One startup is scaling up experimental techniques to demonstrate the commercial potential of cellulosic ethanol.
Experimental methods for converting wood chips and grass into ethanol will soon be tested at production scale. Mascoma Corporation, based in Cambridge, MA, is building demonstration facilities that will have the capacity to produce about one-half to two million gallons of ethanol a year from waste biomass. The startup recently received $30 million in venture-capital money, which is fueling its scale-up plans.
The research of Lee Lynd, professor of engineering at Dartmouth College and a cofounder of Mascoma Corporation, is helping cut the cost of making ethanol from cellulosic sources such as cornstalks and wood chips.
Mascoma Corporation
While Mascoma has not achieved its ultimate goal of using a single genetically engineered organism to convert wood chips and other cellulosic raw materials into ethanol, the company has developed genetically modified bacteria that can speed up part of the process of producing ethanol. The optimized process shows enough promise to invest in scaling up the technology, says Colin South, Mascoma's president.
Corn grain, the current source of ethanol in the United States, requires large amounts of land and energy to produce. This, along with the demand for corn as food, limits the total amount of ethanol that can be produced from corn to about 15 billion gallons a year--about three times what is currently produced. If the fuel is to supplant a sizable fraction of the 140 billion gallons of gasoline consumed each year in the United States, ethanol producers will need to turn to biomass such as wood chips and switchgrass. These resources are cheaper and potentially much more abundant, and they can be converted to ethanol much more efficiently than corn can because they require less energy to grow (see "Redesigning Life to Make Ethanol").
Indeed, ethanol from such sources could replace "a very large fraction" of the gasoline currently used for vehicles, says Gregory Stephanopoulos, professor of chemical engineering at MIT. He says some experts estimate that with gains in efficiency and high yields of ethanol, all the gasoline for transportation could be replaced; the most conservative estimates say that about 20 percent could be replaced. Hoping to capitalize on this potential, a handful of companies--including Celunol, in Dedham, MA; Iogen, in Ottawa, Canada, which has an existing demonstration scale plant and plans to scale up to commercial production; and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), in Golden, CO--are working to develop better technology for making cellulosic ethanol.
Despite its potential, cellulosic ethanol is expensive to make today. It requires more costly equipment and more processing steps than does making ethanol from corn grain. While both corn and cellulosic ethanol are created by fermenting sugar, converting the starch in corn grain into sugar is much easier than converting the complex cellulose in cornstalks or biomass such as wood chips. To simplify the process and reduce costs, many researchers ultimately hope to engineer a single organism that can both break down the cellulose and convert the resulting sugars into ethanol. But research is already improving parts of the process. For example, researchers have created a cocktail of enzymes for converting cellulose into sugar that is a hundred times cheaper than previous methods, says George Douglas, spokesman for the NREL.
A startup says it can make sugar for biofuel from wood chips at a fraction of the normal cost.
Modified yeast could help make ethanol from hard-to-digest materials.
Mascoma has announced several advances that may lead to a cheaper, more efficient process to turn biomass into ethanol.
Vulvox nanobiotechnology corporation has a program to manufacture ethanol form switchgrass.
If you are interested in a partnership contact Neil Farbstein, President of Vulvox Nano/biotechnology at protn7@att.net
This claim of Neil Farbstein's is a lie. He claims several scientific breakthroughs he has not achieved. He is trying to defraud investors in his dodgy company.
I'd just like to add:
Neil Farbstein is emphatically and most unequivocally not a rancid distended crap-sack of duplicitous swindling double dealing defaecation. Furthermore, he's assuredly not a colossal foul jissom bucket of pumped-up delusional human excrement posing as a profoundly psychotic muttonhead.
[URL]http://www.physforum.com/index.php?showtopic=21242&st=105[/URL]
This discussion should always lead to the hemp plant. Cellulose and bio diesel from the same plant. The jerusaelem (sic) artichoke is also rarely mentioned and it is almost criminal from a omissions' stand point. Engineers have to ,no must stop siding with the oil corporations and grow some testes and demand a solution to pollution . Thanks . Clint Price
The Best Cellulosic Ethanol Companies
Does anyone have any advice/insight on good cellulosic ethanol investment opportunities? It is clear to me (especially after Bush's State of the Union Speech) that cellulosic ethanol is going to be a cornerstone of our energy policy.
So far, the best site I've found is <a href="http://www.investincellulosicethanol.com"> www.InvestInCellulosicEthanol.com </a>.
Re: The Best Cellulosic Ethanol Companies
Cellulosic Ethanol Companies are found here too <a href="http://www.Cellulosic-Ethanol-Companies.com"> www.Cellulosic-Ethanol-Companies.com </a> or <a href="http://www.CellulosicEthanolInvestments.com"> www.CellulosicEthanolInvestments.com</a>
Sugar beets can also be used to make ethanol. Sugar beets grow better in colder climates like New England. See link at: http://www.distill.com/World-Fuel-Ethanol-A&O-2004.html
cellulosic ethanol vs. bio-oil
Check out this link, biomassmagazine.com, june 2007 issue, Thermochemical vs. Biochemical, maybe enzyme technology isn't the way to go.
I have been trying to find information on Sap from deciduious trees such as Birch as a source to produce ethanol. A single mature tree can apparently produce up to 20 litres, 4-5 gallons per day without damaging it. The sap is about 1/2 the sugar content of sugar Maple and I believe the wine made from it has a good kick so it must be a good source of alcohol. We have millions of trees in North America that could be managed and tapped every spring for hundreds of millions of gallons of sap and if the sap is as good as I hope a very high volume of Ethanol could be produced. All the people I contacted with regards to this have not returned a good argument against it other than it can only be harvested for about 30 days in the spring. If there is any information on the production of Ethanol from Sap I would love to get it, Thanks, Brian Maki. brianmaki@hotmail.com
Here's a new one. I heard that Jatropha Seeds contain 37% of oil that can be used as biofuels or mixed into ethanol? Anyone know where I can find a good Jatropha Seed Suppliers site?<br> I type in <strong>www.JatrophaSeedSuppliers.com</strong> and found an interesting site but wondering if anyone has heard of this or even <strong>www.MiscanthusSeedSuppliers.com</strong>? Again, It is clear to me (especially after Bush's State of the Union Speech) that cellulosic ethanol is going to be a cornerstone of our energy policy.
Hallo! Sir,
I am from Green Land Company, Inc. which is based in Troy, Alabama.
We have some Jatropha seeds and seedlings.
My E-mail address is vinay_bhalu@yahoo.com
Thank you,
Vinay
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dickcaro
8 Comments
I wonder if anyone has looked at using pulp mill waste as a raw material
Pulp mills all over the world use the Kraft process to generate paper-grade pulp. Chemically, paper-grade pulp is cellulose free from Lignin, wood's polymeric binder. Lignin can be chemically converted to Vanillin, or artificial vanilla flavoring, but very little is so converted. Most Lignin is burned as fuel in recovery boilers, a seemingly wasteful process. Millions of tons of lignin are burned each year. Perhaps, the spent cooking liquor from the Kraft process can be converted to simpler chemical compounds such as ethanol by chemical means. It may be easier than working with cellulose, a very tough molecule.
Reply
Guest (jpdemers)
Re: pulp mill waste
Lignin is highly aromatic (lots of C=C bonds), and you'd have to add hydrogen to get much ethanol out of it.
Burning it, on the other hand, is not wasteful. Pulpwood forests are a renewable resource, so the CO2 that's generated is recycled back into more wood. Beats burning oil or gas in the same boiler.
Reply
Lambchop_ChemE
1 Comment
Re: I wonder if anyone has looked at using pulp mill waste as a raw material
If anyone has, please contact me. You too, dickcaro.
Please include the words * Chemical engineering - ethanol * in the subject header.
Thanks.
Lambchop
Reply
cdlewis
7 Comments
Re: I wonder if anyone has looked at using pulp mill waste as a raw material
re:chemical engineering / forestry wastes
check out this company, dynamotive.com. they are successfully converting forestry wastes into bio-fuel. this shows more promise than ethanol.
cliff lewis, sappi fine paper, north america
Reply