Billion Gallons Of Biofuels Research Articles

Biorefinery Developments for Advanced Biofuels from a Sustainable Array of Biomass Feedstocks: Survey of Recent Biomass Conversion Research from Agricultural Research Service

When the USA passed the Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS) of 2007 into law, it mandated that, by the year 2022, 36 billion gallons of biofuels be produced annually in the USA to displace petroleum. This targeted quota, which required that at least half of domestic transportation fuel be “advanced biofuels” either produced from lignocellulosic feedstocks or be a sustainable liquid fuel other than corn ethanol or biodiesel from vegetable oils, will not likely be met due to the difficulty in commercializing alternative biofuels. The number one cost to a biorefinery is the biomass feedstock cost. Thus, it is important that research into biorefinery strategies be closely coupled to advances in crop science that account for crop yield and crop quality. To reach the RFS targets, stepwise progress in biorefinery technology is needed, as the industry moves from corn ethanol toward utilizing a wider array of lignocellulose-based biomass feedstocks. In 2010, the US Department of Agriculture created five Regional Biomass Research Centers to optimize production, collection, and conversion of crops to bioenergy, thus building a network that fosters collaboration among researchers to improve the biorefinery industry. An important component of the five Regional Biomass Research Centers is the four USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) regional utilization laboratories located across the country. These USDA ARS labs were originally set up by their commodities, whereby, in broad terms, the Northern Lab, now NCAUR, focused on corn and soy; the Eastern Lab on oils, leather, dairy, and meats; the Southern Lab on cotton, sugars, and fibers; and the Western Lab on other grains, including wheat and specialty crops. Each lab’s traditional expertise in these respective core commodity crops has been maintained as biofuel research came to the fore, but with the addition of new crops and biotechnological expertise, these labs often collaborate with each other, as will be revealed below. This review outlines some of the recent advances from the ARS labs in developing new bioprocessing strategies required to develop bioenergy from new crop sources.

Synthesizing a Cellulase like Chimeric Protein by Recombinant Molecular Biology Techniques.

In order to meet the Renewable Fuels Standard demands for 30 billion gallons of biofuels by the end of 2020, new technologies for generation of cellulosic ethanol must be exploited. Breaking down cellulose by cellulase enzyme is very important for this purpose but this is not thermostable and degrades at higher temperatures in bioreactors. Towards creation of a more ecologically friendly method of rendering bioethanol from cellulosic waste, we attempted to produce recombinant higher temperature resistant cellulases for use in bioreactors. The project involved molecular cloning of genes for cellulose-degrading enzymes based on bacterial source, expressing the recombinant proteins in E. coli and optimizing enzymatic activity. We were able to generate in vitro bacterial expression systems to produce recombinant His-tag purified protein which showed cellulase like activity.

2013 feedstock supply and price projections and sensitivity analysis

AbstractFarmgate prices (i.e. price delivered roadside ready for loading and transport) for biomass feedstocks directly influence biofuel prices. Using the latest available data, marginal (i.e. price for the last ton) farmgate prices of $51, $63, and $67 dry ton−1 ($2011) are projected as necessary to provide 21 billion gallons of biofuels from about 250 million dry tons of terrestrial feedstocks in 2022 under price‐run deterministic, demand‐run deterministic, and stochastic simulations, respectively. Sources of uncertainty in these feedstock supply and price projections include conversion efficiency, global market impacts on crop price projections, crop yields, no‐till adoption, and climate. Under a set of low, high, and reference assumptions, these variables introduce an average of +/– $11 dry ton−1 (~15%) uncertainty of feedstock prices needed to meet EISA targets of 21 billion gallons of biofuels produced with 250 million dry tons of biomass in 2022. Market uncertainty justifies the need for fairly frequent (i.e. annual or biennial) re‐assessment of feedstock price projections to inform strategies toward commercialization of biofuels. Published in 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Surface Modified Reverse Osmosis and Nano-Filtration Membranes for the Production of Biorenewable Fuels and Chemicals.

ABSTRACTThe Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) and Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) mandated that 36 billion gallons of biofuels should be blended into transportation fuel by 2022. Implementing this will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce petroleum imports and encourage the development and expansion of US renewable fuels sector within rural America. Of the 36 billion gallons of biofuels, 16 billion gallons is expected to be from lignocellulosic biomass such as trees and grasses. The Black Hills of South Dakota is rich in ponderosa pine. This feedstock for bioethanol production, which is widely available due to recent pine beetle infestation, will not only add to the RFS requirement, it will also have a positive impact on rural economies in South Dakota. From the wood chips of pine, after acid pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis, the fermentable sugars obtained are relatively dilute in concentration (∼20-30 g/L). Hence, within a biorefinery, to increase the fermentation efficiency and decrease downstream processing cost of the biofuels, concentrating the sugars can be beneficial. In this study, Reverse Osmosis (RO) and Nanofiltration (NF) membranes were tested with complex lignocellulosic hydrolysate samples for their ability to concentrate sugars prior to fermentation. Fouling analysis and membrane characterization for both RO and NF membranes were performed by SEM, AFM, BET, contact angle and FTIR spectroscopy. Efficiency of membranes for their ability to separate fermentation inhibitors (e.g., organic and mineral acids, furans and phenolic compounds) from sugars, while simultaneously concentrating the sugars was studied to make the bio-ethanol production process cost and energy efficient. Three commercial nanofiltration membranes GE-R, TS40 and SR100 showed very promising results. GE-R concentrated sugars to more than 2.5 fold in the retentate, and simultaneously separated more than 50% of the inhibitory components into permeate. These results will increase the fermentation efficiency and reduce downstream purification costs of the produced fuel.

Ethanol Distribution, Dispensing, and Use: Analysis of a Portion of the Biomass-to-Biofuels Supply Chain Using System Dynamics

The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 targets use of 36 billion gallons of biofuels per year by 2022. Achieving this may require substantial changes to current transportation fuel systems for distribution, dispensing, and use in vehicles. The U.S. Department of Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory designed a system dynamics approach to help focus government action by determining what supply chain changes would have the greatest potential to accelerate biofuels deployment. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory developed the Biomass Scenario Model, a system dynamics model which represents the primary system effects and dependencies in the biomass-to-biofuels supply chain. The model provides a framework for developing scenarios and conducting biofuels policy analysis. This paper focuses on the downstream portion of the supply chain–represented in the distribution logistics, dispensing station, and fuel utilization, and vehicle modules of the Biomass Scenario Model. This model initially focused on ethanol, but has since been expanded to include other biofuels. Some portions of this system are represented dynamically with major interactions and feedbacks, especially those related to a dispensing station owner’s decision whether to offer ethanol fuel and a consumer’s choice whether to purchase that fuel. Other portions of the system are modeled with little or no dynamics; the vehicle choices of consumers are represented as discrete scenarios. This paper explores conditions needed to sustain an ethanol fuel market and identifies implications of these findings for program and policy goals. A large, economically sustainable ethanol fuel market (or other biofuel market) requires low end-user fuel price relative to gasoline and sufficient producer payment, which are difficult to achieve simultaneously. Other requirements (different for ethanol vs. other biofuel markets) include the need for infrastructure for distribution and dispensing and widespread use of high ethanol blends in flexible-fuel vehicles.

Driving Biofuels from Field to Fuel Tank

Rising oil prices, fears of global warming, and instability in oil-producing countries have ignited the rush to produce biofuels from plants. The science is progressing rapidly, driven by favorable policies and generous financing, but many hurdles remain before cars and trucks run on "gasohol" or "grassoline."

Welfare Economics and Policy Analysis of U.S. Biofuels Policy: Discussion*

just-enacted energy legislation provides a useful platform to discuss the economic and social impact of U.S. biofuels policy, and the three papers submitted to the Welfare Economics and Policy Analysis of U.S. Biofuels Policy session provide an excellent framework for such an analysis. On 19 December President Bush signed into law The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which established the largest increase in a biofuels mandate (known as the Renewable Fuels Standard, RFS) in history. new RFS requires the use of at least 36 billion gallons of biofuels in 2022, a five-fold increase over current RFS levels (as defined in Public Law 109-58). By 2022, biofuels would represent slightly over 20% of U.S. automobile fuel consumption. Congress and the President argue that the RFS will diversify U.S. energy supplies and reduce dependence on foreign oil while limiting the impact on food and agricultural prices. As the chart shows, the new law seeks to limit the impact of corn-based ethanol (defined as conventional biofuels) in the RFS by limiting it to 15 billion gallons a year after 2015 and encouraging the use and development of improved biofuels (defined as in the law). The legislation, as well as the 2008 Farm Bill approved by Congress over the President's veto, provides also incentives (tax credits and other benefits) to the production and use of advanced biofuels (figure 1). The framework and analysis by Tyner and Taheripour, de Gorter and Just, and Khanna et al. helps us to evaluate the impact of the new energy legislation. What follows are some initial questions for discussion and possible areas for further analysis.