Winter Barley Ethanol An Advanced Biofuel

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1 Winter Barley Ethanol An Advanced Biofuel Kevin Hicks Research Leader Sustainable Biofuels and Coproducts Research Unit Eastern Regional Research Center, ARS/USDA 600 E. Mermaid Lane, Wyndmoor, PA 19038,

2 The US Biofuels Industry Today

3 Number of Ethanol Plants, Locations, and Their Capacities as of January 19, Plants with 13 Billion Gallons (50 B L) Capacity ~11 Plants under Construction will Provide another 1.4 Billion Gallons Total Capacity When Completed = 14.4 Bil. Gal. (55 B liters) 14.4 Billion Gallons meets about 10% of our total transportation fuel needs! Source: RFA Corn is Still the #1 Feedstock! >95% made from corn

4 What are Plans for Biofuels in the Future in the US?

5 The 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act Requires Aggressive Increase in Advanced Biofuels! * * Advanced biofuels is renewable fuel other than ethanol derived from corn starch that is derived from renewable biomass, and achieves a 50 percent greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction (compared to gasoline).

6 The 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act Requires Aggressive Increase in Advanced Biofuels!

7 What is the Status of 2 nd Generation Advanced Biofuels Production in the US? 2010 RFS called for ~1 billion gallons Now: 8 Plants in Operation with Capacity of ~5 mgy US Advanced Biofuels Plants Planned, Built, or Under Construction By 2013: 20 More Planned and If Built would have Capacity of ~270 mgy Source: Biofuels Journal Sept/Oct 2009

8 The Development of 2 nd Generation Advanced Biofuels is Behind Schedule. Why? We are just learning how to make them. Advanced biofuels such as cellulosic ethanol are very difficult to make. The EPA has now dramatically lowered the expected level of cellulosic biofuels to only 6.5 million gallons for 2010.

9 Key Improvements Still Needed for Biofuels

10 Feedstock Issues There are not enough non-food biomass feedstocks available There is no present infrastructure for harvesting, storing and transporting biomass Feedstocks that are available are expensive major factor in biofuel cost More attention should be given to developing non-food feedstocks that are more easily converted to biofuels! Much research is still needed to provide abundant and inexpensive feedstocks that don t compete with food production.

11 Fuel Fungibility Issues Ethanol is incompatible with existing pipelines and unmodified automobiles Requires dedicated pipelines, fueling stations and E-85 Flex Fuel Cars Ethanol Blend Wall at present is 10% of fuels or 14 bgy unless more Flex Fuel cars are available Recent thinking is to develop fungible biofuels like green gasoline and diesel, butanol, and other fuels that drop-in to the current fuel infrastructure. This is a paradigm shift!

12 Economic Sustainability The initial costs for most advanced biofuels will be very high: Plant capital costs are 5-10 times as much as corn ethanol plants Production costs are 2-5X corn ethanol Much more research is still needed, both basic and applied to lower capital, operating, and production costs.

13 Environmental Sustainability Need to ensure that biofuels actually improve the environment Must determine Life Cycle impact of biofuels on the environment, esp. GHG emissions and water use field to wheel Indirect Land Use Changes (ILUC) When a farmer in US grows a biofuel feedstock on 1 acre of his food cropland, he indirectly causes the destruction of 1 acre of Rain Forest somewhere else in the world to replace that lost cropland. New EPA rules for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2) penalize US biofuels producers by making them responsible for GHG emissions due to both direct and indirect land use. We have to find a way to grow biofuel crops on land currently not in use, with no decrease in food production, with no deforestation.

14 Can We Make Advanced Biofuels from Feedstocks that are Easier to Grow, Harvest, and Convert? We need to think outside the box! We need an advanced biofuel crop that: Can be grown, harvested and stored using current equipment/infrastructure Does not require any new land Does not compete with food production Can be economically converted to biofuel Produces 50% less LC GHG than gasoline Is there such a crop?

15 Yes! And for our Region of the US it is Winter Barley!

16 Barley Is A Crop Grown Outside The Corn Belt These barley belts can provide feedstock for ethanol plants outside the corn belt where transportation fuels and economic development are needed!

17 Why Winter Barley For Fuel Ethanol? Farmers on the East Coast and other areas with mild winters can grow barley as a winter crop, allowing double cropping with soy or corn in the summer! No special planting or harvesting equipment is needed. This produces additional revenue for farmers and provides ethanol feedstock on land that would not have been used otherwise (winter fallow). There is no competition with food production. Winter barley acts as a cover crop, preventing soil and nutrient losses to the environment, saving the soil and the Chesapeake Bay. Good for farmers, environment, ethanol producers, energy independence: win-win-win-win

18 Does Winter Barley Fit our Model for an Advanced Biofuel Feedstock? Must be grown, harvested and stored using current equipment/infrastructure Must not require any new land Must not compete with food production Must be economically converted to biofuel Must produce 50% less LC GHG than gasoline

19 Does Winter Barley Fit our Model for a Advanced Biofuel Feedstock? Must be grown, harvested and stored using current equipment/infrastructure - OK Must not require any new land Must not compete with food production Must be economically converted to biofuel Must produce 50% less LC GHG than gasoline

20 Does Winter Barley Fit our Model for a Advanced Biofuel Feedstock? Must be grown, harvested and stored using current equipment/infrastructure - OK Must not require any new land - OK Must not compete with food production Must be economically converted to biofuel Must produce 50% less LC GHG than gasoline

21 Does Winter Barley Fit our Model for a Advanced Biofuel Feedstock? Must be grown, harvested and stored using current equipment/infrastructure - OK Must not require any new land - OK Must not compete with food production - OK Must be economically converted to biofuel Must produce 50% less LC GHG than gasoline

22 Does Winter Barley Fit our Model for an Advanced Biofuel Feedstock? Must be grown, harvested and stored using current equipment/infrastructure - OK Must not require any new land - OK Must not compete with food production - OK Must be economically converted to biofuel- NO Must produce 50% less LC GHG than gasoline -?

23 Major Challenges Using Barley for Ethanol Production in 2001 Traditional barley had low starch content (~50-55%) compared to corn (~70%) results in low ethanol yields High viscosity of mash due to b-glucans soluble viscous polysaccharides that make processing difficult and expensive and limits the feed use of the ethanol co-products, DDGS, to primarily ruminant animals Because of these reasons, barley had rarely been considered as an ethanol feedstock in the US

24 How We Solved These Technical Issues Working with breeders to develop better barley for fuel ethanol production. Working with Genencor, A Danisco Division to use new enzymes to reduce viscosity, increase ethanol yield, and develop energy saving fuel ethanol processes

25 Barley Breeding Was Accomplished at Virginia Tech Prof. Carl Griffey THOROUGHBRED DOYCE Wynse Brooks Barley Breeder Griffey, C., Brooks, W., Kurantz, M., Thomason, W., Taylor, F., Obert, D., Moreau, R., Flores, R., Sohn, M., and Hicks, K. Grain composition of Virginia winter barley and implications for use in feed, food, and biofuels production. Journal of Cereal Science. 51:

26 Composition of Barley is Critical for Fuel Ethanol Production COMPONENT (%, DWB) NOMINI - HULLED FEED BARLEY (POOR) THOROUGHBRED V.T. ELITE HULLED (BETTER) EVE - V.T. ELITE HULL-LESS (BEST) STARCH b-glucan PROTEIN OIL ASH NDF TEST WT (LB/BU)

27 How Did We Solve the b-glucan Viscosity Issue? With better Enzymes Combinations of b-glucanases and b- glucosidases convert viscous b-glucans into fermentable glucose This lowers viscosity and increases ethanol yield because now both starch and b-glucan are converted to ethanol. Nghiem, N.P., Hicks, K.B., Johnston, D.B., Senske, G., Kurantz, M., Li, M., Shetty, J., and Konieczny-Janda, G. Production of ethanol from winter barley by the EDGE (enhanced dry grind enzymatic) process. Biotechnology for Biofuels 3:

28 Barley EDGE* Process *Enhanced Dry Grind Enzymatic Milled Barley Pre-liquefaction Steam Liquefaction Thin stillage Evaporation condensate C 60 min C ph C ph 5.2 SPEZYME Xtra OPTIMASH BG Fresh water OPTIMASH TBG C ph FERMENZYME L yeast SSF b-glucosidase OPTIMASH BG Urea

29 Osage Bio Energy is Building the First Winter Barley Ethanol Plant in Hopewell Virginia!

30 Osage Bio Energy is Building the First Winter Barley Ethanol Plant in Hopewell Virginia! Will produce 65 million gallons ethanol / year Will buy 30 million bushels of barley per year Will sell 170,000 tons/year of barley protein meal Will sell 50,000 tons/year of barley hull pellets Will sell CO2 to Praxair

31 Will Winter Barley Ethanol Meet the EPA s Requirement for an Advanced Biofuel? If it doesn t result in 50% reductions in LC GHG emissions versus gasoline, it must be sold as corn ethanol which only reduces GHG by ~20% The market already has enough corn ethanol We have initiated a LCA for winter barley ethanol

32 A LIFE CYCLE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS MODEL OF OSAGE BIO ENERGY S WINTER BARLEY-TO-ETHANOL PROCESS SABRINA SPATARI ALEXANDER STADEL Preliminary Estimates are very promising

33 Final Thoughts The 2010 regional barley crop suffered from hot dry spring weather. Yields and supply will be low. Regional energy crops do not have the advantages of national crops where supply from one region can make up for regional droughts and floods, in another. But we should never forget, that bioenergy, like all agriculture, depends on the weather! Other regional crops exist that could serve as winter bioenergy cover crops: pennycress, for example. These other regional crops could produce more advanced biofuels, more farm income, and could help clean up waterways such as the Gulf of Mexico.

34 Acknowledgements ARS John Nghiem, Andy McAloon, Winnie Yee, Edna Ramirez, Frank Taylor, David Johnston, Rolando Flores, Bob Moreau, Gerry Senske, Akwasi Boateng, Charles Mullen, Mike Kurantz, Robyn Moten, Mike Powell, Jhanel Wilson. Virginia Tech Dan Brann, Carl Griffey, Wynse Brooks, Wade Thomason, Bruce Beahm, and Mark Vaughn Genencor, a Danisco Division Bruce Strohm, Jay Shetty, Mian Li, Gerhard Konieczny-Janda, Brad Paulson, Pauline Tenuissen, and Bob Randle Osage Bio Energy Craig Shealy, Joel Stone, Pat Simms, Eric Lee, Hank Bisner, Bill Scruggs, Tim Richter, Earl Spruill, John Warren.

35 Thanks for your Attention!