Biomass energy liquid fuels

Biomass is limited available in Europe and the generation of green energy (liquid fuels and electricity) will depend on large-scale import. Therefore, available biomass should be utilised in the most (cost) efficient way. Within the framework of the CO2 reduction policy this can be quantified as the costs per avoided ton COj emission. 

Agblevor, F.A., B. Rejai, D. Wang, A. Wiselogel, and H.L.Chum (1992) Thermochemical Conversion of Biomass to Fuels and Chemicals, the Effect of Storage Conditions on Pyrolysis Products, Proceedings Alternative Energy-Liquid Fuels from Renewable Resources, Dec. 13-15, 1992, Nashville, TN. 

Biomass is predominantly eomposed of biopolymers, for example cellulose, hemieellulose, and lignin. From a molecular viewpoint, converting non-food biomass to liquid fuels is a process of transforming solid-phase macromolecules into liquid-phase small molecules. Simultaneously, it is necessary to reduce the oxygen content of the small molecules to improve the energy density. 

Bridgwater AV. Fast pyrolysis of biomass for energy and fuels. Chapter 7. In Crocker M, editor. Thermochemical conversion of biomass to liquid fuels and chemicals. RSC Publishing 2010. p. 146-91. 

Zhu, Y., Tjokro Rahardjo, S.A., Valkenburg, C., Snowden-Swan, L.J., Jones, S.B., Machinal, M.A., 2011. Techno-economic Analysis for the Thermochemical Conversion of Biomass to Liquid Fuels. PNNL report prepared for U.S. Department of Energy under Contract DE-AC05-76RL01830. 

Thermochemical Conversion of Biomass to Liquid Fuels and Chemicals 2 Innovations in Fuel Cell Technologies 3 Energy Crops... 

In the United States, where clean and convenient natural gas, propane, and electricity are widely available and affordable, biomass use has limited potential. Nevenheless, U.S. biomass energy production has been increasing because of technological advances for new and improved biomass applications for electricity generation, gasification, and liquid fuels. 

Bridgwater, A. V., and. Double, J. M. (1994). Production Costs of Liquid Fuels from Biomass. International Journal of Energy Research 18 79-95. 

Gasification technologies offer the potential of clean and efficient energy. The technologies enable the production of synthetic gas from low or negative-value carbon-based feedstocks such as coal, petroleum coke, high sulfur fuel oil, materials that would otherwise be disposed as waste, and biomass. The gas can be used in place of natural gas to generate electricity, or as a basic raw material to produce chemicals and liquid fuels. 

Among liquid fuels (XTL), only biomass-derived hydrocarbons (BTL) are a relevant option from the perspective of lowering GHG emissions not so other fossil-based liquids (CTL, GTL). Even if CTL fuel supply paths were upgraded by carbon capture and storage, the resulting specific CCF-equivalent emissions would only be reduced to the level of conventional gasoline or diesel energy chains. 

There are three ways to use biomass. It can be burned to produce heat and electricity, changed to gas-like fuels such as methane, hydrogen and carbon monoxide, or converted to a liquid fuel. Liquid fuels, also called biofuels, are predominantly two forms of alcohol ethanol and methanol. Because biomass can be converted directly into a liquid fuel, it could someday supply much of our transportation fuel needs for cars, tmcks, buses, airplanes, and trains. This is veiy important because nearly one-third of our nation s energy is now used for transportation. 

Advances in knowledge of the chemistry of fermentation processes will aid the exploitation of biomass energy, e.g. a more concentrated fermentation process for the production of sugar from cellulose is required if alcohol from Canada s very extensive forests is to compete with other sources of liquid fuel. 

This paper is concerned with the potential for production of liquid fuels from biomass in Canada. To this end, the availability and cost of wood wastes, surplus roundwood, bush residues, energy plantation trees, and municipal solid wastes (mostly cellulosic) are assessed and promising thermal, chemical and biochemical conversion processes reviewed. 

Liquid fuels have a high energy density, and the widest applicability of all fuel forms, but a low efficiency of conversion from biomass. It is therefore necessary to compare liquefaction with the more efficient processes of direct burning and gasification as alternative modes of use of the biomass. 

An alternative approach for the utilization of biomass resources for energy applications is the production of dean-buming liquid fuels. In this respect, current technologies to produce liquid fuels from biomass are typically multi-step and energy-intensive processes. Aqueous phase reforming of sorbitol can be tailored to produce selectively a clean stream of heavier alkanes consisting primarily of butane, pentane and hexane. The conversion of sorbitol to alkanes plus CO2 and water is an exothermic process that retains approximately 95% of the heating value and only 30% of the mass of the biomass-derived reactant [278]. 

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