What are biorenewable resources???
Biorenewable resources, also known as biomass, are organic materials of
recent biological origin. Biomass may be grown as crops, but the vast majority of
the world’s biorenewable resources are forests, prairies, marshes, and fisheries.
Solar energy collected by green plants is converted into energetic chemical bonds
to produce proteins, oils, and carbohydrates. This stored chemical energy is raw
material that can be used as a resource for heat and stationary power,
transportation fuels, commodity chemicals, and fibers.
What are biorenewable resources???
Biorenewable resources are by definition sustainable natural resources.
Sustainable implies that the resource renews itself at such a rate that it will be
available for use by future generation.
Switch Grass
Deforestation of Amazon
Bioenergy and Bio-based Products
Transportation Fuels
Electrical Power
Chemicals
Natural Fibers
Biorenewable Resource Utilization
Before Industrialization
Silkworms
Charcoal
Biorenewable resources were the
predominant source of energy,
organic chemicals, and fibers in the
human history as recently as 150
years ago.
5,500 Years-Old Winery
Decline of Biobassed Products
?
An Energy Dependent Society
Internet
Micro-processor
Modifiers
Environmental issues
N
uc
lea
r
Satellite
Energy Usage
WWII
WWI
Telecommunications
Coal
Steam
Steam
Power
locomotive stations
ns
o
b
r
a
Hydroc
Air
travel
Internal combustion engine
1750
1800
1850
1900
Living
standards
Population Global
growth
markets
Drivers
1950
2000
Driving Force for Change:
Less
Expensive & More
Cook and Sheath, 1997
Easily Manipulated
Feedstock
Petroleum & Fossil Resources-Based Industry
1859 - Drake Well,
Titusville, PA
Titusville City Limits
Petroleum & Fossil Resources-Based Industry
Petroleum & Fossil Resources-Based Industry
We live in a fossil fuel society
Total Energy
Renewable Energy
Wind, 5%
Renewable,
7%
Solar, 1%
Nuclear, 8%
Petroleum,
40%
Transportation
Natural Gas,
22%
Biomass
• Wood waste
• Municipal solid waste
• Landfill and biogas
• Ethanol
Biomass, • Biodiesel
53%
Conventional
Hydroelectric,
36%
Geothermal,
5%
Coal, 23%
Data from EIA 2007
Motivation for Returning to a Bioeconomy
•Excess agricultural production: Especially in
U.S., but many countries are becoming self
sufficient in food production
More Electric Platform
Fuel Mix for U.S. Electricity Generation in 2005
From EPA website
Motivation for Returning to a Bioeconomy
•National security: Reduced reliance on foreign cartels
Motivation for Returning to a Bioeconomy
•Rural development: Rural economies are not thriving
in many parts of the world
Challenges to Using Biorenewable Resources
•Low bulk density
–Complicates handling,
transport, and storage
•High moisture content
–Impacts transport and
energy demand of
processing
•Low heating value
–Requires large acreage
•High oxygen content
–Current economy based
on hydrocarbons
Hydrocarbon Reforming
C2H6 + 4H2O  2CO2 + 7H2
3H2 + N2 → 2NH3
H
H
H
C
C
H
H
H
H2O
O=C=O
+
H-H
C2H5OH + 3H2O  2CO2 +6H2
H
H
H
C
C
H
H
Ethanol Steam Reforming (ESR)
H
H
H
dehydration
-H2O
OH
dehydrogenation
-H2
H
C
coke
C
H
5H2 + 2CO2
H
O
C
C
steam reforming
+3H2O
H
H
CH4 + CO
decomposition
acetaldehyde
Renewable Hydrogen from Bio-ethanol
??? Surface intermediates
Defining the Resource Base
• Wastes
–Agricultural residues (cornstover, wheat straw, bagasse)
–Yard waste
–Municipal solid waste (MSU)
–Food processing waste (grain hulls)
–Manure
Defining the Resource Base
• Dedicated crops
–Conventional crops (corn and soybeans)
–Herbaceous crops (grasses)
A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaves and stems that die
down at the end of the growing season to the soil level
–Woody crops (poplar trees)
Composition of Biorenewable Resources
• Basic
building blocks
–Protein
–Oils
–Sugar
–Starch
–Lignocellulose (fiber)
Lignocellulose: Future Feedstock
• Structural material of most plants
• Polymeric composite consisting of:
–Cellulose (polysaccharide of glucose)
–Hemicellulose (polysaccharide of pentoses and hexoses)
–Lignin (phenylpropane-based polymer)
• Not easily broken down into simple sugars
Cellulose
Building blocks for lignin
How Much Biomass Could Be Produced?
Total potential in U.S. is
about 48 EJ (48 x
109GJ)–Could supply
50% of energy demand,
or–More than enough to
replace all petroleum
consumption and
organic chemical
production
Biobased Products: Bioenergy
• Process Heat –simplest use of biomass
–Drying
–Steam raising
• Stationary Power
–Rankine steam cycle
–Brayton gas turbine cycle
Biobased Products: Transportation Fuels
• Oxygenated fuels derived from biomass are thought to
reduce air pollution
–Ethanol: simple sugars derived from biomass are fermented to ethanol
–Methanol: formed from the catalytic reaction of syngas (which can be
produced from gasification of biomass)
–Biodiesel: transesterification of vegetable oils (methyl or ethyl esters)
Biobased Products: Chemicals
• Replacing chemical building
blocks produced from
petrochemicals
• Exploiting biochemistry of
plant materials
Biobased Products: Plant Fibers
•Plant fibers are long, thin cells
with walls of lignocellulose
•Applications include textiles,
papers, and composite building
materials
•Non-woody fibers also have
potential
Technologies for Converting Biomass to
Biobased Products
•Thermal
–Combustion (Stoichiometric or excess oxygen)
–Gasification (partial combustion)
–Pyrolysis (no oxygen)
•Biological
–Anaerobic digestion (mixed culture)
–Fermentation (pure cultures)
•Chemical
–Pressure and temperature
–Catalytic
Environmental Performance
• Every technology has both positive and negative impacts
–Depends upon implementation
• Biorenewable resources are no exception
–Demand for fuel wood deforested much of Europe
–Agriculture blamed for desertification in Africa
Economics
• Biobased products must be able
to compete in markets
• Biorenewable resources will not
win as traditional “least cost”
feedstock
• Restrictions on carbon dioxide
emissions could rapidly shift
advantage to biorenewable
resources
On a volumetric basis, the heating value of
biomass is only 20-50% that of coal