feedstock

In the last decade biofuel production has been driven by governmental policies. This article reviews the national strategy plans of the world’s leading producers. Particular attention is dedicated to blending targets, support schemes and feedstock use. Individual country profiles are grouped by continent and include North America (Canada and the US), South America (Argentina, Brazil, and Colombia), Europe (the European Union, France, and Germany), Asia (China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand) and Australia.

The present study is a review of published investigations regarding the economy of ethanol production from lignocellulosic material. The objective is to present relations between and tendencies observed in different cost estimates. The influence of plant capacity and overall product yield on the ethanol production cost is investigated, as well as variations in capital costs in the different processes. The underlying technical and economic assumptions show a large variation between the various studies published. The variation in the ethanol production cost is large, from 18 to 151 US¢/l. The most important factor for the economic outcome is the overall ethanol yield. Other important parameters are the feedstock cost, which was found to vary between 22 and 61 US$/dry metric ton, and the plant capacity, which influences the capital cost. It is shown that there is a tendency towards a decrease in ethanol production cost with an increase in plant capacity for the enzymatic processes. A high yield also results in a decrease in production cost for the enzymatic and dilute acid processes in the papers reviewed.

Production costs of bio-ethanol from sugarcane in Brazil have declined continuously over the last three decades. The aims of this study are to determine underlying reasons behind these cost reductions, and to assess whether the experience curve concept can be used to describe the development of feedstock costs and industrial production costs. The analysis was performed using average national costs data, a number of prices (as a proxy for production costs) and data on annual Brazilian production volumes. Results show that the progress ratio (PR) for feedstock costs is 0.68 and 0.81 for industrial costs (excluding feedstock costs). The experience curve of total production costs results in a PR of 0.80. Cost breakdowns of sugarcane production show that all sub-processes contributed to the total, but that increasing yields have been the main driving force. Industrial costs mainly decreased because of increasing scales of the ethanol plants. Total production costs at present are approximately 340 US$/methanol3 (16 US$/GJ). Based on the experience curves for feedstock and industrial costs, total ethanol production costs in 2020 are estimated between US$ 200 and 260/m3 (9.4–12.2 US$/GJ). We conclude that using disaggregated experience curves for feedstock and industrial processing costs provide more insights into the factors that lowered costs in the past, and allow more accurate estimations for future cost developments.

This paper describes a preliminary analysis of two technological routes (based on hydrolysis and on gasification + Fischer–Tropsch conversion process) of biofuels production from cellulosic materials. In this paper it was considered the integration of the two alternative routes to a conventional distillery of ethanol production based on fermentation of sugarcane juice. Sugarcane bagasse is the biomass considered as input in both second-generation routes. Results show that the integration of gasification + FT process to a conventional distillery is slightly more efficient (from an energetic point of view) and also offers the advantage of products diversification (ethanol from the conventional plant, plus diesel, gasoline and more surplus electricity regarding the hydrolysis route). Considering typical Brazilian conditions, at this stage it is not possible to foresee any significant advantage of any of the alternatives, but potentially the gasification route would have an advantage regarding avoided GHG emissions depending on the emission factor of the electric sector in which cogeneration units will be installed.

Since the mid-1990s there has been a growing worldwide interest in alternative transport fuels, of which ethanol is among the most promising options. This interest has in recent years gathered pace, stimulated by high oil prices and the generally perceived view that this trend is likely to accentuate in the future. The need to reduce GHG emissions is also a fundamental reason for this interest. The focus of this paper is on fuel ethanol production from sugar and starches with emphasis on short-term issues and implications for the global market. Replacing 10-20 % of petrol with ethanol is a feasible and desired option.

The international market in fuel ethanol is in its initial stage and its full development will require the diversification of production, in terms of both feedstocks and number of producing countries. Sustainable production should become a requirement for which certification seems to be a necessity, but should be defined to assure sustainability in a broad sense so that it does not impose additional barriers to trade; policies should be defined to induce market competitiveness and sustainable development.

A method is presented, which estimates the potential for power production from agriculture residues. A GIS decision support system (DSS) has been developed, which implements the method and provides the tools to identify the geographic distribution of the economically exploited biomass potential. The procedure introduces a four level analysis to determine the
theoretical, available, technological and economically exploitable potential. The DSS handles all possible restrictions and
candidate power plants are identied using an iterative procedure that locates bioenergy units and establishes the needed cultivated area for biomass collection. Electricity production cost is used as a criterion in the identication of the sites of economically exploited biomass potential. The island of Crete is used as an example of the decision-making analysis. A signicant biomass potential exists that could be economically and competitively harvested. The main parameters that affect the location and number of bioenergy conversion facilities are plant capacity and spatial distribution of the available biomass potential.

Supply chain management involves all of the activities in industrial organizations from raw material procurement to final product delivery to customers. The main aim in supply chain management is to satisfy production requirements, while optimizing the economic objectives. In traditional fossil fuel supply chains, huge amounts of fossil fuels are transported via pipelines or tankers with very small costs. These fuels can be transformed into other sources of energy or transportation fuels at their destination points. This supply chain structure results in creation of global energy markets and has made the fossil fuel based energy systems the dominating energy technologies in the world. Unfortunately, the consumption of fossil fuels now represents the major cause of climate change, and as a consequence, the viability of the fossil fuel supply chain is becoming increasingly questioned.

Furthermore, whilst biofuels represent a sustainable alternative, the biofuel transportation channels are not as well developed as fossil fuels, are more expensive, and may be restricted by the perishability of the raw product. Thus, the development of biofuel supply chains may introduce a move from global energy markets to locally distributed energy supply chains: local plantations transformed into biodiesel in local production facilities and –usually- consumed within the same region.

Different species have been researched by many researchers as possible sources of biofuel. Although only in use for a relativity short period, Jatropha curcas is being championed as a revolutionary biofuel feedstock thanks to its environmental, economic and social benefits. Being a very resilient seed, it can grow in land which may not be considered nutritious for most crops. It can resist drought for up to three years and can be intercropped with many staple crops such as coffee and sugar. Since it is not a food source, it doesn’t involve in the ‘food vs. fuel’ debate. It is usually found and best grows in the more economically depressed regions of the world. Plantations of Jatropha and production of biofuel can create new job opportunities and an economic resource for people living in subsistence areas and these places can greatly benefit from further development of Jatropha. However, its success will depend on construction of a successful infrastructure for its supply chain. The cultivation of the plant, the production of the biodiesel, its distribution and marketing channels are developmental challenges. Thus, according to Caniëls et al. (2007) the Jatropha supply chain is characterized by being “highly dynamic and subject to uncertainties” and is a “dynamic adaptive system”, such that “the conventional preoccupation of the bulk supply chain management studies with detailed optimization and control is not so well suited to the requirements posed by this dynamic and unpredictable situation” .

There is a strong societal need to evaluate and understand the sustainability of biofuels, especially because of the significant increases in production mandated by many countries, including the United States. Sustainability will be a strong factor in the regulatory environment and investments in biofuels. Biomass feedstock production is an important contributor to environmental, social, and economic impacts from biofuels. This study presents a systems approach where the agricultural, energy, and environmental sectors are considered as components of a single system, and environmental liabilities are used as recoverable resources for biomass feedstock production. We focus on efficient use of land and water resources. We conducted a spatial analysis evaluating marginal land and degraded water resources to improve feedstock productivity with concomitant environmental restoration for the state of Nebraska. Results indicate that utilizing marginal land resources such as riparian and roadway buffer strips, brownfield sites, and marginal agricultural land could produce enough feedstocks to meet a maximum of 22% of the energy requirements of the state compared to the current supply of 2%. Degraded water resources such as nitrate-contaminated groundwater and wastewater were evaluated as sources of nutrients and water to improve feedstock productivity. Spatial overlap between degraded water and marginal land resources was found to be as high as 96% and could maintain sustainable feedstock production on marginal lands. Other benefits of implementing this strategy include feedstock intensification to decrease biomass transportation costs, restoration of contaminated water resources, and mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions.

United States is experiencing increasing interests in fermentation and anaerobic digestion processes for the production of biofuels. A simple methodology of spatial biomass assessment is presented in this paper to evaluate biofuel production and support the first decisions about the conversion technology applications. The methodology was applied to evaluate the potential biogas and ethanol production from biomass in California and Washington states. Solid waste databases were filtered to a short list of digestible and fermentable wastes in both states. Maximum methane and ethanol production rates were estimated from biochemical and ultimate analysis of each waste and projected on a GIS database. Accordingly, the optimal locations for methane and ethanol production plants were approximately determined.

The available net power for transportation and electricity generation was evaluated considering three process efficiency factors in the waste to power life cycle. The net power from methane and ethanol would ultimately cover ~ 6 - 8% of the transportation needs for motor gasoline or cover ~ 3 - 4% of the electrical power consumption in each state.

The rapidly expanding biofuel industry has changed the fundamentals of U.S. agricultural commodity markets. Increasing ethanol and biodiesel production has generated a fast-growing demand for corn and soybean products, which competes with the well-established domestic livestock industry and foreign buyers. Meanwhile, the co-products of biofuel production are replacing or displacing coarse grains and oilseed meal in feed rations for livestock. These developments in the agricultural and energy markets change the distribution of domestic grains and feeds and the utilization of shipping modes, which is likely affect the prices and basis of grains and other feedstocks in spatial markets.