Kim Lyons

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Biofuels in Washington

• Kim Lyons
• WSU Energy Program
• All Extension Conference
• March 7, 2007

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Biofuels in Washington

• What are they?
• What is happening now?
• Where is the market going?

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Liquid Fuels from Biomass

• Near term-
• biodiesel (from imported oils)
• ethanol (from imported corn)
• Longer term-
• biodiesel from instate oilseed crops
• ethanol from lignocellulosics
• Other liquid fuels- renewable diesel, butanol

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Why is there interest in biofuels

• Increasing fuel prices
• Environmental concerns with petroleum fuels
• National security issues-US imports near 60
• Economic opportunity- open new, higher value
  markets for agricultural products
• Keep fuel dollars in the state- roughly 9.5
  billion in 2005

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What is Biodiesel

• Biodiesel is a clean-burning, oxygenated fuel
  (methyl-ester) made from vegetable oils or animal
  fats which can be burned in existing diesel
  engines.
• 100 lbs oil 10 lb methanol (catalyst NaOH)
  ---gt 100 lb biodiesel 10 lb glycerin
• Biodiesel must meet the specifications of ASTM
  D6751
• Biodiesel blends are a mixture of biodiesel with
  petroleum diesel, commonly referred to as B2, B5,
  B20.

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Biodiesel Advantages

• Biodegradable, non-toxic
• Domestically grown- reduces imported oils
• Renewable- closed carbon cycle, minimal climate
  change impacts (78 lower GHG emissions)
• Positive net energy gain- provides 3.2 times more
  energy than is used to produce it
• No engine modifications needed-(may need to
  replace rubber fuel lines, gaskets on pre 1993
  engines)
• High flashpoint (gt 3000 F)
• Improves lubricity in low sulfur fuels
• Lower tailpipe emissions

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Disadvantages of biodiesel

• Biodiesel is less stable than petroleum diesel.
  Old fuel can form sediments and varnish.
  Additives can be used to prevent this.
• Biodiesel can cause filter plugging due to fuel
  tank deposits or out of spec fuel. Inspect
  (change) filters during initial use. Use ASTM
  D6751 fuel. Follow good fuel handling practices.
• Biodiesel has 8 lower energy content. B20 users
  will see fuel economy and max power drop by
  about 1-2.
• Biodiesel can gel at lower temperatures (like
  petroleum diesel). Blending and additives can
  control this.
• Higher price than petroleum diesel.
• Warranty concerns

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What is ethanol?

• Ethanol is an alcohol-based alternative fuel
  produced by fermenting and distilling starch
  crops, or cellulosic materials that have been
  converted into simple sugars
• 1 bushel (56 lbs) of corn yields about 2.7
  gallons of ethanol and 18 lbs of DDGS
• In 2005, about 14 of the corn crop (1.6 billion
  bushels) went into ethanol
• By 2007, 25 of corn production used for ethanol
• Ethanol is a mature transportation fuel and can
  be readily blended with gasoline-
• low blends of 10 (E10) or less can be used in
  existing engines without modification
• higher blend of 85 (E85) can be used in
  modified engines

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Advantages of Ethanol

• It is a renewable fuel- reduces GHG emissions by
  as much as 29 for corn based ethanol and up to
  85 for cellulosic ethanol
• Positive lifecycle energy balance over gasoline-
  26 net energy gain for corn based ethanol and up
  to 90 net energy gain for cellulosic ethanol
• It is biodegradable
• It can reduce engine emissions
• It can be produced domestically and provides a
  high value market for farmers
• It provides high octane at a competitive cost
• Can be used in low blends without engine
  modifications
• Has vehicle industry support- over 6 million E85
  compatible vehicles in US over 100,000 in WA.
  Can be readily adapted to new vehicle platforms

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Disadvantages of Ethanol

• Lower BTU content than gasoline- 76,000 btus/gal
  ethanol vs 114,000 Btus/gal gasoline.
• Higher blends require engine modifications
• Limited fueling infrastructure
• May increase aldehyde emissions
• Higher cost
• Currently relies on corn as feedstock

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U.S. Biofuels Supply

• Biodiesel-
• 75 MGY in 2005
• Nearly 250 MGY 2006
• Proposed plant capacity- 1.46 billion gallons
• Ethanol-
• 4.8 BGY in 2006
• 6 BGY in 2007
• 9-10 billion gallons year by 2012

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WA Biofuels Activities

• Biodiesel
• 16 plants in various stages of development- 260
  MGY total production capacity
• gt 36 biodiesel refueling outlets
• 1 million gallon in-state seed oil
• 2005- approximately 5 million gallons consumed in
  WA
• Ethanol
• 8 plants proposed- 447 MGY total production
  capacity
• 5 E85 outlets
• Mainly midwest corn railed in
• 2003- 68 million gallons consumed in WA
• Crushers
• 8 oilseed crushers in various stages of
  development

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Biodiesel Production Potential

• If all of the vegetable oil (23.6 billion lbs)
  and animal fat (11.6 billion lbs) were used to
  produce biodiesel, we could only replace about
  14 (approx 4.62 billion gallons/yr) of current
  demand for on-highway diesel. (Dr. J Van
  Gerpen, University of Idaho)
• Biomass oils could displace up to 10 billion
  gallons of petroleum by 2030. Requires
  incentives, mandates, RD. (NREL)
• Washington State 2- 20 million gallons 5- 50
  million gallons.
• Production potential 4 yr rotation dryland
  wheat - 5 million gallons/100,000 acres.
  Estimated production varies _at_ 60-100 million
  gallons
• Bottomline- biodiesel is part of the answer but
  will not eliminate the need for petroleum diesel
  fuel.

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Factors Influencing Growth of Biodiesel Industry

• Oilseed economics cannot make it on raw-oil
  sales alone. At 0.15/lb for oilseed, the price
  of raw oil is nearly 3.75/gal, dropping to about
  2.45/gal given current value of meal.
• Co-products - Development of co-products and
  higher value markets is essential. Potential
  markets include Omega-3 fatty acids from glycerin
  wastes, biofumigants or high value foodstuffs
  from seedmeal.
• Cropping research- improved oil yields, disease
  resistance, best practices
• Competition from out of state fuel providers-
  Midwest, South East Asia
• Incentives/mandates-state and federal- What
  happens if the incentives disappear?
• Successful integration into existing fueling
  infrastructure
• Energy prices.
• Farmers and fuel producers need to make money on
  their investments if the industry is to succeed.
  The opportunity is there, the economics are being
  worked out.

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Ethanol Potential in WA

• Some use of in-state corn and barley- current
  activity designed around importing midwest grains
• Move towards cellulosic ethanol (butanol) lots
  of biomass resources (ag wastes, timber residues,
  MSW, energy crops-switchgrass) but technology
  still to costly
• Need to develop roadmap to identify
  opportunities, research needs so able to position
  future activities.

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Cellulosic Ethanol

• Two primary conversion routes
• Sugar Platform- convert biomass to sugar as
  intermediate step- enzymatic hydrolysis, dilute
  acid hydrolysis, concentrated acid hydrolysis
• Thermochemical Platform- convert biomass to
  syngas as intermediate step
• Alternative route- Biobutanol

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Challenges with Biomass

• Bulky- high transportation costs
• Inconsistent quality characteristics
• Contamination, impurities
• Higher conversion costs
• Agronomic issues- how much residue to leave in
  fields

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Cellulosic Ethanol Potential in WA

• WSU, in cooperation with Ecology, completed a
  preliminary inventory of biomass resources in
  Washington State. The statewide inventory
  included estimates of available field residues,
  animal wastes, forestry, municipal wastes and
  food packaging and processing wastes on a
  county-by-county basis. The inventory does not
  include the potential resource value of crops
  grown specifically for energy production.
• The total biomass identified by the inventory is
  15.7 million dry tons/yr. If all of the 15.7
  million tons of biomass was converted to ethanol,
  approximately 942 million gallons of fuel could
  be produced. This is equivalent to about 35 of
  the total gasoline consumed in WA in 2001.
• Energy crops- switchgrass, hybrid poplars
• Bioethanol potential is large- how to get there
  still to be determined.