activities for interpreting test results. Past tests conducted and analyzed include the Allen Fossil Plant and Seward Generating Station programs. On-going tests include the Colbert Fossil Plant precommercial test program, the Greenidge Station commercialization program, and the Blount St. Station switchgrass program. Tests in the formative stages included the NIPSCO cofiring test at Michigan City Generating Station. Analytical activities included modeling and related support functions required to analyze the cofiring test results, and to place those results into context. Amongmore » these activities is the fuel availability study in the Pittsburgh, PA area. This study, conducted for Duquesne Light, supports their initial investigation into reburn technology using wood waste as a fuel. This Quarterly Report, covering the third quarter of the FETC/EPRI Biomass Cofiring Program, highlights the progress made on the 16 projects funded under this cooperative agreement.« less

Waste biorefineries: Enabling circular economies in developing countries.

PubMed

Nizami, A S; Rehan, M; Waqas, M; Naqvi, M; Ouda, O K M; Shahzad, K; Miandad, R; Khan, M Z; Syamsiro, M; Ismail, I M I; Pant, Deepak

2017-10-01

This paper aims to examine the potential of waste biorefineries in developing countries as a solution to current waste disposal problems and as facilities to produce fuels, power, heat, and value-added products. The waste in developing countries represents a significant source of biomass, recycled materials, chemicals, energy, and revenue if wisely managed and used as a potential feedstock in various biorefinery technologies such as fermentation, anaerobic digestion (AD), pyrolysis, incineration, and gasification. However, the selection or integration of biorefinery technologies in any developing country should be based on its waste characterization. Waste biorefineries if developed in developing countries could provide energy generation, land savings, new businesses and consequent job creation, savings of landfills costs, GHG emissions reduction, and savings of natural resources of land, soil, and groundwater. The challenges in route to successful implementation of biorefinery concept in the developing countries are also presented using life cycle assessment (LCA) studies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An evaluation of negative-emission transportation-energy systems for the US

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Larson, E. D.; Meerman, J. C.

2017-12-01

We present technical, economic, and carbon footprint evaluations of alternative technological pathways for negative emissions transportation energy from sustainably-sourced lignocellulosic biomass in the U.S. We combine the understanding of alternative technological pathways with spatially-resolved projections of the sustainable supply of lignocellulosic biomass and with future demands for transportation services to provide insights on the extent to which biomass-based energy might be able to help meet mid-century U.S. transportation energy needs and carbon mitigation targets. Biomass conversion routes included in our evaluations are biochemical, biocatalytic, thermocatalytic hydropyrolysis, and thermochemical gasification/synthesis to produce liquid fuels fungible with petroleum-derived fuels, and thermochemical conversion to hydrogen (for fuel cell vehicles) or electricity (for battery electric vehicles). Lifecycle net negative emissions are achieved for each system via soil carbon buildup during biomass production and/or capture of CO2 at the conversion facility and underground storage. Co-processing of some fossil fuel is considered in some cases to improve economics. For self-consistency in the analysis across systems, a common set of technical, economic and carbon footprint input parameters are adopted. Capital cost estimates are harmonized by taking into account scale of facilities, level of engineering details available in generating a cost estimate, and the technology readiness level (TRL) of components and the process as a whole. Implications for economics of future commercial plants are investigated, considering alternative prospective reductions in capital and operating costs (via "learning by doing") and alternative carbon mitigation policies.

Biogasification of community-derived biomass and solid wastes in a pilot-scale SOLCON reactor

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Srivastava, V.J.; Biljetina, R.; Isaacson, H.R.

1988-01-01

The Institute of Gas Technology has developed a novel, solids- concentrating (SOLCON) bioreactor to convert a variety of individual or mixed feedstocks (biomass and wastes) to methane at higher rates and efficiencies than those obtained from conventional high-rate anaerobic digesters. The biogasification studies are being conducted in a pilot-scale experimental test unit (ETU) located in the Walt Disney World Resort Complex, Orlando, Florida. This paper describes the ETU facility, the logistics of feedstock integration, the SOLCON reactor design and operating techniques, and the results obtained during 4 years of stable, uninterrupted operation with different feedstocks. The SOLCON reactor consistently outperformedmore » the conventional stirred-tank reactor by 20% to 50%.« less

Lignocellulose Liquefaction to Biocrude: A Tutorial Review

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

Abstract After 40 years of research and development, liquefaction technologies are now being demonstrated at 200–3000 tons per year scale to convert lignocellulosic biomass to biocrudes for use as heavy fuel or for upgrading to biofuels. This Review attempts to present the various facets of the liquefaction process in a tutorial manner. Emphasis is placed on liquefaction in high‐boiling solvents, with regular reference to liquefaction in subcritical water or other light‐boiling solvents. Reaction chemistry, solvent selection, role of optional catalyst as well as biocrude composition and properties are discussed in depth. Challenges in biomass feeding and options for biocrude–solvent separation are addressed. Process concepts are reviewed and demonstration/commercialization efforts are presented. PMID:29364569

Fractional Multistage Hydrothermal Liquefaction of Biomass and Catalytic Conversion into Hydrocarbons

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cortright, Randy; Rozmiarek, Robert; Dally, Brice

2017-08-31

The objective of this project was to develop an improved multistage process for the hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of biomass to serve as a new front-end, deconstruction process ideally suited to feed Virent’s well-proven catalytic technology, which is already being scaled up. This process produced water soluble, partially de-oxygenated intermediates that are ideally suited for catalytic finishing to fungible distillate hydrocarbons. Through this project, Virent, with its partners, demonstrated the conversion of pine wood chips to drop-in hydrocarbon distillate fuels using a multi-stage fractional conversion system that is integrated with Virent’s BioForming® process. The majority of work was in the liquefactionmore » task and included temperature scoping, solvent optimization, and separations.« less

Biomass power in transition

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Marshall, D.K.

1996-12-31

Electricity production from biomass fuel has been hailed in recent years as an environmentally acceptable energy source that delivers on its promise of economically viable renewable energy. A Wall Street Journal article from three years ago proclaimed wood to be {open_quotes}moving ahead of costly solar panels and wind turbines as the leading renewable energy alternative to air-fouling fossils fuels and scary nuclear plants.{close_quotes} Biomass fuel largely means wood; about 90% of biomass generated electricity comes from burning waste wood, the remainder from agricultural wastes. Biomass power now faces an uncertain future. The maturing of the cogeneration and independent power plantmore » market, restructuring of the electric industry, and technological advances with power equipment firing other fuels have placed biomass power in a competitive disadvantage with other power sources.« less

Top Value Added Chemicals From Biomass. Volume 1 - Results of Screening for Potential Candidates From Sugars and Synthesis Gas

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-08-01

Hydrogenation of sugars or extraction from biomass pretreatment processes. Very few if any. Commercial processes Non-nutritive sweeteners ...and no commercial production of arabinitol. Xylitol is used as a non-nutritive sweetener . The technology required to convert the five carbon sugars ...Top Value Added Chemicals from Biomass Volume I—Results of Screening for Potential Candidates from Sugars and Synthesis Gas Produced by

Space-Based Solar Power: A Technical, Economic, and Operational Assessment

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-04-01

reports also address alternative and renew- able sources such as biomass, wind, geothermal , and solar (thermal and photovoltaic), which are becom- ing...2025 using solar, wind, biomass, and geothermal energy generation technologies.86 Table 3. Army Sites for Terrestrial Solar Photovoltaic Power

BIOSEP: A NEW ETHANOL RECOVERY TECHNOLOGY FOR SMALL SCALE RURAL PRODUCTION OF ETHANOL FROM BIOMASS

EPA Science Inventory

Research activities on bioethanol have increased substantially as a result of the current concerns with energy security. Inexpensive biomass including forest residues, mill residues, agricultural residues, urban wood wastes and dedicated energy corps that exists in abundance acr...

Exploring new strategies for cellulosic biofuels production

Treesearch

Paul Langan; S. Gnankaran; Kirk D. Rector; Norma Pawley; David T. Fox; Dae Won Cho; Kenneth E. Hammel

2011-01-01

A research program has been initiated to formulate new strategies for efficient low-cost lignocellulosic biomass processing technologies for the production of biofuels. This article reviews results from initial research into lignocellulosic biomass structure, recalcitrance, and pretreatment. In addition to contributing towards a comprehensive understanding of...

Nondestructive, real-time determination and visualization of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin by luminescent oligothiophenes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choong, Ferdinand X.; Bäck, Marcus; Steiner, Svava E.; Melican, Keira; Nilsson, K. Peter R.; Edlund, Ulrica; Richter-Dahlfors, Agneta

2016-10-01

Enabling technologies for efficient use of the bio-based feedstock are crucial to the replacement of oil-based products. We investigated the feasibility of luminescent conjugated oligothiophenes (LCOs) for non-destructive, rapid detection and quality assessment of lignocellulosic components in complex biomass matrices. A cationic pentameric oligothiophene denoted p-HTEA (pentamer hydrogen thiophene ethyl amine) showed unique binding affinities to cellulose, lignin, hemicelluloses, and cellulose nanofibrils in crystal, liquid and paper form. We exploited this finding using spectrofluorometric methods and fluorescence confocal laser scanning microscopy, for sensitive, simultaneous determination of the structural and compositional complexities of native lignocellulosic biomass. With exceptional photostability, p-HTEA is also demonstrated as a dynamic sensor for real-time monitoring of enzymatic cellulose degradation in cellulolysis. These results demonstrate the use of p-HTEA as a non-destructive tool for the determination of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin in complex biomass matrices, thereby aiding in the optimization of biomass-converting technologies.

Authentication and dating of biomass components of industrial materials; links to sustainable technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Currie, L. A.; Klinedinst, D. B.; Burch, R.; Feltham, N.; Dorsch, R.

2000-10-01

There are twin pressures mounting in US industry for increased utilization of biomass feedstocks and biotechnology in production. The more demanding pressure relates to economic sustainability, that is, because of increased competition globally, businesses will fail unless a minimum margin of profit is maintained while meeting the demands of consumers for less expensive products. The second pressure relates to "Green Technology" where environmental sustainability, linked for example to concerns about climate change and the preservation of natural resources, represents a worldwide driving force to reduce the consumption of fossil hydrocarbons. The resulting transition of biomass production in the industrial plant, as opposed to the agricultural plant, has resulted in an increasing need for isotopic methods of authenticating and dating feedstocks, intermediates and industrial products. The research described represents a prototypical case study leading to the definition of a unique dual isotopic ( 13C, 14C) signature or "fingerprint" for a new biomass-based commercial polymer, polypropylene terephthalate (3GT).

Nondestructive, real-time determination and visualization of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin by luminescent oligothiophenes

PubMed Central

Choong, Ferdinand X.; Bäck, Marcus; Steiner, Svava E.; Melican, Keira; Nilsson, K. Peter R.; Edlund, Ulrica; Richter-Dahlfors, Agneta

2016-01-01

Enabling technologies for efficient use of the bio-based feedstock are crucial to the replacement of oil-based products. We investigated the feasibility of luminescent conjugated oligothiophenes (LCOs) for non-destructive, rapid detection and quality assessment of lignocellulosic components in complex biomass matrices. A cationic pentameric oligothiophene denoted p-HTEA (pentamer hydrogen thiophene ethyl amine) showed unique binding affinities to cellulose, lignin, hemicelluloses, and cellulose nanofibrils in crystal, liquid and paper form. We exploited this finding using spectrofluorometric methods and fluorescence confocal laser scanning microscopy, for sensitive, simultaneous determination of the structural and compositional complexities of native lignocellulosic biomass. With exceptional photostability, p-HTEA is also demonstrated as a dynamic sensor for real-time monitoring of enzymatic cellulose degradation in cellulolysis. These results demonstrate the use of p-HTEA as a non-destructive tool for the determination of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin in complex biomass matrices, thereby aiding in the optimization of biomass-converting technologies. PMID:27759105

Biogas energy production from tropical biomass wastes by anaerobic digestion.

PubMed

Ge, Xumeng; Matsumoto, Tracie; Keith, Lisa; Li, Yebo

2014-10-01

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is an attractive technology in tropical regions for converting locally abundant biomass wastes into biogas which can be used to produce heat, electricity, and transportation fuels. However, investigations on AD of tropical forestry wastes, such as albizia biomass and food wastes, such as taro, papaya, and sweet potato, are limited. In this study, these tropical biomass wastes were evaluated for biogas production by liquid AD (L-AD) and/or solid-state AD (SS-AD), depending on feedstock characteristics. When albizia leaves and chips were used as feedstocks, L-AD had greater methane yields (161 and 113 L kg(-1)VS, respectively) than SS-AD (156.8 and 59.6 L kg(-1)VS, respectively), while SS-AD achieved 5-fold higher volumetric methane productivity than L-AD. Mono-digestion and co-digestion of taro skin, taro flesh, papaya, and sweet potato achieved methane yields from 345 to 411 L kg(-1)VS, indicating the robustness of AD technology. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Controlled Ecological Life Support System Breadboard Project - 1988

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Knott, W. M.

1989-01-01

The Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS) Breadboard Project, NASA's effort to develop the technology required to produce a functioning bioregenerative system, is discussed. The different phases of the project and its current status are described. The relationship between the project components are shown, and major project activities for fiscal years 1989-1993 are listed. The biomass production chamber to be used by the project is described.

Biodiversity, Factor Endowments and National Security: The Next Great Game?

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-11-08

biomass, the genetic material of biological systems, that exist largely in the global south8 in biodiversity hotspots.9 Through the increasing use of...including pharmaceutical bio-prospecting, ethno-botanical bio-prospecting, botanical medicines, nano-technology, biological control and crop protection...production mainly focuses on material that is extracted from areas where biological diversity is highest, i.e. genetic material from 10 developing

Measuring Forest Height and Biomass from Space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Agueh, Temilola Elisabeth Fato

2013-01-01

Talk about doing earth science at NASA and how what we do is focus on the biosphere- that is the living portion of the earth.In particular, we are interested in looking at forests-quantifying deforestation, regrowth, change in general and helping develop new cutting-edge technologies and instruments to be able to measure these changes in land use, land cover and quality more accurately.

Newly invented biobased materials from low-carbon, diverted waste fibers: research methods, testing, and full-scale application in a case study structure

Treesearch

Julee A Herdt; John Hunt; Kellen Schauermann

2016-01-01

This project demonstrates newly invented, biobased construction materials developed by applying lowcarbon, biomass waste sources through the Authors’ engineered fiber processes and technology. If manufactured and applied large-scale the project inventions can divert large volumes of cellulose waste into high-performance, low embodied energy, environmental construction...

Understanding Potential Air Emissions from a Cellulosic Biorefinery Producing Renewable Diesel Blendstock.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhang, Yimin; Heath, Garvin A.; Renzaglia, Jason

2015-06-22

The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, through the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), mandates increased use of biofuels, including cellulosic biofuels. The RFS is expected to spur the development of advanced biofuel technologies (e.g., new and innovative biofuel conversion pathways) as well as the construction of biorefineries (refineries that produce biofuels) using these technologies. To develop sustainable cellulosic biofuels, one of the goals of the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) at the Department of Energy is to minimize air pollutants from the entire biofuel supply chain, as stated in their 2014 Multi-Year Program Plan (2014). Although biofuels in general havemore » been found to have lower life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to petroleum fuels on an energy basis, biomass feedstock production, harvesting, transportation, processing and conversion are expected to emit a wide range of other air pollutants (e.g., criteria air pollutants, hazardous air pollutants), which could affect the environmental benefits of biofuels when displacing petroleum fuels. While it is important for policy makers, air quality planners and regulators, biofuel developers, and investors to understand the potential implications on air quality from a growing biofuel industry, there is a general lack of information and knowledge about the type, fate and magnitude of potential air pollutant emissions from the production of cellulosic biofuels due to the nascent stage of this emerging industry. This analysis assesses potential air pollutant emissions from a hypothetical biorefinery, selected by BETO for further research and development, which uses a biological conversion process of sugars to hydrocarbons to produce infrastructural-compatible renewable diesel blendstock from cellulosic biomass.« less

Analysis of utilization technologies for Eichhornia crassipes biomass harvested after restoration of wastewater.

PubMed

Feng, Wei; Xiao, Kai; Zhou, Wenbing; Zhu, Duanwei; Zhou, Yiyong; Yuan, Yu; Xiao, Naidong; Wan, Xiaoqiong; Hua, Yumei; Zhao, Jianwei

2017-01-01

Eichhornia crassipes (EC, water hyacinth) has gained attention due to its alarming reproductive capacity, which subsequently leads to serious ecological damage of water in many eutrophic lakes in the world. The traditional mechanical removal methods have disadvantages. They squander this valuable lignocellulosic resource. Meanwhile, there is a bottleneck for the subsequently reasonable and efficient utilization of EC biomass on a large scale after phytoremediation of polluted water using EC. As a result, the exploration of effective EC utilization technologies has become a popular research field. After years of exploration and amelioration, there have been significant breakthroughs in this research area, including the synthesis of excellent EC cellulose-derived materials, innovative bioenergy production, etc. This review organizes the research of the utilization of the EC biomass among several important fields and then analyses the advantages and disadvantages for each pathway. Finally, comprehensive EC utilization technologies are proposed as a reference. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

States and challenges for high-value biohythane production from waste biomass by dark fermentation technology.

PubMed

Liu, Zhidan; Zhang, Chong; Lu, Yuan; Wu, Xiao; Wang, Lang; Wang, Linjun; Han, Bing; Xing, Xin-Hui

2013-05-01

Hythane (H2+CH4) has attracted growing attention due to its versatile advantages as, for instance vehicle fuel. Biohythane consisting of biohydrogen and biomethane via two-stage fermentation is a potential high-value solution for the valorization of waste biomass resources and probably an alternative to the fossil based hythane. However, the significance and application potential of biohythane have not yet been fully recognized. This review focuses on the progress of biohydrogen and subsequent biomethane fermentation in terms of substrate, microbial consortium, reactor configuration, as well as the H2/CH4 ratio from the perspective of the feasibility of biohythane production in the past ten years. The current paper also covers how controls of the microbial consortium and bioprocess, system integration influence the biohythane productivity. Challenges and perspectives on biohythane technology will finally be addressed. This review provides a state-of-the-art technological insight into biohythane production by two-stage dark fermentation from biomass. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Simultaneous pretreatment and saccharification: green technology for enhanced sugar yields from biomass using a fungal consortium.

PubMed

Dhiman, Saurabh Sudha; Haw, Jung-Rim; Kalyani, Dayanand; Kalia, Vipin C; Kang, Yun Chan; Lee, Jung-Kul

2015-03-01

Two different biomasses were subjected to simultaneous pretreatment and saccharification (SPS) using a cocktail of hydrolytic and oxidizing enzymes. Application of a novel laccase as a detoxifying agent caused the removal of 49.8% and 32.6% of phenolic contents from the soaked rice straw and willow, respectively. Hydrolysis of soaked substrates using a newly developed fungal consortium resulted in saccharification yield of up to 74.2% and 63.6% for rice straw and willow, respectively. A high saccharification yield was obtained with soaked rice straw and willow without using any hazardous chemicals. The efficiency of each step related to SPS was confirmed by atomic force microscopy. The suitability of the developed SPS process was further confirmed by converting the hydrolysate from the process into bioethanol with 72.4% sugar conversion efficiency. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the development of a less tedious, single-pot, and eco-friendly SPS methodology. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Biomass measurement from LANDSAT: Drought and energy applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maxwell, E. L.

1981-01-01

The theory supporting the use of vegetation indices derived from LANDSAT data for the direct measurement of biomass is reviewed. The use of multispectral data to measure biomass is a natural and viable application since the photosynthetic production of biomass gives vegetation its unique spectral properties. Vegetation indices also perform a normalization function which tends to make them insensitive to atmospheric and soil color variations. Optical and digital LANDSAT products are discussed relative to the use of vegetation indices to monitor drought impact. Based on results obtained in Colorado, operational use of LANDSAT to monitor drought is cost effective, practical and ready for implementation today. The direct measurement of biomass energy resources may also benefit from LANDSAT technology. Measurement of total biomass and annual primary production may be feasible. Identification of that component of biomass resources available for energy use will require other sources of information, however.

77 FR 42298 - Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-07-18

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Biomass Research and Development...: Notice of Solicitation of Nominations for Appointment as a Member of the Biomass Research and Development... Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee (Technical Advisory Committee). DATES: The...

75 FR 74026 - Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-11-30

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee AGENCY.... SUMMARY: This notice announces an open meeting of the Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory... participation. This notice announces the meeting of the Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory...

Integrated Biomass Refining Institute at North Carolina State University

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Peretti, Steven

2013-06-28

The  overall  objective  of  the  Integrated  Biomass  Refining  Institute  (IBRI)  is  to  advance  the  fundamental  understanding  of  novel  biomass  conversion  technologies  leading  to  the  production  of  biofuels  and  bioproducts,  expanding  the  range  of  feedstock  that  can  be  utilized  and  compounds  produced  from  a  biomass  refinery.  The  outcomes  of  this  project  will  be  new  analytical  facilities  for  biofuels  and  bioproducts  research  at  North  Carolina  State  University  (NCSU),  establishment  of  the  capabilities  of  a  cellulosic  ethanol  screening  pilot  facility  to  monitor  and  control  processes,  and  publications  in  the  open  literature  and  presentations  at  public  conferences  regarding  novel  crops  and  technologies for cost-effectivemore » biomass processing.« less

Roadmap for Agriculture Biomass Feedstock Supply in the United States

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

J. Richard Hess; Thomas D. Foust; Reed Hoskinson

2003-11-01

The Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee established a goal that biomass will supply 5% of the nation’s power, 20% of its transportation fuels, and 25% of its chemicals by 2030. These combined goals are approximately equivalent to 30% of the country’s current petroleum consumption. The benefits of a robust biorefinery industry supplying this amount of domestically produced power, fuels, and products are considerable, including decreased demand for imported oil, revenue to the depressed agricultural industry, and revitalized rural economies. A consistent supply of highquality, low-cost feedstock is vital to achieving this goal. This biomass roadmap defines the researchmore » and development (R&D) path to supplying the feedstock needs of the biorefinery and to achieving the important national goals set for biomass. To meet these goals, the biorefinery industry must be more sustainable than the systems it will replace. Sustainability hinges on the economic profitability of all participants, on environmental impact of every step in the process, and on social impact of the product and its production. In early 2003, a series of colloquies were held to define and prioritize the R&D needs for supplying feedstock to the biorefinery in a sustainable manner. These colloquies involved participants and stakeholders in the feedstock supply chain, including growers, transporters, equipment manufacturers, and processors as well as environmental groups and others with a vested interest in ensuring the sustainability of the biorefinery. From this series of colloquies, four high-level strategic goals were set for the feedstock area: • Biomass Availability – By 2030, 1 billion dry tons of lignocellulosic feedstock is needed annually to achieve the power, fuel, and chemical production goals set by the Biomass Research and Development Technology Advisory Production Committee • Sustainability – Production and use of the 1 billion dry tons annually must be accomplished in a sustainable manner • Feedstock Infrastructure – An integrated feedstock supply system must be developed and implemented that can serve the feedstock needs of the biorefinery at the cost, quality, and consistency of the set targets • System Profitability – Economic profitability and sustainability need to be ensured for all required participants in the feedstock supply system. For each step in the biomass supply process—production, harvesting and collection, storage, preprocessing, system integration, and transportation—this roadmap addresses the current technical situations, performance targets, technical barriers, R&D needs, and R&D priorities to overcome technical barriers and achieve performance targets. Crop residue biomass is an attractive starting feedstock, which shows the best near-term promise as a biorefinery feedstock. Because crop residue is a by-product of grain production, it is an abundant, underutilized, and low cost biomass resource. Corn stover and cereal straw are the two most abundant crop residues available in the United States. Therefore, this roadmap focuses primarily on the R&D needed for using these biomass sources as viable biorefinery feedstocks. However, achieving the goal of 1 billion dry tons of lignocellulosic feedstock will require the use of other biomass sources such as dedicated energy crops. In the long term, the R&D needs identified in this roadmap will need to accommodate these other sources of biomass as well.« less

Harvesting of microalgae biomass from the phycoremediation process of greywater.

PubMed

Atiku, Hauwa; Mohamed, R M S R; Al-Gheethi, A A; Wurochekke, A A; Kassim, Amir Hashim M

2016-12-01

The wide application of microalgae in the field of wastewater treatment and bioenergy source has improved research studies in the past years. Microalgae represent a good source of biomass and bio-products which are used in different medical and industrial activities, among them the production of high-valued products and biofuels. The present review focused on greywater treatment through the application of phycoremediation technique with microalgae and presented recent advances in technologies used for harvesting the microalgae biomass. The advantages and disadvantages of each method are discussed. The microbiological aspects of production, harvesting and utilization of microalgae biomass are viewed.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Schaidle, Joshua A; Talmadge, Michael S; Biddy, Mary J

The United States has the potential to sustainably produce over 1 billion dry tons of nonfood biomass per year by 2030. While conversion of this biomass into fuels has garnished significant attention, these renewable feedstocks can also be converted into valuable chemicals. Analogous to petroleum refining, the coproduction of fuels and chemicals from biomass enables more complete utilization of the feedstock and supports the growth of a bio-economy by improving biorefinery economics. This chapter provides an overview of biomass thermolysis and gasification technologies, highlights existing and future chemical production opportunities, and elaborates on specific challenges associated with product separation andmore » purification.« less

Current progress of targetron technology: development, improvement and application in metabolic engineering.

PubMed

Liu, Ya-Jun; Zhang, Jie; Cui, Gu-Zhen; Cui, Qiu

2015-06-01

Targetrons are mobile group II introns that can recognize their DNA target sites by base-pairing RNA-DNA interactions with the aid of site-specific binding reverse transcriptases. Targetron technology stands out from recently developed gene targeting methods because of the flexibility, feasibility, and efficiency, and is particularly suitable for the genetic engineering of difficult microorganisms, including cellulolytic bacteria that are considered promising candidates for biomass conversion via consolidated bioprocessing. Along with the development of the thermotargetron method for thermophiles, targetron technology becomes increasingly important for the metabolic engineering of industrial microorganisms aiming at biofuel/chemical production. To summarize the current progress of targetron technology and provide new insights on the use of the technology, this paper reviews the retrohoming mechanisms of both mesophilic and thermophilic targetron methods based on various group II introns, investigates the improvement of targetron tools for high target efficiency and specificity, and discusses the current applications in the metabolic engineering for bacterial producers. Although there are still intellectual property and technical restrictions in targetron applications, we propose that targetron technology will contribute to both biochemistry research and the metabolic engineering for industrial productions. Copyright © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

A review of biological delignification and detoxification methods for lignocellulosic bioethanol production.

PubMed

Moreno, Antonio D; Ibarra, David; Alvira, Pablo; Tomás-Pejó, Elia; Ballesteros, Mercedes

2015-01-01

Future biorefineries will integrate biomass conversion processes to produce fuels, power, heat and value-added chemicals. Due to its low price and wide distribution, lignocellulosic biomass is expected to play an important role toward this goal. Regarding renewable biofuel production, bioethanol from lignocellulosic feedstocks is considered the most feasible option for fossil fuels replacement since these raw materials do not compete with food or feed crops. In the overall process, lignin, the natural barrier of the lignocellulosic biomass, represents an important limiting factor in biomass digestibility. In order to reduce the recalcitrant structure of lignocellulose, biological pretreatments have been promoted as sustainable and environmentally friendly alternatives to traditional physico-chemical technologies, which are expensive and pollute the environment. These approaches include the use of diverse white-rot fungi and/or ligninolytic enzymes, which disrupt lignin polymers and facilitate the bioconversion of the sugar fraction into ethanol. As there is still no suitable biological pretreatment technology ready to scale up in an industrial context, white-rot fungi and/or ligninolytic enzymes have also been proposed to overcome, in a separated or in situ biodetoxification step, the effect of the inhibitors produced by non-biological pretreatments. The present work reviews the latest studies regarding the application of different microorganisms or enzymes as useful and environmentally friendly delignification and detoxification technologies for lignocellulosic biofuel production. This review also points out the main challenges and possible ways to make these technologies a reality for the bioethanol industry.

Process technologies for production of fuel ethanol from lignocellulosic biomass

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Lignocellulosic biomass such as corn stover, wheat straw, rice straw, and switchgrass can serve as low-cost feedstock for production of fuel ethanol. These feedstocks contain complex carbohydrates (cellulose and hemicelluloses) which need to be converted to fermentable sugars and then these sugars b...

Logistics system design for biomass-to-bioenergy industry with multiple types of feedstocks.

PubMed

Zhu, Xiaoyan; Yao, Qingzhu

2011-12-01

It is technologically possible for a biorefinery to use a variety of biomass as feedstock including native perennial grasses (e.g., switchgrass) and agricultural residues (e.g., corn stalk and wheat straw). Incorporating the distinct characteristics of various types of biomass feedstocks and taking into account their interaction in supplying the bioenergy production, this paper proposed a multi-commodity network flow model to design the logistics system for a multiple-feedstock biomass-to-bioenergy industry. The model was formulated as a mixed integer linear programming, determining the locations of warehouses, the size of harvesting team, the types and amounts of biomass harvested/purchased, stored, and processed in each month, the transportation of biomass in the system, and so on. This paper demonstrated the advantages of using multiple types of biomass feedstocks by comparing with the case of using a single feedstock (switchgrass) and analyzed the relationship of the supply capacity of biomass feedstocks to the output and cost of biofuel. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Distributed Waste to Energy Conversion: A Piece of the DOD’s Renewable Energy Puzzle

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-11-30

FOR A CHANGING WORLD GEM Downdraft Gasification in a Nutshell Air Feed Waste or Biomass Feed Air Feed Air Feed Producer Gas Inert Ash Removal Solid...that is well-suited to provide distributed power to installations using local waste and biomass . Under ESTCP funding, Infoscitex is demonstrating...provide distributed power to installations using local waste and biomass . Under ESTCP funding, Infoscitex is demonstrating the technology at a DoD

Jet Propellant 8 versus Alternative Jet Fuels: A Life-Cycle Perspective

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-01-01

United States imports.26 The CBTL process uses three existing technologies to convert coal and biomass into liquid fuel: gasification , FT synthesis...and carbon capture and storage. Gasification converts coal and biomass into CO and H2, a mixture commonly referred to as “syngas.” FT synthesis...com- pare petroleum-derived jet fuel (i.e., JP-8) to an alternative jet fuel derived from a coal- biomass -to-liquid (CBTL) process. The EIO- LCA

Biorefining of wheat straw: accounting for the distribution of mineral elements in pretreated biomass by an extended pretreatment-severity equation.

PubMed

Le, Duy Michael; Sørensen, Hanne R; Knudsen, Niels Ole; Schjoerring, Jan K; Meyer, Anne S

2014-01-01

Mineral elements present in lignocellulosic biomass feedstocks may accumulate in biorefinery process streams and cause technological problems, or alternatively can be reaped for value addition. A better understanding of the distribution of minerals in biomass in response to pretreatment factors is therefore important in relation to development of new biorefinery processes. The objective of the present study was to examine the levels of mineral elements in pretreated wheat straw in response to systematic variations in the hydrothermal pretreatment parameters (pH, temperature, and treatment time), and to assess whether it is possible to model mineral levels in the pretreated fiber fraction. Principal component analysis of the wheat straw biomass constituents, including mineral elements, showed that the recovered levels of wheat straw constituents after different hydrothermal pretreatments could be divided into two groups: 1) Phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, manganese, zinc, and calcium correlated with xylose and arabinose (that is, hemicellulose), and levels of these constituents present in the fiber fraction after pretreatment varied depending on the pretreatment-severity; and 2) Silicon, iron, copper, aluminum correlated with lignin and cellulose levels, but the levels of these constituents showed no severity-dependent trends. For the first group, an expanded pretreatment-severity equation, containing a specific factor for each constituent, accounting for variability due to pretreatment pH, was developed. Using this equation, the mineral levels could be predicted with R(2) > 0.75; for some with R(2) up to 0.96. Pretreatment conditions, especially pH, significantly influenced the levels of phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, manganese, zinc, and calcium in the resulting fiber fractions. A new expanded pretreatment-severity equation is proposed to model and predict mineral composition in pretreated wheat straw biomass.

Microalgal biomass production pathways: evaluation of life cycle environmental impacts.

PubMed

Zaimes, George G; Khanna, Vikas

2013-06-20

Microalgae are touted as an attractive alternative to traditional forms of biomass for biofuel production, due to high productivity, ability to be cultivated on marginal lands, and potential to utilize carbon dioxide (CO2) from industrial flue gas. This work examines the fossil energy return on investment (EROIfossil), greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and direct Water Demands (WD) of producing dried algal biomass through the cultivation of microalgae in Open Raceway Ponds (ORP) for 21 geographic locations in the contiguous United States (U.S.). For each location, comprehensive life cycle assessment (LCA) is performed for multiple microalgal biomass production pathways, consisting of a combination of cultivation and harvesting options. Results indicate that the EROIfossil for microalgae biomass vary from 0.38 to 1.08 with life cycle GHG emissions of -46.2 to 48.9 (g CO2 eq/MJ-biomass) and direct WDs of 20.8 to 38.8 (Liters/MJ-biomass) over the range of scenarios analyzed. Further anaylsis reveals that the EROIfossil for production pathways is relatively location invariant, and that algae's life cycle energy balance and GHG impacts are highly dependent on cultivation and harvesting parameters. Contrarily, algae's direct water demands were found to be highly sensitive to geographic location, and thus may be a constraining factor in sustainable algal-derived biofuel production. Additionally, scenarios with promising EROIfossil and GHG emissions profiles are plagued with high technological uncertainty. Given the high variability in microalgae's energy and environmental performance, careful evaluation of the algae-to-fuel supply chain is necessary to ensure the long-term sustainability of emerging algal biofuel systems. Alternative production scenarios and technologies may have the potential to reduce the critical demands of biomass production, and should be considered to make algae a viable and more efficient biofuel alternative.

76 FR 36102 - Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-06-21

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Biomass Research and Development... vacancies on the Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee (Technical Advisory Committee... 20585; (202) 586-7766; E-mail: [email protected] . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Biomass Research...

Biofuels and bioenergy production from municipal solid waste commingled with agriculturally-derived biomass

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The USDA in partnership with Salinas Valley Solid Waste Authority (SVSWA) and CR3, a technology holding company from Reno, NV, has introduced a biorefinery concept whereby agriculturally- derived biomass is commingled with municipal solid waste (MSW) to produce bioenergy. This team, which originally...

Comparison of Dilute Acid and Ionic Liquid Pretreatment of Switchgrass: Biomass Recalcitrance, Delignification and Enzymatic Saccharification

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The efficiency of two biomass pretreatment technologies, dilute acid hydrolysis and dissolution in an ionic liquid, are compared in terms of delignification, saccharification efficiency and saccharide yields with switchgrass serving as a model bioenergy crop. When subject to ionic liquid pretreatme...

Systematic review of torrefied wood economics

Treesearch

Robert I. Radics; Ronalds Gonzalez; Edward M. (Ted) Bilek; Stephen S. Kelley

2017-01-01

This literature review aims to provide a systematic analysis of studies on the financial aspects of producing torrefied biomass and torrefied pellets. There are substantial differences in the specific technologies, operating conditions, scale of the demonstration, and properties of biomass feedstock. There is a lack of reports that consider the entire supply chain,...

Accuracy of genomic prediction in switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) improved by accounting for linkage disequilibrium

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Switchgrass is a relatively high-yielding and environmentally sustainable biomass crop, but further genetic gains in biomass yield must be achieved to make it an economically viable bioenergy feedstock. Genomic selection is an attractive technology to generate rapid genetic gains in switchgrass and ...

Integrated biomass technologies: future vision for optimally using wood and biomass

Treesearch

Jerrold E. Winandy; Alan W. Rudie; R. Sam Williams; Theodore H. Wegner

2008-01-01

Exciting new opportunities are emerging for sustainably meeting many global energy needs and simultaneously creating high value biobased consumer and construction products from wood, forest and agricultural residues, and other biobased materials. In addition to traditional value added biobased products, such as lumber, paper, paperboard, and composites, opportunities...

Biomass [updated

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Turhollow Jr, Anthony F

2016-01-01

Biomass resources and conversion technologies are diverse. Substantial biomass resources exist including woody crops, herbaceous perennials and annuals, forest resources, agricultural residues, and algae. Conversion processes available include fermentation, gasification, pyrolysis, anaerobic digestion, combustion, and transesterification. Bioderived products include liquid fuels (e.g. ethanol, biodiesel, and gasoline and diesel substitutes), gases, electricity, biochemical, and wood pellets. At present the major sources of biomass-derived liquid fuels are from first generation biofuels; ethanol from maize and sugar cane (89 billion L in 2013) and biodiesel from vegetable oils and fats (24 billion liters in 2011). For other than traditional uses, policy in themore » forms of mandates, targets, subsidies, and greenhouse gas emission targets has largely been driving biomass utilization. Second generation biofuels have been slow to take off.« less

Biogenic Carbon on Mars: A Subsurface Chauvinistic Viewpoint

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Onstott, T. C.; Lau, C. Y. M.; Magnabosco, C.; Harris, R.; Chen, Y.; Slater, G.; Sherwood Lollar, B.; Kieft, T. L.; van Heerden, E.; Borgonie, G.; Dong, H.

2015-12-01

A review of 150 publications on the subsurface microbiology of the continental subsurface provides ~1,400 measurements of cellular abundances down to 4,800 meter depth. These data suggest that the continental subsurface biomass is comprised of ~1016-17 grams of carbon, which is higher than the most recent estimates of ~1015 grams of carbon (1 Gt) for the marine deep biosphere. If life developed early in Martian history and Mars sustained an active hydrological cycle during its first 500 million years, then is it possible that Mars could have developed a subsurface biomass of comparable size to that of Earth? Such a biomass would comprise a much larger fraction of the total known Martian carbon budget than does the subsurface biomass on Earth. More importantly could a remnant of this subsurface biosphere survive to the present day? To determine how sustainable subsurface life could be in isolation from the surface we have been studying subsurface fracture fluids from the Precambrian Shields in South Africa and Canada. In these environments the energetically efficient and deeply rooted acetyl-CoA pathway for carbon fixation plays a central role for chemolithoautotrophic primary producers that form the base of the biomass pyramid. These primary producers appear to be sustained indefinitely by H2 generated through serpentinization and radiolytic reactions. Carbon isotope data suggest that in some subsurface locations a much larger population of secondary consumers are sustained by the primary production of biogenic CH4 from a much smaller population of methanogens. These inverted biomass and energy pyramids sustained by the cycling of CH4 could have been and could still be active on Mars. The C and H isotopic signatures of Martian CH4 remain key tools in identifying potential signatures of an extant Martian biosphere. Based upon our results to date cavity ring-down spectroscopic technologies provide an option for making these measurements on future rover missions.

Biological research survey for the efficient conversion of biomass to biofuels.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kent, Michael Stuart; Andrews, Katherine M.

2007-01-01

The purpose of this four-week late start LDRD was to assess the current status of science and technology with regard to the production of biofuels. The main focus was on production of biodiesel from nonpetroleum sources, mainly vegetable oils and algae, and production of bioethanol from lignocellulosic biomass. One goal was to assess the major technological hurdles for economic production of biofuels for these two approaches. Another goal was to compare the challenges and potential benefits of the two approaches. A third goal was to determine areas of research where Sandia's unique technical capabilities can have a particularly strong impactmore » in these technologies.« less

Energy from Biomass Research and Technology Transfer Program

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Schumacher, Dorin

The purpose of CPBR is to foster and facilitate research that will lead to commercial applications. The goals of CPBR’s Energy from Biomass Research and Technology Transfer Program are to bring together industry, academe, and federal resources to conduct research in plant biotechnology and other bio-based technologies and to facilitate the commercialization of the research results to: (1) improve the utilization of plants as energy sources; (2) reduce the cost of renewable energy production; (3) facilitate the replacement of petroleum by plant-based materials; (4) create an energy supply that is safer in its effect on the environment, and (5) contributemore » to U.S. energy independence.« less

Engineering a more sustainable world through catalysis and green chemistry.

PubMed

Sheldon, Roger A

2016-03-01

The grand challenge facing the chemical and allied industries in the twenty-first century is the transition to greener, more sustainable manufacturing processes that efficiently use raw materials, eliminate waste and avoid the use of toxic and hazardous materials. It requires a paradigm shift from traditional concepts of process efficiency, focusing on chemical yield, to one that assigns economic value to replacing fossil resources with renewable raw materials, eliminating waste and avoiding the use of toxic and/or hazardous substances. The need for a greening of chemicals manufacture is readily apparent from a consideration of the amounts of waste generated per kilogram of product (the E factors) in various segments of the chemical industry. A primary source of this waste is the use of antiquated 'stoichiometric' technologies and a major challenge is to develop green, catalytic alternatives. Another grand challenge for the twenty-first century, driven by the pressing need for climate change mitigation, is the transition from an unsustainable economy based on fossil resources--oil, coal and natural gas--to a sustainable one based on renewable biomass. In this context, the valorization of waste biomass, which is currently incinerated or goes to landfill, is particularly attractive. The bio-based economy involves cross-disciplinary research at the interface of biotechnology and chemical engineering, focusing on the development of green, chemo- and biocatalytic technologies for waste biomass conversion to biofuels, chemicals and bio-based materials. Biocatalysis has many benefits to offer in this respect. The catalyst is derived from renewable biomass and is biodegradable. Processes are performed under mild conditions and generally produce less waste and are more energy efficient than conventional ones. Thanks to modern advances in biotechnology 'tailor-made' enzymes can be economically produced on a large scale. However, for economic viability it is generally necessary to recover and re-use the enzyme and this can be achieved by immobilization, e.g. as solid cross-linked enzyme aggregates (CLEAs), enabling separation by filtration or centrifugation. A recent advance is the use of 'smart', magnetic CLEAs, which can be separated magnetically from reaction mixtures containing suspensions of solids; truly an example of cross-disciplinary research at the interface of physical and life sciences, which is particularly relevant to biomass conversion processes. © 2016 The Author(s).

Engineering a more sustainable world through catalysis and green chemistry

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

The grand challenge facing the chemical and allied industries in the twenty-first century is the transition to greener, more sustainable manufacturing processes that efficiently use raw materials, eliminate waste and avoid the use of toxic and hazardous materials. It requires a paradigm shift from traditional concepts of process efficiency, focusing on chemical yield, to one that assigns economic value to replacing fossil resources with renewable raw materials, eliminating waste and avoiding the use of toxic and/or hazardous substances. The need for a greening of chemicals manufacture is readily apparent from a consideration of the amounts of waste generated per kilogram of product (the E factors) in various segments of the chemical industry. A primary source of this waste is the use of antiquated ‘stoichiometric’ technologies and a major challenge is to develop green, catalytic alternatives. Another grand challenge for the twenty-first century, driven by the pressing need for climate change mitigation, is the transition from an unsustainable economy based on fossil resources—oil, coal and natural gas—to a sustainable one based on renewable biomass. In this context, the valorization of waste biomass, which is currently incinerated or goes to landfill, is particularly attractive. The bio-based economy involves cross-disciplinary research at the interface of biotechnology and chemical engineering, focusing on the development of green, chemo- and biocatalytic technologies for waste biomass conversion to biofuels, chemicals and bio-based materials. Biocatalysis has many benefits to offer in this respect. The catalyst is derived from renewable biomass and is biodegradable. Processes are performed under mild conditions and generally produce less waste and are more energy efficient than conventional ones. Thanks to modern advances in biotechnology ‘tailor-made’ enzymes can be economically produced on a large scale. However, for economic viability it is generally necessary to recover and re-use the enzyme and this can be achieved by immobilization, e.g. as solid cross-linked enzyme aggregates (CLEAs), enabling separation by filtration or centrifugation. A recent advance is the use of ‘smart’, magnetic CLEAs, which can be separated magnetically from reaction mixtures containing suspensions of solids; truly an example of cross-disciplinary research at the interface of physical and life sciences, which is particularly relevant to biomass conversion processes. PMID:27009181

Beetle-kill to carbon-negative bioenergy in the Rockies: stand, enterprise, and regional-scale perspectives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Field, J.; Paustian, K.

2016-12-01

The interior mountain West is particularly vulnerable to climate change with potential impacts including drought and wildfire intensification, and wide-scale species disruptions due to shifts in habitable elevation ranges or other effects. One such example is the current outbreak of native mountain pine and spruce beetles across the Rockies, with warmer winters, dryer summers, and a legacy of logging and fire suppression all interacting to result in infestation and unprecedented tree mortality over more than 42 million acres. Current global climate change mitigation commitments imply that shifts to renewable energy must be supplemented with widespread deployment of carbon-negative technologies such as BECCS and biochar. Carefully-designed forest bioenergy and biochar industries can play an important role in meeting these targets, valorizing woody biomass and allowing more acres to be actively managed under existing land management goals while simultaneously displacing fossil energy use and directly sequestering carbon. In this work we assess the negative emissions potential from the deployment of biochar co-producing thermochemical bioenergy technologies in the Rockies using beetle-kill wood as a feedstock, a way of leveraging a climate change driven problem for climate mitigation. We start with a review and classification of bioenergy lifecycle assessment emission source categories, clarifying the differences in mechanism and confidence around emissions sources, offsets, sequestration, and leakage effects. Next we develop methods for modeling ecosystem carbon response to biomass removals at the stand scale, considering potential species shifts and regrowth rates under different harvest systems deployed in different areas. We then apply a lifecycle assessment framework to evaluate the performance of a set of real-world bioenergy technologies at enterprise scale, including biomass logistics and conversion product yields. We end with an exploration of regional-scale mitigation capacity considering wide-scale deployment and potential wildfire feedback effects of harvest, highlighting the relative importance of supply chain, conversion technology, ecological, and epistemological uncertainties in realizing wide-scale negative emissions in this region.

Processing of nutritious, safe and acceptable foods from cells candidate crops

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, B.; Nelson, P. E.; Irvine, R.; Kanach, L. L.

A controlled ecological life-support system (CELSS) is required to sustain life for long-duration space missions. The challenge is preparing a wide variety of tasty, familiar, and nutritious foods from CELSS candidate crops under space environmental conditions. Conventional food processing technologies will have to be modified to adapt to the space environment. Extrusion is one of the processes being examined as a means of converting raw plant biomass into familiar foods. A nutrition-improved pasta has been developed using cowpea as a replacement for a portion of the durum semolina. A freeze-drying system that simulates the space conditions has also been developed. Other technologies that would fulfill the requirements of a CELSS will also be addressed.

Processing of nutritious, safe and acceptable foods from CELSS candidate crops

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fu, B.; Nelson, P. E.; Irvine, R.; Kanach, L. L.; Mitchell, C. A. (Principal Investigator)

1996-01-01

A controlled ecological life-support system (CELSS) is required to sustain life for long-duration space missions. The challenge is preparing a wide variety of tasty, familiar, and nutritious foods from CELSS candidate crops under space environmental conditions. Conventional food processing technologies will have to be modified to adapt to the space environment. Extrusion is one of the processes being examined as a means of converting raw plant biomass into familiar foods. A nutrition-improved pasta has been developed using cowpea as a replacement for a portion of the durum semolina. A freeze-drying system that simulates the space conditions has also been developed. Other technologies that would fulfill the requirements of a CELSS will also be addressed.

78 FR 64932 - Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-10-30

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee AGENCY: Energy... announces an open meeting of the Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee under Section... allow for public participation. This notice announces the meeting of the Biomass Research and...

Comparative life cycle assessment of lignocellulosic ethanol production: biochemical versus thermochemical conversion.

PubMed

Mu, Dongyan; Seager, Thomas; Rao, P Suresh; Zhao, Fu

2010-10-01

Lignocellulosic biomass can be converted into ethanol through either biochemical or thermochemical conversion processes. Biochemical conversion involves hydrolysis and fermentation while thermochemical conversion involves gasification and catalytic synthesis. Even though these routes produce comparable amounts of ethanol and have similar energy efficiency at the plant level, little is known about their relative environmental performance from a life cycle perspective. Especially, the indirect impacts, i.e. emissions and resource consumption associated with the production of various process inputs, are largely neglected in previous studies. This article compiles material and energy flow data from process simulation models to develop life cycle inventory and compares the fossil fuel consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and water consumption of both biomass-to-ethanol production processes. The results are presented in terms of contributions from feedstock, direct, indirect, and co-product credits for four representative biomass feedstocks i.e., wood chips, corn stover, waste paper, and wheat straw. To explore the potentials of the two conversion pathways, different technological scenarios are modeled, including current, 2012 and 2020 technology targets, as well as different production/co-production configurations. The modeling results suggest that biochemical conversion has slightly better performance on greenhouse gas emission and fossil fuel consumption, but that thermochemical conversion has significantly less direct, indirect, and life cycle water consumption. Also, if the thermochemical plant operates as a biorefinery with mixed alcohol co-products separated for chemicals, it has the potential to achieve better performance than biochemical pathway across all environmental impact categories considered due to higher co-product credits associated with chemicals being displaced. The results from this work serve as a starting point for developing full life cycle assessment model that facilitates effective decision-making regarding lignocellulosic ethanol production.

Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Lignocellulosic Ethanol Production: Biochemical Versus Thermochemical Conversion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mu, Dongyan; Seager, Thomas; Rao, P. Suresh; Zhao, Fu

2010-10-01

Lignocellulosic biomass can be converted into ethanol through either biochemical or thermochemical conversion processes. Biochemical conversion involves hydrolysis and fermentation while thermochemical conversion involves gasification and catalytic synthesis. Even though these routes produce comparable amounts of ethanol and have similar energy efficiency at the plant level, little is known about their relative environmental performance from a life cycle perspective. Especially, the indirect impacts, i.e. emissions and resource consumption associated with the production of various process inputs, are largely neglected in previous studies. This article compiles material and energy flow data from process simulation models to develop life cycle inventory and compares the fossil fuel consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and water consumption of both biomass-to-ethanol production processes. The results are presented in terms of contributions from feedstock, direct, indirect, and co-product credits for four representative biomass feedstocks i.e., wood chips, corn stover, waste paper, and wheat straw. To explore the potentials of the two conversion pathways, different technological scenarios are modeled, including current, 2012 and 2020 technology targets, as well as different production/co-production configurations. The modeling results suggest that biochemical conversion has slightly better performance on greenhouse gas emission and fossil fuel consumption, but that thermochemical conversion has significantly less direct, indirect, and life cycle water consumption. Also, if the thermochemical plant operates as a biorefinery with mixed alcohol co-products separated for chemicals, it has the potential to achieve better performance than biochemical pathway across all environmental impact categories considered due to higher co-product credits associated with chemicals being displaced. The results from this work serve as a starting point for developing full life cycle assessment model that facilitates effective decision-making regarding lignocellulosic ethanol production.

Extraction and labeling methods for microarrays using small amounts of plant tissue.

PubMed

Stimpson, Alexander J; Pereira, Rhea S; Kiss, John Z; Correll, Melanie J

2009-03-01

Procedures were developed to maximize the yield of high-quality RNA from small amounts of plant biomass for microarrays. Two disruption techniques (bead milling and pestle and mortar) were compared for the yield and the quality of RNA extracted from 1-week-old Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings (approximately 0.5-30 mg total biomass). The pestle and mortar method of extraction showed enhanced RNA quality at the smaller biomass samples compared with the bead milling technique, although the quality in the bead milling could be improved with additional cooling steps. The RNA extracted from the pestle and mortar technique was further tested to determine if the small quantity of RNA (500 ng-7 microg) was appropriate for microarray analyses. A new method of low-quantity RNA labeling for microarrays (NuGEN Technologies, Inc.) was used on five 7-day-old seedlings (approximately 2.5 mg fresh weight total) of Arabidopsis that were grown in the dark and exposed to 1 h of red light or continued dark. Microarray analyses were performed on a small plant sample (five seedlings; approximately 2.5 mg) using these methods and compared with extractions performed with larger biomass samples (approximately 500 roots). Many well-known light-regulated genes between the small plant samples and the larger biomass samples overlapped in expression changes, and the relative expression levels of selected genes were confirmed with quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, suggesting that these methods can be used for plant experiments where the biomass is extremely limited (i.e. spaceflight studies).

Biomass for biorefining: Resources, allocation, utilization, and policies

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The importance of biomass in the development of renewable energy, the availability and allocation of biomass, its preparation for use in biorefineries, and the policies affecting biomass are discussed in this chapter. Bioenergy development will depend on maximizing the amount of biomass obtained fro...

Using multi-level remote sensing and ground data to estimate forest biomass resources in remote regions: a case study in the boreal forests of interior Alaska

Treesearch

Hans-Erik Andersen; Strunk Jacob; Hailemariam Temesgen; Donald Atwood; Ken Winterberger

2012-01-01

The emergence of a new generation of remote sensing and geopositioning technologies, as well as increased capabilities in image processing, computing, and inferential techniques, have enabled the development and implementation of increasingly efficient and cost-effective multilevel sampling designs for forest inventory. In this paper, we (i) describe the conceptual...

75 FR 30804 - Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-06-02

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee AGENCY.... SUMMARY: This notice announces an open meeting of the Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory... Register to allow for public participation. This notice announces the meeting of the Biomass Research and...

77 FR 6791 - Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-02-09

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee AGENCY: Energy... announces an open meeting of the Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee. The Federal... leading to the production of biobased fuels and biobased products. Tentative Agenda Update on USDA Biomass...

75 FR 56525 - Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee

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2010-09-16

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75 FR 11526 - Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee

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2010-03-11

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76 FR 46781 - Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee

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2011-08-03

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ENVIRONMENTAL AND SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGY EVALUATION: BIOMASS CO-FIRING IN INDUSTRIAL BOILERS--UNIVERSITY OF IOWA

EPA Science Inventory

The U.S. EPA operates the Environmental and Sustainable Technology Evaluation (ESTE) program to facilitate the deployment of innovative technologies through performance verification and information dissemination. This ESTE project involved evaluation of co-firing common woody bio...

76 FR 63614 - Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-13

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Biomass Research and Development...: Notice of open meeting. SUMMARY: This notice announces an open meeting of the Biomass Research and... Update on USDA Biomass R&D Activities; Update on DOE Biomass R&D Activities; Presentation on Current...

78 FR 44105 - Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-23

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Biomass Research and Development...: Notice of open meeting. SUMMARY: This notice announces an open meeting of the Biomass Research and... to the Biomass R&D Initiative (Initiative) and also makes written recommendations to the Biomass R&D...

77 FR 26276 - Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-05-03

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Biomass Research and Development...: Notice of open meeting. SUMMARY: This notice announces an open meeting of the Biomass Research and... include the following: Update on USDA Biomass R&D Activities Update on DOE Biomass R&D Activities...

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Westover, Tyler; Emerson, Rachel Marie

Torrefaction is the thermal treatment of materials in the absence of oxygen in the temperature range of 200 to 300 °C and has been shown to improve handling and grinding properties, hydrophobicity, volatiles content, energy density, and combustion performance of renewable energy biomass feedstock materials. The disadvantages of torrefaction are its relative high cost compared to the low value input feedstock material and the energy that can be lost to volatized gases. This work will demonstrate a new technology developed by Advanced Torrefaction Systems (ATS), known as TorreCat™ Technology, that uses an oxidation catalyst in a closed system to combustmore » and destroy volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other byproducts produced in the torrefaction process. An oxidation catalyst is a substance, or a combination of substances, that accelerate the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed by the reaction. Catalytic combustion is a reaction that occurs at temperatures 50% lower than traditional combustion, such that essentially no NOx is created. The output of the oxidation catalyst (flue gas) consists mainly of superheated steam and inert gases (carbon dioxide and nitrogen), which can be used for heat in the thermal treatment process. INL has previously developed a pilot-scale Continuous-Feed Thermal Treatment System (CFTTS) that has 10 kg/hr capacity but does not reform the flue gas to reduce environmental concerns or capture all available heat from the biomass material. Using the TorreCat™ technology in INL’s thermal treatment system will demonstrate increased thermal efficiencies during the treatment process as well as reduced environmental impact and clean-up costs. The objective of this project is to determine the effectiveness of the Torrecat™ technology to reform the flue gas and capture as much of its heat content as possible.« less

Clean fuels from biomass

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hsu, Y.-Y.

1976-01-01

The paper discusses the U.S. resources to provide fuels from agricultural products, the present status of conversion technology of clean fuels from biomass, and a system study directed to determine the energy budget, and environmental and socioeconomic impacts. Conversion processes are discussed relative to pyrolysis and anaerobic fermentation. Pyrolysis breaks the cellulose molecules to smaller molecules under high temperature in the absence of oxygen, wheras anaerobic fermentation is used to convert biomass to methane by means of bacteria. Cost optimization and energy utilization are also discussed.

77 FR 20377 - Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-04-04

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Biomass Research and... Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee under Section 9008(d) of the Food... procedures, members of the public are welcome to observe the business of the Biomass Research and Development...

A laboratory-scale pretreatment and hydrolysis assay for determination of reactivity in cellulosic biomass feedstocks.

PubMed

Wolfrum, Edward J; Ness, Ryan M; Nagle, Nicholas J; Peterson, Darren J; Scarlata, Christopher J

2013-11-14

The rapid determination of the release of structural sugars from biomass feedstocks is an important enabling technology for the development of cellulosic biofuels. An assay that is used to determine sugar release for large numbers of samples must be robust, rapid, and easy to perform, and must use modest amounts of the samples to be tested.In this work we present a laboratory-scale combined pretreatment and saccharification assay that can be used as a biomass feedstock screening tool. The assay uses a commercially available automated solvent extraction system for pretreatment followed by a small-scale enzymatic hydrolysis step. The assay allows multiple samples to be screened simultaneously, and uses only ~3 g of biomass per sample. If the composition of the biomass sample is known, the results of the assay can be expressed as reactivity (fraction of structural carbohydrate present in the biomass sample released as monomeric sugars). We first present pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis experiments on a set of representative biomass feedstock samples (corn stover, poplar, sorghum, switchgrass) in order to put the assay in context, and then show the results of the assay applied to approximately 150 different feedstock samples covering 5 different materials. From the compositional analysis data we identify a positive correlation between lignin and structural carbohydrates, and from the reactivity data we identify a negative correlation between both carbohydrate and lignin content and total reactivity. The negative correlation between lignin content and total reactivity suggests that lignin may interfere with sugar release, or that more mature samples (with higher structural sugars) may have more recalcitrant lignin. The assay presented in this work provides a robust and straightforward method to measure the sugar release after pretreatment and saccharification that can be used as a biomass feedstock screening tool. We demonstrated the utility of the assay by identifying correlations between feedstock composition and reactivity in a population of 150 samples.

Alternative energy technologies for the Caribbean islands

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pytlinski, J.T.

1992-01-01

All islands in the Caribbean except Puerto Rico can be classified as developing islands. Of these islands, all except Trinidad and Tobago are oil importers. Uncertainties concerning uninterrupted oil supply and increasing oil prices causes economic, social and political instability and jeopardizes further development of these islands. The paper discusses the energy situation of the Caribbean islands and presents alternative energy options. Several alternative energy projects financed by local, federal and international organizations are presented. Present and future uses of alternative energy technologies are described in different islands. Barrier which handicap developing and implementing alternative energy sources in the Caribbeanmore » are discussed. The potential and possible applications of alternative energy technologies such as: solar-thermal energy, photovoltaics, wind energy, ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC), ocean currents and tides energy, biomass, peat energy, municipal solid wastes, bioconversion, hydropower, geothermal energy, nuclear energy and energy conservation are discussed in detail as means to alleviate the energy situation in the Caribbean islands.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Liu, Jia

Biorefineries convert biomass into many useful intermediates. For bio-based products to be used for fuel, energy, chemical, and many other applications, water needs to be removed from these aqueous products. Membrane separation technologies can significantly reduce separation energy consumption compared with conventional separation processes such as distillation. Nanoporous inorganic membranes have superior pervaporation performance with excellent organic fouling resistance. However, their commercial applications are limited due to high membrane costs and poor production reproducibility. A novel cost-effective inorganic membrane fabrication technology has been developed with low cost materials and using an advanced membrane fabrication technology. Low cost precursor material formulationmore » was successfully developed with desired material properties for membrane fabrication. An advanced membrane fabrication process was developed using the novel membrane materials to enable the fabrication of separation membranes of various geometries. The structural robustness and separation performance of the low cost inorganic membranes were evaluated. The novel inorganic membranes demonstrated high structural integrity and were effective in pervaporation removal of water.« less

Bio-layer management in anaerobic membrane bioreactors for wastewater treatment.

PubMed

Jeison, D; van Lier, J B

2006-01-01

Membrane separation technology represents an alternative way to achieve biomass retention in anaerobic bioreactors for wastewater treatment. Due to high biomass concentrations of anaerobic reactors, cake formation is likely to represent a major cause of flux decline. In the presented research, experiments are performed on the effect of biomass concentration and level of gas sparging on the hydraulic capacity of a submerged anaerobic membrane bioreactor. Both parameters significantly affected the hydraulic capacity, with biomass exerting the most pronounced effect. After 50 days of continuous operation the critical flux remained virtually unchanged, despite an increase in membrane resistance, suggesting that biomass characteristics and hydraulic conditions determine the bio-layer formation rather than the membrane's fouling level. The concept of bio-layer management is introduced to describe the programmed combination of actions performed in order to control the formation of biomass layer over membranes.

Biomass Supply Chain and Conversion Economics of Cellulosic Ethanol

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gonzalez, Ronalds W.

2011-12-01

Cellulosic biomass is a potential and competitive source for bioenergy production, reasons for such acclamation include: biomass is one the few energy sources that can actually be utilized to produce several types of energy (motor fuel, electricity, heat) and cellulosic biomass is renewable and relatively found everywhere. Despite these positive advantages, issues regarding cellulosic biomass availability, supply chain, conversion process and economics need a more comprehensive understanding in order to identify the near short term routes in biomass to bioenergy production. Cellulosic biomass accounts for around 35% to 45% of cost share in cellulosic ethanol production, in addition, different feedstock have very different production rate, (dry ton/acre/year), availability across the year, and chemical composition that affect process yield and conversion costs as well. In the other hand, existing and brand new conversion technologies for cellulosic ethanol production offer different advantages, risks and financial returns. Ethanol yield, financial returns, delivered cost and supply chain logistic for combinations of feedstock and conversion technology are investigated in six studies. In the first study, biomass productivity, supply chain and delivered cost of fast growing Eucalyptus is simulated in economic and supply chain models to supply a hypothetic ethanol biorefinery. Finding suggests that Eucalyptus can be a potential hardwood grown specifically for energy. Delivered cost is highly sensitive to biomass productivity, percentage of covered area. Evaluated at different financial expectations, delivered cost can be competitive compared to current forest feedstock supply. In the second study, Eucalyptus biomass conversion into cellulosic ethanol is simulated in the dilute acid pretreatment, analysis of conversion costs, cost share, CAPEX and ethanol yield are examined. In the third study, biomass supply and delivered cost of loblolly pine is simulated in economic and supply chain models specifically for biomass to bioenergy production. The study suggest that this species can be profitably managed for biomass production with rotation length of 11 to 12 years and with a stand tree density of 1,200 trees per acre. Optimum rotation length is greatly affected by seedlings costs and biomass productivity. In the fourth study, a evaluation of seven different feedstocks (loblolly pine, natural mixed hardwood, Eucalyptus, switchgrass, miscanthus, corn stover and sweet sorghum) is made in terms of supply chain, biomass delivered costs, dollar per ton of carbohydrate and dollar per million BTU delivered to a biorefinery. Forest feedstocks present better advantages in terms of a well established supply chain, year round supply and no need for biomass storage. In the same context biomass delivered costs, as well as cost to delivered one ton of carbohydrate and one million BTU is lower in forest feedstocks. In the fifth study, conversion costs, profitability and sensitivity analysis for a novel pretreatment process, green liquor, are modeled for ethanol production with loblolly pine, natural mixed hardwood and Eucalyptus as feedstocks, evaluated in two investment scenarios: green field and repurposing of an old kraft pulp mill. Better financial returns are perceived in the natural hardwood - repurposing scenario, mainly due to lower CAPEX and lower enzyme charge and cost. In the sixth study, conversion cost, CAPEX, ethanol yield and profitability for the thermochemical process (indirect gasification and production of mixed alcohol) is simulated for loblolly pine, natural hardwood, eucalyptus, corn stover and switchgrass. Higher ethanol yield with forest feedstock (due to higher content of %C and %H) result in better economic performance, when compare to agriculture biomass. This research indicates that forest feedstock outperform agriculture biomass in terms of delivered costs, supply chain, ethanol yield and process profitability. Loblolly pine seems to be more suitable for thermochemical processes, while hardwood suit better for biochemical conversion (based on the technologies studied).

Conceptual net energy output for biofuel production from lignocellulosic biomass through biorefining

Treesearch

J.Y. Zhu; X.S. Zhuang

2012-01-01

There is a lack of comprehensive information in the retrievable literature on pilot scale process and energy data using promising process technologies and commercially scalable and available capital equipment for lignocellulosic biomass biorefining. This study conducted a comprehensive review of the energy efficiency of selected sugar platform biorefinery process...

Cellulosic butanol production from agricultural biomass and residues: Recent advances in technology

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

This chapter details the recent advances made on bioconversion of lignocellulosic biomass to butanol, a superior biofuel that can be used in internal combustion engines or transportation industry. It should be noted that butanol producing cultures cannot tolerate or produce more than 20-30 g/L of ac...

Woody biomass pretreatment for cellulosic ethanol production : technology and energy consumption evaluation

Treesearch

Junyong Zhu; X.J. Pan

2010-01-01

This review presents a comprehensive discussion of the key technical issues in woody biomass pretreatment: barriers to efficient cellulose saccharification, pretreatment energy consumption, in particular energy consumed for wood-size reduction, and criteria to evaluate the performance of a pretreatment. A post-chemical pretreatment size-reduction approach is proposed...

Economic and environmental evaluation of coal-and-biomass-to-liquids-and-electricity plants equipped with carbon capture and storage

EPA Science Inventory

Among various clean energy technologies, one innovative option for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions involves pairing carbon capture and storage (CCS) with the production of synthetic fuels and electricity from co-processed coal and biomass. With a relatively pure CO2 strea...

Biochar as a soil amendment: Environmental friend or foe?

EPA Science Inventory

Pyrolysis to produce biofuels and biochar from biomass is not a new idea, but the use of pyrolysis to extract energy from biomass through a process that can be carbon neutral to carbon negative (i.e., reduces atmospheric CO2) is a novel application of an old technology to a curre...

Integrating anammox with the autotrophic denitrification process via electrochemistry technology.

PubMed

Qiao, Sen; Yin, Xin; Zhou, Jiti; Wei, Li'e; Zhong, Jiayou

2018-03-01

In this study, an autotrophic denitrification process was successfully coupled with anammox to remove the nitrate by-product via electrochemical technology. When the voltage applied to the combined electrode reactor was 1.5 V, the electrode reaction removed nitrate by using the autotrophic denitrification biomass without affecting the anammox biomass. The nitrogen removal efficiency of the combined electrode reactor reached 99.1% without detectable nitrate at an influent NO 2 - -N/NH 4 + -N ratio of 1.5. On day 223, using the model calculations based on reaction equations, 19.7% of total nitrogen was removed via the autotrophic denitrification process, while the majority of nitrogen removal (approximately 79.4%) was attributed to the anammox reaction. Small variations of the population numbers and community structure of artificial bacteria according to electron microscopy predicted that the anammox and autotrophic denitrifying biomasses could coexist in the electrode reactor. Then, 16S rRNA analysis determined that the anammox biomass group was always dominant in mixed flora during continuous cultivation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

ENVIRONMENTAL AND SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGY EVALUATION: BIOMASS CO-FIRING IN INDUSTRIAL BOILERS--MINNESOTA POWER'S RAPIDS ENERGY CENTER

EPA Science Inventory

The U.S. EPA operates the Environmental and Sustainable Technology Evaluation (ESTE) program to facilitate the deployment of innovative technologies through performance verification and information dissemination. This ESTE project involved evaluation of co-firing common woody bio...

Utilization of biomass in the U.S. for the production of ethanol fuel as a gasoline replacement. I - Terrestrial resource potential. II - Energy requirements, with emphasis on lignocellulosic conversion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferchak, J. D.; Pye, E. K.

The paper assesses the biomass resource represented by starch derived from feed corn, surplus and distressed grain, and high-yield sugar crops planted on set-aside land in the U.S. It is determined that the quantity of ethanol produced may be sufficient to replace between 5 to 27% of present gasoline requirements. Utilization of novel cellulose conversion technology may in addition provide fermentable sugars from municipal, agricultural and forest wastes, and ultimately from highly productive silvicultural operations. The potential additional yield of ethanol from lignocellulosic biomass appears to be well in excess of liquid fuel requirements of an enhanced-efficiency transport sector at present mileage demands. No conflict with food production would be entailed. A net-energy assessment is made for lignocellulosic biomass feedstocks' conversion to ethanol and an almost 10:1 energy yield/energy cost ratio determined. It is also found that novel cellulose pretreatment and enzymatic conversion methods still under development may significantly improve even that figure, and that both chemical-feedstocks and energy-yielding byproducts such as carbon dioxide, biogas and lignin make ethanol production potentially energy self-sufficient. A final high-efficiency production approach incorporates site-optimized, nonpolluting energy sources such as solar and geothermal.

Mycoalgae biofilm: development of a novel platform technology using algae and fungal cultures.

PubMed

Rajendran, Aravindan; Hu, Bo

2016-01-01

Microalgae is considered a promising source for biofuel and bioenergy production, bio-remediation and production of high-value bioactive compounds, but harvesting microalgae is a major bottleneck in the algae based processes. The objective of this research is to mimic the growth of natural lichen and develop a novel biofilm platform technology using filamentous fungi and microalgae to form a lichen type of biofilm "mycoalgae" in a supporting polymer matrix. The possibility of co-existence of Chlorella vulgaris with various fungal cultures was tested to identify the best strain combination for high algae harvest efficiency. The effect of different matrices for cell attachment and biofilm formation, cell surface characterization of mycoalgae biofilm, kinetics of the process with respect to the algae-fungi cell distribution and total biomass production was studied. Mycoalgae biofilm with algae attachment efficiency of 99.0 % and above was achieved in a polymer-cotton composite matrix with glucose concentration of 2 g/L in the growth medium and agitation intensity of 150 rpm at 27 °C. The total biomass in the co-culture with the selected strain combination (Mucor sp. and Chlorella sp.) was higher than the axenic cultures of fungi and algae at the conditions tested. The results show that algae can be grown with complete attachment to a bio-augmenting fungal surface and can be harvested readily as a biofilm for product extraction from biomass. Even though, interaction between heterotrophic fungi and phototrophic algae was investigated in solid media after prolonged contact in a report, this research is the first of its kind in developing an artificial lichen type biofilm called "mycoalgae" biofilm completely attached on a matrix in liquid cultures. The mycoalgae biofilm based processes, propounds the scope for exploring new avenues in the bio-production industry and bioremediation.

The potential impacts of biomass feedstock production on water resource availability.

PubMed

Stone, K C; Hunt, P G; Cantrell, K B; Ro, K S

2010-03-01

Biofuels are a major topic of global interest and technology development. Whereas bioenergy crop production is highly dependent on water, bioenergy development requires effective allocation and management of water. The objectives of this investigation were to assess the bioenergy production relative to the impacts on water resource related factors: (1) climate and weather impact on water supplies for biomass production; (2) water use for major bioenergy crop production; and (3) potential alternatives to improve water supplies for bioenergy. Shifts to alternative bioenergy crops with greater water demand may produce unintended consequences for both water resources and energy feedstocks. Sugarcane and corn require 458 and 2036 m(3) water/m(3) ethanol produced, respectively. The water requirements for corn grain production to meet the US-DOE Billion-Ton Vision may increase approximately 6-fold from 8.6 to 50.1 km(3). Furthermore, climate change is impacting water resources throughout the world. In the western US, runoff from snowmelt is occurring earlier altering the timing of water availability. Weather extremes, both drought and flooding, have occurred more frequently over the last 30 years than the previous 100 years. All of these weather events impact bioenergy crop production. These events may be partially mitigated by alternative water management systems that offer potential for more effective water use and conservation. A few potential alternatives include controlled drainage and new next-generation livestock waste treatment systems. Controlled drainage can increase water available to plants and simultaneously improve water quality. New livestock waste treatments systems offer the potential to utilize treated wastewater to produce bioenergy crops. New technologies for cellulosic biomass conversion via thermochemical conversion offer the potential for using more diverse feedstocks with dramatically reduced water requirements. The development of bioenergy feedstocks in the US and throughout the world should carefully consider water resource limitations and their critical connections to ecosystem integrity and sustainability of human food. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Low-temperature, Low-Energy, and High-Efficiency Pretreatment Technology for Large Wood Chips with a Redox Couple Catalyst.

PubMed

Gogoi, Parikshit; Zhang, Zhe; Geng, Zhishuai; Liu, Wei; Hu, Weize; Deng, Yulin

2018-03-22

The pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass plays a vital role in the conversion of cellulosic biomass to bioethanol, especially for softwoods and hardwoods. Although many pretreatment technologies have been reported so far, only a few pretreatment methods can handle large woodchips directly. To improve the efficiency of pretreatment, existing technologies require the grinding of the wood into small particles, which is an energy-consuming process. Herein, for the first time, we report a simple, effective, and low-temperature (≈100 °C) process for the pretreatment of hardwood (HW) and softwood (SW) chips directly by using a catalytic system of FeCl 3 /NaNO 3 (FCSNRC). The pretreatment experiments were conducted systematically, and a conversion of 71.53 and 70.66 % of cellulose to sugar could be obtained for the direct use of large HW and SW chips. The new method reported here overcomes one of the critical barriers in biomass-to-biofuel conversion, and both grinding and thermal energies can be reduced significantly. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Biomass production by novel strains of Yarrowia lipolytica using raw glycerol, derived from biodiesel production.

PubMed

Juszczyk, Piotr; Tomaszewska, Ludwika; Kita, Agnieszka; Rymowicz, Waldemar

2013-06-01

This study demonstrated the potential applicability of the isolated strains of Yarrowia lipolytica for the valorization of glycerol waste generated during biodiesel production, throughout biomass production. Twenty-one strains were isolated from different environments and identified as Y. lipolytica. Biomass production from pure glycerol (25 g L(-1)) was performed in the shake-flasks experiment. Eight strains with the best biomass production ability were chosen for studies in bioreactor (pH 3.5). The analysis of technological process parameters and biomass chemical composition demonstrated that S6 strain was the most suitable for biomass production. Its application allowed obtaining 11.7 and 12.3 g L(-1) of the biomass with 1.30 and 1.37 g L(-1) h(-1) productivity, respectively when pure and raw glycerol (25 g L(-1)) was used. In the yeast protein amino acid profile the contents of lysine, threonine and phenylalanine/tyrosine were higher than required by FAO/WHO. According to the EAAI, the nutritional value of the biomass reached up to 72.3%. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development of methane and nitrous oxide emission factors for the biomass fired circulating fluidized bed combustion power plant.

PubMed

Cho, Chang-Sang; Sa, Jae-Hwan; Lim, Ki-Kyo; Youk, Tae-Mi; Kim, Seung-Jin; Lee, Seul-Ki; Jeon, Eui-Chan

2012-01-01

This study makes use of this distinction to analyze the exhaust gas concentration and fuel of the circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boiler that mainly uses wood biomass, and to develop the emission factors of Methane (CH(4)), Nitrous oxide (N(2)O). The fuels used as energy sources in the subject working sites are Wood Chip Fuel (WCF), RDF and Refused Plastic Fuel (RPF) of which heating values are 11.9 TJ/Gg, 17.1 TJ/Gg, and 31.2 TJ/Gg, respectively. The average concentrations of CH(4) and N(2)O were measured to be 2.78 ppm and 7.68 ppm, respectively. The analyzed values and data collected from the field survey were used to calculate the emission factor of CH(4) and N(2)O exhausted from the CFB boiler. As a result, the emission factors of CH(4) and N(2)O are 1.4 kg/TJ (0.9-1.9 kg/TJ) and 4.0 kg/TJ (2.9-5.3 kg/TJ) within a 95% confidence interval. Biomass combined with the combustion technology for the CFB boiler proved to be more effective in reducing the N(2)O emission, compared to the emission factor of the CFB boiler using fossil fuel.

Principles of biorefineries.

PubMed

Kamm, B; Kamm, M

2004-04-01

Sustainable economic growth requires safe, sustainable resources for industrial production. For the future re-arrangement of a substantial economy to biological raw materials, completely new approaches in research and development, production and economy are necessary. Biorefineries combine the necessary technologies between biological raw materials and industrial intermediates and final products. The principal goal in the development of biorefineries is defined by the following: (biomass) feedstock-mix + process-mix --> product-mix. Here, particularly the combination between biotechnological and chemical conversion of substances will play an important role. Currently the "whole-crop biorefinery", "green biorefinery" and "lignocellulose-feedstock biorefinery" systems are favored in research and development.

Some ways of plants wastes utilization in bioregenerative life support systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kovaleva, N. P.; Tikhomirov, A. A.; Tirranen, L. S.; Ushakova, S. A.; Zolotukhin, I. G.; Anischenko, O. V.

In works on experimental modeling of bioregenerative life support systems BLSS carried out at Institute of Biophysics Russian Academy of Science Siberian Branch SB RAS the possibility of increase of a system closure degree under the condition of inedible plant biomass return into the organic matter turnover was demonstrated At the same time when radish inedible biomass was subjected to biological oxidation in soil-like substrate SLS after its drying then wheat straw was subjected to stepwise processing including mushrooms growing stage Mushrooms cultivation facilitated to lignin destruction and quicker straw decomposition On the other hand mushrooms growing required additional technological procedures leading to complication of a technological chain of straw processing The purpose of this work is to study the possibility of exclusion of mushrooms growing stage under straw pretreatment for its further use as an equivalent of radish edible biomass grown on SLS To solve the problem put by the radish cenosis in a conveyer regime was grown The conveyer included radish four ages with the conveyer step equal to 7 days The experiment consisted of two successive stages On the first stage radish was grown without straw addition into SLS control To return mineral elements into SLS the biomass grown was restored in SLS On the second stage inedible radish biomass and wheat straw were returned into SLS in the quantity equivalent to edible biomass The possibility of the method described was estimated according to plant productivity microbiological

Evolution and Development of Effective Feedstock Specifications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Garold Gresham; Rachel Emerson; Amber Hoover

The U.S. Department of Energy promotes the production of a range of liquid fuels and fuel blend stocks from lignocellulosic biomass feedstocks by funding fundamental and applied research that advances the state of technology in biomass collection, conversion, and sustainability. As part of its involvement in this program, the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) investigates the feedstock logistics economics and sustainability of these fuels. The 2012 feedstock logistics milestone demonstrated that for high-yield areas that minimize the transportation distances of a low-density, unstable biomass, we could achieve a delivered cost of $35/ton. Based on current conventional equipment and processes, the 2012more » logistics design is able to deliver the volume of biomass needed to fulfill the 2012 Renewable Fuel Standard’s targets for ethanol. However, the Renewable Fuel Standard’s volume targets are continuing to increase and are expected to peak in 2022 at 36 billion gallons. Meeting these volume targets and achieving a national-scale biofuels industry will require expansion of production capacity beyond the 2012 Conventional Feedstock Supply Design Case to access diverse available feedstocks, regardless of their inherent ability to meet preliminary biorefinery quality feedstock specifications. Implementation of quality specifications (specs), as outlined in the 2017 Design Case – “Feedstock Supply System Design and Economics for Conversion of Lignocellulosic Biomass to Hydrocarbon Fuels” (in progress), requires insertion of deliberate, active quality controls into the feedstock supply chain, whereas the 2012 Conventional Design only utilizes passive quality controls.« less

Electrocatalytic upgrading of biomass pyrolysis oils to chemical and fuel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lam, Chun Ho

The present project's aim is to liquefy biomass through fast pyrolysis and then upgrade the resulting "bio-oil" to renewable fuels and chemicals by intensifying its energy content using electricity. This choice reflects three points: (a) Liquid hydrocarbons are and will long be the most practical fuels and chemical feedstocks because of their energy density (both mass and volume basis), their stability and relative ease of handling, and the well-established infrastructure for their processing, distribution and use; (b) In the U.S., the total carbon content of annually harvestable, non-food biomass is significantly less than that in a year's petroleum usage, so retention of plant-captured carbon is a priority; and (c) Modern technologies for conversion of sunlight into usable energy forms---specifically, electrical power---are already an order of magnitude more efficient than plants are at storing solar energy in chemical form. Biomass fast pyrolysis (BFP) generates flammable gases, char, and "bio-oil", a viscous, corrosive, and highly oxygenated liquid consisting of large amounts of acetic acid and water together with hundreds of other organic compounds. With essentially the same energy density as biomass and a tendency to polymerize, this material cannot practically be stored or transported long distances. It must be upgraded by dehydration, deoxygenation, and hydrogenation to make it both chemically and energetically compatible with modern vehicles and fuels. Thus, this project seeks to develop low cost, general, scalable, robust electrocatalytic methods for reduction of bio-oil into fuels and chemicals.

Fungal Bioconversion of Lignocellulosic Residues; Opportunities & Perspectives

PubMed Central

Dashtban, Mehdi; Schraft, Heidi; Qin, Wensheng

2009-01-01

The development of alternative energy technology is critically important because of the rising prices of crude oil, security issues regarding the oil supply, and environmental issues such as global warming and air pollution. Bioconversion of biomass has significant advantages over other alternative energy strategies because biomass is the most abundant and also the most renewable biomaterial on our planet. Bioconversion of lignocellulosic residues is initiated primarily by microorganisms such as fungi and bacteria which are capable of degrading lignocellulolytic materials. Fungi such as Trichoderma reesei and Aspergillus niger produce large amounts of extracellular cellulolytic enzymes, whereas bacterial and a few anaerobic fungal strains mostly produce cellulolytic enzymes in a complex called cellulosome, which is associated with the cell wall. In filamentous fungi, cellulolytic enzymes including endoglucanases, cellobiohydrolases (exoglucanases) and β-glucosidases work efficiently on cellulolytic residues in a synergistic manner. In addition to cellulolytic/hemicellulolytic activities, higher fungi such as basidiomycetes (e.g. Phanerochaete chrysosporium) have unique oxidative systems which together with ligninolytic enzymes are responsible for lignocellulose degradation. This review gives an overview of different fungal lignocellulolytic enzymatic systems including extracellular and cellulosome-associated in aerobic and anaerobic fungi, respectively. In addition, oxidative lignocellulose-degradation mechanisms of higher fungi are discussed. Moreover, this paper reviews the current status of the technology for bioconversion of biomass by fungi, with focus on mutagenesis, co-culturing and heterologous gene expression attempts to improve fungal lignocellulolytic activities to create robust fungal strains. PMID:19774110

DEFE0023863 Final Report, Technology for GHG Emission Reduction and CostCompetitive MilSpec Jet Fuel Production using CTL

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hartvigsen, Joseph J; Dimick, Paul; Laumb, Jason D

Ceramatec Inc, in collaboration with IntraMicron (IM), the Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) and Sustainable Energy Solutions, LLC (SES), have completed a three-year research project integrating their respective proprietary technologies in key areas to demonstrate production of a jet fuel from coal and biomass sources. The project goals and objectives were to demonstrate technology capable of producing a “commercially-viable quantity” of jet fuel and make significant progress toward compliance with Section 526 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA 2007 §526) lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions requirements. The Ceramatec led team completed the demonstration of nominalmore » 2 bbl/day Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis pilot plant design, capable of producing a nominal 1 bbl/day in the Jet-A/JP-8 fraction. This production rate would have a capacity of 1,000 gallons of jet fuel per month and provide the design basis of a 100 bbl/day module producing over 2,000 gallons of jet fuel per day. Co-gasification of coal-biomass blends enables a reduction of lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions from equivalent conventional petroleum derived fuel basis. Due to limits of biomass availability within an economic transportation range, implementation of a significant biomass feed fraction will require smaller plants than current world scale CTL and GTL FT plants. Hence a down-scaleable design is essential. The pilot plant design leverages Intramicron’s MicroFiber Entrapped Catalyst (MFEC) support which increases the catalyst bed thermal conductivity two orders of magnitude, allowing thermal management of the FT reaction exotherm in much larger reactor tubes. In this project, single tube reactors having 4.5 inch outer diameter and multi-tube reactors having 4 inch outer diameters were operated, with productivities as high as 1.5 gallons per day per linear foot of reactor tube. A significant reduction in tube count results from the use of large diameter reactor tubes, with an associated reduction in reactor cost. The pilot plant was designed with provisions for product collection capable of operating with conventional wax producing FT catalysts but was operated with a Chevron hybrid wax-free FT catalyst. Process simplification enabled by elimination of the wax hydrocracking process unit provides economic advantages in scaling to biomass capable plant sizes. Intramicron also provided a sulfur capture system based on their Oxidative Sulfur Removal (OSR) catalyst process. The integrated sulfur removal and FT systems were operated with syngas produced by the Transport Reactor Development Unit (TRDU) gasifier at the University of North Dakota EERC. SES performed modeling of their cryogenic carbon capture process on the energy, cost and CO2 emissions impact of the Coal-biomass synthetic fuel process.« less

Bioenergy: America's Energy Future

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nelson, Bruce; Volz, Sara; Male, Johnathan

2014-07-31

Bioenergy: America's Energy Future is a short documentary film showcasing examples of bioenergy innovations across the biomass supply chain and the United States. The film highlights a few stories of individuals and companies who are passionate about achieving the promise of biofuels and addressing the challenges of developing a thriving bioeconomy. This outreach product supports media initiatives to expand the public's understanding of the bioenergy industry and sustainable transportation and was developed by the U.S. Department of Energy Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Green Focus Films, and BCS, Incorporated.

Bioenergy: America's Energy Future

ScienceCinema

Nelson, Bruce; Volz, Sara; Male, Johnathan; Wolfson, Johnathan; Pray, Todd; Mayfield, Stephen; Atherton, Scott; Weaver, Brandon

2018-01-16

Bioenergy: America's Energy Future is a short documentary film showcasing examples of bioenergy innovations across the biomass supply chain and the United States. The film highlights a few stories of individuals and companies who are passionate about achieving the promise of biofuels and addressing the challenges of developing a thriving bioeconomy. This outreach product supports media initiatives to expand the public's understanding of the bioenergy industry and sustainable transportation and was developed by the U.S. Department of Energy Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Green Focus Films, and BCS, Incorporated.

Sustainable Biomass Resource Development and Use | Energy Analysis | NREL

Science.gov Websites

Sustainable Biomass Resource Development and Use Sustainable Biomass Resource Development and Use A sustainability analysis includes biomass resource use and impact assessment. This analysis examines how we can use existing resources in a sustainable manner. It also examines the environmental and socio-economic

2016 National Algal Biofuels Technology Review

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Barry, Amanda; Wolfe, Alexis; English, Christine

The Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, is committed to advancing the vision of a viable, sustainable domestic biomass industry that produces renewable biofuels, bioproducts, and biopower; enhances U.S. energy security; reduces our dependence on fossil fuels; provides environmental benefits; and creates economic opportunities across the nation. BETO’s goals are driven by various federal policies and laws, including the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA). To accomplish its goals, BETO has undertaken a diverse portfolio of research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) activities, in partnership with nationalmore » laboratories, academia, and industry.« less

Biomass-based palm shell activated carbon and palm shell carbon molecular sieve as gas separation adsorbents.

PubMed

Sethupathi, Sumathi; Bashir, Mohammed Jk; Akbar, Zinatizadeh Ali; Mohamed, Abdul Rahman

2015-04-01

Lignocellulosic biomass has been widely recognised as a potential low-cost source for the production of high added value materials and proved to be a good precursor for the production of activated carbons. One of such valuable biomasses used for the production of activated carbons is palm shell. Palm shell (endocarp) is an abundant by-product produced from the palm oil industries throughout tropical countries. Palm shell activated carbon and palm shell carbon molecular sieve has been widely applied in various environmental pollution control technologies, mainly owing to its high adsorption performance, well-developed porosity and low cost, leading to potential applications in gas-phase separation using adsorption processes. This mini-review represents a comprehensive overview of the palm shell activated carbon and palm shell carbon molecular sieve preparation method, physicochemical properties and feasibility of palm shell activated carbon and palm shell carbon molecular sieve in gas separation processes. Some of the limitations are outlined and suggestions for future improvements are pointed out. © The Author(s) 2015.

Characterization of lignocellulolytic enzymes from white-rot fungi.

PubMed

Manavalan, Tamilvendan; Manavalan, Arulmani; Heese, Klaus

2015-04-01

The development of alternative energy sources by applying lignocellulose-based biofuel technology is critically important because of the depletion of fossil fuel resources, rising fossil fuel prices, security issues regarding the fossil fuel supply, and environmental issues. White-rot fungi have received much attention in recent years for their valuable enzyme systems that effectively degrade lignocellulosic biomasses. These fungi have powerful extracellular oxidative and hydrolytic enzymes that degrade lignin and cellulose biopolymers, respectively. Lignocellulosic biomasses from either agricultural or forestry wastes are abundant, low-cost feedstock alternatives in nature but require hydrolysis into simple sugars for biofuel production. This review provides a complete overview of the different lignocellulose biomasses and their chemical compositions. In addition, a complete list of the white-rot fungi-derived lignocellulolytic enzymes that have been identified and their molecular structures, mechanism of action in lignocellulose hydrolysis, and biochemical properties is summarized in detail. These enzymes include ligninolytic enzymes (laccase, manganese peroxidase, lignin peroxidase, and versatile peroxidase) and cellulolytic enzymes (endo-glucanase, cellobiohydrolase, and beta-glucosidase). The use of these fungi for low-cost lignocellulolytic enzyme production might be attractive for biofuel production.

Demonstration of a Porous Tube Hydroponic System to Control Plant Moisture and Growth

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dreschel, T. W.; Hall, C. R.; Foster, T. E.

2003-01-01

Accurate remote detection of plant health indicators such as moisture, plant pigment concentrations, photosynthetic flux, and other biochemicals in canopies is a major goal in plant research. Influencing factors include complex interactions between wavelength dependent absorbing and scattering features from backgrounds as well as canopy biochemical and biophysical constituents. Accurately controlling these factors in outdoor field studies is difficult. Early testing of a porous tube plant culture system has indicated that plant biomass production, biomass partitioning, and leaf moisture of plants can be controlled by precisely managing the root water potential. Managing nutrient solution chemistry can also control plant pigments, biochemical concentrations, plant biomass production, and photosynthetic rates. A test bed was developed which utilized the porous tube technology with the intent of evaluating remote sensing systems, spectral analyses procedures, gas-exchange, and fluorescence measurements for their ability to detect small differences in plant water status. Spectral analysis was able to detect small differences in the mean leaf water content between the treatments. However these small differences were not detectable in the gas-exchange or fluorescence measurements.

Extraction and Estimation of Secondary Metabolites from Date Palm Cell Suspension Cultures.

PubMed

Naik, Poornananda M; Al-Khayri, Jameel M

2017-01-01

The health benefits of dates arise from their content of phytochemicals, known for having pharmacological properties, including flavonoids, carotenoids, phenolic acids, sterols, procyanidins, and anthocyanins. In vitro cell culture technology has become an attractive means for the production of biomass and bioactive compounds. This chapter describes step-by-step procedures for the induction and proliferation of callus from date palm offshoots on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with plant growth regulators. Subsequently cell suspension cultures are established for optimum biomass accumulation, based on the growth curve developed by packed cell volume as well as fresh and dry weights. The highest production of biomass occurs at the 11th week after culturing. Moreover, this chapter describes methodologies for the extraction and analysis of secondary metabolites of date palm cell suspension cultures using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The optimum level of catechin, caffeic acid, apigenin, and kaempferol from the cell suspension cultures establishes after the 11th and 12th weeks of culture. This protocol is useful for scale-up production of secondary metabolites from date palm cell suspension cultures.

Ab initio calculations and kinetic modeling of thermal conversion of methyl chloride: implications for gasification of biomass.

PubMed

Singla, Mallika; Rasmussen, Morten Lund; Hashemi, Hamid; Wu, Hao; Glarborg, Peter; Pelucchi, Matteo; Faravelli, Tiziano; Marshall, Paul

2018-04-25

Limitations in current hot gas cleaning methods for chlorine species from biomass gasification may be a challenge for end use such as gas turbines, engines, and fuel cells, all requiring very low levels of chlorine. During devolatilization of biomass, chlorine is released partly as methyl chloride. In the present work, the thermal conversion of CH3Cl under gasification conditions was investigated. A detailed chemical kinetic model for pyrolysis and oxidation of methyl chloride was developed and validated against selected experimental data from the literature. Key reactions of CH2Cl with O2 and C2H4 for which data are scarce were studied by ab initio methods. The model was used to analyze the fate of methyl chloride in gasification processes. The results indicate that CH3Cl emissions will be negligible for most gasification technologies, but could be a concern for fluidized bed gasifiers, in particular in low-temperature gasification. The present work illustrates how ab initio theory and chemical kinetic modeling can help to resolve emission issues for thermal processes in industrial scale.

Coupled Climate-Economy-Biosphere (CoCEB) model - Part 2: Deforestation control and investment in carbon capture and storage technologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ogutu, K. B. Z.; D'Andrea, F.; Ghil, M.; Nyandwi, C.; Manene, M. M.; Muthama, J. N.

2015-04-01

This study uses the global climate-economy-biosphere (CoCEB) model developed in Part 1 to investigate economic aspects of deforestation control and carbon sequestration in forests, as well as the efficiency of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies as policy measures for climate change mitigation. We assume - as in Part 1 - that replacement of one technology with another occurs in terms of a logistic law, so that the same law also governs the dynamics of reduction in carbon dioxide emission using CCS technologies. In order to take into account the effect of deforestation control, a slightly more complex description of the carbon cycle than in Part 1 is needed. Consequently, we add a biomass equation into the CoCEB model and analyze the ensuing feedbacks and their effects on per capita gross domestic product (GDP) growth. Integrating biomass into the CoCEB and applying deforestation control as well as CCS technologies has the following results: (i) low investment in CCS contributes to reducing industrial carbon emissions and to increasing GDP, but further investment leads to a smaller reduction in emissions, as well as in the incremental GDP growth; and (ii) enhanced deforestation control contributes to a reduction in both deforestation emissions and in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration, thus reducing the impacts of climate change and contributing to a slight appreciation of GDP growth. This effect is however very small compared to that of low-carbon technologies or CCS. We also find that the result in (i) is very sensitive to the formulation of CCS costs, while to the contrary, the results for deforestation control are less sensitive.

Biological Hydrogen Production: Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation With Nitrogen and Phosphorus Removal from Wastewater Effluent

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-01-01

requiring thermochemical pretreatment , aswould typically be required with lignocellulosic feedstocks. Therefore it offers a readily-processed and...Standards and Technology. The pH of the reactors was controlled throughout all fermentations by the automatic addition of 0.1 N NaOH . Total organic...nutrients. The optimized conditions developed with paper as a substrate may also convey to the use of a similar process with lignocellulosic biomass

Controlled ecological life support system breadboard project, 1988

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Knott, W. M.

1990-01-01

The Closed Ecological Life Support System (CELSS) Breadboard Project, NASA's effort to develop the technology required to produce a functioning bioregenerative system, is discussed. The different phases of the project and its current status are described. The relationship between the project components are shown, and major project activities for fiscal years 1989 to 1993 are listed. The Biomass Production Chamber (BPC) became operational and tests of wheat as a single crop are nearing completion.

Terrestrial Carbon Sequestration with Biochar: A Preliminary Assessment of its Global Potential

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amonette, J.; Lehmann, J.; Joseph, S.

2007-12-01

Biochar technology involves the capture of CO2 from the atmosphere by photosynthesis and its ultimate conversion to biochar by pyrolysis. Energy is obtained during the pyrolysis process and the charcoal, or biochar, which is considerably more stable than biomass, may then be incorporated into agricultural lands where it serves to increase the nutrient- and water-holding capacity of soil. With an estimated half-life in soil on the order of centuries to millenia, biochar offers a way of safely storing C for long periods of time while enhancing the productivity of terrestrial ecosystems. Moreover, biochar technology, like other biomass conversion approaches that include C sequestration options, offers a way to decrease the levels of CO2 in the atmosphere. That is, biochar technology is one of the few inherently "carbon-negative" sources of energy. These positive attributes are of little consequence, however, if the total contribution to sequestration is small compared to the need. In this paper, we provide a preliminary assessment of the potential contribution of biochar technology to the mitigation of climate change, and identify some research needs. Currently, the atmospheric C levels are increasing by about 4.1 Gt/yr, with 7.2 Gt/yr being put into the atmosphere by fossil fuel combustion and cement production, and 3.1 Gt/yr being removed from the atmosphere by the ocean (2.2 Gt/yr) and terrestrial processes (0.9 Gt/yr). The uptake by terrestrial processes can be increased significantly by management of the 60.6 Gt/yr of biomass C that is fixed by photosynthesis (i.e., net primary productivity), of which 59 Gt/yr is decomposed and 1.6 Gt/yr combusted. Biomass pyrolysis converts about 50% of the biomass C to char. Of the other 50% that is converted to bio-oil and bio-gas, the net energy production is about 62% efficient. Thus, pyrolysis of 1 Gt of biomass C would provide energy equivalent to about 0.3 Gt of fossil C and could be used to offset that amount of fossil C, while sequestering 0.5 Gt as biochar. Of the 60.6 Gt/yr of biomass that is fixed in usable form, we estimate that perhaps 10% of it (6.1 Gt/yr) could become available in one form or another (crop and forestry residues, and animal waste) for pyrolysis. This level of pyrolysis would offset 1.8 Gt/yr of fossil C, and sequester 3.0 Gt/yr as biochar, enough to halt the increase and actually decrease the level of atmospheric C by 0.7 Gt/yr. Even at half this level (i.e., 5% of annually fixed biomass), pyrolysis would be sufficient to decrease the global C cycle imbalance by 2.4 Gt/yr and in combination with other sequestration options help to achieve the minimum goal of C neutrality. Clearly, the potential contribution of biochar technology is large, perhaps large enough to mitigate climate change alone. However, this preliminary assessment is tempered by several unknowns. Research is needed to further define the impacts of biochar amendments on soil biota, productivity, and greenhouse gas production. For example, there is some evidence that N2O and CH4 production is decreased by biochar amendments, but the mechanisms responsible are unknown. The impact of different types of biochar and pyrolysis conditions also needs to be determined. Lastly, total accounting for greenhouse gas emissions coupled with economic analyses to determine the economic potential of the technology under various scenarios is essential.

Emerging Technologies for the Production of Renewable Liquid Transport Fuels from Biomass Sources Enriched in Plant Cell Walls

PubMed Central

Tan, Hwei-Ting; Corbin, Kendall R.; Fincher, Geoffrey B.

2016-01-01

Plant cell walls are composed predominantly of cellulose, a range of non-cellulosic polysaccharides and lignin. The walls account for a large proportion not only of crop residues such as wheat straw and sugarcane bagasse, but also of residues of the timber industry and specialist grasses and other plants being grown specifically for biofuel production. The polysaccharide components of plant cell walls have long been recognized as an extraordinarily large source of fermentable sugars that might be used for the production of bioethanol and other renewable liquid transport fuels. Estimates place annual plant cellulose production from captured light energy in the order of hundreds of billions of tons. Lignin is synthesized in the same order of magnitude and, as a very large polymer of phenylpropanoid residues, lignin is also an abundant, high energy macromolecule. However, one of the major functions of these cell wall constituents in plants is to provide the extreme tensile and compressive strengths that enable plants to resist the forces of gravity and a broad range of other mechanical forces. Over millions of years these wall constituents have evolved under natural selection to generate extremely tough and resilient biomaterials. The rapid degradation of these tough cell wall composites to fermentable sugars is therefore a difficult task and has significantly slowed the development of a viable lignocellulose-based biofuels industry. However, good progress has been made in overcoming this so-called recalcitrance of lignocellulosic feedstocks for the biofuels industry, through modifications to the lignocellulose itself, innovative pre-treatments of the biomass, improved enzymes and the development of superior yeasts and other microorganisms for the fermentation process. Nevertheless, it has been argued that bioethanol might not be the best or only biofuel that can be generated from lignocellulosic biomass sources and that hydrocarbons with intrinsically higher energy densities might be produced using emerging and continuous flow systems that are capable of converting a broad range of plant and other biomasses to bio-oils through so-called ‘agnostic’ technologies such as hydrothermal liquefaction. Continued attention to regulatory frameworks and ongoing government support will be required for the next phase of development of internationally viable biofuels industries. PMID:28018390

Thermochemical Conversion: Using Heat and Catalysts to Make Biofuels and Bioproducts

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

2013-07-29

This fact sheet discusses the Bioenergy Technologies Office's thermochemical conversion critical technology goal. And, how through the application of heat, robust thermochemical processes can efficiently convert a broad range of biomass.

Phytoremediation and Phytomining: Status and Promise

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Phytoremediation of inorganics is comprised of technologies to protect the environment from contaminated soils. This broad group of technologies includes phytoextraction (removal from soil), phytomining (accumulating economic metal value in plant biomass) and phytostabilization (limiting plant meta...