The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) promotes the production of a range of liquid fuels and fuel blendstocks from lignocellulosic biomass feedstocks by funding fundamental and applied research that advances the state of technology in biomass collection, conversion, and sustainability. As part of its involvement in this program, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) investigates the conceptual production economics of these fuels.Between 1999 and 2012, NREL conducted a campaign to quantify the economic implications associated with measured conversion performance for the biochemical production of cellulosic ethanol, with a formal program between 2007-2012 to set cost goals and to benchmark annual performance toward achieving these goals, namely the pilot-scale demonstration by 2012 of biochemical ethanol production at a price competitive with petroleum gasoline based on modeled assumptions for an "n th " plant biorefinery. This goal was successfully achieved through NREL's 2012 pilot plant demonstration runs, representing the culmination of NREL research focused specifically on cellulosic ethanol, and a benchmark for industry to leverage as it commercializes the technology. This important milestone also represented a transition toward a new Program focus on infrastructure-compatible hydrocarbon biofuel pathways, and the establishment of new research directions and cost goals across a number of potential conversion technologies.This report describes in detail one potential conversion process to hydrocarbon products by way of biological conversion of lignocellulosic-derived sugars. The pathway model leverages expertise established over time in core conversion and process integration research at NREL, while adding in new technology areas primarily for hydrocarbon production and associated processing logistics. The overarching process design converts biomass to a hydrocarbon intermediate, represented here as a free fatty acid, using dilute-acid pretreatment, enzymatic saccharification, and bioconversion. Ancillary areas-feed handling, hydrolysate conditioning, product recovery and upgrading (hydrotreating) to a final blendstock material, wastewater treatment, lignin combustion, and utilities-are also included in the design. Detailed material and energy balances and capital and operating costs for this baseline process are also documented.This benchmark case study techno-economic model provides a production cost for a cellulosic renewable diesel blendstock (RDB) that can be used as a baseline to assess its competitiveness and market potential. It can also be used to quantify the economic impact of individual conversion performance targets and prioritize these in terms of their potential to reduce cost. The analysis presented here also includes consideration of the life-cycle implications of the baseline process model, by tracking sustainability metrics for the modeled biorefinery, including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, fossil energy demand, and consumptive water use.Building on prior design reports for bioch...

Executive SummaryThe goal of the U.S. Department of Energy's Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) is to enable the development of biomass technologies to: Reduce dependence on foreign oil  Promote the use of diverse, domestic, and sustainable energy resource  Establish a domestic bioenergy industry  Reduce carbon emissions from energy production and consumption. (DOE 2013) To meet these goals, the BETO promotes the development of liquid hydrocarbon fuels that can serve as gasoline, jet and diesel blendstocks.This report describes a proposed thermochemical process for converting biomass into liquid transportation fuels via fast pyrolysis followed by hydroprocessing of the condensed pyrolysis oil. As such, the analysis does not reflect the current state of commercially-available technology but includes advancements that are likely, and targeted to be achieved by 2017. The purpose of this study is to quantify the economic impact of individual conversion targets to allow a focused effort towards achieving cost reductions.

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

This perspective provides an overview of wood pellet markets in a number of countries of high signifi cance, together with an inventory of market factors and relevant past or existing policies. In 2010, the estimated global wood pellet production and consumption were close to 14.3 Mt (million metric tonnes) and 13.5 Mt, respectively, while the global installed production capacity had reached over 28 Mt. Two types of pellets are mainly traded (i) for residential heating and (ii) for large-scale district heating or co-fi ring installations. The EU was the primary market, responsible for nearly 61% and 85% of global production and consumption, respectively in 2010. EU markets were divided according to end use: (i) residential and district heating, (ii) power plants driven market, (iii) mixed market, and (iv) export-driven countries. North America basically serves as an exporter, but also with signifi cant domestic consumption in USA. East Asia is predicted to become the second-largest consumer after the EU in the near future. The development perspective in Latin America remains unclear. Five factors that determine the market characteristics are: (i) the existence of coal-based power plants, (ii) the development of heating systems, (iii) feedstock availability, (iv) interactions with wood industry, and (v) logistics factor. Furthermore, intervention policies play a pivotal role in market development. The perspective of wood pellets industry was also analyzed from four major aspects: (i) supply potential, (ii) logistics issues, (iii) sustainability considerations, and (iv) technology development.Perspective: Wood pellet market and trade: a global perspective CS Goh et al.

The 2011 US Billion-Ton Update 1 estimates that there are enough agricultural and forest resources to sustainably provide enough biomass to displace approximately 30% of the country's current petroleum consumption. A portion of these resources are inaccessible at current cost targets with conventional feedstock supply systems because of their remoteness or low yields. Reliable analyses and projections of US biofuels production depend on assumptions about the supply system and biorefi nery capacity, which, in turn, depend on economics, feedstock logistics, and sustainability. A cross-functional team has examined optimal combinations of advances in feedstock supply systems and biorefi nery capacities with rigorous design information, improved crop yield and agronomic practices, and improved estimates of sustainable biomass availability. Biochemical-conversion-to-ethanol is analyzed for conventional bale-based system and advanced uniform-format feedstock supply system designs. The latter involves 'pre-processing' biomass into a higher-density, aerobically stable, easily transportable format that can supply large-scale biorefi neries. Feedstock supply costs, logistics and processing costs are analyzed and compared, taking into account environmental sustainability metrics.

Pioneer cellulosic biorefi neries across the United States rely on a conventional feedstock supply system based on one-year contracts with local growers, who harvest, locally store, and deliver feedstock in low-density format to the conversion facility. While the conventional system is designed for high biomass yield areas, pilot scale operations have experienced feedstock supply shortages and price volatilities due to reduced harvests and competition from other industries. Regional supply dependency and the inability to actively manage feedstock stability and quality, provide operational risks to the biorefi nery, which translate into higher investment risk. The advanced feedstock supply system based on a network of depots can mitigate many of these risks and enable wider supply system benefi ts. This paper compares the two concepts from a system-level perspective beyond mere logistic costs. It shows that while processing operations at the depot increase feedstock supply costs initially, they enable wider system benefi ts including supply risk reduction (leading to lower interest rates on loans), industry scale-up, conversion yield improvements, and reduced handling equipment and storage costs at the biorefi nery. When translating these benefi ts into cost reductions per liter of gasoline equivalent (LGE), we fi nd that total cost reductions between -$0.46 to -$0.21 per LGE for biochemical and -$0.32 to -$0.12 per LGE for thermochemical conversion pathways are possible. Naturally, these system level benefi ts will differ between individual actors along the feedstock supply chain. Further research is required with respect to depot sizing, location, and ownership structures. Published 2015. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA. Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefi ning published by Society of Industrial Chemistry and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Supporting information may be found in the online version of this article.Keywords: biorefi nery; feedstock logistics; depot; bioeconomy; biofuel; advanced feedstock supply system 3 Targets are generally iterated between advancements in feedstock logistics and the development of more robust conversion systems. But it remains unclear if a conventional system will allow for the current goal to be met. Diff erent analyses 4-7 have shown that the conventional system fails to meet this supply cost target outside of highly productive regions and could encounter issues even in highly productive regions in some years due to inclement weather (e.g., drought, fl ood, heavy moisture during harvest, etc.). Th ese supply uncertainties increase risks, which could limit the biorefi nery concept from being broadly implemented.

Executive SummaryThe goal of the U.S. Department of Energy's Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) is to enable the development of biomass technologies to: Reduce dependence on foreign oil  Promote the use of diverse, domestic, and sustainable energy resource  Establish a domestic bioenergy industry  Reduce carbon emissions from energy production and consumption. (DOE 2013) To meet these goals, the BETO promotes the development of liquid hydrocarbon fuels that can serve as gasoline, jet and diesel blendstocks.This report describes a proposed thermochemical process for converting biomass into liquid transportation fuels via fast pyrolysis followed by hydroprocessing of the condensed pyrolysis oil. As such, the analysis does not reflect the current state of commercially-available technology but includes advancements that are likely, and targeted to be achieved by 2017. The purpose of this study is to quantify the economic impact of individual conversion targets to allow a focused effort towards achieving cost reductions.

The 2011 US Billion-Ton Update estimates that by 2030 there will be enough agricultural and forest resources to sustainably provide at least one billion dry tons of biomass annually, enough to displace approximately 30% of the country's current petroleum consumption. A portion of these resources are inaccessible at current cost targets with conventional feedstock supply systems because of their remoteness or low yields. Reliable analyses and projections of US biofuels production depend on assumptions about the supply system and biorefi nery capacity, which, in turn, depend upon economic value, feedstock logistics, and sustainability. A cross-functional team has examined combinations of advances in feedstock supply systems and biorefi nery capacities with rigorous design information, improved crop yield and agronomic practices, and improved estimates of sustainable Modeling and Analysis: Thermochemical conversion and refinery sizing Th e previous study did not consider woody biomass supply systems, account for variability in biomass ash content throughout the supply chain, or look at biorefi nery scale impacts for thermochemical conversion processes.In this paper, we analyze the infl uences of biorefi nery size, biomass supply system designs, and feedstock specifications on process economics and environmental sustainability metrics for southeastern (SE) US woody feedstocks converted into ethanol through a thermochemical process. Th e woody feedstocks include logging residues, which are low cost at the forest landing (i.e. roadside aft er harvest, chipping, and loading on a truck), but because of ash, may not be the least expensive for the conversion process. Because of this diff erence, this report also analyzes the impact of costs incurred between landing and the throat of the conversion system ('reactor throat'), including the costs of feedstock pre-processing. Th e analyses compared options of performing pre-processing operations at the landing or depot, such as ash removal, or letting the conversion process handle the upgrading of the material. Th e analyses support upgrading the material near the point of extraction rather than allowing the conversion facilities to handle the upgrades. Illustrative casesTh e SE USA is projected to be highly productive for the emerging biorefi nery industry. 4 One potential challenge with developing supply chains in the SE (Fig. 1) is that the resource base is made up of various types of herbaceous and woody biomass resources. Table 1 shows the primary biomass categories and potentially available quantities biomass availability. A previous report on biochemical refi nery capacity noted that under advanced feedstock logistic supply systems that include depots and pre-processing operations there are cost advantages that support larger biorefi neries up to 10 000 DMT/day facilities compared to the smaller 2000 DMT/day facilities. This report focuses on analyzing conventional versus advanced depot biomass supply systems for a thermochemical conversion and refi nery sizi...