Biofuels technology: A look forward

Stafford, William; Lotter, Adrian; Brent, Alan C.; Maltitz, Graham von

doi:10.35188/unu-wider/2017/311-0

Cited by 23 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Eight advanced biofuel pathways to produce ethanol, renewable jet fuel (RJF), gasoline, diesel, methanol and dimethyl ether (DME) are considered. The conversion technologies are selected since they are already available or close to commercialization (Papadokonstantakis & City, 2017; Stafford et al, 2017). Not all lignocellulosic energy crops are directly suitable to be combined with all conversion technologies.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Supply potential of lignocellulosic energy crops grown on marginal land and greenhouse gas footprint of advanced biofuels—A spatially explicit assessment under the sustainability criteria of the Renewable Energy Directive Recast

et al. 2021

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Advanced biofuels produced from lignocellulosic crops grown on marginal lands can become an important part of the European Union (EU) climate change mitigation strategy to reduce CO2 emissions and meet biofuel demand. This study quantifies spatially explicit the availability of marginal land in the EU, its production biomass potentials for eight different crops, and the greenhouse gas (GHG) performance of advanced biofuel supply chains. Available land is mapped based on land marginality and Renewable Energy Directive Recast (REDII) land‐related sustainability criteria. Biomass potentials are assessed with a water‐use‐to‐biomass‐production approach while considering the available land, location‐specific biophysical conditions and crop‐specific phenological characteristics. The GHG balance of advanced biofuels from energy crops produced on marginal lands is assessed considering both land‐related carbon stock changes and supply chain emissions with the carbon footprint approach from the REDII. Available marginal land that meets REDII criteria is projected at 20.5–21 Mha 2030 and 2050, respectively. Due to biophysical limitations, not all available land is suitable for energy crop production. The maximum biomass potential of lignocellulosic energy crops (optimal crop choice with maximum yield for each available location) varies between 1951 PJ year−1 in 2030 and 2265 PJ year−1 in 2050. The GHG emission performance (net emissions) of different advanced biofuel supply chains varies on average between −32 g CO2‐eq MJfuel−1 for poplar/willow diesel to 38 g CO2‐eq MJfuel‐1 for reed canary grass renewable jet fuel. The large variability in GHG performance is strongly determined by the spatial heterogeneity, which dictates the type of feedstock produced under specific local biophysical conditions, the crop characteristics, and the best conversion pathway. Negative GHG emissions are related to increased carbon stocks for the biomass and soil organic carbon pools compared to the land prior to conversion. When for each location, the advanced biofuel supply chain with the highest GHG performance (lowest net GHG emissions) is selected, 618 PJ year−1 of advanced biofuels can be produced by 2030. Under REDII GHG emission criteria, slightly less (552 PJ year−1) is viable. Smart choices on location, crop type and supply chain design are paramount to achieve maximum benefits of bioenergy systems.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Supply potential of lignocellulosic energy crops grown on marginal land and greenhouse gas footprint of advanced biofuels—A spatially explicit assessment under the sustainability criteria of the Renewable Energy Directive Recast

et al. 2021

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“…Because a large data survey has not been carried out so far, the authors use average data on HTP archetypes identified by a literature review (cf. KIC InnoEnergy, 2015; Klemm et al, 2009; Reißmann et al, 2018; Stafford et al, 2017). It has to be mentioned that this preliminary calculation was just carried out to validate the model and the results are not reliable so far.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

How to identify suitable ways for the hydrothermal treatment of wet bio-waste? A critical review and methods proposal

2018

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A considerable amount of wet biogenic residues and waste has no resource-efficient use in several European countries yet. Hydrothermal processes (HTP) seem to be promising for treating such biomass as they best work with substrates with 70% to 90% water content. However, thus far the suitability of HTP for this purpose has not been sufficiently evaluated, for which this work aims to identify suitable multi-criteria analysis (MCA) methods that can be used to identify promising ways for the hydrothermal treatment of wet bio-waste. A review on 31 recent MCA studies in bio-waste management was conducted with the aim of comparing them to methodological requirements for evaluating HTP. Furthermore, an MCA approach for HTP based on the review findings is proposed. Results show that no observed MCA method is directly transferable for assessing HTP, for which a customized approach combining the analytical hierarchy process and the technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solutions is proposed and preliminarily validated with literature data. These preliminary calculations indicate that hydrothermal gasification seems most promising under consideration of multiple criteria using the available average and exemplary data. However, needless to say there is still a long way to go to obtain the sufficient adequate data to validate and use the model appropriately, for which further studies are necessary to acquire more reliable data and to assess also future technology developments of HTP.

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“…Other feedstocks such as JEDT 17,4 forest and other lignocellulosic residues are viable choices in areas where wood-based product manufacturing is common (Woiciechowski et al, 2016). Feedstock availability and prices are the key influential aspects for biofuels manufacturing in different regions of the world (Meyer et al, 2018;Melikoglu, 2016;Stafford et al, 2017). Therefore, a fixed biomass waste accumulation is essential to ensure a feasible deployment of a commercial biofuel plant for processing of organic wastes (Biofuels, 2018).…”

Section: Technical Feasibilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Economic and technical feasibility studies: technologies for second generation biofuels

Mungodla

Linganiso

Mlambo

et al. 2019

JEDT

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Purpose In 2008, a number of Southern African countries cultivated about 900,000 ha of Jatropha, with a number of biodiesel plants ready for production; however, none of the projects succeeded. In 2014, KiOR advanced biofuel Energy Company in the USA announced bankruptcy due to incompetent technology. Studies disclose that the reasons for biofuel plants failure are not only due to lack of incentives and unclear policies but also due to lack of economic feasibility and low production yields. This paper aims to review the techno-economy assessment of second-generation biofuel technologies. The purpose of this paper is to summarize specific techno-economic indicators such as production cost, technology efficiency and process life cycle analysis for advanced biofuel technology and to narrate and illustrate a clear view of what requires assessment to deploy a feasible advanced biofuel technology. This study also reviews assessment of biomass supply chain, feedstock availability and site selection criteria. The review also elaborates on the use of different processes, forecasting and simulation-modeling tools used in different techno-economic analysis studies. The review provides guidance for conducting a technical and economic feasibility study for the advanced biofuels energy business. Design/methodology/approach The aim of this review is, therefore, to evaluate the techno-economic feasibility studies for the establishment of viable industrial scale production of second-generation biofuels. It does so by grouping studies based on technology selection, feedstock availability and suitability, process simulation and economies as well as technology environmental impact assessment. Findings In conclusion, techno-economic analysis tools offer researchers insight in terms of where their research and development should focus, to attain the most significant enhancement for the economics of a technology. The study patterns within the scope of techno-economics of advanced biofuel reveal that there is no generic answer as to which technology would be feasible at a commercial scale. It is therefore important to keep in mind that models can only simplify and give a simulation of reality to a certain extent. Nevertheless, reviewed studies do not reach the same results, but some results are logically similar. Originality/value The originality of this article specifically illustrates important technical and economic indicators that should be considered when conducting feasibility studies for advance biofuels.

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Biofuels technology: A look forward

Cited by 23 publications

References 29 publications

Supply potential of lignocellulosic energy crops grown on marginal land and greenhouse gas footprint of advanced biofuels—A spatially explicit assessment under the sustainability criteria of the Renewable Energy Directive Recast

Supply potential of lignocellulosic energy crops grown on marginal land and greenhouse gas footprint of advanced biofuels—A spatially explicit assessment under the sustainability criteria of the Renewable Energy Directive Recast

How to identify suitable ways for the hydrothermal treatment of wet bio-waste? A critical review and methods proposal

Economic and technical feasibility studies: technologies for second generation biofuels

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