Biofuels and Biomaterial Research in the Porter Alliance
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Transcript of Biofuels and Biomaterial Research in the Porter Alliance
Commercial in confidence – Imperial College London 2008
Biofuels and biomaterial research in the Porter Alliance
Dr Richard MurphyImperial College London
Commercial in confidence – Imperial College London 2008
Structure
• Introduction to the Porter Alliance • Biomass yield• Biomass ‘quality’• Sustainability and policy• Closing remarks
The alliance
Over 130 scientists, engineers, economists and policy experts.
with colleagues at Southampton University, York University and University of Cambridge
Mission
Devise economically, socially and environmentally sustainable routes to the production of energy and materials from plants with a positive impact on climate change and energy security.
Challenges
•
Increase biomass yields•
Reduce threats to and from biomass
•
Increase processable
biomass •
Create optimised processing
•
Create flexible, modular biorefining•
Create integrated delivery pipelines
The integrated biorefinery
Ragauskas
et al. Science
311
(2006)
Backing ligno-cellulosics
•
80% of biomass is in lignin and cellulose•
Perennial crops have low inputs and can support higher levels of biodiversity
•
If we could get at the sugar locked up in cellulose, the current world motor fuel energy consumption (1020
J/yr) might be
met from 125 M ha (10% of global arable land)
The integrated biorefinery
Chain Efficiency~ (25%)
Useful energy0.25 Wm-2
Scope for 2-foldImprovement
Scope for 3-foldimprovement
Overall: scope for 6-fold improvement!
Photosynthetic Efficiency~ (1 %)
Solar radiation100 Wm-2
Dunnett
and Shah J. Biobased
Mater. Bio.
1 (2007)
Consider the whole process chain
BM 1
BM 2
BM 3
BM 4
BM 5
BM 6
FEP 1
FEP 2
FEP 3
FEP 4
FEP 5
PC 1
PC 2
PC 3
PC 4
SC 1
SC 2
SC 3
SC 4
SC 5
BiomassClasses
Front-endProcesses
PrimaryConversions
SecondaryConversions
LEARNING
Costs will improve with R&D and commercialisation
From: The Royal Society report -
Sustainable biofuels 2008
The essential messages
•
There is a lot of headroom to make truly sustainable lignocellulosic
biofuel
•
You must look at integrated processes to achieve this
•
We need to generate knowledge that will guide us in choosing the best processes
Why the optimism ?
1.
Tractable R&D challenges and opportunities
2.
Significant reductions in GHG emissions are possible
3.
Assuring sustainable land use4.
Many countries/regions can participate
Structure
• Introduction to the Porter Alliance • Biomass yield• Biomass ‘quality’• Sustainability and policy• Closing remarks
Biofuel crops and biomass sources are diverse
Recognized
interestWheat (grain and straw) Willows (SRC)Oil seed Rape Poplars (SRC)Sugar Beet MiscanthusSugar cane Biomass forestrySweet sorghum Cassava Forestry/ processing residuesJatropha
Post-consumer ‘waste’
biomass
Future potentialBamboo Coconut
Algae
‘Novel’
(previously uncultivated) species
Approaches to achieving higher yields
Increase yield•
Growth & architecture
•
Duration of production•
Selection & breeding
•
Novel crops•
Carbon capture
Combat risks & limits•
Marginal land
•
Resources •
Climate change
•
Pests•
Diseases
Development pipeline for biofuel crops
Integrated with sustainability and processing knowledge
Generating more mass – Willow as an example
Angela Karp
Realistic UK target
Accelerating biomass yield in Willow
Fewer thick stems
The more axillary
branching
(max)
mutants in Arabidopsis have altered branching. Corresponding
genes map to yield QTL in willow.
E a taM aa g2 40 .0
M A X 15 .1
M A X 41 8 .9
W 11 472 4 .3W 98 82 4 .4
fE a c tM a ac 1 0 44 3 .4
V I_ 5c5 0 .5
fE a tc M a at_ 20 95 8 .4
MxD
ia03LAR
S
MnH
t03LAR
S
MxD
ia06LAR
S
MnH
t05RR
es
VIc
Many thin stems
Unique well established germplasm
collections
Extensiveperennial grasscollections including800 accessions of Miscanthus
@Rothamsted
and IBERS
1,300 accessions of willow (incl. 100 pure species) at Rothamsted
Research
500 diverse poplars capturing wide natural diversity
Example data on poplar locations/yield
-
TSEC-Biosys
Projectfrom:-
Matt Ayott, Gail TaylorSouthampton University
Yield projections and modelling
Productivity map of Populus trichocarpa
genotype ‘trichobel’,
second rotation
EC FP7 Project
Model plants & systems biology
Arabidopsis
Poplar
Maize
Brachypodium
genomics
proteomics
metabolomics
Genediscovery
Targets for molecular breeding
Targets for QTL
high resolution sampling
Data integrationPrediction tools
Knowledge base
New leads for improving biomass yield
The mutated gene is implicated in response to pathogen infection
The mutated gene encodes a UDP
glycosyl transferase
wT wTknockout
knockout
Thorsten Hamann
Structure
• Introduction to the Porter Alliance • Biomass yield• Biomass ‘quality’
and conversion
• Sustainability and policy• Closing remarks
More quantity is only part of the solution
Increased and sustainable yield
•
Optimise cell wall composition–
Systems biology approach
–
High throughput analytics –
Regulating cell wall phenolics
–
Self-processing plants ?
Increased and sustainable yield +
optimised processability
and…
big does not necessarily mean sweet
An example in Willows
Bowles hybrid releases its glucan much more readily than other
varieties, even though it does not produce the greatest mass
Nick BreretonTotal Glucose Yield (g) / Oven Dry Weight (g)
- enzymatic hydrolysis, no pre-treatment
0.00%
5.00%
10.00%
15.00%
20.00%
25.00%
Miscanthus 7 monthold
Tora 2yr old Bowles Hybrid 3yr old
High BiomassYielding Willow
Medium BiomassYielding Willow
with Rothamsted
Research
Willows contd.
Natural variation is large
in saccharification
and ethanol potential yield.
NOTE: No pre-treatment, the ‘inherent’
enzymatic sugar release is being investigated here
Jorr 1
Jorr 9
Bowles Hybrid
0
0
0
0
0
0
0 Ethanol ltr ha-1 without Pretreatment
Willow genotype
Cal
cula
ted
etha
nol y
ield
Miscanthus
giganteus
During its annual growth there are large developmental changes in Miscanthus
.
How do these relate to saccharification
?
Pl
a b
c d
e f
g h
July to December
by Muhammad Umer
Ijaz
PhD student, with Rothamsted
Research
Miscanthus
giganteus
contd.
Saccharification
potential (no pre-treatment) changes substantially over the development cycle
Harvesting time influences ease of enzymatic hydrolysis
Harvesting time is dictated by many constraints
Also:-
• variation with internode
• fluctuation in Starch content
Microbes that release sugar from cell walls –
pre-treatment
with Mike Ray, Porter Institute Research Fellow and David Leak and Pietro
Spanu
We use fungi that depolymerise the wood cell wall
Microbial pre-treatment contd.
from pine sapwood
•
Up to 70% of glucan
becomes available for enzymatic hydrolysis
•
Ferments to ethanol without inhibition
• No harmful waste streams
• Low energy inputs
• Little GHG emission
Experimental issues –
Particle size
05
1015202530354045
Gluc
ose
yiel
d/%
ODW
Effect of particle size on glucose yield
>2000 µM
850-2000 µM
420-850 µM
250-420 µM
180-250 µM
100-180 µM
with Dr Mike Ray, Porter Institute Research Fellow
•
NREL recommends 96-168 hours
•
Most papers promoting high-throughput suggest 24 hours as sufficient
Experimental –
Enzymatic hydrolysis
with Dr Mike Ray, Porter Institute Research Fellow
16 24
7296 144 168
0
5
10
15
20
25
0 50 100 150
Gluc
ose
yiel
d/%
ODW
Time/ hours
Effect of incubation time on sugar yield
Pine
Spruce
Willow O
Experimental –
Enzymatic hydrolysis
with Dr Mike Ray, Porter Institute Research Fellow
Structure
• Introduction to the Porter Alliance • Biomass yield• Biomass ‘quality’• Sustainability and policy• Closing remarks
Positively influencing GHG and soil carbon balances
Not all land use change has to be ‘negative’
Understanding ‘Direct’
& ‘Indirect Effects’–
Read (2007)
–
Searchinger
et al + Fargione
et al (2008)–
Galbraith (2005)
from Dr Jem
Woods, Porter Institute
Land availabilityCountry Population Total Land Arable land Land Considered Suitable
for Crop Growth% Suitable % of
suitable used
(2001-2005) -
no constraints -
-
with constraints -
2005(people) (1000 ha) (1000 ha) (1000 ha) (1000 ha) (%) (%)
Brazil 186,831 853,363 58969 239,573 614,064 28% 25%China 1,312,979 934,949 142265 178,228 756,722 19% 80%India 1,134,403 306,140 159712 139,357 166,783 46% 115%Southern AfricaTanzania 38,478 93,819 9118 35,964 57,855 38% 25%South Africa 47,939 122,300 14753 31,154 91,075 25% 47%Mozambique 20,533 79,854 4270 48,043 31,811 60% 9%Zambia 11,478 74,837 5260 22,304 52,533 30% 24%Angola 16,095 123,776 3200 40,383 83,313 33% 8%UK 60,245 24,418 5728 9,888 14,530 40% 58%South East AsiaIndonesia 226,063 189,220 22600 79,444 109,776 42% 28%Malaysia 25,653 33,300 1800 16,495 16,805 50% 11%Total 3,080,697 2,835,976 427,675 840,833 1,995,267 30% 51%World 6,515,000 12,976,000 3,500,000
from Dr Jem
Woods, Porter Institute
Use of LCA in Porter Alliance Biofuels R&D
ENERGY CROPS
Optimising yield
ENERGY CROPS
Optimising yield
FRONT END PROCESSES
Optimising
accessible carbon
FRONT END PROCESSES
Optimising accessible carbon
PRIMARY CONVERSION
Optimising
conversion to biofuel
PRIMARY CONVERSION
Optimising conversion to
biofuel
Sustainability and life cycle analysis
Sustainability and life cycle analysis
MiscanthusMiscanthus
WillowWillow
SwitchgrassSwitchgrass
PoplarPoplar
Sugar cane bagasseSugar cane bagasse
Forest residues Forest residues
Crop residuesCrop residues
FungiFungi
Dilute acid / alkalineDilute acid / alkaline
Ionic liquidsIonic liquids
Mild thermalMild thermal
ThermochemicalThermochemical
Hydrothermal Hydrothermal
Rumen microbesRumen microbes
Steam Steam
Developmental front end processes
Developmental front end processes
Proprietary microbial ethanologens
Proprietary microbial ethanologens
Direct fermentation of oligosaccharides Direct fermentation of oligosaccharides
Butanologenic
recombinant bacteria
Butanologenic
recombinant bacteria
Long chain alkane
/ alkanol
producing organisms
Long chain alkane
/ alkanol
producing organisms
Developmental microbial ethanologens
Developmental microbial ethanologens
• Complexity of R&Dopportunities and possibilities –
use process
systems engineering and sustainability modelling
•
LCA (+ other tools) to find the most environmentally sustainable routes
Uses of LCA in policy –
UK RTFO
•
The UK Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation (RTFO) provides a mechanism to support the use of sustainable biofuels in the UK market
•
It assesses greenhouse gas emissions and other sustainability-linked criteria in an LCA context
•
The first Quarterly Report on this by the Renewable Fuels Agency was published in October 2008see
http://www.renewablefuelsagency.org/
Feedstock transport
Biofuel production
Cultivation & harvest
Cultivation & harvest
Biofuel transport
Waste materialWaste
material
Alternative waste
management
Boundary for monthly carbon intensity calculationPrevious
land use
Alternative land use
Fossil fuel reference system
Assessed separately
Excludes minor sources, from:
• Manufacture of machinery or equipment
• PFCs, HFCs, SF6
Assessed ex post by RTFO Administrator
Biofuel use
Supply chains and boundaries in the UK RTFO process
E4TECH, 2007
UK RTFO 1st
quarterly report
• Biodiesel dominates
•
Major biodiesel suppliers USA, UK & Germany
• Major bioethanol
suppliers Brazil, UK
Note: data is for obligation year to date based on submitted monthly returns to the RFA. Final audit of this data occurs annually and revisions to the data may occur at any point up to that time. RFA will publish a comprehensive end of year dataset
Data here are for whole blended fuel
UK RTFO 1st
quarterly report
The methodology is indicating differential savings in GHGs
– this is expected on the basis of LCA studies
Note: data is for obligation year to date based on submitted monthly returns to the RFA. Final audit of this data occurs annually and revisions to the data may occur at any point up to that time. RFA will publish a comprehensive end of year dataset
UK RTFO 1st
quarterly report
Note: data is for obligation year to date based on submitted monthly returns to the RFA. Final audit of this data occurs annually and revisions to the data may occur at any point up to that time. RFA will publish a comprehensive end of year dataset
Overall GHG savings were 44% vs
a target of 40%
UK RTFO 1st
quarterly report
Note: data is for obligation year to date based on submitted monthly returns to the RFA. Final audit of this data occurs annually and revisions to the data may occur at any point up to that time. RFA will publish a comprehensive end of year dataset
A ‘qualifying environmental standard’
is an existing certification scheme that meets an acceptable number of the seven RTFO sustainability
principles (fuels from ‘wastes’
automatically comply)
Structure
• Introduction to the Porter Alliance • Biomass yield• Biomass ‘quality’• Sustainability and policy• Closing remarks
We also regard Integration as essential to progress
Systems Biology
Knowledge base
Unique resources
Bio energy crops
Optimised bioenergy crops
Processing evaluation
Sustainability
Platform tools & technologies
Integrated Biofuels Refinery
Integration –
people, interests, skills, challenges
Thank you -
see more of us at
•
www.porteralliance.org.uk