What are biorenewable resources???

1. What are biorenewable resources??? Biorenewable resources, also known as biomass, are organic materials of recent biological origin. Biomass may be grown as crops, but the vast majority of the world’s biorenewable resources are forests, prairies, marshes, and fisheries. Solar energy collected by green plants is converted into energetic chemical bonds to produce proteins, oils, and carbohydrates. This stored chemical energy is raw material that can be used as a resource for heat and stationary power, transportation fuels, commodity chemicals, and fibers.

2. What are biorenewable resources??? Biorenewable resources are by definition sustainable natural resources. Sustainable implies that the resource renews itself at such a rate that it will be available for use by future generation. Deforestation of Amazon Switch Grass

3. Bioenergy and Bio-based Products Transportation Fuels Chemicals Electrical Power Natural Fibers

5. Biorenewable Resource Utilization Before Industrialization Silkworms Charcoal Biorenewable resources were the predominant source of energy, organic chemicals, and fibers in the human history as recently as 150 years ago. 5,500 Years-Old Winery

6. Decline of Biobassed Products An Energy Dependent Society Driving Force for Change: Less Expensive & More Easily Manipulated Feedstock Cook and Sheath, 1997

7. Petroleum & Fossil Resources-Based Industry 1859 - Drake Well, Titusville, PA Titusville City Limits

8. Petroleum & Fossil Resources-Based Industry

9. Total Energy Renewable Energy • Biomass • Wood waste • Municipal solid waste • Landfill and biogas • Ethanol • Biodiesel Data from EIA 2007 Petroleum & Fossil Resources-Based Industry We live in a fossil fuel society Transportation

11. Motivation for Returning to a Bioeconomy •Excess agricultural production: Especially in U.S., but many countries are becoming self sufficient in food production

12. More Electric Platform

13. Fuel Mix for U.S. Electricity Generation in 2005 From EPA website

14. Motivation for Returning to a Bioeconomy •National security: Reduced reliance on foreign cartels

16. Motivation for Returning to a Bioeconomy •Rural development: Rural economies are not thriving in many parts of the world

17. Challenges to Using Biorenewable Resources • •Low bulk density • –Complicates handling, transport, and storage • •High moisture content • –Impacts transport and energy demand of processing • •Low heating value • –Requires large acreage • •High oxygen content • –Current economy based on hydrocarbons

18. Hydrocarbon Reforming C2H6 + 4H2O  2CO2 + 7H2 3H2 + N2 → 2NH3 H H H2O O = C = O + H - H H C C H H H

19. O H H C C H H C2H5OH + 3H2O  2CO2 +6H2 Ethanol Steam Reforming (ESR) H H H H coke C C H dehydration -H2O H H C C OH H H 5H2 + 2CO2 dehydrogenation -H2 steam reforming +3H2O CH4 + CO decomposition acetaldehyde ??? Surface intermediates Renewable Hydrogen from Bio-ethanol

20. Defining the Resource Base • • Wastes • –Agricultural residues (cornstover, wheat straw, bagasse) • –Yard waste • –Municipal solid waste (MSU) • –Food processing waste (grain hulls) • –Manure

21. Defining the Resource Base • • Dedicated crops • –Conventional crops (corn and soybeans) • –Herbaceous crops (grasses) • A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level • –Woody crops (poplar trees)

22. Composition of Biorenewable Resources • Basic building blocks –Protein –Oils –Sugar –Starch –Lignocellulose (fiber)

23. Lignocellulose: Future Feedstock • • Structural material of most plants • • Polymeric composite consisting of: • –Cellulose (polysaccharide of glucose) • –Hemicellulose (polysaccharide of pentoses and hexoses) • –Lignin (phenylpropane-based polymer) • • Not easily broken down into simple sugars Building blocks for lignin Cellulose

24. How Much Biomass Could Be Produced? Total potential in U.S. is about 48 EJ (48 x 109GJ)–Could supply 50% of energy demand, or–More than enough to replace all petroleum consumption and organic chemical production

25. Biobased Products: Bioenergy • Process Heat –simplest use of biomass –Drying –Steam raising • Stationary Power –Rankine steam cycle –Brayton gas turbine cycle

26. Biobased Products: Transportation Fuels • Oxygenated fuels derived from biomass are thought to reduce air pollution –Ethanol: simple sugars derived from biomass are fermented to ethanol –Methanol: formed from the catalytic reaction of syngas (which can be produced from gasification of biomass) –Biodiesel: transesterification of vegetable oils (methyl or ethyl esters)

27. Biobased Products: Chemicals • Replacing chemical building blocks produced from petrochemicals • Exploiting biochemistry of plant materials

28. Biobased Products: Plant Fibers •Plant fibers are long, thin cells with walls of lignocellulose •Applications include textiles, papers, and composite building materials •Non-woody fibers also have potential

29. Technologies for Converting Biomass to Biobased Products • •Thermal • –Combustion (Stoichiometric or excess oxygen) • –Gasification (partial combustion) • –Pyrolysis (no oxygen) • •Biological • –Anaerobic digestion (mixed culture) • –Fermentation (pure cultures) • •Chemical • –Pressure and temperature • –Catalytic

30. Environmental Performance • • Every technology has both positive and negative impacts • –Depends upon implementation • • Biorenewable resources are no exception • –Demand for fuel wood deforested much of Europe • –Agriculture blamed for desertification in Africa

31. Economics • Biobased products must be able to compete in markets • Biorenewable resources will not win as traditional “least cost” feedstock • Restrictions on carbon dioxide emissions could rapidly shift advantage to biorenewable resources On a volumetric basis, the heating value of biomass is only 20-50% that of coal