Cellulosic ethanol Biofuels

Yang B, Chlarles EW (2008) Pretreatment the key to unlocking low-cost cellulosic ethanol. Biofuels Bioprod Bioref 2 26-40... 

BP has investments in an ethanol plant with DuPont and Associated British Foods. It is also investing in cellulosic ethanol research and developing jatropha as a biodiesel feedstock. BP and DuPont are planning a biobutanol demonstration plant and BP would like to eventually convert their ethanol plant to biobutanol production. BP has a 400 million investment with Associated British Foods and DuPont to build a bioethanol plant in the U.K. that may be converted to biobutanol. It has spent 500 million over 10 years at the Energy Biosciences Institute in California to research future biofuels and 9.4 million over 10 years to fund the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in India to study the production of biodiesel from Jatropha curcas. It also has a 160 million joint venture with D1 Oils to develop the planting of Jatropha curcas. 

The Department of Energy (DOE) is helping six firms build cellulosic biorefineries with grants totaling about 385 million. When fully operational, the six plants will produce more than 130 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol a year. DOE is also investing 375 million into three new Bioenergy Research Centers to speed up the development of cellulosic ethanol and other biofuels. 

Broins Companies, The Future is Now for Cellulosic Ethanol, USDA-ERS Biofuels Modeling Workshop, Washington DC (2007). http //www.farmfoundation.org/projects/documents/ BroinCoCellulosic.pdf... 

Meanwhile, the Canadian government plans to support the Canadian biofuel industry with up to 500 million Canadian dollars for construction of next-generation plants. Iogen is expected to receive part of those funds for construction of a commercial scale cellulosic ethanol plant. 

In the U.S., BP and Verenium announced plans in February 2009 to form a joint venture to build, on a commercial scale, a cellulosic ethanol plant in Highlands County, Florida. In July 2010, BP Biofuels North America acquired Verenium s cellulosic biofuels business and became the sole investor in the new plant. The plant is expected to cost 300 million and have the capacity to produce 36 million gallons of ethanol yearly from agricultural waste. 

One of the most abundant natural and renewable sources of carbon is cellulose, fibers that have been used for centuries in the production of paper. Chemists have found ways to modify these water-insoluble fibers, applying various chemical or biochemical treatments that generate high value materials (modified cellulose). The latter find applications in medicine, in material sciences, and in the nanotechnologies, including production of absorbers to remove undesired and toxic contaminants from factory effluents. Chemical and biochemical modifications of cellulose generate materials that can be used to produce ethanol (biofuel) by fermentation. 

Office of Science, US DOE. (2005). Breaking the biological barriers to cellulosic ethanol A research roadmap resulting from the biomass to biofuels workshop, December 2005. Rockville, MD US Department of Energy. 

In the medium term, say between 2050 and 2075, hydrogen could possibly, although by no means certainly, dominate a combination of batteries, efficiency and biofuels. It should, however, be remembered that, unlike cellulosic ethanol and engine efficiency improvements, HFCVs will not automatically do much to reduce COj emissions. There must be an additional policy requiring carbon capture when hydrogen is produced from fossil fuels. 

Figure 8.3 Pretreatment (Genomics GTL Transforming Cellulosic Biomass, US Department of Energy, June 2006, http //genomicsgtl.energy.gov/biofuels/ and US DOE. 2006. Breaking the Biological Barriers to Cellulosic Ethanol A Joint Research Agenda, DOE/SC/EE-0095).

M. Roehr, ed.. The Biotechnology of Ethanol, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, 2001 J. Goettemoeller and A. Goettemoeller, Sustainable Ethanol Biofuels, Biorefineries, Cellulosic Biomass, Flex-fuel Vehicles, and Sustainable Farming for Energy Independence, Prairie Oak Pub., Maryville, 2007 L. Olsson, Biofuels, Springer, Berlin, 2007 W. Soetaert, E.J. Vandamme, ed.. Biofuels, John Wiley Sons, Chichester, 2009. 

Biofuel industry Cellulases Ligninases Used to break down cellulose into sugars that can be fermented (see cellulosic ethanol). Use of lignin waste. 

Biofuels such as cellulosic ethanol in PHEVs GHGs further, but do not reach the 80% goal)... 

M. B. Sticklen, Plant genetic engineering for biofuel production Towards affordable cellulosic ethanol. Nat. Rev. Genet. 9,433-443 (2008)... 

American public support has turned its attention to third-generation biofuels (eg, biomass/cellulose based biofuels), sustaining numerous projects. Excise tax credits ( 1.00/gallon biodiesel tax credit for producers or blenders of pure biodiesel and biodiesel from biomass) and import tariffs are mainly used as instmments for biofuels support across States (U.S. Department of Energy, 2015). The support policy for biofuels in the United States tends to apply low tariffs on imported biofuels commodities. Tariffs on ethanol are, for example, the equivalent of 1.2—2.5% from countries outside NAFTA. Blending practices are also notably applied to favor the reexport of biofuel commodities, in particular to the European Union. 

---