WOOD BASED BIOREFINERIES OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES Dr. Christian Hübsch, UPM Biochemicals IFIB 2015, Lodi, 24.9.2015
UPM today UPM Plywood Plywood and veneer products UPM Biorefining Pulp Plantations Biofuels Sawmills Wood sourcing and Forestry UPM Paper Asia Fine papers in China and Asia Pacific Labelling materials globally UPM Paper ENA Magazine papers in Europe and the USA Newsprint and fine papers in Europe Sales 2014: EUR 10 billion Personnel: 20,000 Shareholders: approx. 90,000 UPM Raflatac Label materials for product and information labelling UPM Energy UPM Biocomposites UPM Biochemicals Hydro-, nuclear- and condensing power (incl. shares in energy companies) Electricity production and trading UPM
Wood Sourcing, One Core Competency Of The Pulp And Paper Industry WOOD SOURCING HIGH QUALITY SERVICES TO FOREST AND LAND OWNERS 27 mio CUBIC METRES OF WOOD DELIVERED GLOBALLY TO UPM MILLS ANNUALLY 20,000 WOOD TRADE TRANSACTIONS WITH PRIVATE FOREST OWNERS IN FINLAND ANNUALLY 80% OF WOOD USED IN OUR PRODUCTS CERTIFIED 3 UPM ALL WOOD AND WOOD FIBRE IS SUSTAINABLE SOURCED
UPM Biochemicals Approach Add Value to 2ndG Biomass through Chemical Building Blocks and Performance Chemicals 4 UPM
Comparison of theoretical sugar cost in wood vs. corn USD/mt The costs of unseparated sugar from wood (67% of total biomass) at current wood prices are in the range of 80 USD/t The costs of unseparated sugar from corn (77% of total biomass, 15% moisture) are in the range of 220 USD/t (3,5 $/bsh) and 360 (5,7$/bsh; 5 years average corn price) 400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 16,2 cts/lb 15,0 cts/lb 10,0 cts/lb 3,6 cts/lb Wood Corn (3,5 $/bsh) Corn (5,7 $/bsh) 5 UPM Internal
UPM Biochemicals continuously evaluates processes to disintegrate woody biomass Evaluation criteria sugar yields sugar quality lignin quality energy intensity feedstock compatibility ease of integration 6 UPM
Advantages of Wood As A Feedstock Limited price-volatility Long-term supply contracts Available year-round Well established supply chain Relatively easy to transport and store No overlap with the food-chain Advanced sustainable forestry (UPM the undisputed leader in that field) HELP DE-RISKING AND BUILDING TRUST IN THE BIOECONOMY 7 UPM
Significant synergies through integration into an existing pulp/paper mill UPM site wood sourcing bark, forest residues heat & electricity biomass boiler waste water treatment Lignin products (various applications) Biochemicals mill delignification lignin Performance Chemicals wood disintegration hemicellulose hydrolysis C5 sugars C5 sugar conversion into CBB B CBB B water supply cellulose hydrolysis C6 sugars C6 sugar conversion into CBB A CBB A 8 UPM
Fermentability of lignocellulosic sugars Inhibitor removal prominent inhibitors are aromatic aldehydes (from lignin), furfural / HMF, and organic acids Syringaldehyde Furfural Upgrading methods are applied depending on the specific requirements of the downstream process Qualitative results of fermentation trials after basic sugar upgrading Clostridium acetobutylicum Saccharomyces cerevisiae Corynebacterium ecoli. 9 UPM After inhibitor removal, fermentation results are on similar level compared to 1 st generation sugars.
Lignin 20%- 25% of woody biomass Properties depend on biomass-species, and biorefinery process The capability to add value to lignin will be one of the key success factors for establishing a cost-competitive lignocellulosic biorefinery Selected application areas accessible today Lignin for carbon fibers Lignin-based PU systems Lignin-based epoxy resins Lignin-phenol formaldehyde (LPF) resins Lignin-based polymer blends Lignin-derived base chemicals 10 UPM Internal
Challenge: The need to be competitive from the beginning limits the freedom to select processes and products specific manufacturing costs x market entry Lowering specific costs in the beginning: further development of process, but need to process freeze economies of scale, but higher risk synergies with existing operations select site with most competitive feedstock and supplies x bio-based chemicals today fossil based chemicals time 11 UPM
Conclusions Take Aways Wood-based biorefineries will play a significant role for the production of bio-based chemicals in the future. Production of wood complies to highest standards of sustainability, which is highly desirable from a consumers perspective. The pulp and paper industry is very well positioned, based on their core competency in wood sourcing and processing. 2 nd generation sugars can be an excellent substrate for a broad range of biotechnological processes towards bio-based chemicals. The competency to add value to the entire feedstock is a critical success factor. Managing the risk, building trust amongst all stakeholders, and the need to advance quickly on the learning curve are challenges, but they are almost dwarfed in light of the tremendous opportunity at hand.