26 February 2013
Details
Source : U.S. Energy Information Administration
Initial commercial scale facilities
are expected to produce
between 10 to 30 million gallons of biofuel.
As yields improve and
producers take advantage of economies of scale,
this could grow to 50 to 100 million gallons.
Several companies combined to produce
about 20,000 gallons of biofuels using
cellulosic biomass
(e.g., wood waste, sugarcane bagasses)
from commercial-scale facilities in late 2012.
WWW.CHEMWINFO.COM BY KHUN PHICHAI
EIA estimates this output could grow to
more than 5 million gallons in 2013,
as operations ramp up at severl plants.
Additionally, several more plants with
progressed aggregate nameplate capacity of around
250 million gallons could begin production by 2015.
Although cellulosic biofuels volumes are expected to
grow significantly relative to current levels,
they will likely remain well below the targets envisioned in
the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.
That law sets the targets as following
Year Target level of cellulosic biofuels
(million gallons)
2012 500
2015 1,000
2022 16,000
The projects identified on the map above were designed to
produce ethanol or drop-in biofuels
(i.e., fuels that are direct replacements
for petroleum-based gasoline or distillate fuels)
as well as steam,
Using technology known as combined heat and power,
this steam can both be
- consumed internally as a process-heat source and
- used to generate power.
The power can also be used internally to operate pumps and other electrical
equipments or sold to the electrical grid, giving these projects
the potential to consume no fossil fuels.
WWW.CHEMWINFO.COM BY KHUN PHICHAI
A number of the projects shown on the map may also
generate a
solid co-product
with the potential for use as a fertilizer.
To the extent that feedstock for these processes are
waste products and little-to-no fossils inputs are required
for their conversion, greenhouse gas emissions could be
as much as 80 % to 90 % below
those of petroleum products on a life-cycle basis.
Despite the growth potential over the next several years,
the path to commercial biofuels has not been smooth.
A number of biofuels projects, including one from BP Biofuels in
Highlands County, Florida, USA, have been canceled before
starting major construction.
In addition, many projects have experienced delays
in their commercialization attempts.
Several reasons upderpin slow growth
in the commercialization of biofuels
* Difficulties obtaining financing in the aftermath of the debt crisis
* Technology scale-up difficulties at startup companies
* Strategic cooperate shifts because of increased
availability of low-cost natural gas
WWW.CHEMWINFO.COM BY KHUN PHICHAI
