Project LIBERTY
| “Our goal is to bring cellulosic ethanol to commercial viability in order to reduce global warming, revitalize the rural economy and lessen our country’s dependency on foreign oil.” |
Project Liberty will convert an existing 50 million gallon per year (mgpy) dry-mill ethanol plant in Emmetsburg, Iowa into an integrated corn-to-ethanol and cellulose-to-ethanol biorefinery.
Once complete, the facility will produce 125 mgpy, 25 percent of which will be from corn fiber and corn cobs. By adding cellulosic production to an existing grain ethanol plant, POET will be able to produce 11 percent more ethanol from a bushel of corn, 27 percent more from an acre of corn, while significantly reducing fossil fuel consumption. The facility will also produce 80,000 tons of Dakota Gold Corn Germ Dehydrated™ and 100,000 tons of Dakota Gold HP™ annually as animal feed co-products.
DOE Agreement
POET has signed phase I of an agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for a grant that will fund a portion of Project LIBERTY (up to $80 million).
The agreement finalizes the first phase of a DOE award that was announced in February and will govern all aspects of the project leading up to construction. With the agreement in place, POET is moving forward on project preliminary design and engineering, environmental engineering, biomass collection and other activities.
According to the cooperative agreement, phase one of the project will last approximately 20 months. A subsequent phase two agreement will then be negotiated to cover construction which is expected to take two years. Following construction, facility operation is expected to begin in 2011.
“We are humbled and excited to be working with the Department of Energy on a project of such national significance,” Jeff Broin, CEO of POET said. “Our goal is to bring cellulosic ethanol to commercial viability in order to reduce global warming, revitalize the rural economy and lessen our country’s dependency on foreign oil.” The project will cost in excess of $200 million and create 30 new jobs at the facility.
Chevron starts biofuel venture with Weyerhaeuser
Oil giant Chevron Corp. and timber giant Weyerhaeuser Co. started a joint venture to develop biofuels.
San Ramon-based Chevron (NYSE: CVX) and Federal Way, Wash.-based Weyerhaeuser (NYSE: WY) each own half of the new company, called Catchlight Energy LLC. Michael Burnside, a 33-year veteran of Chevron, is CEO of the new venture. Densmore Hunter of Weyerhaeuser is chief technology officer.
Catchlight will seek biofuels made from non-food sources, particularly cellulose-based biomass. It will have offices in both San Ramon and Federal Way for the time being, said a Chevron spokesman.
The Advantages of Cellulosic Feedstocks
Cellulosic feedstocks have many advantages over using corn to produce ethanol. Because cellulosic crops are not used for food, there is inherently less price volatility. And because a wide variety of crops can be used, they can be grown in a wide variety of geographic locations–even on marginal lands–and can, therefore, be more abundant. Plus, with certain crops, more ethanol can be produced per acre than can be made with corn.
With so many advantages, it seems only natural that we have dedicated energy crops, rather than using food crops for ethanol production.
Here are some numbers to think about.
Right now, corn yields, on average, about 160 bushels per acre, with industry predictions climbing all the way up to 300. And we get about three gallons of ethanol per bushel. That means for every acre of corn harvested, about 900 gallons of ethanol can be made.
Add in four tons of stover (converted cellulosically) per acre, with which you can produce 100 gallons per ton, and we’re looking at additional ethanol production of 400 gallons per acre–for a grand total of 1,300 gallons per acre. And that’s using two different feedstocks, with two different harvest times, two different costs and two different conversion processes.
Now consider a dedicated biomass energy crop like switchgrass, miscanthus or sorghum. These crops can be harvested, at the present time, at a rate of 20 tons per acre(very high estimate), with ethanol production of 100 gallons per ton(very advanced technology), for a total of 2,000 gallons per acre. You can see why energy crops and the cellulosic process will be huge successes.
And that’s with the current numbers. Imagine how big this would be if crop yields and gallons per acre were increased and cost were continually driven down. That’s exactly where this industry is heading.
U.S Ethanol production totals
Right now there are 139 ethanol biorefineries operating in the US with a capacity of 7.9 billion gallons per year (bgy). Also right now, there are 62 plants under construction and seven expansions underway that will bring an additional 5.57 bgy online.
That gives the US a total projected capacity of over 13.5 bgy.
But the recent Energy Bill signed into law on December 19, 2007 calls for the blending of 36 bgy of domestic alternative fuels into our nation’s fuel supply by 2022.
Basic math tells me there is a 22.5 bgy discrepancy. Sounds like an opportunity, right?
Cellulosic Ethanol Production according to JP Morgan Analyst Marc Levinson, “. . . there is no prospect of producing this much [36 bgy] biofuel from corn in the United States.”
That’s why the Energy Bill also mandates the production of cellulosic ethanol, a fuel that can be made from the cellulose of many non-food plants, rather than competing with corn. It’s the stuff Bush is referring in to when he talks so enthusiastically about switchgrass–though it can come from many sources.
The Energy Bill requires that 3% of ethanol be derived from cellulosic sources by 2012, and 44% by 2022. That means, by my estimates, we’ll need to produce 405 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol in 2012 and 15.84 billion gallons in 2022.
Cellulosic ethanol has a positive net yield
A study from plant scientist Ken Vogel found cellulosic ethanol actually has positive net
energy yield. In a study for the federal government’s Agricultural Research Service in Nebraska, Vogel calculated all the energy that went in to producing cellulosic ethanol.
According to Vogel, the study included “the energy used to make the tractors, the energy used to make the seed to plant the field, the energy used to produce the herbicide, the energy used to produce the fertilizer, and the energy used in the harvesting process.”
His results?
For every unit of energy used to grow the feedstock, Vogel says he could get almost 5.5 units worth of ethanol. That’s even more efficient than making ethanol from corn.
And cellulosic ethanol emits far less carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, than corn-based ethanol. Cellulosic emits 80% less carbon dioxide than regular gasoline, while corn-based ethanol emits only 20 % less.
