Advancing development of biochemicals through the comprehensive evaluation of bio-ethylene glycol

Abstract

Biomass chemical industry potentially reduces fossil energy dependence and addresses climate change, however, reaching technical feasibility and economic competitiveness are still crucial challenges, especially in the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass. Herein, an early-stage analysis is conducted to evaluate technical, economic, and environmental benefits of ethylene glycol (EG) production from lignocellulose, which, for one representative demonstration, provides an insight into opportunities and constraints associating with the transition from lab testing to practical industrialization of biochemicals. With process design and modeling, techno-economic analysis, and life cycle assessment, the results reveal that lignocellulosic biomass-derived EG (bio-EG) is at present attractive in aspects of life cycle primary fossil energy depletion and greenhouse gas emissions, but the total production cost of bio-EG is 43% and 20% higher than that of coal-EG and petro-EG. To achieve the economic benefits of bio-EG, research strategies, such as raising the product yield, changing hydrogen sources, increasing feedstock collection efficiency, and lowing water consumption were explored and proved to be effective measures. In addition, a carbon tax of 184 and 598 CNY·t−1 CO2eq are the breakeven points to reach economic benefits of bio-EG compared to petro-EG and coal-EG, respectively. This work aims at conducting a comprehensive evaluation of bio-EG to promote its practical application, and also shedding light on bright prospects and general approaches to develop lignocellulosic biochemicals.