The Bioenergy Blog

New Book > Why Are We Producing Biofuels?

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 21:54:00 +0000

Why are We Producing Biofuels?: Shifting to the Ultimate Source of Energy / Robert C. Brown, Tristan R. Brown / Brownia LLC / 2012 / $17.95 /

Why Are We Producing Biofuels?" is written for those who are curious about efforts to introduce biofuels into our energy supply but are not satisfied with the publically accessible information on the subject. Written by experts in the field, this book provides educators, policy makers, and business leaders, and the general public with an insider's understanding of the current research in the field as well as an appreciation of the debates surrounding biofuels.

This book explores the opportunity to advance a sustainable energy future through the development of advanced biofuels. By examining the emergence of first generation biofuels and the kinds of technologies being developed for advanced biofuels, the book also articulates the challenges that must be overcome:

Will the industry be driven by technological innovation or government policy?
If not gasoline and diesel, what fuel will propel our vehicles?
How is it that we are using food crops to produce motor fuels?
What do the recent criticisms about biofuels portend for its future?
How is it possible that a renewable fuel can contribute to global climate change?
What kinds of biomass occur in sufficient quantity to help displace imported petroleum?
How can these feedstocks be transformed into transportation fuels?
What is the most likely future of fuels?

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Answer in brief

Chapter 2 What are the origins of the biofuels era?

Chapter 3 Why do we need to end our addiction to oil?

Chapter 4 What are our alternatives to imported petroleum?

Chapter 5 What are our alternatives to gasoline?

Chapter 6 Why are we producing grain ethanol and biodiesel?

Chapter 7 Why are we developing advanced biofuels?

Chapter 8 How can we turn lipids into advanced biofuels?

Chapter 9 How can we turn cellulose into advanced biofuels?

Chapter 10 How can we use heat to produce biofuels?

Chapter 11 What is the future of fuels?

Publication Date: Mar 21 2012

ISBN/EAN13: 0984090630 / 9780984090631

Page Count: 360
Binding Type: US Trade Paper
Trim Size: 6" x 9"
Language: English
Color: Black and White
Related Categories: Technology & Engineering / General

About the authors

Robert C. Brown is Anson Marston Distinguished Professor of Engineering and Gary and Donna Hoover Chair in Mechanical Engineering at Iowa State University (ISU). He is the founding director of ISU's Bioeconomy Institute and helped establish ISU's Biorenewable Resources and Technology interdisciplinary graduate program. He is well known for his research on the production and use of biofuels.

Tristan R. Brown is an attorney employed as a research associate at Iowa State University's Bioeconomy Institute. He has published on topics ranging from greenhouse gas emissions policy to global trade law to engineering economics. He also teaches a graduate-level course on biorenewables law and policy.

Source and Links To Purchase Available At

[https://www.createspace.com/3796926]

Related Article

"Ethanol debate asks: Is corn food or fuel?"

[http://bit.ly/GE4Qa0]

Major DOE Grants to Three Bioenergy Research Centers

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 21:40:00 +0000

Energy Department Selects Three Bioenergy Research Centers for $375 Million in Federal Funding

Basic Genomics Research Furthers President Bush’s Plan to Reduce Gasoline Usage 20 Percent in Ten Year

WASHINGTON, DC – U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Samuel W. Bodman today announced that DOE will invest up to $375 million in three new Bioenergy Research Centers that will be located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Madison, Wisconsin; and near Berkeley, California. The Centers are intended to accelerate basic research in the development of cellulosic ethanol and other biofuels, advancing President Bush’s Twenty in Ten Initiative, which seeks to reduce U.S. gasoline consumption by 20 percent within ten years through increased efficiency and diversification of clean energy sources. The Department plans to fund the Centers for the first five years of operation (Fiscal Years 2008-2013).

“These Centers will provide the transformational science needed for bioenergy breakthroughs to advance President Bush’s goal of making cellulosic ethanol cost-competitive with gasoline by 2012, and assist in reducing America’s gasoline consumption by 20 percent in ten years,” Secretary Bodman said. “The collaborations of academic, corporate, and national laboratory researchers represented by these centers are truly impressive and I am very encouraged by the potential they hold for advancing America’s energy security.”

To bring the latest tools of the biotechnology revolution to bear to advance clean energy production, the Centers will be supported by multidisciplinary teams of top scientists. A major focus will be on understanding how to reengineer biological processes to develop new, more efficient methods for converting the cellulose in plant material into ethanol or other biofuels that serve as a substitute for gasoline. This research is critical because future biofuels production will require the use of feedstocks more diverse than corn, including cellulosic material like agricultural residues, grasses, poplar trees, inedible plants, and non-edible portions of crops.

The Centers will bring together diverse teams of researchers from 18 of the nation’s leading universities, seven DOE national laboratories, at least one nonprofit organization, and a range of private companies. All three Centers are located in geographically distinct areas and will use different plants both for laboratory research and for improving feedstock crops.

The mission of the Bioenergy Research Centers will lie at the frontier between basic and applied science, and will maintain a focus on bioenergy applications. These Centers aim to identify real steps toward practical solutions regarding to the challenge of producing renewable, carbon-neutral energy. At the same time, the Centers will be grounded in basic research, pursuing alternative avenues and a range of high-risk, high-return approaches to finding solutions. To some degree, one key to the Centers’ success will be their ability to develop the more basic dimensions of their research to a point that can easily transition to applied research.

The Department’s three Bioenergy Research Centers will include:

The DOE BioEnergy Science Center led by the DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The Center Director will be Martin Keller, and collaborators include: Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia; DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado; University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia; Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire; and the University of Tennessee, in Knoxville, Tennessee.

The DOE Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center will be led by the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin, in close collaboration with Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. The Center Director will be Timothy Donohue, and other collaborators include: DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington; Lucigen Corporation in Middleton, Wisconsin; University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida; DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois; and Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa.

The DOE Joint BioEnergy Institute will be led by DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The Institute Director will be Jay Keasling, and collaborators include: Sandia National Laboratories; DOE’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; University of California - Berkeley; University of California - Davis; and Stanford University in Stanford, California.

Subject to the finalization of contract terms and congressional appropriations, the Centers are expected to begin work in 2008, consistent with President Bush’s Fiscal Year 2008 Budget Request, and would be fully operational by 2009. DOE’s Office of Science issued a competitive Funding Opportunity Announcement in August 2006 to solicit applications. The three Centers were chosen following a merit-based, competitive review process that included external scientific peer review of the applications.

The establishment of the bioenergy research centers culminates a six-year effort by DOE’s Office of Science to lay the foundation for breakthroughs in systems biology for the cost-effective production of renewable energy. In July 2006, DOE’s Office of Science issued a joint biofuels research agenda with the Department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy titled “Breaking the Biological Barriers to Cellulosic Ethanol.” The report provides a detailed roadmap for cellulosic ethanol research, identifying key roadblocks and areas where scientific breakthroughs are needed.

Today’s announcement follows other key funding announcements this year to advance President Bush’s Twenty in Ten Initiative, and to make cellulosic ethanol cost competitive with gasoline by 2012. On February 28, 2007, DOE announced up to $385 million for six biorefinery projects that when fully operational are expected to produce more than 130 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol per year. On May 1, 2007, DOE announced a funding opportunity for $200 million over five years (FY’07-FY’11) to support the development of small scale bio-refineries that produce liquid transportation fuels such as ethanol. [snip]

[snip]

U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Public Affairs, Washington, D.C.

Source
[http://www.doe.gov/news/5172.htm]

Biorefineries: Industrial Processes and Products | 2 v.

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 22:03:00 +0000

Biorefineries - Industrial Processes and Products
Edited by Birgit Kamm, Patrick R. Gruber, and Michael Kamm.

Weinheim ; [Great Britain]: Wiley-VCH, 2006. 2 v. : ill. ; 24 cm.
ISBN 3527310274; ISBN 9783527310272

Table of Contents
Editors’s Preface.
Foreword (Henning Hopf).
Foreword (Paul T. Anastas).
List of Contributors.

Volume 1.

Part I Background and Outline – Principles and Fundamentals.

1 Biorefinery Systems – An Overview (Birgit Kamm, Michael Kamm, Patrick R. Gruber, and Stefan Kromus).
1.1 Introduction.
1.2 Historical Outline
1.3 Situation.
1.4 Principles of Biorefineries.
1.5 Biorefinery Systems and Design.
1.6 Outlook and Perspectives.
References.

2 Biomass Refining Global Impact – The Biobased Economy of the 21st Century (Bruce E. Dale and Seungdo Kim.
2.1 Introduction.
2.2 Historical Outline.
2.3 Supplying the Biorefinery.
2.4 How Will Biorefineries Develop Technologically?
2.5 Sustainability of Integrated Biorefining Systems.
2.6 Conclusions.
Acknowledgements.
References.

3 Development of Biorefineries – Technical and Economic Considerations (Bill Dean, Tim Dodge, Fernando Valle, and Gopal Chotani).
3.1 Introduction.
3.2 Overview: The Biorefinery Model.
3.3 Feedstock and Conversion to Fermentable Sugar.
3.4 Technical Challenges.
3.5 Conclusions.
Acknowledgments.
References.

4 Biorefineries for the Chemical Industry – A Dutch Point of View (Ed de Jong, René van Ree Rea, Robert van Tuil, and Wolter Elbersen).
4.1 Introduction.
4.2 Historical Outline – The Chemical Industry: Current Situation and
Perspectives.
4.3 Biomass: Technology and Sustainability.
4.4 The Chemical Industry: Biomass Opportunities – Biorefineries.
4.5 Conclusions, Outlook, and Perspectives.
References.

Part II Biorefinery Systems.

Lignocellulose Feedstock Biorefinery.

5 The Lignocellulosic Biorefinery – A Strategy for Returning to a Sustainable Source of Fuels and Industrial Organic Chemicals (L. Davis Clements and Donald L. Van Dyne).
5.1 The Situation.
5.2 The Strategy.
5.3 Comparison of Petroleum and Biomass Chemistry.
5.4 The Chemistry of the Lignocellulosic Biorefinery.
5.5 Examples of Integrated Biorefinery Applications.
5.6 Summary.
References.

6 Lignocellulosic Feedstock Biorefinery: History and Plant Development for Biomass Hydrolysis (Raphael Katzen and Daniel J. Schell).
6.1 Introduction.
6.2 Hydrolysis of Biomass Materials.
6.3 Acid Hydrolysis Processes.
6.4 Enzymatic Hydrolysis Process.
6.5 Conclusion.
References.

7 The Biofine Process – Production of Levulinic Acid, Furfural, and Formic Acid from Lignocellulosic Feedstocks (Daniel J. Hayes, Steve Fitzpatrick, Michael H.B. Hayes, and Julian R.H. Ross).
7.1 Introduction.
7.2 Lignocellulosic Fractionation.
7.3 The Biofine Process.
7.4 Conclusion.
References.

Whole Crop Biorefinery.

8 A Whole Crop Biorefinery System: A Closed System for the Manufacture of Non-food Products from Cereals (Apostolis A. Koutinas, Rouhang Wang, Grant M. Campbell, and Colin Webb).
8.1 Intro.
8.2 Biorefineries Based on Wheat.
8.3 A Biorefinery Based on Oats.
8.4 Summary.
References.

Fuel-oriented Biorefineries.

9 Iogen’s Demonstration Process for Producing Ethanol from Cellulosic Biomass (Jeffrey S. Tolan).
9.1 Introduction.
9.2 Process Overview.
9.3 Feedstock Selection.
9.4 Pretreatment.
9.5 Cellulase Enzyme Production.
9.6 Cellulose Hydrolysis.
9.7 Lignin Processing.
9.8 Sugar Fermentation and Ethanol Recovery.
References.

10 Sugar-based Biorefinery – Technology for Integrated Production of Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate), Sugar, and Ethanol(Carlos Eduardo Vaz Rossell, Paulo E. Mantelatto, José A.M. Agnelli, and Jefter Nascimento).
10.1 Introduction.
10.2 Sugar Cane Agro Industry in Brazil – Historical Outline.
10.3 Biodegradable Plastics from Sugar Cane.
10.4 Poly(3-Hydroxybutyric Acid) Production Process.
10.5 Outlook and Perspectives.
References.

Biorefineries Based on Thermochemical Processing.

11 Biomass Refineries Based on Hybrid Thermochemical-Biological Processing – An Overview (Robert C. Brown).
11.1 Introduction.
11.2 Historical Outline.
11.3 Gasification-Based Systems.
11.4 Fast Pyrolysis-based Systems.
11.5 Outlook and Perspectives.
References.

Green Biorefineries.

12 The Green Biorefiner Concept – Fundamentals and Potential (Stefan Kromus, Birgit Kamm, Michael Kamm, Paul Fowler, and Michael Narodoslawsky).
12.1 Introduction.
12.2 Historical Outline.
12.3 Green Biorefinery Raw Materials.
12.4 Green Biorefinery Concept.
12.5 Processes and Products.
12.6 Green Biorefinery – Economic and Ecological Aspects.
12.7 Outlook and Perspectives.
Acknowledgment.
References.

13 Plant Juice in the Biorefinery – Use of Plant Juice as Fermentation Medium (Margrethe Andersen, Pauli Kiel, and Mette Hedegaard Thomsen).
13.1 Introduction.
13.2 Historical Outline.
13.3 Biobased Poly(lactic Acid).
13.4 Materials and Methods.
13.5 Brown Juice.
13.6 Potato Juice.
13.7 Carbohydrate Source.
13.8 Purification of Lactic Acid.
13.9 Conclusion and Outlook.
Acknowledgments.
References.

Part III Biomass Production and Primary Biorefineries.

14 Biomass Commercialization and Agriculture Residue Collection (James Hettenhaus).
14.1 Introduction.
14.2 Historical Outline.
14.3 Biomass Value.
14.4 Sustainable Removal.
14.5 Innovative Methods for Collection, Storage and Transport.
14.6 Establishing Feedstock Supply.
14.7 Perspectives and Outlook.
References.

15 The Corn Wet Milling and Corn Dry Milling Industry – A Base for Biorefinery Technology Developments (Donald L. Johnson).
15.1 Introduction.
15.2 The Corn Refinery.
15.3 The Modern Corn Refinery.
15.4 Carbohydrate Refining.
15.5 Outlook and Perspectives.
References.

Part IV Biomass Conversion: Processes and Technologies.

16 Enzymes for Biorefineries (Sarah A. Teter, Feng Xu, Glenn E. Nedwin, and Joel R. Cherry).
16.1 Introduction.
16.2 Biomass as a Substrate.
16.3 Enzymes Involved in Biomass Biodegradation.
16.4 Cellulase Development for Biomass Conversion.
16.5 Expression of Cellulases.
16.6 Range of Biobased Products.
16.7 Biorefineries: Outlook and Perspectives.
References.

17 Biocatalytic and Catalytic Routes for the Production of Bulk and Fine Chemicals from Renewable Resources (Thomas Willke, Ulf Prüße, and Klaus-Dieter Vorlop).
17.1 Introduction.
17.2 Historical Outline.
17.3 Processes.
References.

Subject Index.

Volume 2.

Part I Biobased Product Family Trees.

Carbohydrate-based Product Lines.
1 The Key Sugars of Biomass: Availability, Present Non-Food Uses and Potential Future Development Lines(Frieder W. Lichtenthaler).
2 Industrial Starch Platform – Status quo of Production, Modification and Application (Dietmar R. Grüll, Franz Jetzinger, Martin Kozich, Marnik M. Wastyn, and Robert Wittenberger).
3 Lignocellulose-based Chemical Products and Product Family Trees (Birgit Kamm, Michael Kamm, Matthias Schmidt, Thomas Hirth, and Margit Schulze).

Lignin Line and Lignin-based Product Family Trees.
4 Lignin Chemistry and its Role in Biomass Conversion (Gösta Brunow).
5 Industrial Lignin Production and Applications (E. Kendall Pye).

Protein Line and Amino Acid-based Product Family Trees.
6 Towards Integration of Biorefinery and Microbial Amino Acid Production (Achim Marx, Volker F. Wendisch, Ralf Kelle, and Stefan Buchholz).
7 Protein-based Polymers: Mechanistic Foundations for Bioproduction and Engineering (Dan W. Urry).

Biobased Fats (Lipids) and Oils.
8 New Syntheses with Oils and Fats as Renewable Raw Materials for the Chemical Industry (Ursula Biermann, Wolfgang Friedt, Siegmund Lang, Wilfried Lühs, Guido Machmüller, Jürgen O. Metzger, Mark Rüsch gen. Klaas, Hans J. Schäfer, Manfred P. Schneider).
9 Industrial Development and Application of Biobased Oleochemicals (Karlheinz Hill).

Special Ingredients and Subsequent Products.
10 Phytochemicals, Dyes, and Pigments in the Biorefinery Context (George A. Kraus).
11 Adding Color to Green Chemistry?
An Overview of the Fundamentals and Potential of Chlorophylls (Mathias O. Senge and Julia Richter).

Part II Biobased Industrial Products, Materials and Consumer Products.

12 Industrial Chemicals from Biomass – Industrial Concepts (Johan Thoen and Rainer Busch).
13 Succinic Acid – A Model Building Block for Chemical Production from Renewable Resources (Todd Werpy, John Frye, and John Holladay).
14 Polylactic Acid from Renewable Resources (Patrick Gruber, David E. Henton, and Jack Starr).
15 Biobased Consumer Products for Cosmetics (Thomas C. Kripp).

Part III Biobased Industry: Economy, Commercialization and Sustainability.

16 Industrial Biotech – Setting Conditions to Capitalize on the Economic Potential (Rolf Bachmann and Jens Riese).

Subject Index.

Table of Contents
[http://tinyurl.com/ys9lqt]

Index
[http://tinyurl.com/yu2xzv]

Chapter 1 Excerpt [Part I. Background and Outline Principles and Fundamentals]
[http://tinyurl.com/yskjth]

Source
[http://tinyurl.com/22qm9l]

Book Review
[http://tinyurl.com/2dldn2]

Open WorldCat
[http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/63184883]

Biofuels for Fuel Cells: Renewable Energy from Biomass Fermentation

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 22:09:00 +0000

Biofuels for Fuel Cells: Renewable Energy from Biomass Fermentation

Editor(s): P Lens, P Westermann, M Haberbauer, A Moreno | London: IWA Publishing, 2005 | 544 pages | Hardback | ISBN 1843390922 |

Price: £ 109.00 / US$ 218.00 / € 163.50
IWA members price: £ 82.00 / US$ 164.00 / € 123.00

The increasing demand for energy and the related environmental concerns are the main drivers for the strong interest in Biomass Fermentation towards usage in Fuel Cells. The integration of Biomass Fermentation (BF) and Fuel Cells (FC) technology creates a new and interdisciplinary research area.

Due to their high efficiency Fuel Cells are therefore considered as a strategic technology for future energy supply systems. The fact that biomass is a renewable source of energy in combination with the most efficient energy conversion system (FC) makes this combination unique and advantageous.

This book has a clear orientation towards making products of our waste. Biofuels for Fuel Cells comes at a time when this field is rapidly developing and there is a need for a synthetising book. The holistic and multidisciplinary description of this topic, including discussion of technological, socio-economic, system analysis and policy and regulatory aspects, make this book the definitive work for this market.

Biofuels for Fuel Cells will cross-link scientists of all fields concerned with Biomass Fermentation, Fuel Upgrading and Fuel Cells at European and World level.

Table of Contents
[http://www.iwapublishing.com/pdf/contents/isbn1843390922_contents.pdf]

Source [http://www.iwapublishing.com/template.cfm?name=isbn1843390922]

Google Book Search
[http://tinyurl.com/2evcda]

Farmer's Almanac TV: Iowa's Biodiesel

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 19:09:00 +0000

Iowa Public Television will feature a visit to Victor Lin's Iowa State University chemistry lab during Friday's episode of "Farmers' Almanac TV." Lin, a professor of chemistry, has developed a high-tech catalyst that he hopes will revolutionize how biodiesel is produced. The technology features nanospheres just 250 billionths of a meter in diameter. But fill them with the right chemistry and they can take some of the energy, labor and toxic chemicals out of biodiesel production.

The episode will be broadcast at 6:30 p.m. Friday, June 8, 2007 on Iowa Public Television.

The "Iowa Biodiesel" segment is available on the Farmer's Almanac TV video Web site.
Watch
[http://tinyurl.com/22wt4d]

Source
[http://www.iastate.edu/~nscentral/news/2007/jun/victor.shtml]

Biorenewable Resources: Engineering New Products from Agriculture

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 21:57:00 +0000

Biorenewable Resources: Engineering New Products from Agriculture
Ames: Iowa State University Press, 2003.
| xii, 286 p. : ill. ; 27 cm. | $89.99 |
ISBN: 9780813822631 | ISBN10: 0813822637

Immense potential for sustainable development lies in the production of fuels, chemicals, and materials from bioresources. This timely book provides comprehensive coverage of the engineering systems that convert agricultural crops and residues into bioenergy and biobased products.

Leading the way as the first textbook for coursework on biobased products, Biorenewable Resources: Engineering New Products from Agriculture covers not only pertinent technologies but offers a primer on necessary foundation subjects the student or other reader may lack: organic chemistry, thermodynamics, plant science, crop production, environmental science, and process economics. Of special value to those working or planning to work in the field are compilations of bioresource properties, such as:

***production yields,
***bulk densities and moisture content,
***summative analysis of plant materials, and
***chemical conversion yields.

By defining this multi-disciplinary field at the interface between agricultural sciences and process engineering Robert C. Brown has produced an introductory textbook that also serves as a handbook for agronomists, engineers, chemists, and environmentalists.

About the Author: Robert C. Brown is professor of chemical engineering and mechanical engineering at Iowa State University, Ames. He is also director of the Center for Sustainable Environmental Technologies, which explores the use of both fossil and biomass fuels for the production of chemicals and energy

Source [http://store.blackwell-professional.com/9780813822631.html]

Open WorldCat
[http://tinyurl.com/2ygabq]

Top Value Added Chemicals from Biomass. Part I

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 20:04:00 +0000

Top Value Added Chemicals from Biomass. Volume I—Results of Screening for Potential Candidates from Sugars and Synthesis Gas

Produced by the Staff at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL); National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Office of Biomass Program (EERE |Editors: T. Werpy and G. Petersen, Editors
[Golden, CO :; National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 2004]

Executive Summary
This report identifies twelve building block chemicals that can be produced from sugars via biological or chemical conversions. The twelve building blocks can be subsequently converted to a number of high-value bio-based chemicals or materials. Building block chemicals, as considered for this analysis, are molecules with multiple functional groups that possess the potential to be transformed into new families of useful molecules. The twelve sugar-based building blocks are 1,4-diacids (succinic, fumaric and malic), 2,5-furan dicarboxylic acid, 3-hydroxy propionic acid, aspartic acid, glucaric acid, glutamic acid, itaconic acid, levulinic acid, 3-hydroxybutyrolactone, glycerol, sorbitol, and xylitol/arabinitol.

Building Blocks
***1,4 succinic, fumaric and malic acids
***2,5 furan dicarboxylic acid
***3 hydroxy propionic acid
***aspartic acid
***glucaric acid
***glutamic acid
***itaconic acid
***levulinic acid
***3-hydroxybutyrolactone
***glycerol
***sorbitol
***xylitol/arabinito

The synthesis for each of the top building blocks and their derivatives was examined as a two-part pathway. The first part is the transformation of sugars to the building blocks. The second part is the conversion of the building blocks to secondary chemicals or families of derivatives. Biological transformations account for the majority of routes from plant feedstocks to building blocks, but chemical transformations predominate in the conversion of building blocks to molecular derivatives and intermediates. The challenges and complexity of these pathways, as they relate to the use of biomass derived sugars and chemicals, were briefly examined in order to highlight R&D needs that could help improve the economics of producing these building blocks and derivatives. Not surprisingly, many of the transformations and barriers revealed in this analysis are common to the existing biological and chemical processing of sugars.

The final selection of 12 building blocks began with a list of more than 300 candidates. The shorter list of 30 potential candidates was selected using an literative review process based on the petrochemical model of building blocks, chemical data, known market data, properties, performance of the potential candidates and the prior industry experience of the team at PNNL and NREL. This list of 30 was ultimately reduced to 12 by examining the potential markets for the building blocks and their derivatives and the technical complexity of the synthesis pathways. A second-tier group of building blocks was also identified as viable candidates. These include gluconic acid, lactic acid, malonic acid, propionic acid, the triacids, citric and aconitic; xylonic acid, acetoin, furfural, levoglucosan, lysine, serine and threonine. Recommendations for moving forward include examining top value products from biomass components such as aromatics, polysaccharides, and oils; evaluating technical challenges in more detail related to chemical and biological conversions; and increasing the suites of potential pathways to these candidates.

Table of Contents
Executive Summary ..... 1
1 Background ..... 3
2 Objective ..... 4
3 Overall Approach ..... 5
4 Initial Screening to the Top 30 ..... 6
5 Selected Sugar-derived Chemicals ..... 13
6 Syngas Results – Top Products ..... 17
7 Pathways and Challenges ..... 18
8 Moving Forward ...... 20
9 Top 12 Candidate Summary Bios ..... 21
9.1 Four Carbon 1,4-Diacids (Succinic, Fumaric, and Malic)..... 22
9.2 2,5-Furan dicarboxylic acid (FDCA)..... 26
9.3 3-Hydroxy propionic acid (3-HPA) ..... 29
9.4 Aspartic acid ..... 31
9.5 Glucaric acid ..... 36
9.6 Glutamic acid ..... 39
9.7 Itaconic acid ..... 42
9.8 Levulinic acid ..... 45
9.9 3 Hydroxybutyrolactone ..... 49
9.10 Glycerol ..... 52
9.11 Sorbitol (Alcohol Sugar of Glucose) ..... 58
9.12 Xylitol/arabinitol (Sugar alcohols from xylose and arabinose) ..... 61
10 Catalog of Potential Chemicals and Materials from Biomass .....65
Bibliography ..... 66
References Used to Develop Catalog for Potential Biobased Products ..... 66
References for Assigning Chemical and Biochemical Pathways ..... 66

Tables
Table 1 Biorefinery Strategic Fit Criteria ..... 6
Table 2 Top Candidates from the First Screen ..... 8
Table 3 Down Selection – Top 30 Results ..... 12
Table 4 The Top Sugar-derived Building Blocks ..... 13
Table 5 Sugar Transformation to 3-HPA ..... 14
Table 6 Reductive Transformation – 3HP to 1,3 PDO via catalytic dehydrogenation ..... 14
Table 7 Dehydrative Transformation – 3-HPA to acrylic acid via catalytic dehydration ..... 14
Table 8 Pathways to Building Blocks from Sugars ...... 19
Table 9 Pathways to Building Block From Sugars [Four Carbon 1,4 Diacids
(Succinic, Fumaric, and Malic] ..... 22
Table 10 Family 1: Reductions [Primary Transformation Pathway(s) to Derivatives Four Carbon 1,4-Diacids (Succinic, Fumaric, and Malic)] ..... 22
Table 11 Family 2: Reductive Aminations [Primary Transformation Pathway(s) to Derivatives - Four Carbon 1,4-Diacids (Succinic, Fumaric, and Malic)] ..... 22
Table 12 Family 3: Direct Polymerization [Primary Transformation Pathway(s) to Derivatives - Four Carbon 1,4-Diacids (Succinic, Fumaric, and Malic] ..... 23
Table 13 Pathways to Building Block From Sugars [ 2,5-Furan dicarboxylic Acid (FDCA)] ..... 26
Table 14 Family 1: Reduction [Primary Transformation Pathway(s) to Derivatives: 2,5 Furan dicarboxylic Acid (FDCA)] ..... 26
Table 15 Family 2: Direct Polymerization [Primary Transformation Pathway(s) to Derivatives: 2,5-Furan dicarboxylic Acid (FDCA)] ..... 27
Table 16 Pathways to Building Block from Sugars (3-HPA) ..... 29
Table 17 Family 1: Reductions [Primary Transformation Pathway(s)to Derivatives (3 HPA) ..... 29
Table 18 Family 2: Dehydration [Primary Transformation Pathway(s)to Derivatives (3 HPA) ..... 29
Table 19 Pathways to Building Block - Aspartic Acid ..... 31
Table 20 Family 1: Reductions [Primary Tansformation Pathway(s) to Derivatives Aspartic Acid ..... 32
Table 21 Family 2: Dehydration - [Primary Tansformation Pathway(s) to Derivatives –Aspartic Acid] ..... 32
Table 22 Family 3: Direct Polymerization [Primary Tansformation Pathway(s) to Derivatives – Aspartic Acid ..... 32
Table 23 Pathway to Building Block From Sugars [Glucaric Acid] ..... 36
Table 24 Family 1 - Dehydration [Primary Transformation Pathway(s) to Derivatives -Glucaric Acid] ..... 36
Table 25 Amination and Direct Polymeriation [Primary Transformation Pathway(s)to Derivatives – Glucaric Acid] ..... 36
Table 26 Pathways to Building Block From Sugars [Glutamic Acid] ..... 39
Table 27 Family 1: Reductions [Primary Transformation Pathway(s) to Derivatives – Glutamic Acid] ..... 39
Table 28 Pathways to Building Block from Sugars [Itaconic Acid] ..... 42
Table 29 Family 1: Reductions [Primary Transformation Pathway(s) to Derivatives –Itaconic Acid] ..... 42
Table 30 Family 2: Direct Polymerization [Primary Transformation Pathway(s)to Derivatives – Itaconic Acid] ..... 42
Table 31 Pathways to Building Block From Sugars [Levulinic Acid] ..... 45
Table 32 Family 1: Reductions [Primary Transformation Pathways(s)to Derivatives -Levulinic Acid] ..... 45
Table 33 Family 2: Oxidations [Primary Transformation Pathways(s)to Derivatives –Levulinic Acid] ..... 45
Table 34 Family 3: Condensation [Primary Transformation Pathways(s)to Derivatives –Levulinic Acid] ..... 46
Table 35 Pathways to Building Block from Sugars [Pathways to Building Block From Sugars – 3-Hydroxybutyrolactone] ..... 49
Table 36 Family 1: Reductions [Primary Transformation Pathway(s) to Derivatives – 3-Hydroxybutyrolactone] ..... 49
Table 37 Family 2: Direct Polymerization [Pimary Transformation Pathway(s)to Derivatives – 3-Hydroxybutyrolactone] ..... 50
Table 38 Pathways to Building Block [Glycerol] ..... 52
Table 39 Family 1: Oxidation [Primary Transformation Pathway(s)to Derivatives [Glycerol] ..... 52
Table 40 Family 2: Bond Breaking (Hydrogenolysis) [Primary Transformation Pathway(s) to Derivatives [Glycerol] ..... 52
Table 41 Family 3: Direct Polymerization [Primary Transformation Pathway(s)to Derivatives [Glycerol] ..... 53
Table 42 Preliminary Economic Screening of the Glycerol Potential ..... 56
Table 43 Preliminary Economic Screening of the Glycerol Potential (Continued) ..... 57
Table 44 Pathways to Building Block [Sorbitol] ..... 58
Table 45 Family 1: Dehydration [Primary Transformation Pathway(s)to Derivatives –Sorbitol] ..... 58
Table 46 Family 2: Bond Cleavage (hydrogenolysis) [Primary Transformation Pathway(s)to Derivatives - Sorbitol] ..... 58
Table 47 Family 3: Direct Polymerization [Primary Transformation Pathway(s)to Derivatives - Sorbitol] ..... 59
Table 48 Pathways to Building Block From Sugars [Xylitol/arabinitol] ..... 61
Table 49 Family 1: Oxidations [Primary Transformation Pathway(s)to Derivatives – Xylitol/arabinitol] ..... 61
Table 50 Family 2: Bond Cleavage (hydrogenolysis) [Primary Transformation Pathway(s)to Derivatives – Xylitol/arabinitol] ..... 62
Table 51 Family 2: Direct Polymerization [Primary Transformation Pathway(s)to Derivatives – Xylitol/arabinitol] ..... 62

Figures
Figure 1 Visual Representation of Overall Selection Strategy ..... 5
Figure 2 An Example of a Flow-Chart for Products from Petroleum-based Feedstocks ..... 10
Figure 3 Analogous Model of a Biobased Product Flow-chart for Biomass Feedstocks ..... 11
Figure 4 Star Diagram of 3-Hydroxypropionic Acid ..... 15
Figure 5 Succinic Acid Chemistry to Derivatives ..... 23
Figure 6 Simplified PFD of Glucose Fermentation to Succinic Acid ..... 24
Figure 7 Derivatives of FDCA ..... 27
Figure 8 Derivatives of 3-HPA ..... 30
Figure 9 Aspartic Acid Chemistry to Derivatives ..... 33
Figure 10 Derivatives of Glucaric Acid ..... 37
Figure 11 Glutamic Acid and its Derivatives ...... 40
Figure 12 Itaconic Acid Chemistry to Derivatives ..... 43
Figure 13 Derivatives of Levulinic Aid ..... 47
Figure 14 3-HBL Chemistry to Derivatives ..... 51
Figure 15 Derivatives of Glycerol ..... 54
Figure 16 Sorbitol Chemistry to Derivatives ..... 59
Figure 17 Chemistry to Derivatives of Xylitol and Arabinitol ..... 63

Principal Investigators: T. Werpy and G. Petersen,
Contributing authors: A. Aden and J. Bozell (NREL); J. Holladay and J. White (PNNL); and Amy Manheim (DOE-HQ)

Other Contributions: Research, Models, Databases, Editing: D. Elliot, L. Lasure, S. Jones and M. Gerber (PNNL); K. Ibsen, L. Lumberg and S. Kelley (NREL)

Source [http://www1.eere.energy.gov/biomass/pdfs/35523.pdf]

Thanks to Marc C. Reid, The Green Chemistry Technical Blog, for the HeadsUp on this report.

Biodiesel: The Comprehensive Handbook

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 21:30:00 +0000

Biodiesel: The Comprehensive Handbook
Martin Mittelbach, Claudia Remschmidt

Publisher: Martin Mittelbach | Paperback, 330 pages, 2004 | ISBN 3-200-00249-2

This is the first comprehensive handbook for biodiesel users, producers and other interested people from science, technology, agriculture, energy research and environmental politics. roughly one thousand scientific articles and patents on biodiesel are reviewed covering feed stocks, process technologies, fuel properties, quality specifications, exhaust emissions, environmental impacts and non-energy uses.

Table of Contents
I. Current technologies in biodiesel production
1. Historical development
2. Chemical principles of transesterification
3. Starting materials for biodiesel production
3.1 Fats and oils
3.2 Alcohols
3.3 Catalysts
4. Additional process variables in biodiesel production
5. Alternative applications of fatty acid methyl esters

II. Fuel properties, quality specifications and fuel analysis for
biodiesel and fossil diesel
1. General considerations
2. Historical development of biodiesel fuel standards
3. Quality parameters specific to FAME fuels
4. Parameters applicable to both biodiesel and fossil diesel fuel
5. Selected additional parameters

III. Exhaust emissions and exhaust gas aftertreatment systems for biodiesel and fossil diesel fuel
1. General considerations about combustion in a diesel engine
2. Exhaust emissions of biodiesel and fossil diesel fuel
3. Strategies for exhaust gas aftertreatment

IV. Human health effects of biodiesel and fossil diesel fuel exhaust emissions
1. General considerations
2. Toxicity of biodiesel and fossil diesel fuel exhaust emissions
3. Mutagenic potential of biodiesel and fossil diesel exhaust emissions

V. Environmental impacts of the use of biodiesel and fossil diesel fuel
1. Historical development of life cycle assessment
2. Basic principles of life cycle analyses
3. Energy balances and life cycle analyses for biodiesel and
fossil diesel fuel
3.1 Energy balances
3.2 Life cycle analyses

VI. Appendix: Fuel properties of biodiesel produced from different raw materials
1. Fresh oils or fats and their respective alkyl esters
2. Used or waste oils and fats and their respective alkyl esters

Orders
mittelbach_biodiesel@gmx.at

Source
[http://www.uni-graz.at/nawaro/publications/Biodiesel_Buch.htm]

A Call to Action Summit: Ensuring Iowa's Leadership in the Bioeconomy

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Mon, 28 May 2007 17:06:00 +0000

A Call to Action Summit: Ensuring Iowa's Leadership in the Bioeconomy
November 28 2006 | Iowa State University |

Bioeconomy summit spotlights Iowa's future
by Diana Pounds
Inside Iowa State | December 8, 2006

In the biofuels race, Iowa leads the pack. Superior corn-growing attributes and entrepreneurial farmers have propelled Iowa to the No. 1 ethanol-producing state in the nation.

Can the state hold that front-runner position? That was the question Nov. 28 when representatives of academia, industry and government joined other state leaders on campus to talk biofuels.

Their task, as laid out by President Gregory Geoffroy, who called the summit, was to begin anticipating changes on the biofuels front and lay the groundwork for continued Iowa leadership in the field.
[snip]

The day-long summit on "Ensuring Iowa's Leadership in the Bioeconomy" drew a crowd. Approximately 450 participants spent the morning learning about bioeconomy issues from several experts and the afternoon brainstorming about ways to maintain Iowa's leadership in the field.

[more]

Audio/Video
***Welcome, Board of Regents President Michael Gartner
***"Growing the Economy in Iowa: Fueling the Future," ISU President Gregory Geoffroy
***"The Future of Biorefining in Iowa," Robert C. Brown, ISU Office of Biorenewables
***"Implications of Bioenergy on Agricultural Production," Craig Lang, Iowa Farm Bureau Federation
***"Economic and Social Impact of a Growing Bioenergy Industry on the State and its Policy Implications," Bruce Babcock, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development, ISU
***Innovating for the Future," Ted Crosbie, chief technology officer for the state of Iowa
***Presentations by Summit Work Groups

Source
[http://www.iastate.edu/Inside/2006/1208/bioeconomy.shtml]

The Energy Citations Database

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Mon, 28 May 2007 15:24:00 +0000

The Energy Citations Database

The Energy Citations Database (1948 – present) was developed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) to improve access to Departmental and predecessor agency scientific and technical information (STI).

The Energy Citations Database (ECD) contains over two million bibliographic citations for energy and energy related STI from the Department of Energy (DOE) and its predecessor agencies, the Energy Research & Development Administration (ERDA) and the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). The database provides access to DOE publicly available citations from 1948 through the present, with continued growth through regular updates. There are over 140,000 electronic documents, primarily from 1994 forward, available via the database.

Features of ECD include:
***bibliographic citations for scientific and technical information dating from 1948 to the present
***basic search capability
***fielded search capability
***capability to search on full text, bibliographic citation, title, creator/author, subject, identifier numbers, publication date, system entry date, resource/document type, research organization, sponsoring organization, and/or combinations thereof;
capability to sort search results by relevance, publication date, system entry date, resource/document type, title, research organization, sponsoring organization, or the unique OSTI Identifier
***ability to acquire a count of search results with a link to the search results
***ability to receive weekly Alerts in topics of interest
***information about Technical Requirements; and
***information about acquiring a non-electronic document, which can be found on the Document Availability page

ECD includes bibliographic citations of literature in disciplines of interest to DOE such as chemistry, physics, materials, environmental science, geology, engineering, mathematics, climatology, oceanography, computer science and related disciplines. It includes citations to report literature, conference papers, journal articles, books, dissertations, and patents.

Alerts
Alerts provide users with e-mail notification of updates to the ECD in specific areas of interest.
[http://www.osti.gov/energycitations/alertlogon.jsp]

Available at
[http://www.osti.gov/energycitations/about.jsp]

Biobased Industry Outlook Conference(s)

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Sun, 27 May 2007 19:30:00 +0000

Biobased Industry Outlook Conference(s)

The annual Biobased Industry Outlook Conference has established a reputation for being "the" Midwestern event where industry and community leaders, academicians, and government agents gather to learn and share information about manufacturing, distributing, and marketing biobased products.

2007
Growing the Bioeconomy: Science and Policy for Next Generation Biorefining
November 5-6, 2007 | Iowa State University | Ames IA
[http://www.bioeconomyconference.org/]

Keynote Speakers
***Craig Venter, Synthetic Genomics, Inc.
***Ryan Lance, VP, Biofuels, ConocoPhillips
***Suzanne Hunt, Bioenergy Project Manager, Worldwatch Institute
***Vinod Khosla, Founder, Khosla Ventures
***Jeff Broin, CEO POET, formerly known as Broin Companies
***Jeremy Tomkinson, Executive Director, NNFCC, UK (invited)
***United States Senator Tom Harkin, D–Iowa (tentative confirmation)
***United States Senator Chuck Grassley, R–Iowa (tentative confirmation)
[http://www.bioeconomyconference.org/07speakers.htm]

The 2007 Biobased Industry Outlook will coincide with the national presidential candidates' debates being hosted at Iowa State on the evenings of November 5-6. Conference participants will be able to attend the debates, which will probably be nationally televised. The Republican debates will be held on one night and the Democratic debates will be held on the other.

2006
Growing the Bioeconomy: Science and Policy for Next Generation Biorefining
August 28-29,2006 | Iowa State University | Ames IA
[http://www.bioeconomyconference.org/agenda.html]

Keynote Speakers
***Jim Breson, EBI General Project Manager, British Petroleum
***Jason Grumet, Executive Director, National Commission on Energy Policy
***Lee Lynd, professor of engineering, Dartmouth College
***Vinod Khosla, founding CEO, Sun Microsystems

Breson discussed the role that oil companies can play in significantly increasing the production and use of biofuels in the U.S.

Lynd described several potential models for integrated biorefineries,
different types of crops that can provide the raw materials needed
for large scale bioenergy production, and ways to integrate the
production of food, feed, fiber, and energy.

Grumet discussed the Commission on Energy Policy's strategic vision for policy development and advocacy.

Khosla, a venture capitalist, described his vision for supporting the continued growth of the bioeconomy.
[http://www.bioeconomyconference.org/speakers.html]

Speaker Presentations
NOTE: Select presentations have not been made available at the request of the speaker(s).
***Anex, Robert | Feedstocks/Nutrient Recycling/Soil/ Water
***Birrell, Stuart | Biomass/Feedstock/Harvest/Storage Systems
***Boulard, David | Thermochemical Technologies
***Bozell, Joe | Technical Overview of Biorefineries
***Clause, Reg | Biobased Business Development
***Cruse, Richard | Feedstocks/Nutrient Recycling/Soil/Water
***Duncan, Marv | Federal Biobased Products Preferred Procurement
***Egerton, Robert | Capitalization Strategies
***English, Burton | Feedstock Supply
***Erickson, Jon | Thermochemical Technologies
***Euken, Jill | Economic Interactions: Biofuels/Agricultural Markets
***Fuhrman, Ron | Business Solutions for Small "Bio" Companies
***Glassner, David | Advanced Technology Commercialization
***Grumet, Jason | Keynote Address
***Haney, Dave | Transportation Needs for the Bioeconomy
***Hanna, Milford | New Directions in Oleochemicals
***Hart, Chad | Ethanol and Livestock
***Hartzler, Chad | Producing Biodiesel: The Renewable Energy Group
***Heaton, Emily | Feedstocks/Nutrient Recycling/Soil/ Water
***Heine, Bruce | Transportation Needs for the Bioeconomy
***Horner, Bill | Commercializing Biobased Products
***Jenkins, Bryan | Technical Overview of Biorefineries
***Johnson, Delayne | Commercializing Biobased Products
***Jolly, Robert | Economic Interactions: Biofuels/Agricultural Markets
***Keck, Pam Human | Resources Issues and the Bioeconomy
***Keller, Suzanne | Human Resources Issues and the Bioeconomy
***Khosla, Vinod | Keynote Address
***Larock, Richard | New Directions in Oleochemicals
***Lindquist, Mark | Advanced Technology Commercialization
***Lovass, Deron | Advanced Technology Commercialization
***Lynd, Lee | Keynote Address
***Lynd, Lee | New Directions in Carbohydrates
***Miranowski, John | Economic Interactions: Biofuels/Agricultural Markets
***Novak, Carey | Biobased Business Development
***Novak, Carey | Commercializing Biobased Products
***Ott, Mike | Business Solutions for Small "Bio" Companies
***Pollack, Jim | Commercializing Biobased Products
***Raman, Raj | Human Resources Issues and the Bioeconomy
***Reardon, | John Thermochemical Technologies
***Sellers, John | Feedstock Supply
***Sheehan, John | Technical Overview of Biorefineries
***Shore, Craig | Commercializing Biobased Products
***Siembieda, Steve | Biobased Business Development
***Stern, Michael | Ethanol and Livestock
***Trenkle, Allen | Ethanol and Livestock
***Wisner, Robert | Economic Interactions: : Biofuels/Agricultural Markets
***Wong, Jetta | Advanced Technology Commercialization
[http://www.bioeconomyconference.org/registration.html]

Webcasts
Keynote Addresses:
***Lee Lynd
***Vinod Khosla
Breakout Sessions:
***Ethanol and Livestock: Synergies or Competition (Chad Hart, Mike Stern, Allen Trenkle)
***Technical Overview of Biorefineries (Joe Bozell, Bryan Jenkins, John Sheehan)
***Innovations in Carbohydrate Production and Processing (Lee Lynd)
***Economic Interactions of Biofuels and Agricultural Markets (Jill Euken, Robert Jolly, John Miranowski, Robert Wisner)
[http://www.bioeconomyconference.org/webcasts.html]

2005
Growing the Bioeconomy: Planting Ideas * Cultivating Partnerships * Harvesting Progress
August 29-30, 2005 | Iowa State University | Ames IA
[http://www.bioeconomyconference.org/Conf2005/schedule.html]
Presentations
By Speaker Last Name
***Andreja Bakac, Adjunct Professor, Department of Chemistry, Iowa State University
Bio | Presentation
Session: Iowa State University Center for Catalysis Research Presentations

***Paul Bloom, Manger, New Industrial Chemicals, ADM
Bio | Presentation
Session: Bioproducts from Crop Oils

***Roger Conway, Director, Office of Energy Policy and New Uses, USDA
Bio
Session: Developing Market Pull for Biobased Products

***Charles Cox, Asst. Professor, Microbiology, University of Iowa
Bio | Presentation
Session: Iowa Biotechnology Byproducts Consortium Research Presentations

***Randy Dipner, Consultant, PBC, Inc.
Bio
Session: SBIR as a Funding Source for Commercializing New Bioproduction Technologies

***Mark Downing, Research Scientist, U.S. Department of Energy
Bio | Presentation
Session: Residues and Dedicated Energy Crops

***Mike Duffy, Economist, Iowa State University Department of Agriculture Economics
Bio | Presentation
Session: Conservation and the Bioeconomy

***Marvin Duncan, Senior Agricultural Economist in the Office of Energy Policy and New Uses, USDA
Bio | Presentation
Session: Developing Market Pull for Biobased Products

***Sevim Erhan, Research Leader, Food and Industrial Oil Research, NCAUR
Bio | Presentation
Session: Bioproducts from Crop Oils

***Doug Faulkner, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Bio | Session: U.S. Department of Energy Priorities

***William Gong, Research Associate, Topic Leader in PTA R&T, BP America
Bio
Session: Biorefineries: Opportunities for Business and Research Partnerships

***Philip Goodrich, Associate Professor, Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, University of Minnesota
Bio | Presentation
Session: Manure as a Feedstock for Biobased Products

***Daryl Haack, Chairman, National Corn Growers Association Ethanol Committee
Bio | Presentation
Session: Biorefineries: Opportunities for Business and Research Partnerships

***Stephen Halsey, Managing Supervisor, Gibbs & Soel
Bio | Presentation
Session: Developing Market Pull for Biobased Products

***James Hettenhaus, Co-founder, cea, Inc.
Bio | Presentation
Session: Residues and Dedicated Energy Crops

***Matt Janes, Vice President of Technology, VeraSun Energy Corporation
Bio
Session: Ethanol Efficiencies and DDGs

***Stanley R. Johnson, Vice Provost for University Extension at Iowa State University
Bio
Session: Opening Remarks - August 30

***Samir K. Khanal, Research Assistant Professor, Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering, Iowa State University
Bio | Presentation
Session: Iowa Biotechnology Byproducts Consortium Research Presentations

***John Laflen, Adjunct Professor of Agricultural Engineering at Iowa State University
Bio | Presentation
Session: Conservation and the Bioeconomy

***David Laird, Soil Scientist, National Soil Tilth Lab
Bio | Presentation
Session: Conservation and the Bioeconomy

***Greg Langmo, Development Consultant, FibroMinn
Bio | Presentation - Send email to request presentation
Session: Manure as a Feedstock for Biobased Products

***Tom Latham, Iowa Congressman
Bio
Session: Luncheon Speaker - August 29

***Rich Leopold, Executive Director, Iowa Environmental Council
Bio
Session: Conservation and the Bioeconomy

***Victor Lin, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, Iowa State University
Bio
Session: Iowa State University Center for Catalysis Research Presentations

***Lee Lynd, Professor of Engineering, Dartmouth College
Bio | Presentation
Session: The Role of Biomass in Meeting U.S. Energy Needs

***James McLaren, President, StrathKirn, Inc.
Bio | Presentation
Session: Residues and Dedicated Energy Crops

***Karen Merrick, Biosciences Coordinator, Iowa Department of Economic Development
Bio
Session: SBIR as a Funding Source for Commercializing New Bioproduction Technologies - Q&A Session

***Sally Metz, Technical Lead for Corn Ethanol, Monsanto
Bio
Session: Biorefineries: Opportunities for Business and Research Partnerships

***Carl Muska, Safety, Health and the Environment Manager, DuPont
Bio | Presentation
Session: Biorefineries: Opportunities for Business and Research Partnerships

***Shri Ramaswamy, Professor and Department Head, University of Minnesota
Bio | Presentation
Session: Natural Fibers and Composites

***Tom Robb, Coproducts Manager, Abengoa
Bio | Presentation
Session: Ethanol Efficiencies and DDGs

***Paul Roberts, Author of The End of Oil: On the Edge of a Perilous New World
Bio
Session: The End of Oil - Keynote Address

***John (Jack) Rosazza, Director of Center for Biocatalysis and Bioprocessing, University of Iowa
Bio
Session: Iowa Biotechnology Byproducts Consortium Research Presentations

***Stephen Shaler, Professor of Wood Science and Technology, University of Maine-Orono
Bio | Presentation
Session: Natural Fibers and Composites

***Brent Shanks, Associate Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, Iowa State University
Bio | Presentation
Session: Iowa Biotechnology Byproducts Consortium Research Presentations

***Craig Shore, President, Creative Composites
Bio | Presentation
Session: Natural Fibers and Composites

***Jeff Stroburg, CEO, West Central Cooperative
Bio | Presentation 1
Session: Biorefineries: Opportunities for Business and Research Partnerships
Presentation 2
Session: Bioproducts from Crop Oils

***Tim Swanson, Director of Research and Development, ICM
Bio
Session: Ethanol Efficiencies and DDGs

***John M. Sweeten, Resident Director, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station
Bio | Presentation
Session: Manure as a Feedstock for Biobased Products

***John Verkade, Professor, Department of Chemistry, Iowa State University
Bio | Presentation
Session: Iowa State University Center for Catalysis Research Presentations

***Thomas Vilsack, Governor of Iowa
Bio
Session: Opening Remarks - August 29

Posters
A special poster session was held in conjunction with the evening reception on August 29, 2005. Investigators affiliated [with the] Iowa Biotechnology Byproducts Consortium (BBC), Iowa State University's Center for Catalysis (CCAT), the Center for Crops Utilization Research (CCUR) at Iowa State, and the Office of Biorenewables Programs (OBP) at Iowa State presented posters that describe new and on-going research projects.
[http://www.bioeconomyconference.org/Conf2005/ResearchPosters.pdf]

2004
BIOconference 2004: Biobased Industry Outlook
March 7-8, 2004 | Iowa State University | Ames IA
[http://www.bioeconomyconference.org/Conf2004/BIOschedule.html]

Speakers
Dr. Stanley Johnson, Vice Provost for ISU Extension
Merlin Bartz | USDA (invited)
James Fischer | DOE (invited)
Georg Anderl | BIOWA
Floyd Barwig |Director, Iowa Energy Center
Kevin Kephart |Syngas fermentation
Jeff Stroburg | West Central Cooperative
Blake Hollis | UNI-ABIL
Lou Honary | UNI-ABIL
Diane Neuzil |UNI-ABIL
Mike Blouin |Director, IA Dept. of Economic Dev.
Steve Howell | ISU
Ken Moore | ISU
Robert Brown | ISU
Doug Stokke | ISU
Rob Anex | ISU
Marvin Duncan | USDA
Steve Devlin | CIRAS - ISU Extension
Bruce Coney |Central Iowa Procurement Center
Ramani Narayan |ASTM
[http://www.bioeconomyconference.org/Conf2004/BIOspeakers.html]

Presentations [NOT AVAILABLE]
[http://www.bioeconomyconference.org/Conf2004/BIOPresentations.html]

Posters
[http://www.bioeconomyconference.org/Conf2004/BIOposters.html]

Thermochemical Ethanol Via Lignocellulosic Biomass

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Sat, 26 May 2007 17:37:00 +0000

Thermochemical Ethanol via Indirect Gasification and Mixed Alcohol Synthesis of Lignocellulosic Biomass

S. Phillips, A. Aden, J. Jechura, and D. Dayton
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
T. Eggeman
Neoterics International, Inc.

Golden, Colorado: National Renewable Energy Laboratory

NREL/TP-510-41168 | April 2007
1. Executive Summary
This work addresses a policy initiative by the Federal Administration to apply United States Department of Energy (DOE) research to broadening the country’s domestic production of economic, flexible, and secure sources of energy fuels. President Bush stated in his 2006 State of the Union Address: “America is addicted to oil.” To reduce the Nation’s future demand for oil, the President has proposed the Advanced Energy Initiative which outlines significant new investments and policies to change the way we fuel our vehicles and change the way we power our homes and businesses. The specific goal for biomass in the Advanced Energy Initiative is to foster the breakthrough technologies needed to make cellulosic ethanol cost-competitive with corn-based ethanol by 2012.

In previous biomass conversion design reports by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), a benchmark for achieving production of ethanol from cellulosic feedstocks that would be “cost competitive with corn-ethanol” has been quantified as $1.07 per gallon ethanol minimum plant gate price. This process design and technoeconomic evaluation addresses the conversion of biomass to ethanol via thermochemical pathways that are expected to be demonstrated at the pilot-unit level by 2012. This assessment is unique in its attempt to match up:

***Currently established and published technology.
***Technology currently under development or shortly to be under development from DOE Office of Biomass Program funding.
***Biomass resource availability in the 2012 time frame consistent with the Billion Ton Vision study.

Indirect steam gasification was chosen as the technology around which this process was developed based upon previous technoeconomic studies for the production of methanol and hydrogen from biomass. The operations for ethanol production are very similar to those for methanol production (although the specific process configuration will be different). The general process areas include: feed preparation, gasification, gas cleanup and conditioning, and alcohol synthesis & purification.

The cost of ethanol as determined in this assessment was derived using technology that has been developed and demonstrated or is currently being developed as part of the OBP research program. Combined, all process, market, and financial targets in the design represent what must be achieved to obtain the reported $1.01 per gallon, showing that ethanol from a thermochemical conversion process has the possibility of being produced in a manner that is “cost competitive with corn-ethanol” by 2012. This analysis has demonstrated that forest resources can be converted to ethanol in a cost competitive manner. This allows for greater flexibility in converting biomass resources to make stated volume targets by 2030.

Table of Contents
1. Executive Summary ..... i
2. Introduction ..... 1
2.1. Analysis Approach ..... 6
2.2. Process Design Overview ...... 10
2.3. Feedstock and Plant Size ...... 12
3. Process Design ..... 14
3.1. Process Design Basis ..... 14
3.2. Feed Handling and Drying – Area 100 ..... 14
3.3. Gasification – Area 200 ..... 15
3.4. Gas Cleanup and Conditioning – Area 300 ...... 17
3.5. Alcohol Synthesis – Area 400 ...... 20
3.6. Alcohol Separation – Area 500 ..... 25
3.7. Steam System and Power Generation Area - 600 ..... 26
3.8. Cooling Water and Other Utilities – Area 700 ..... 28
3.9. Additional Design Information ..... 29
3.10. Pinch Analysis ..... 29
3.11. Energy Balance ..... 30
3.12. Water Issues ..... 34
4. Process Economics ..... 35
4.1. Capital Costs ..... 35
4.2. Operating Costs ..... 38
4.3. Value of Higher Alcohol Co-Products ..... 41
4.4. Minimum Ethanol Plant Gate Price ..... 42
5. Process Economics, Sensitivity Analyses, and Alternate Scenarios .....43
5.1. Financial Scenarios ...... 45
5.2. Feedstocks ...... 46
5.3. Thermal Conversion ...... 50
5.4. Clean-Up & Conditioning ...... 50
5.5. Fuels Synthesis ...... 50
5.6. Markets ..... 50
6. Conclusions ..... 51
7. Future Work ..... 51
8. References ..... 53

List of Figures
Figure 1. U.S. list prices for ethanol ..... 2
Figure 2. Estimated capital intensities for biomass-to-methanol processes ..... 5
Figure 3. Approach to process analysis ..... 6
Figure 4. Chemical Engineering Magazine’s plant cost indices ...... 9
Figure 5. Block flow diagram ...... 10
Figure 6. Expected availability of biomass ...... 13
Figure 7. Pinch analysis composite curve ...... 30
Figure 8. Cost contribution details from each process area ..... 43
Figure 9. Effect of cost year on MESP ..... 44
Figure 10. Results of sensitivity analyses ..... 45
Figure 11. Sensitivity analysis of biomass ash content ..... 47
Figure 12. Sensitivity analysis of biomass moisture content ..... 48
Figure 13. Sensitivity analysis of raw syngas diverted for heat and power due to biomass moisture content ..... 49

List of Tables
Table 1. Chemical Engineering Magazine’s Plant Cost Indices ..... 8
Table 2. Ultimate Analysis of Hybrid Poplar Feed ..... 13
Table 3. Gasifier Operating Parameters, Gas Compositions, and Efficiencies ..... 16
Table 4. Current and Target Design Performance of Tar Reformer ..... 17
Table 5. Target Design Tar Reformer Conditions and Outlet Gas Composition ..... 18
Table 6. Process Conditions for Mixed Alcohols Synthesis ..... 21
Table 7. System of Reactions for Mixed Alcohol Synthesis ..... 23
Table 8. Mixed Alcohol Reaction Performance Results ..... 23
Table 9. Mixed Alcohol Product Distributions ..... 24
Table 10. Plant Power Requirements ..... 27
Table 11. Utility and Miscellaneous Design Information. ..... 29
Table 12. Overall Energy Analysis (LHV basis) ...... 33
Table 13. Process Water Demands for Thermochemical Ethanol ..... 34
Table 14. General Cost Factors in Determining Total Installed Equipment Costs ..... 35
Table 15. Cost Factors for Indirect Costs ..... 36
Table 16. Feed Handling & Drying and Gasifier & Gas Clean Up Costs from the Literature Scaled to 2,000 tonne/day plant ..... 36
Table 17. System Design Information for Gasification References ..... 37
Table 18. Variable Operating Costs ..... 38
Table 19. Labor Costs ..... 39
Table 20. Other Fixed Costs ..... 40
Table 21. Salary Comparison ..... 41
Table 22. Economic Parameters ..... 42

Appendices
Appendix A: List of Acronyms
Appendix B: OBP Thermochemical Platform Research Targets
Appendix C: NREL Biorefinery Design Database Description and Summary
Appendix D: Individual Equipment Cost Summary
Appendix F: Discounted Cash Flow Rate of Return Summary
Appendix G: Process Parameters & Operation Summary
Appendix H: Process Flow Diagrams (PFDs)
Appendix I: Syngas and Char Correlations
Appendix J: Alcohol Synthesis Catalyst References
Appendix K: Alcohol Synthesis Kinetics

Full Text Available
[http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy07osti/41168.pdf]

Iowa Power Fund

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Thu, 24 May 2007 18:43:00 +0000

Des Moines RegisterWednesday, May 23, 2007

Governor signs bills fostering renewable energy

The state will spend $100 million over four years to aid development.

By JASON CLAYWORTH
REGISTER STAFF WRITER

Ames, Ia. - It's official: Iowa will pump $100 million into boosting its renewable fuel research and production. Gov. Chet Culver signed legislation Wednesday that will allocate the money to promote such things as wind power and ethanol-like improvements over the next four years. Culver called the bill historic legislation, telling a crowd of about 50 people at Iowa State University "Our 21st century Iowa expedition starts now." Said Culver, "This will begin the process of making our entire state a laboratory so that we remain a cutting edge of all forms of renewable energy."

The legislation creates a new Office of Energy Independence. The office will pursue new research investments with government and private businesses, as well as help create an Iowa energy independence plan. The goal is to wean Iowa from its dependence on foreign oil by 2025, Culver said.

Iowa State University President Gregory Geoffroy praised the legislation Culver signed. "We are going to do for biomass what George Washington Carver did for the peanut, and it won't be for peanuts," Geoffroy said. He was referring to the internationally famous scientist, who was a student and later a faculty member at what is now Iowa State. Carver is best known for developing multiple uses for the peanut, including peanut butter.

The $100 million in the Iowa Power Fund will be spent over the next four years. Culver said he plans to name the director of the Office of Energy Independence and appoint seven of the 11 Power Fund board members around July 1. The other four members of the board will be state officials, such as the director of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Culver predicted the fund would leverage "hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars" of additional investments in the state from private and federal sources.

[snip]

Sidebar

FUTURE APPLICANTS
The fund will be available to people working in research, development or implementation of new ways to reduce dependency on foreign oil through renewable energy, advancements in biofuels, or energy efficiency. The office that will accept and review applications for money from the Power Fund is expected to be in place around July 1.

[http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070524/NEWS10/705240389/1011]

Handbook on Bioethanol: Production and Utilization

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Wed, 23 May 2007 21:52:00 +0000

Handbook on Bioethanol: Production and Utilization
List Price: £155.00
ISBN: 9781560325536
ISBN-10: 1560325534
Publisher: CRC Press
Publication Date: 01/07/1996
Pages: 550
Series: Applied Energy Technology Series

Through a sustained research program and an emerging economic competitiveness, the technology for bioethanol production is poised for immediate widespread commercial applications. Written by engineers and scientists providing a technical focus, this handbook serves as a unique, authoritative, and concise source of information on the benefits of bioethanol to the environment and economy, conversion technologies, future markets, and emerging technologies. It provides the up-to-date information needed by managers, engineers, and scientists to evaluate the technology, market, and economics of this fuel, while also examining the development of production required to support its commercial use.

Google Book Search [http://tinyurl.com/24nqud]

Open WorldCat [http://tinyurl.com/2ysm49]

The Biodiesel Handbook

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Wed, 23 May 2007 18:26:00 +0000

The Biodiesel Handbook

Gerhard Knothe, Jon Van Gerpen, and Jürgen Krahl
Hardbound. 304 pages. 2005. | ISBN: 1-893997-79-0
List Price: $98.00 | Member Price: $85.00

Biodiesel is the form in which vegetable oils and animal fats are used as renewable diesel fuel. Whether it is created as neat diesel fuel or in blends with petroleum-based diesel fuels, biodiesel represents a positive alternative to fossil fuels. Many researchers around the world have dealt with the legislative, chemical, and engineering issues that result from the study of biodiesel. The Biodiesel Handbook summarizes these issues and how they have been dealt with, but also presents new data and technical information. Chapters include summaries on legislative and regulatory efforts around the world, the history of vegetable oil-based diesel fuels, the basic concept of the diesel engine, and glycerol, a valuable byproduct of biodiesel production. As the most up-to-date resource on biodiesel available, The Biodiesel Handbook is a necessary book for people interested in renewable fuels.

Contents
Introduction
The History of Vegetable Oil-Based Diesel Fuels
The Basics of Diesel Engines and Diesel Fuels
Biodiesel Production
Basics of the Transesterification Reaction
Alternate Feedstocks and Technologies for Biodiesel Production
Analytical Methods for Biodiesel
Fuel Properties
Cetane Numbers-Heat of Combustion-Why Vegetable Oils and Their Derivatives Are Suitable as a Diesel Fuel
Viscosity of Biodiesel
Cold Weather Properties and Performance of Biodiesel
Oxidative Stability of Biodiesel
Literature Overview
Stability of Biodiesel
Biodiesel Lubricity
Biodiesel Fuels: Biodegradability, Biological and Chemical Oxygen Demand, and Toxicity
Soybean Oil Composition for Biodiesel
Exhuast Emissions
Effect of Biodiesel Fuel on Pollutant Emissions from Diesel Engines
Influence of Biodiesel and Different Petrodiesel Fuels on Exhaust Emissions and Health Effects
Current Status of the Biodiesel Industry
Current Status of Biodiesel in the United States
Current Status of Biodiesel in the European Union
Biodiesel Quality Management: The AGQM Story
Status of Biodiesel in Asia, the Americas, Australia, and South Africa
Environmental Implications of Biodiesel (Life-Cycle Assessment)
Potential Production of Biodiesel
Other Uses of Biodiesel
Other Alternative Diesel Fuels from Vegetable Oils
Glycerol

Appendix A: Technical Tables
Appendix B: Biodiesel Standards
Appendix C: Internet Resources

Source [http://www.aocs.org/catalog/product.asp?ID=w203&dept=30]

Open WorldCat [http://www.worldcatlibraries.org/wcpa/top3mset/57069578]

Biotechnology for Biofuels

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Wed, 23 May 2007 16:17:00 +0000

BioMed Central announces new interdisciplinary Biofuels Journal

Biotechnology for Biofuels will publish research on ways to improve plant and biological conversion systems for biomass fuel production BioMed Central, the world’s largest publisher of open access, peer-reviewed journals, is pleased to announce the impending launch of Biotechnology for Biofuels. The new journal is the first of its kind to focus exclusively on understanding and advancing the application of biotechnology to improve plant and biological conversion systems for production of fuels from biomass. A peer-reviewed, open access journal, Biotechnology for Biofuels will begin accepting article submissions this summer.

The journal is being edited by some of the leaders in biofuels research including Charles Wyman, Ford Motor Company Chair in Environmental Engineering at the University of California at Riverside; Chris Somerville, Professor of Biological Sciences at Stanford University; and Michael Himmel, Team Leader of the Biomolecular Sciences research staff at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

[snip]

Biotechnology for Biofuels is being launched to provide a forum for publication of research focused on advances in the development of clean, efficient biofuels. Biotechnology for Biofuels will publish multi-disciplinary, high-calibre, peer-reviewed research, reviews and commentaries on all biotechnological aspects of biofuels research and any related economic, environmental and policy issues. The journal will publish research on a broad range of topics including production of cellulosic biomass, investigations of biomass composition and structure, plant deconstruction, pretreatments, enzymes, fermentations, integrated systems, process design and economics, life cycle studies and other related areas.

Like all of BioMed Central’s journals, Biotechnology for Biofuels
will make research immediately available without charge to any reader with Internet access ... .

[snip]

Source [http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-05/bc-bca052107.php]

Journal Site [http://www.biotechnologyforbiofuels.com/]

Brothers of Invention Turn Cobs Into Potential Gold

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Wed, 16 May 2007 17:34:00 +0000

Des Moines Register | Published May 13, 2007

Brothers of invention turn cobs into potential gold

Twins’ innovation collectscorn waste for biofuel use

By JERRY PERKINS
REGISTER FARM EDITOR

Nebraska City, Neb. — For the past 10 years, harvesting corn and selling the cobs has been a humble little business for Ty and Jay Stukenholtz, 34-year-old twin brothers. By trial and error, computer designing, tinkering and banging away, the Stukenholtz brothers, who farm the 350-acre family farm near Nebraska City, came up with a way to harvest corn cobs and kernels at the same time and keep the materials separate. Until now, the brothers’ invention has had limited appeal because of the small market for corn cobs, save as cattle feed or in some limited industrial uses.

But that might be about to change as ethanol makers look into producing ethanol from crop residue and other biomass, including the cobs, leaves and stalks from corn plants.
[snip]
“Our goal was to build a cleaner that can attach to the back of a combine with a tank on top for the cobs,” Ty said.
“It’s universal, so it fits on any combine,” said Jay, finishing Ty’s thought.
Ty and Jay are identical twins except for the fact that Ty is right-handed and Jay is left-handed. Their thinking is as complementary as their dexterity, they say, so they form two halves of an inventing whole.
[snip]
In January, Pihlblad and the Stukenholtz twins formed a limited liability company called Ceres Agriculture Consultants, based in Waukee. The company intends to produce or license the twins’ biomass collection system to a farm equipment manufacturer and provide other renewable fuel services.
[snip]
The brothers have made about a dozen different versions of their cob collector. Their 10th version is attached to a 2388 Case IH combine.

As the combine moves through the field, it pulls whole corn plants into the corn head mounted on the front of the combine. Corn kernels are separated from the cobs and other parts of the corn plant and the kernels are routed into the combine’s conventional grain storage tank. The Stukenholtz brothers’ innovation fits on the back of a combine, where the leaves, cobs and other shredded corn plant residue is normally flung out and onto the ground. Instead, the brothers have come up with a device that consists of a series of sieves and fans that separate the different parts of the corn residue as it moves to the back of the combine. The cobs, once separated from the other parts of the corn plant, are sent to a tank that sits atop the combine. The tank is designed to slide to one side so it can discharge the cobs into a wagon.

Other plant residues like soybean pods also can be gleaned by setting the sieves and fans in a different configuration.

It’s been 10 years since the Stukenholtz brothers started tinkering around with a corn cob collector. They’ve made about a dozen versions, including one that is being used by Dan Allen of Allendan Seed Co. in Winterset.
[snip]
But it’s in the emerging field of cellulosic ethanol that the Stukenholtz brothers and Pihl-blad think their machine will really take off.
[snip]
Poet, the ethanol producer formerly known as Broin Cos., plans to use corn cobs to make ethanol at its Emmetsburg plant. Poet has said the plant will need 450 to 500 tons of cobs a day to make cellulosic ethanol.
[snip]
Although Birrell said he hasn’t seen the Stukenholtzes’ attachment at work, cellulosic ethanol production will need innovations like theirs to solve roadblocks to produce ethanol from biomass.

Source [http://tinyurl.com/2w2wh7]

New Technologies in Ethanol Production

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Sun, 13 May 2007 17:07:00 +0000

New Technologies in Ethanol Production
C. Matthew Rendleman and Hosein Shapouri
February 2007
Office of the Chief Economist, Office of Energy Policy and New Uses
(Agricultural Economic Report Number 842)

Abstract
Fuel ethanol production has increased steadily in the United States since the 1980s, when it was given impetus by the need to reduce energy dependence on foreign supplies. The momentum has continued as production costs have fallen, and as the U.S. Clean Air Act has specified a percentage of renewable fuels to be mixed with gasoline. The fraction of annual U.S. corn production used to make ethanol rose from around 1 percent in 1980 to around 20 percent in 2006, and ethanol output rose from 175 million gallons to about 5.0 billion gallons over the same period. New technologies that may further increase cost savings include coproduct development, such as recovery of high-value food supplements, and cellulosic conversion. High oil prices may spur the risk-taking needed to develop cellulose-to-ethanol production. Developments such as dry fractionation technology, now commercially viable, may alter the structure of the industry by giving the cheaper dry-grind method an edge over wet milling. Dry milling requires smaller plants, and local farmer cooperatives could flourish as a result. Though improvements in processing and technology are important, however, the fluctuating price of inputs such as corn, the cost of energy alternatives, and environmental developments play larger roles in the fortunes of the
industry.

Table of Contents
Introduction . . . . . 1
Changes Since the 1993 ERS Analysis of Ethanol Production . . . . . 3
Ethanol’s Energy Efficiency . . . . . 5
Ethanol Production Processes . . . . . 6
Input Improvements: Higher-Ethanol-Yielding Corn . . . . . 8
Process Improvements . . . . . 10
Advances in Separation Technologies . . . . . 10
New Ways of Fermentation . . . . . 12
New Enzymes . . . . . 13
Distillation Technology . . . . . 14
Control Systems . . . . . 14
Environmental Technologies . . . . . 15
Technologies Involving Coproducts . . . . . 16
The Growing Supply of Feed Coproducts . . . . . 16
Sequential Extraction . . . . . 17
Corn Germ Recovery for the Dry-Mill Process . . . . .17
Centrifugal Corn Oil Separation from the Distiller’s Grain Stream . . . . . 17
CO2 Recovery . . . . . 17
Stillage Clarification and Other Uses of Membranes . . . . . 18
Biorefinery . . . . . 18
Extraction of Compounds from DDGS . . . . . 19
Corn Fiber Oil Recovery . . . . . 19
Regional Impacts of Ethanol Plants . . . . . 20
National Benefits from Ethanol . . . . . 21
Biomass: Ethanol’s Future? . . . . . 22
Cellulose to Ethanol: The Process . . . . . 22
Supplying Biomass . . . . . 23
Biomass Byproducts: Problems with Acid and High Temperatures . . . . . 23
Other Biomass-to-Ethanol Improvements . . . . . 25
Conclusions: Ethanol’s Potential . . . . . 26
References . . . . . 27

Full Text Available
[http://www.usda.gov/oce/energy/aer842_ethanol.pdf]

About the Authors
C. Matthew Rendleman is with the Dept. of Agribusiness Economics, Southern Illinois University, and Hosein Shapouri is with the Office of Energy Policy and New Uses, USDA.

Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank a number of people who made valuable suggestions and corrections to the paper. They include Don Erbach and Andrew McAloon of the Agricultural Research Service, USDA, Jack Huggins of the Nature Conservancy, and Vijay Singh of the Dept. of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

ISU Town Hall Meeting on Biorenewable Resources

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Thu, 10 May 2007 17:20:00 +0000

Iowa State University President Gregory L. Geoffroy addresses attendees at a campus-wide Town Hall Meeting on Biorenewable Resources, held October 23 2006 at the university. The presentation provides background information on bionewables and the expertise of Iowa State University and current future opportunities for the university.

Includes a Question and Answer session with Geoffroy, ISU faculty experts, and attendees.

Video of the Town Hall Meeting on Biorenewable Resources is available in the following formats:

Breeze video
http://breeze.extension.iastate.edu/p85891731/

RealPlayer
mms://wms.extension.iastate.edu/video/bioeconomy_10-23-2006.wmv

Duration 1:18:36

Source [http://www.iastate.edu/~nscentral/news/2006/oct/bioforum.shtml]

Launch of The Bioenergy Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Mon, 07 May 2007 16:06:00 +0000

The Bioenergy Blog is a devoted to the identification and promotion of key primary and secondary literature relating to biorenewable fuels, most notably bioethanol and biodiesel.

It will focus on the technical aspects and technologies associated with the production of these fuels, as well as other bio-based products and commodities.

It will seek to identify significant monographs as well as conference proceedings, dissertations and theses, reports and other grey literature, as well as popular works and relevant digital sources, notably DVDs and significant Websites. Select major review articles will also be profiled.

The Bioenergy Blog was formally established on May 7 2007.

With proper support, it is hoped that the major publications and presentations cited in The Bioenergy Blog will be compiled into a Web-based annotated bibliography.