Bio-Based Projects Blossom

Significant developments in using renewable feedstocks to make fuels and chemicals are blooming. For instance, Shell International, Houston, and Cosan, Sao Paulo, Brazil, in February, signed a memorandum of understanding for a joint venture (jv) worth almost $12 billion to produce ethanol from sugar cane. The deal would create an organization with 2-billion-l./yr. ethanol capacity.

"We see joining with Cosan as a way to grow the role of low-carbon, sustainable biofuels in the global transportation fuel mix. The joint venture would also enable Shell to set up a material and profitable bio-fuels business, with the potential to deploy next generation technologies," notes Mark Williams, downstream director.

The jv includes some of Shell's major interests in next-generation technologies, such as its 50% stake in Iogen, Ottawa, Ont., and its 14.7% interest in Codexis, Redwood City, Calif.

Iogen has been producing cellulosic ethanol at an Ottawa demonstration plant since 2004. Production topped 581,000 liters in 2009, more than double 2008 output. For its part, Codexis focuses on developing highly efficient biocatalysts that replace costly chemical steps in low-carbon manufacturing processes.

Meanwhile, in late January DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol (DDCE), Itasca, Ill., and it jv partners, the University of Tennessee (UT), Knoxville, Tenn., and Genera Engegy, Knoxville, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for their cellulosic ethanol demonstration facility in Vonore, Tenn., and hailed it as a world's first. The 250,000-gal./yr. unit relies on agricultural residue such as corncobs and bioenergy crops like switchgrass as feedstocks. So far the partners have invested more than $50 million in the plant (Figure 1).

"The University of Tennessee Biofuels Initiative is the only fully integrated program that is working with farmers and agricultural industry to reliably supply the necessary feedstock so biorefineries can produce plentiful, affordable, renewable and sustainable fuels," notes Kelly Tiller, CEO of Genera Energy and director of external operations for UT's Office of Bioenergy Programs. Plans are in place for Tennessee farmers to devote an additional 4,000 acres to switchgrass this spring, bringing the total to 7,000 acres dedicated to that crop, she adds.

Meanwhile, Dow Chemical, Midand, Mich., which last June announced plans to work with Algenol Biofuels, Bonita Springs, Fla., to build and operate a pilot-scale algae-based integrated biorefinery at Dow's Freeport, Texas, site, has started a major promotion of new biodiesel technologies it has to offer following the acquisition of Rohm & Haas. These include Amberlyst BD20 solid catalyst esterification technology for production of biodiesel from inexpensive low-quality feedstocks and the associated Ambersep BD19WET feedstock purification technology which extends catalyst life time.

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This year also is proving to be a busy one for the Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC), based at the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, N.D.

Demonstration Facility

Figure 1. Ribbon cutting recently took place at $50-million, 74,000-ft.2 unit at Vonore, Tenn.
Source: DuPont Danisco.

The EERC entered into a jv program in January with Syntec Biofuel, Vancouver, B.C., to develop technology to produce butanol from biomass and waste. Syntec already has devised a catalytic thermochemical process that breaks down sustainable low-cost wood and agricultural waste into components that react to form ethanol, methanol, propanol and butanol.

"We have proven our catalyst at the lab scale and so now we need to validate these results in a pilot plant that will be built here [Vancouver]," notes Michael Jackson, Syntec CEO. "It's fairly small, processing 1–3 t./d. of feedstock to give about 300 gal./d. of product. I'd say we have to get six months of results at 24/7 operation before going on to the next level. However, we don't anticipate any unusual scale up problems because the process uses proven gasification and Fischer Tropsch technologies."

Jackson also points to Syntec's work with the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., to improve catalyst yield. "We are getting 110 gal./t. of product at the moment. About 300 gal./t. is the theoretical maximum but with the University of British Columbia's help we think we can get to about 142 gal./t. That would be incredible."

Glycos Biotechnologies, Houston, is focusing on metabolic engineering and has developed a number of microorganisms that can convert low-value byproducts such as crude glycerin, gums and free fatty acids into higher-value chemicals.

"GlycosBio has a demonstration facility and recently completed a pilot where they proved their proprietary microbial technology to convert glycerin into 13,000 l. of higher-value chemicals and/or advanced ethanol. This success is the precursor to full commercialization which they are working towards in Latin America," says a spokesman.