CPA
Presented to AIChE, Metro New York Section
New York Institute of Technology, Gallery 61 Studio
16 West 61st Street - 11th Floor (61st Street and Broadway), NYC
May 17, 2010
Howard R. Blum & Lee Diestelow
Chemicals & Plastics Advisory “CPA”
Ambler, PA
Contact: +1-215-802-0052
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Chemicals & Plastics Advisory ©2010
 Background
 Fuels
 Chemicals
 Polymers
 Conclusion
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Background
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 Biomass is not new – it has always been here - trees, grasses, other plants, and the sea
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(e.g. algae) , and of course animals
Ironically, fossil fuels come from very ancient biomass sources, but are not considered
biomass because the contained carbon has been "out" of the carbon cycle for a long time
 Therefore, fossil fuel emissions such as CO2 or CO are “additive” to the overall content
of today’s atmospheric carbon gases and considered by many as an environmental
problem
Examples of fuels derived from biomass: wood chips, methane, ethanol & bio-diesel
Outside the fuels market, the global chemical industry, including polymers is estimated to
exceed $3 Tril. in sales
Chemicals enable many adjacent industries such as pharmaceuticals & healthcare, paints &
coatings, adhesives, packaging, building products, soap & detergents and many more
There are literally hundreds of biomass derived chemicals including bio-ethylene, various
polyols, propanediol, surfactants and many types of specialties for personal care
There are also many types of biomass derived polymers, such as bio-polyethylene,
polylactic acid (PLA), polyhydroxy alkanoate (PHA), epoxy resins, alkyd resins, regenerated
cellulosics and many more
Chemicals and polymers, combined with adjacent end use sectors represent a broad and
fertile potential for biomass derivatives
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 Economically attractive biomass conversion, and therefore successful monetization of
biomass feedstock and its derivatives, are partly based on the competitive price point for
using competitive fossil fuels and derivatives
 Government legislation of laws and codes that promote biomass conversion will play a
strong role in terms of numerous impact-points; e.g.
 Tax incentives to produce biomass feedstocks and biofuels
 Carbon trading and carbon taxes
 Rules on environmental outputs; e.g. VOCs
 The public’s interest to consume so-called “green” products has seen exceptional
motivation since oil price escalation in mid-2008 and the general mistrust of the political
system
 Therefore, competitive technology and raw material sourcing will be key ingredients in
achieving success in bio-derivatives
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Ultimately, routes to Biorenewability succeed if they enable economic paths
to complete the Carbon-cycle – from biomass to derivatives & back again
Sources of Carbon Feedstock
Non-Renewable
Carbon
Renewable
Carbon
Biomass
Oil & Natural Gas
New supplies of oil;
Gas-to-Liquids (GTL)
processes
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Coal
Chemical
Conversion
Coal-to-Gas (CTG) &
Coal-to-Liquids (CTL)
processes
Direct chemical
conversion of
biomass
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Biochemical
Conversion
Fermentation
conversion of
biomass
Thermochemical
Conversion
Biomass-to-Gas
(BTG) &
Biomass-to-Liquids
(BTL)
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Fuels
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US Crude Oil Sources, 2009
BBL/Day (000)
1377
506
Domestic Production
827
Canada
Mexico
958
6996
Nigeria
Saudia Arabia
996
Venezuela
Iraq
1033
25 Others
1882
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Production Targets and Projected Fuel Demand
0
10
21
15
100
non-Corn Starch- pirrenial
crops, forest sources,
waste oil greases, virgin
plant oils,algea
Corn Starch
84
Hydrocarbon
2010
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RFS2: Higher renewable fuel volumes by 2012 and beyond
RFS1 notes
7.5 BG in
2012
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 Renewable Fuel Standard RFS2 was set by EISA 2007
 The EPA Administers Transportation Bio-fuels; biofuel production requirements were recently
revised (Feb 2010), adjusting cellulosic ethanol timeframe & clarifying biofuel sources
 Biofuel production requirements: Implementation timeframe adjusted to reflect R&D reality
 9.0 Bil. Gal. in 2008 & 12.95 Bil. Gal. in 2010
 36.0 Bil. Gal.- 2022 (requires 21.0 Bil. Gal. from cellulosic ethanol)
 Four types of fuel described as CBAR (60% GHG reduction of lifecycle emissions by 2022
vs the RFS1 commercial gasoline pool of 2005):
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Type C Cellulosic Biofuels must show a 60% GHG reduction – (produce 16 BG)
Type B Biomass-Based Diesel must show a 50% GHG reduction – (produce >1 BG TBD)
Type A Advanced Biofuels must show at least a 50% GHG reduction – (produce 21 BG)
Type R Renewable fuel (total) must show at least a 20% GHG reduction – 37 BG)
 Existing ethanol production facilities are subject to grandfathering requirements that exempt
them from the GHG performance requirements for a defined period of time
 RFS2 further supports:
 Corn Ethanol, Advanced- Ethanol, other alcohols (butanol), multiple feed stocks- cellulose,
ligno-cellulose, algae, and biodiesel
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GHG=Green House Gases
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The energy debate: how do we perceive the balance of energy?
Energy Inputs > or = or < Energy Output (how to measure)?
Inputs must be less than outputs to win the argument – use LCA
LCA (Life Cycle Analysis) includes:
 Energy Input from all Sources Raw Material Production, Supply Chain, Processing
 Water Consumption
 Fertilizer
ETOH – Easiest & most common – but not the best source
Corn – Energy balance is open to debate, But USDA studies
confirm viability of corn as a feed stock
Non-food sources are cellulosics…
 Rice straw
 Corn Stover
 Bagasse
 Corn Fiber
 Dedicated Energy Crops
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[e
Major Liquid Fuels
Fuel
Air-fuel
ratio
Specific
energy
Heat of
vaporization
RON
MON
Gasoline &
biogasoline
32 MJ/L
14.6
2.9 MJ/kg air
0.36 MJ/kg
91–99
81–89
Butanol fuel
29.2 MJ/L
11.1
3.2 MJ/kg air
0.43 MJ/kg
96
78
Ethanol fuel
19.6 MJ/L
9.0
3.0 MJ/kg air
0.92 MJ/kg
107
89
16 MJ/L
6.4
3.1 MJ/kg air
1.2 MJ/kg
106
92
Methanol
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Energy
density
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Proven commercial equipment exists for
biofuels from ligno-cellulosics
Thermochemical Rx
Equipment &
Biochem. Pyrolysis
Thermochemical Reactor
Biochemical Pyrolysis
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Source: European Biofuels Technical Platform- Biofuel STP.EU
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1st Generation Biofuels
 Ethanol- Clean burning oxygenate, high
octane gasoline replacement & extender
 Commercial since 1970’s Brazil, US
 New studies confirm favorable net
energy balance 1.67:1 (neg. in 1990s)
 USDA- 2002, 2004- 34% more energy
released than put in
 Corn ethanol is cost competitive with
gasoline when crude is priced above
$50/BBL; ($30/BBL sugar cane)
 Has a 35% gain in the bushel/ lb
fertilizer; yield per acre up 50% to 125
BU/Acre
 Biodiesel- high cetane, sulfur free
alternative for diesel and heating oil
 Europe commercialized in 1990’s
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2nd Generation Biofuels
 R&D Efforts Increasing range of feedstocks
(cellulosics; e.g. corn stover)
 Reducing biomass to liquid costs
 Two technology platforms
o Biochemical path- cellulose to
sugars followed by fermentation to
alcohols (C2, C4)
o Thermochemical path- gasification
to syngas followed by synthesis to
fuels
 Commercial renewable diesel plants
being built
 DOE’s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) - engineered a strain of E-Coli for advanced
biofuel from biomass
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‘Permitting’ concerns exist over use of GMO’s - an issue dependent on local
regulations
 E-coli produces fatty acids that are bound to carrier proteins; accumulation of bound
fatty acids limits production of additional fatty acid
 E-coli are efficient in the use of energy and don’t produce excess fatty acid. By
breaking the bond with the carrier protein, additional fatty acid will be produced
 This diverts fatty acid metabolism to produce fuels & chemicals from glucose
 JBEI E-Coli strain of enzymatic bacteria produce hemicellulose (complex sugars - the
major portion of biomass)
 In the same step, the enzymes can ferment the hemicellulose
 E-Coli that ferments both cellulose and hemicellulose eliminates the need for costly
enzymes; greatly improves economics of Biofuels - maximizes conversion efficiency
 Furthermore, the costs of recovering biodiesel are less than cost to distill ethanol
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Major Players in Algae based Biofuels
2nd Generation
 15 start ups demonstrate viability
 Backing is coming from major energy
producers like Shell, BP and Chevron
Bio-butanol
 Butamax: DuPont & BP JV
demonstration
 Conventional feedstocks include corn
and sugarcane
 But will move into cellulosics
(grasses and corn stalks) and even
algae lipid feedstock
Algae to:
Methanol, Ethanol, Butanol & Biodiesel
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Corn starch
 While under considerable
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scrutiny, Corn starch
routes to ETOH appear to
have a positive energy
balance using current data
Scalability and demand vs.
food supply use remain an
issue; (public’s perception)
Targets are being met
Ligno-cellulosics
 Advances in Enzyme
technology are improving
economics
Supply Chain Logistics and
material handling techniques
are being improved & proven
Commercial material
preparation methods are being
adapted for new processes
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Algae and Bacterial
derived Fuels
Demonstrated
technologies can produce
biodiesel and bioethanol
Scale up and efficiency
gains are required for
sustainable businesses
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Chemicals
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The NREL and DOE have proposed a very complex biobased product flow
Source: NREL / DOE
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 The 12 building block chemicals are produced from sugars via biological or chemical
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conversions, and subsequently converted to a number of high-value bio-based
chemicals or materials
The building block chemicals are molecules with multiple functional groups that
possess the potential to be transformed into new families of useful molecules,
including:
•
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 / arabinitol
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Various pathways exist for creating the building blocks
• The top building blocks and their
derivatives can be converted in a
two-part pathway:
 1st part is the transformation
of sugars to the building
blocks
 2nd part is the conversion of
the building blocks to
secondary chemicals or
families of derivatives
• Biological conversion account for
the majority of routes from plant
feedstocks to building blocks, but
going from the building blocks to
derivatives uses chemical
conversion routes
• The challenges and complexity of
conversion pathways means that
R&D still needs to improve the
production economics
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Source: NREL / DOE
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3-Hydroxypropionic acid & succinic acid are good example of building
block conversion to various intermediates
The acrylics
chain
&
Polyesters,
Polyurethanes
BDO & its
derivatives, THF
& Pyrrolidone
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Chemicals & Plastics Advisory ©2010
Source: NREL / DOE
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Polymers
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 Ironically, biopolymers are more than 100 years old and led much of the early
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commercial success for petrochemical analogues
Today we see co-mingling of bio and synthetic polymers in many applications
Polymer Timeline; Biopolymers – The First Polymers
Natural Rubber
(Goodyear)
1839
Cellulose Nitrate;
films & billiard balls
1862
Parkesine;
molded cellulose
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1863
Viscose Rayon;
regen. cellulose fibers
1872
1894
Polyvinylchloride
(PVC)
Bakelite; phenolformaldehyde resin
1908
1909
Cellophane film
(viscose based)
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Petrochem
Polymers
100 YEARS >>>
2009
Biopolymers
Re-emerge
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 Global polymer value approaches $600 million
 Over the last ten years, Asia has become the leader in global polymer share of demand
 Thermoplastics represent more than 65% of all global polymer demand
Bio-building blocks or Biopolymers or biomaterials ?
Regional Polymer Demand Share, 2008 Estimate
Europe
25%
Asia Pacific
35%
N. America
25%
ROW 15%
World Consumption of All Polymers, 2008
250 million MT (550 billion lb.)
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Biopolymer demand is a fraction of total polymer demand
Highest demand biopolymers include starch-based, cellulosics, polyesters and polyurethanes
It is interesting to note that thermoplastics are perceived more ‘green’ than thermosets due to their inherent melt-processable recyclability.
Biopolymer thermoplastics will therefore provide a unique blend of biorenewability and recyclability, especially for consumer needs. But, this only works if active recycling exists
Biopolymer Global Demand, 2007-2008 Estimate
• Starch blends
• PLA
• Cellulosics
 e.g. viscose & regen.
• Alkyds (vegetable oil based)
• Bio-polyols (urethanes)
• PDO-based
 e.g. PTT, other polyesters
• PHA
Key Commercial
Products
80%
Developing
Markets
25%
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Epoxy resins
Bio-polyethylene
Bio-PVC
Bio-nylons (11 and 610)
PDO-based
Poly-succinates
Bio-elastomers & rubber
PPC (CO2 based)
e.g. pp-carbonate
World Consumption of Biopolymers, 2007-08
600 Thousand MT (1.3 billion lb.)
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 Cost of fossil-fuels is likely the most impacting on future competitive acceptance of biopolymers
 Monomer feedstock costs for the incumbent petrochemical derived polymers, are generally the
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most impacting cost element in the overall manufacturing process
Therefore, the competitive price-point for biopolymers is very much influenced by the cost
relationship of the incumbent fossil-fuel derived polymers
Biopolymer Economic Viability vs. Crude oil Pricing
Polyethylene
Epoxies
Economic Viability
Poly-succinates
Polyhydroxyalkanoates
Polylactic acid
We are
here
today
PDO-polyesters
Bio-polyols
(urethanes)
Starch-Blends
$40 +
$75
> $100
Crude Price ($/bbl)
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 There are many new biopolymer suppliers and technologies that have created a broad portfolio of
grades suitable for both commodity and performance end uses
 Many producers provide a much stronger asset base than existed in previous years – a ‘critical
mass’ large enough to self-perpetuate as long as demand maintains
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Product Biorenewability - Illustrative
Degree of Bio-Degradability (%)
100
Polylactic Acid (PLA)
NatureWorks
Poly-Hydroxy
Alkanoate (PHA)
Metabolix (Telles)
others
Bio-Epoxy/Composites
Dow: Glycerin to ECH
Bio-Succinates
Polymer Derivatives
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Cargill Ecoflex
Modified Aliphatic
Polyester
Bio-Degradable
Starch
Compounds
Polymer /
Natural Fibers
Compounds &
Composites
Non-starch
BioDegradable
Compounds
DuPont Sorona
Bio-PDO to PTT,
PU, PTMEG
Fibers/Elastomers
Naphtha or Gas
to C2 & C3
olefins to PE &
PP Resins
Glycerin from Bio-Diesel
Soy & Castor Oils:
For Polyols-UPR & PU
Novomer CO2 Biopolycarbonate
Dow & Braskem
Bio-PE from Sugar
cane
0
Cargill Ecovia
Compound of
Ecoflex & PLA
100%
Bio
Provided by courtesy of Kline & Company
Degree of Bio-Renewability vs. Fossil Fuel (%)
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100 %
Fossil
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Conclusion
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 In conclusion, the issue of whether biorenewable processes and products can succeed can be
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viewed as: “not if, but when”?
We continue to undergo an extended period of energy transition and economic uncertainty
Uncertainties also continue to surround the future of fossil fuels vs. alternative approaches and
the resulting energy costs
 Although we know another oil shortage is coming, we don’t know when
We however do know that a sufficient critical mass has been built in many chemical sectors that
will drive new technologies and new approaches in achieving biorenewable solutions
The resulting new industry dynamics is causing a shift in the competitive position of many
producers and in many cases a shift towards biorenewable systems
But, capitalizing on these opportunities and creating greater value will not be easy
Longer term however, fossil fuel costs will escalate to economically critical levels and regulations
will drive greater use of biorenewables
Just as the petrochemical industry has found success from added-value business models and
integrating production economics, biorenewables will likely adapt analogous models
This concept of an integrated approach extends to technology and processes, beginning with
enabling “white biotechnology” such as enzymes & microorganisms and integrated through fuels,
to chemical building blocks and monomers to the biopolymers
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Conclusion, fossil fuels will remain the key feedstock for some time, BUT…
biorenewables will increasingly be integrated into all chemical pathways
Biomass
Bio-renewables
Synthesis
Gas
Coal
NGL‘s
Energy
Generation
Olefins
Oil
Typical
Chemical
Products
Acetylene
Aromatics
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