NREL is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC

Ron Benioff

International Program Manager , NREL

December 15, 2010

DOE Lab Biofuel Cooperation with

Developing Countries

Contents

Types of Collaborative Activities

Brazil

China

Colombia

India

Liberia

Russia

Sustainability Studies

National Renewable Energy Laboratory Innovation for Our Energy Future

Opportunities for USAID DOE Lab

Biofuels Collaboration

Analysis and Testing – supporting R&D and deployment goals

• Biomass resource assessment

• Biofuels feedstock analysis

• Sustainability and life cycle impact assessment

• Techno-economic evaluation of alternative biofuels synthesis pathways

• Testing and evaluation of enzymes, algae, and other organisms and

of fuel products and intermediates

• Evaluation of policy and deployment options

Technical Advice and Capacity Building

• Expert assistance with design and operation of pilot plants and design

of biofuel programs

• Training workshops on biofuels technologies, systems, and assessment

• Short and longer-term visits to labs and study tours

Brazil Biofuels

Overview

DOE/EERE-leads the Bilateral R&D

of the USG MOU (3/07) to advance

the next generation of biofuels led by

Dept. of State including:

• Regional Cooperation: to study, assist, &

promote biofuels development in third countries

• Global Standardization: to encourage commoditization of biofuels; global efforts

include sustainability issues

o MOU drivers were to increase energy security and diversity, redirection of imports of crude oil

expenditures for local development, and the possibility of replicating Brazil’s successful biofuels

program and energy independence in the Western Hemisphere.

Key Government Partners

Ministries of Science &Technology (MCT); Ministry of Foreign Relations (MRE);

Mines & Energy (MME) and Ministry of Agriculture (MAPA);

Research Foundation of the State of Sao Paulo (FAPESP)

Activities/Accomplishments

Biochemical Conversion Objective

• Improve comparability of biomass conversion technologies within

Brazil and between Brazil & US institutions while increasing the

robustness of US methodologies.

• Lignocellulosic biomass conversion takes more steps than sugar or starch crops to

release its components for analysis. Processing is difficult and chemical analysis takes 2

weeks, requires special training and well characterized reference materials for comparison.

Good analytical results lead to good biofuel cost data & vice versa

Many companies fail for lack of reliable information

• Joint analysis with Brazilian Petrobras’ research arm CENPES.

First comparison of their own methods on common Brazilian and US samples.

• NREL hosted 2 week-long short courses. 9 Brazilian researchers from 8 institutions

with a demo of comparative Petrobras/NREL study (9-10/2010).

http://ts.nist.gov/measurementservices/

reference materials/index.cfm

Many types of biomass

NREL methodology

adopted by the

American Society of

Testing and Materials

NREL led the preparation of the NIST Reference

Materials, the 1st

certification and the 2nd

(2010)

Training continues in FY11

• Experimental validation of methods in Brazil with NREL analyst in Brazil for a

week to assist in the design of the round robin analysis

• A Biomass Brazilian Analysis Network emerges from this collaboration

.

Analyze scenarios for ethanol production from cellulosic/field residues by

2020 Ethanol and higher alcohols (thermal) or ethanol and power (biochem)

Net minimum ethanol

selling price (MESP)

$1.25/gal close to

sugarcane ethanol in

Brazil.

Important for both US

and Brazilian industry

and other countries

that can produce

sugarcane as

confirmed by

US-Brazil CEO Forum

participants of NREL

site visit on July, 2010

Future work: Improve sugarcane refinery

model of Seabra’s thesis. NREL/CTBE

developing an open process model in Aspen

Plus to be shared with the community

6-mo Postdoc Fellow Joaquim Seabra at NREL

US-China MOU Cooperation for the Development of Biofuels• Negotiated and signed by USDOE, USDA, China NDRC in December 2007

• Lead partners China: PetroChina (CNP), SinoPec, CNOOC, COFCO, and FTE

• Lead partners US DOE: ANL, INL, NREL, ORNL, and PNNL

• Lead partners USDA: ARS, FAS, ERS

Feedstock Supply and Logistics• DOE (INL and ORNL) and USDA

collaboration with all Chinese partners

• Feedstock production cost factors, supply curves, supply system logistics design, equipment development, environmental impacts, sustainable agricultural practices for agricultural residuefeedstocks and selected energy crops

• Feedstock case study collaboration for selected pilot plants

China Biofuels Development Cooperation

China Biofuels Development Cooperation

Biochemical Conversion Joint Research NREL (lead) with Tsinghua University and PetroChina et al

Advanced solid state fermentation (ASSF) of sweet sorghum• Characterization of fermentation strains from China for the ASSF process

• Techno-economic analysis of wet vs. dry fermentation production processes

Cellulosic conversion of corn stover and sorghum bagasse to ethanol• Characterization of US strains for enzymatic hydrolysis on Chinese

feedstocks

• Cooperation to be expanded to additional areas

Thermochemical Conversion PNNL (lead) with Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics and CNOOC

Characterization and performance verification of new Co and Rh catalysts

Evaluation of distributed pyrolysis followed by gasification: proof of concept

Techno-economic analysis of distributed pyrolysis and gasification for synthesis of mixed alcohols

Algae Biodiesel and Green Diesel NREL (lead) with SinoPec and Chinese Academy of Sciences

• Prospecting and characterization of high-lipid content algae strains for biodiesel production

PNNL (lead) with PetroChina et al.• Hydrogenation of pyrolysis products to produce green diesel

• Green diesel from hydrotreated jatropha oil

Private Sector Partnerships Honeywell/UOP with CNPC

• Cooperation for producing green transportation fuels using Chinese Feedstocks

• Demonstration of UOP/Eni EcofiningTM process unit for production of green diesel

DuPont/PetroChina cooperation for cellulosic ethanol production

SinoPec/COFCO/Novozymes cooperation for cellulosic ethanol production

China Biofuels Development Cooperation

Colombia Pyrolysis Project

Project:

Analysis of pyrolysis conditions for sugar cane and oil palm residues

Partners:

• Oil Palm Research Center (CENIPALMA)

• Sugarcane Research Center (CENICAÑA)

• Colombian Petroleum Institute (ECOPETROL-ICP)

Project Goals:

• Support biomass-based cogeneration in the oil

palm and sugarcane industries

• Successfully convert residues from sugar cane

and palm oil production to bio-oil that can be

used as a refinery feedstock and biochar that

can be used as a carbon sequestering

amendment to improve the quality of the soil

Colombia Pyrolysis Project

Milestones Lead Timeline

Identification of

experimental parameters and

kinds of biomass for analysis

NREL and Colombia November, 2010

Pyrolysis experiments and

samples to NRELColombia January, 2011

Analysis of biomass, biochars

and bio-oil andNREL April, 2011

Visit of NREL scientist to

ColombiaNREL May, 2011

Visit of Colombian scientist

to NRELColombia June, 2011

Final Report NREL and Colombia July, 2011

India Biofuels

Overview

• The India Biofuels Collaboration initiative is led by DOE’s Office of

Biomass Program.

• The initiative is designed to support the biofuels development and

deployment activities in India through a program of collaborative

technical efforts.

• These efforts seek to energize and further develop the U.S.-India

relations under the bilateral Energy Dialogue, as well as the MOU on

Cooperation in the Development of Biofuels signed between U.S.

DOE and India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).

Key partners

• MNRE and its public-private sector Core Group on Biofuels

• Indian Oil Corporation (IOC)

• Indian Institute of Technology

Activities Technical assistance in the development of a cellulosic ethanol pilot

plant at the IOC’s R&D facility

Bio-chemicals and fuels from lignin:

• A collaborative project between NREL and IOC will explore pathways to

transform lignin material into higher-value transportation fuels (gasoline, diesel

fuel, and jet fuel), fuel additives, and chemicals

GM – DOE – CSMCRI collaborative effort towards jatropha-based

biodiesel development. The project is designed in two phases:

• Crop development/improvement (ORNL and Central Salt and Marine Chemicals

Research Institute (CSMCRI)

• Fuel testing (NREL and GM)

Joint DOE-MNRE workshop on advanced biofuels

• Spring 2011 at NREL or another DOE laboratory

• Topics include cellulosic ethanol, algae, green diesel

• Participants: U.S. and Indian policy makers, researchers, academics, and industry

representatives

Exchange visits of engineers and scientists

NREL hosted the Chairman of the IOC and

the Director of the R&D Center (July 2010)

DOE/NREL hosted an Indian visit from

industry and government (October 2009)

U.S. Mission to India with representatives

from DOE and national laboratories visiting

biofuels research institutions (Oct 2010)

Published LCA on Use of Jatropha Biodiesel

in the Indian Rail and Road Sectors:

http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy10osti/47462.pdf

Published “Resource Evaluation and Site

Selection for Microalgae Production in

India”:

http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy10osti/48380.pdf

Technical Exchanges and Joint Studies

Characterizing Biodiesel Base Stock, Processing Methods

and Combustion Properties for International Utilization

India Institute of Technology - Kanpur Argonne National Laboratory

Supporting the MOU between U.S. DOE-EERE and India Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE)

P.I. Prof. Avinash Agarwal

Indian feedstocks (Jatropha, Karanja, etc.) for

biodiesel fuels provided to Argonne

Compiled durability field evaluations with

Mahindra Scorpio SUV on B100. Similar

evaluations planned for U.S. type feedstocks

P.I. Doug Longman

Fuel Spray Studies of Indian feedstock

fuels using x-ray technique; model

correlation

In-cylinder combustion visualization

Particulate characterization

Diesel Biodiesel

Biomass Resource Assessment - Liberia

Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development

(USAID) under the Liberia Energy Assistance Program

(LEAP)

Estimate the biomass resources currently available in

Liberia that could be collected in a sustainable manner for

power generation and transportation fuels production:

Agricultural resources (food and cash crop residues,

animal manure)

Forest resources (logging residues)

Urban resources (MSW)

Evaluate expansion of key biomass resources in Liberia

(oil palm, coconut, and sugarcane) and the potential of

Jatropha Curcas as an energy crop

Discuss socio-economic and environmental implications of

biomass resource development in Liberia

More information available at:http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy09osti/44808.pdf

Cooperation with Russia Microorganisms associated with hydrocarbon contaminated sites and reservoirs for biofuel applications – Project led by ANL with June 2010 start

Project Objectives:

– To biomine and cultivate microorganisms that utilize geologic

hydrocarbons as their sole source of energy

• Access to reservoir sites and collections in Russia

• Use of novel cultivation approaches, HTP, consortia development

methodologies

– To develop microbial systems that exhibit high tolerance and

degradation of oil hydrocarbon

• Use for the development of renewable synthetic hydrocarbons

• Bioremediation

• Microbially enhanced oil recovery

Biomining is in progress

– Samples collected from different climatic zones of Russia

(Moscow and Tula regions, Krasnodar Krai)

– Samples were taken from sites with high contamination by oil

products

Sponsor: U.S.DOE –NNSA GIPP Program

Ultrathin sections of nanoforms of bacteria found in

situ in oil slime. Bar is 0.3 µm

Contact:M. Cristina Negri

Agronomist/Environmental

Engineer

Argonne National Laboratory

negri@anl.gov

Global Sustainability Studies

U.S.-Brazil Effort is Advancing Biofuels LCA and Modeling

of Direct and Indirect Land Use Change

• Collaborative Activities will identify gaps in scientific

knowledge; and promote science-based global sustainability

frameworks

Multilateral – DOE and Laboratories (ANL, NREL, ORNL)

providing technical support to:

• Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP)

• IPCC Renewable Report – Bio-energy chapter in preparation

• Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels

• Collecting Sustainability Data from Multiple countries

• Identifying Gaps in literature and knowledge

National Renewable Energy Laboratory Innovation for Our Energy Future

Potential Impacts:

Abiotic Depletion

Potential Acidification

Eutrophication

Global Warming Potential

Ozone Layer Depletion

Human Toxicity

Marine Toxicity

Ionizing Radiation

Land Competition

Photochemical Oxidation

Biodiversity

Activities/Accomplishments

Sustainability and Systems Integration and Modeling Objectives

• Enhance current methods for economic, life cycle, and sustainability analyses of

lignocellulosic biofuels production pathways and scenarios to better gauge their

applicability in the U.S. and in Brazil, and possibly in other regions of the world.

• Disseminate jointly evaluated best practices.

Partners: US : NREL, ORNL, ANL, Un. MN

Brazil: CTBE, UNICAMP, CTC, ICONE, CGEE

• Provided science-based information GHG emissions and energy balances from lifecycle

assessments for the current ethanol industries in both countries.

• Evaluation of impacts of efficiency improvements and projected future availability of field residues in

addition to the regular bagasse.

• Jointly developed framework for modeling land-use impacts, assessed key uncertainty areas and data

gaps for integrated bio-refineries, and sustainability issues, and improved methods for land use analysis

• Improving LUC modeling and data bases and linkages between local and regional models (BLUM) and

global models (GTAP)

• Have completed several peer reviewed pubs and two more in process

• Information used in the IPCC SRREN, GBEP, and regulatory processes US, CA, EU

Sugarcane

leaves & stalks

Leverage costs & facilitate

industry and capacity

development

Corn

Stover