Ethanologens vs. acetogens: Environmental impacts of two ethanol fermentation pathways

Budsberg, Erik; Crawford, Jordan T.; Gustafson, Rick; Bura, Renata; Puettmann, Maureen

doi:10.1016/j.biombioe.2015.08.019

Cited by 30 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…The acetic acid is then converted to ethanol [ 17 ]. No carbon is lost as CO 2 and the ethanol yield is 80 % higher than if an ethanologen were used [ 18 ]. From here, the ethanol is then upgraded to jet fuel via dehydration, oligomerization, and hydroprocessing [ 17 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydrocarbon bio-jet fuel from bioconversion of poplar biomass: life cycle assessment

Budsberg

Crawford

Morgan

et al. 2016

Biotechnol Biofuels

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BackgroundBio-jet fuels compatible with current aviation infrastructure are needed as an alternative to petroleum-based jet fuel to lower greenhouse gas emissions and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Cradle to grave life cycle analysis is used to investigate the global warming potential and fossil fuel use of converting poplar biomass to drop-in bio-jet fuel via a novel bioconversion platform. Unique to the biorefinery designs in this research is an acetogen fermentation step. Following dilute acid pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis, poplar biomass is fermented to acetic acid and then distilled, hydroprocessed, and oligomerized to jet fuel. Natural gas steam reforming and lignin gasification are proposed to meet hydrogen demands at the biorefineries. Separate well to wake simulations are performed using the hydrogen production processes to obtain life cycle data. Both biorefinery designs are assessed using natural gas and hog fuel to meet excess heat demands.ResultsGlobal warming potential of the natural gas steam reforming and lignin gasification bio-jet fuel scenarios range from CO2 equivalences of 60 to 66 and 32 to 73 g MJ−1, respectively. Fossil fuel usage of the natural gas steam reforming and lignin gasification bio-jet fuel scenarios range from 0.78 to 0.84 and 0.71 to 1.0 MJ MJ−1, respectively. Lower values for each impact category result from using hog fuel to meet excess heat/steam demands. Higher values result from using natural gas to meet the excess heat demands.ConclusionBio-jet fuels produced from the bioconversion of poplar biomass reduce the global warming potential and fossil fuel use compared with petroleum-based jet fuel. Production of hydrogen is identified as a major source of greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel use in both the natural gas steam reforming and lignin gasification bio-jet simulations. Using hog fuel instead of natural gas to meet heat demands can help lower the global warming potential and fossil fuel use at the biorefineries.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydrocarbon bio-jet fuel from bioconversion of poplar biomass: life cycle assessment

Budsberg

Crawford

Morgan

et al. 2016

Biotechnol Biofuels

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“…The feedstock production and harvesting model is supported by operational data from industry (GreenWood Resources, personal communication, 2011-2016), literature [24], and LCA databases [15,25]. It is the same feedstock model used in [4] and is discussed in more detail in that publication.…”

Section: Feedstockmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A transportation distance of 100 kilometers roundtrip is assumed to transport the harvested poplar biomass to the biorefinery gate. In total the feedstock production and harvest model covers a 21 year timespan [4].…”

Section: Feedstockmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Steam to operate the biorefinery can come from burning lignin supplemented with natural gas or purely from natural gas. Burning lignin has the advantage of lowering the GWP of the process and potentially producing renewable electricity which can be exported to further reduce the GWP (Borrion et al 2012, Budsberg et al 2015. The disadvantage to this approach is the high capital cost of a high pressure boiler that can burn lignin [17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Production routes to bio-acetic acid: Life cycle assessment

Budsberg

Morales-Vera

Crawford³

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Background: Similar to biofuels, numerous chemicals produced from petroleum resources can also be made from biomass. In this research we investigate cradle to biorefinery exit gate life cycle impacts of producing acetic acid from poplar biomass using a bioconversion process. A key step in developing acetic acid for commercial markets is producing a product with 99.8% purity. This process has been shown to be potentially energy intensive and in this work two distillation and liquid-liquid extraction methods are evaluated to produce glacial bio-acetic acid. Method one uses ethyl acetate for extraction. Method: two uses alamine and diisobutyl ketone. Additionally two different options for meeting energy demands at the biorefinery are modeled. Option one involves burning lignin and natural gas onsite to meet heat/steam and electricity demands. Option two uses only natural gas onsite to meet heat/steam demands, purchases electricity from the grid to meet biorefinery needs, and sells lignin from the poplar biomass as a co-product to a coal burning power plant to be co-fired with coal. System expansion is used to account for byproducts and co-products for the main life cycle assessment. Allocation assessments are also performed to compare the life cycle tradeoffs of using system expansion, mass allocation, or economic allocation for bio-acetic acid production. Finally, a sensitivity analysis is conducted to determine potential effects of a decrease in the fermentation of glucose to acetic acid.Results: Global warming potential (GWP) and fossil fuel use (FFU) for ethyl acetate extraction range from 1000 - 2500 kg CO 2 eq. and 32 - 56 GJ per tonne of acetic acid, respectively. Alamine and diisobutyl ketone extraction method GWP and FFU ranges from -370 - 180 kg CO 2 eq. and 15 - 25 GJ per tonne of acetic acid, respectively.Conclusions: Overall the alamine/diisobutyl ketone extraction method results in lower GWP and FFU values compared to the ethyl acetate extraction method. Only the alamine/diisobutyl extraction method finds GWP and FFU values lower than those of petroleum based acetic acid. For both extraction methods, exporting lignin as a co-product produced larger GWPs and FFU values compared to burning the lignin at the biorefinery.

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“…Life cycle analyses of ethanol production from hybrid poplar estimate a reduction in global warming potential of 51% for E85 blends and 62% for E100 fuels [11]. Furthermore, AHB has found that cellulosic ethanol could achieve carbon neutrality depending on the process details [12]. Long term, however, as electric cars become more common, renewable hydrocarbon fuels will move to a dominant position servicing those sectors-aviation, long-haul trucking, and marine shipping-that are challenging to power with batteries or ethanol [13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advanced Hardwood Biofuels Northwest: Commercialization Challenges for the Renewable Aviation Fuel Industry

Stanton

Gustafson

2019

Applied Sciences

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A bioenergy summit was organized by Advanced Hardwood Biofuels Northwest (AHB) to debate the barriers to the commercialization of a hybrid poplar biofuels industry for the alternative jet fuels market from the perspective of five years of AHB research and development and two recent surveys of the North American cellulosic biofuels industry. The summit showed that: (1) Growing and converting poplar feedstock to aviation fuels is technically sound, (2) an adequate land base encompassing 6.03 and 12.86 million respective hectares of croplands and rangelands is potentially available for poplar feedstock production, (3) biofuel production is accompanied by a global warming potential that meets the threshold 60% reduction mandated for advanced renewable fuels but (4) the main obstruction to achieving a workable poplar aviation fuels market is making the price competitive with conventional jet fuels. Returns on investment into biomass farms and biorefineries are therefore insufficient to attract private-sector capital the fact notwithstanding that the demand for a reliable and sustainable supply of environmentally well-graded biofuels for civilian and military aviation is clear. Eleven key findings and recommendations are presented as a guide to a strategic plan for a renewed pathway to poplar alternative jet fuels production based upon co-products, refinery co-location with existing industries, monetization of ecosystem services, public-private financing, and researching more efficient and lower-costs conversion methods such as consolidated bioprocessing.

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Ethanologens vs. acetogens: Environmental impacts of two ethanol fermentation pathways

Cited by 30 publications

References 25 publications

Hydrocarbon bio-jet fuel from bioconversion of poplar biomass: life cycle assessment

Hydrocarbon bio-jet fuel from bioconversion of poplar biomass: life cycle assessment

Production routes to bio-acetic acid: Life cycle assessment

Advanced Hardwood Biofuels Northwest: Commercialization Challenges for the Renewable Aviation Fuel Industry

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