The Possible Role of Biorefineries in a BioEconomy Activities of IEA Bioenergy Task 42 Biorefining

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1 The Possible Role of Biorefineries in a BioEconomy Activities of IEA Bioenergy Task 42 Biorefining DI. Dr. Gerfried Jungmeier JOANNEUM RESEARCH Forschungsgesellschaft mbh Elisabethstrasse 18 A-8010 Graz gerfried.jungmeier@joanneum.at Co-Author from IEA participating countries: René van Ree (NL), Ed de Jong (NL), Heinz Stichnothe (G), Isabella de Bari (I), Henning Jorgensen (Dk), Maria Wellisch (Ca), Kirk Torr (NZ), Kazunori Habu (J), Gil Garnier (AUS), Jim Spaeth (USA) Abstract IEA Bioenergy Task 42 Biorefining has formulated the following definition: Biorefining is the sustainable processing of biomass into a spectrum of bio-based products (food, feed, chemicals, materials) and bioenergy (biofuels, power and/or heat). Energy-driven biorefineries and productdriven biorefineries are distinguished. A classification system for biorefinery was developed to describe each biorefinery by the following four features: 1) platform e.g. syngas, 2) feedstock, 3) products and 4) processes, e.g. A 3-platform (lignin, C6&C5 sugar, electricity&heat,) biorefinery using wood chips for bioethanol. Based on the activities of the 11 participating countries (A, AUS, CA, DK, FR, G, I, J, K, NL, US) the task identifies and assesses the current status and development potential of energy-driven biorefineries and product-driven biorefineries for a biobased economy. As a first step the 14 most interesting energy driven biorefinery concepts by 2025 and their value chains, including the integration and deployment options in existing industrial infrastructures, were analysed. These concepts produce the following road transportation biofuels: biodiesel, bioethanol, FT-biofuels, biomethane from upgraded biogas and synthetic natural gas (SNG) from the following feedstocks: oilseed crops, oil based residues, sugar and starch crops, wood chips, straw, grass, manure, saw mill residues, pulping liquor and algae. The state of technological development varies significantly between these concepts. Finally four commercial scale energy driven biorefineries, five demonstration scale energy driven biorefineries and five conceptual energy driven biorefineries (feasible by 2025) are identified. An assessment based on a full value chain approach, covering raw material issues, conversion processes and final product applications in an integrated approach is done. The framework for this assessment of these biorefinery systems is described to evaluate and document the sustainability of these concepts by analysing economic, environmental and social aspects in comparison to conventional processes and products. As the development status and the perspectives for implementation and development of these energy driven biorefineries in a BioEconomy are different the IEA task developed a Biorefinery Fact Sheet for the uniform description of the key facts and figures of the different biorefinery concepts. Based on a technical description and the classification scheme the mass and energy balance is calculated for the most reasonable production capacity for each of the selected biorefineries. Then the three dimensions economic, environmental and social - of sustainability are assessed for each biorefinery and documented in the compact form in the Biorefinery Fact Sheet. The Biorefinery Fact Sheet assists various stakeholders in finding their position on biorefining in a future biobased economy. The Biorefinery Fact Sheets are available for the 15 most interesting energy driven biorefinery systems identified by IEA Bioenergy Task 42. The IEA Task 42 Biorefining deals with the analysis and distribution of strategic relevant information of value chains of biorefineries. Based on this information the implementation of a BioEconomy is supported with a focus on: Assessing the major market deployment aspects for integrated biorefineries Supporting the industry by setting their position in a future BioEconomy Analysing optimal sustainable biomass valorisation approaches for Food and Non-Food applications Preparing policy advice on needs for implementation Further information:

2 Introduction IEA Bioenergy Task 42 Biorefining has the following definition on biorefinery: Biorefining is the sustainable processing of biomass into a spectrum of bio-based products (food, feed, chemicals, and materials) and bioenergy (biofuels, power and/or heat). Currently many different and various biorefinery concepts are developed and are already implemented. On one hand some of these biorefinery concepts are simple, using one feedstock (e.g. vegetable oil) and producing two or three products (e.g. biodiesel, animal feed, glycerine) with current available commercial technologies, on the other hand some biorefinery concepts are very complex using many different feedstocks e.g. algae, miscanthus and wood chips from short rotation, to coproduce a broad spectrum of different products, e.g. bioethanol, phenol, omega 3 fatty acidy, biodiesel, using technologies that might become commercial in several years. Based on the activities of the 11 participating countries (A, AUS, CA, DK, FR, G, I, J, K, NL, US) the task identifies and assesses the current status and development potential of energy-driven biorefineries and product-driven biorefineries. The assessments are based on a Full Value Chain Approach, covering raw material issues, conversion processes and final product use in an integrated approach and assessing economic, socio-economic, environmental and social aspects in comparison to conventional processes and products. As a first step the 15 most interesting energy-driven biorefinery concepts until 2025 and their value chains, including the integration and deployment options in industrial infrastructures, are analyzed. Classification and identification of promising biorefineries until 2025 As the development status and the perspectives for implementation and development of these energy driven biorefineries are different the IEA task develops a Biorefinery Fact Sheet for the sustainability assessment. Based on a technical description and the classification scheme the mass and energy balance is calculated for the most reasonable production capacity for each of the selected biorefineries. Then the three dimensions economic, environmental and social - of sustainability are assessed for each biorefinery and documented in a compact form in the Biorefinery Fact Sheet. Based on these sheets an easy comparison of the different biorefinery systems is possible. The Biorefinery Fact Sheet assists various stakeholders in finding their position on biorefining in a future biobased economy. The selected energy driven biorefineries are designed to produce large volumes of liquid and/or gaseous road transportation biofuels co-producing marketable bioproducts. The expectation is that the bioproducts provide additional revenue streams environmental benefits that reduce the production costs and environmental impacts of road transportation biofuels. Modeling and optimization are necessary to evaluate the tradeoffs between road transportation biofuel production and deriving benefits from co-products. The optimal product portfolio might change over time as the product markets can change, policies evolve and new technologies are developed. The most promising biorefinery concepts are presented in the following list using the classification nomenclature of IEA Bioenergy Task 42 (Figure 1). The classification of a biorefinery consists of the following four features: 1) platforms, 2) products, 3) feedstocks and 4) processes. With the combination of these four features, different biorefinery configurations can be described in a consistent manner. In Figure 2 a generic classification scheme of a biorefinery is shown on the right hand side and an example of the production of biodiesel, glycerin and animal feed from oilseed crops in a biorefinery on the left hand side.

3 Figure 1: The 4 features to characterize a biorefinery system -and nomenclature of biorefineries in IEA Bioenergy Task 42 Figure 2: Classification scheme of a biorefinery: generic scheme (left), example (right) 1-platform (oil) biorefinery using oilseed crops for biodiesel, glycerin and feed via pressing, esterification and distillation The state of technology and their commercialization is quite different for these concepts. Here three different states of technologies are used: 1. Commercial scale energy driven biorefineries: these biorefineries are state of the art and are worldwide in commercial operation under current economic conditions

4 2. Demonstration scale energy driven biorefineries: these biorefineries or their main processes are demonstrated on a technical scale at one or more locations worldwide, but they need further technical optimization and cannot be operated under current commercial conditions. It is expected that these biorefineries can be commercially operated in Conceptual energy driven biorefineries: these biorefineries are not demonstrated on technical scale so far, but it is expected that they will be further technically developed and demonstrated after further necessary R&D developments within the next years. It is expected that these biorefineries can be commercially operated in In the selected 15 biofuel-driven biorefineries are presented according to these three groups of their technological development: Commercial scale energy driven biorefineries: 1-platform (oil) biorefinery using oilseed crops for biodiesel, glycerin and feed 1-platform (oil) biorefinery using oil based residues&oilseed crops for biodiesel, glycerin and feed 1-platform (C6 sugars) biorefinery using sugar&starch crops for bioethanol and feed 3-platform (C6 sugars, bagasse, electricity&heat) biorefinery using sugar cane for bioethanol, electricity, heat, sugar and fertilizer Demonstration scale energy driven biorefineries: 4-platform (C6 sugars, C5 sugars, lignin, electricity&heat) biorefinery using straw for bioethanol, electricity, heat and feed 3-platform (C5&C6 sugars, electricity&heat, lignin) biorefinery using wood chips for bioethanol, electricity, heat and phenols 5-platform (biogas, biomethane, green pressate, fibers, electricity&heat) biorefinery using grass and manure for biomethane, amino acid, lactic acid, biomaterials and fertilizer 4-platform (electricity&heat, hydrogen, biomethane, syngas) biorefinery using wood chips for biomethane (SNG), hydrogen and carbon dioxide 5-platform (C6 sugars, C5&C6 sugars, lignin, syngas, electricity&heat) biorefinery using starch crops and straw for bioethanol, FT-biofuels, feed, electricity and heat Conceptual energy driven biorefineries: 2-platform (electricity&heat, syngas) biorefinery using wood chips for FT-biofuels, electricity, heat and waxes with steam gasification 3-platform (pyrolysis oil, syngas, electricity&heat) biorefinery using straw for FT-biofuels and methanol with oxygen gasification 4-platform (pulp, syngas, electricity&heat) biorefinery using wood chips for FT-biofuels, electricity, heat and pulp 5-platform (C6&C5 sugars, lignin&c6 sugars, electricity&heat) biorefinery using saw mill residues, wood chips and sulfite liquor for bioethanol, pulp&paper, electricity and heat 4-platform (biogas, biomethane, oil, electricity&heat) biorefinery using algae for biodiesel, biomethane, electricity, heat and glycerin, omega 3 and fertilizer. Biorefinery Fact Sheet The idea to develop a Biorefinery Fact Sheet was to calculate and present the sustainability assessment covering economic, environmental and social aspects of various biorefinery systems. Various up to date methodologies for sustainability assessment e.g. life cycle assessment are applied to biorefinery systems. The relevance of the Biorefinery Fact Sheet is to compare and assess different biorefinery concepts in accordance to their future development and implementation perspectives. The results are relevant and essential for industry, decision makers and investors to assist them in their strategies to invest and implement the most promising biorefinery systems to minimize unexpected technical, economic and financial risks and to contribute to the development of a biobased economy. The Biorefinery Fact Sheets consist of three parts (Figure 3): 1. Part A: Biorefinery plant 2. Part B: Value chain assessment and 3. Annex: Methodology of sustainability assessment and data

5 In Part A the key characteristics of the biorefinery plant are described by giving compact information on classification scheme, description of the biorefinery, mass and energy balance, share of costs and revenues. In Figure 4 to Figure 6 this compact information in Part A are shown for an example. Figure 3: The three parts of the Biorefinery Fact Sheet Figure 4: Main characteristics of the biorefinery plant in the Part A of the Biorefinery Fact Sheet (Example)

6 Figure 5: Mass and energy balance of the biorefinery plant in the Part A of the Biorefinery Fact Sheet (Example) Figure 6: Share of costs and revenues of the biorefinery plant in the Part A of the Biorefinery Fact Sheet (Example) In Part B the sustainability assessment based on the whole value chain of the biorefinery plant is described by giving compact information on system boundaries, reference system, cumulated primary energy demand, greenhouse gas emissions and costs and revenues. In Figure 7 to Figure 10 this compact information in Part B are shown for an example.

7 Figure 7: System boundaries and reference system of the sustainability assessment in Part B of the Biorefinery Fact Sheet (Example) Figure 8: Overview of sustainability assessment in Part B of the Biorefinery Fact Sheet (Example)

8 Figure 9: Cumulated primary energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions of sustainability assessment in Part B of the Biorefinery Fact Sheet (Example) Figure 10: Costs and revenues of the sustainability assessment in Part B of the Biorefinery Fact Sheet (Example) In the Annex of the Biorefinery Fact Sheet the methodology and data for the sustainability assessment are documented. One important aspect is the choice of the reference system to produce the same products as the biorefinery plant (Figure 11) and the basics of comparing a biorefinery to the reference system (Figure 12). In a next step the Biorefinery Fact Sheets will be made for the 15 most interesting energy driven biorefinery systems identified by IEA Bioenergy Task 42. These biorefineries produce road transportation biofuels in huge amounts (biodiesel, bioethanol, biomethane and FT-diesel) from various feedstocks by coproducing high value products like food, feed, biochemicals and biomaterials.

9 Figure 11: Choice and definition of the reference system for the sustainability assessment in the Biorefinery Fact Sheet Figure 12: Basics for the consistent comparison of biorefineries to reference systems Conclusions The main conclusions are a unique classification of different biorefineries is possible via the 4 features: platforms, products, feedstocks, processes IEA Bioenergy Task 42 Biorefinery has selected the most interesting Biofuel-driven Biorefineries until 2025 and published them in a brochure We need a common format for facts&figures of the different biorefineries for further developing technologies and systems for a future BioEconomy The so called Biorefinery Fact Sheet gives facts&figures on the biorefinery plant and its sustainability assessment based on the whole value chain

10 The data collection for various international biorefinery systems is on-going to make the individual Biorefinery Fact Sheets The IEA Bioenergy Task 42 intends to publish the Biorefinery Fact Sheets to stimulate a fact oriented discussion on biorefinery systems It is discussed to develop a Web-based calculator for Biorefinery Fact Sheets to be made available via the Task 42 webpage. References Aknowledgement The Austrian participation in Tasks 42 of IEA Bioenergy is financed by the Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology / Department for Energy and Environmental Technologies.