Abstract:Abstract:Cellulosic biofuels present an opportunity to meet a significant fraction of liquid transportation fuel demand with renewable, low-carbon alternatives. Certain ionic liquids (ILs) have proven effective at facilitating hydrolysis of lignocellulose to produce fermentable sugars with high yields. Although their negligible vapor pressure and low flammability make ILs attractive solvents at the point of use, their life-cycle environmental impacts have not been investigated in the context of cellulosic bior… Show more
“…Unless otherwise specified, the process models use assumptions consistent with the feedstock supply logistics analyses conducted by Idaho National Laboratory (INL) 29, 30 and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), [31][32][33] the downstream conversion process developed by National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), [34][35][36] and similar previous studies [37][38][39] conducted at the DOE Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI). All dollar values are reported in 2018 U.S. dollars.…”
“…Unless otherwise specified, the process models use assumptions consistent with the feedstock supply logistics analyses conducted by Idaho National Laboratory (INL) 29, 30 and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), [31][32][33] the downstream conversion process developed by National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), [34][35][36] and similar previous studies [37][38][39] conducted at the DOE Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI). All dollar values are reported in 2018 U.S. dollars.…”
“…The plot compares the values between the base case, phenolics case, and the reference for gasoline as well as a value for an IL‐based ethanol production process previously reported in the literature. The values are compared with the values in the literature, with the difference being due mainly to the different feedstocks, electricity mix, and agricultural inputs to the system. In the present case study for El Fuerte biorefinery, there was no export electricity as a co‐product in the base case mainly due to the biomass composition.…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The base case in this study consists of an integrated high‐gravity biorefinery process developed at the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) for bioethanol production with IL pretreatment, where lignin is used for the on‐site energy supply . The process flowsheet is simplified in Fig.…”
Section: Methodsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…For an optimized ‘one‐pot’ process using IL pretreatment and recovering 65% of lignin as a marketable raw material, an MESP of $2.8 gal −1 has been projected . A lifecycle analysis of the process has shown a reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of 45% relative to gasoline (reaching 70–85% in a future optimized case) . However, the impact on both costs and GHG emissions of the integration of a specific lignin upgrading route within an ethanol biorefinery has yet to be analyzed.…”
This work presents techno-economic and greenhouse gas (GHG) analyses of an ethanol biorefinery integrating lignin conversion into eugenol and other phenolics. Catalytic hydrogenolysis assisted by isopropanol (IPA) is used to convert the lignin recovered after ionic liquid (IL) pretreatment, saccharification, and fermentation. This process was compared to a biorefinery using lignin for energy generation and simulated in SuperPro Designer. Spatial analysis was performed to determine biorefinery locations and capacities in a Mexican state with potential for lignocellulosic biomass, including corn stover, sorghum stubble, and Jatropha fruit shells. Relative to the base case, diverting 50% of lignin to phenolics decreased the ethanol cost of production significantly due to the high market value of the co-products. The minimum ethanol selling price (MESP) for this case was $2.02 gal −1 . The resulting cradle-to-gate GHG footprint of bioethanol was 21 g CO 2 -eq MJ −1 , a 78% reduction with respect to gasoline when system expansion is used for allocation. Using market value-based allocation resulted in 82% GHG reduction. Analysis of scenarios showed that a biorefinery processing 3000 t day −1 biomass and diverting 80% of lignin to phenolics can potentially yield an MESP lower than $1.5 gal −1 . To achieve this, research should target a reduction in IL input by 30% and IPA input by 40%, together with more energy-efficient separation processes. The reduction in IL and IPA can be achieved by decreasing their loading rates and increasing recycling. Sensitivity analysis showed that,
979Modeling and Analysis: Lignin valorization to eugenol and phenolic products in integrated biorefineries E Martinez-Hernandez et al.for biomass prices higher than $45 t −1 , biorefinery capacities must exceed 5000 t d −1 biomass input.
“…The advanced biofuel and cellulosic biofuel categories require net GHG emissions reductions of 50% and 60% relative to petroleum fuels, respectively. Liquid biofuels from crop residues can far exceed these requirements, achieving GHG reductions of up to 90%, although this is dependent on allocation methods applied as part of the life-cycle assessment [20][21][22][23][24]. Forage sorghum-to-ethanol can meet the 50% GHG reduction needed to meet the advanced biofuel requirements and sweet sorghum systems have the potential to achieve reductions well beyond the 60% requirement for cellulosic biofuels [25].…”
The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) initially set ambitious goals for US cellulosic biofuel production and, although the total renewable fuel volume reached 80% of the established target for 2017, the cellulosic fuel volume reached just 5% of the original goal. This shortfall has, in part, been ascribed to the hesitance of farmers to plant the high-yielding, low-input perennial biomass crops identified as otherwise ideal feedstocks. Policy and market uncertainty also hinder investment in capital-intensive new cellulosic biorefineries. This study combines remote sensing land use data, yield predictions, a fine-resolution geospatial modeling framework, and a novel facility siting algorithm to evaluate the potential for near-term scale-up of cellulosic fuel production using a combination of lower-risk annual feedstocks more familiar to US farmers: corn stover and biomass sorghum. Potential strategies include expansion or retrofitting of existing corn ethanol facilities and targeted construction of new facilities in resource-rich areas. The results indicate that, with a maximum 10% conversion of pastureland and cropland to sorghum in suitable regions, more than 80 of the 214 existing corn ethanol biorefineries could be retrofitted or expanded to accept cellulosic feedstocks and an additional 71 new biorefineries could be built. The resulting land conversion for bioenergy sorghum totals to 4.5% of US cropland and 3.7% of pastureland. If this biomass is converted to ethanol, the total increase in annual production could be 17 billion gallons, just over the original RFS 2022 cellulosic biofuel production target and equivalent to 12% of US gasoline consumption.
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