Cellulosic Ethanol

For the past few years, researchers, reporters and members of the ethanol industry have touted the next step in ethanol production - cellulosic ethanol. The predictions are that it is on the horizon - we'll beginning reaping the rewards in three to five years. Not so fast! Cellulosic ethanol is here today and is coming to a pump near you! In January 2008, KL Process Design Group announced that cellulosic ethanol production in underway at the Western Biomass Energy, LLC facility near Upton, Wyo. Though cellulosic ethanol production is in its infancy and billions of private and governmental dollars are being dedicated to research, the glimmer of our future is here.

At Western Biomass Energy, wood waste is the feedstock for cellulosic production. Producing ethanol fuel from cellulose/biomass is attractive for a number of reasons. At a time of soaring gas prices and worries over the long-term availability of foreign oil, the domestic supply of "green" raw materials for making biofuels appears nearly unlimited. Much more biomass is available per acre, and cellulosic production uses agricultural feedstocks that tend to be wasted, yet are an untapped resource. These low-cost feedstocks are more abundant and contain greater potential energy than simple starches and sugars. Processing ethanol from cellulose has the potential to squeeze at least twice as much fuel from the same area of land currently producing grain for ethanol. The collection and sale of crop residues may offer farmers a new source of income from existing acreage.

Additional cellulose sources - wheat and rice straw switchgrass paper pulp agricultural waste products like corn cobs (corn stover) citrus algae, and more

Environmentally, as a cellulosic feedstock, material such as switchgrass has some large benefits, and increases the potential for productivity. The perennial grass has a deep root system, anchoring soils to prevent erosion and helping to build soil fertility. It also is a native species, well adapted to North American climate and soils. It uses water efficiently, does not need a lot of fertilizers or pesticides and absorbs both efficiently. A Canadian Company, Iogen Corporation, is the farthest along on this technology with a commercial production facility that has been in producing cellulosic ethanol for several years. And while most often grain-based ethanol uses fossil fuels to produce heat during the conversion process, (but not all - some use wind power) generating substantial greenhouse gas emissions, cellulosic ethanol production substitutes biomass for fossil fuels, changing the emissions calculations, according to Michael Wang of Argonne National Laboratories. Wang has created a "Well to Wheel" (WTW) life cycle analysis model to calculate greenhouse gas emissions produced by fuels in internal combustion engines and look at the environmental impact of a product from its inception to the end of its useful life. The WTW model for cellulosic ethanol shows greenhouse gas emission reductions of about 80% [over gasoline]. Corn ethanol showed 20 to 30% reductions. Because cellulosic ethanol uses lignin the greenhouse gases produced by the combustion of this biomass are offset by the CO2 absorbed by the biomass as it grows. Another "green" benefit is that cellulosic ethanol production can use industrial wastes and municipal solid waste (MSW), reducing or eliminating the landfilling of wastes. Industrial waste such as paper sludge often goes into landfills at a cost of $80/dry ton. At a facility planned in Middletown, New York, MSW will be processed into ethanol. After recovering recyclables, acid hydrolysis will be employed to convert the cellulosic materials into sugars. As cellulosic ethanol production continues, we'll see an improvement in efficiency and economy and we're sure to see additional environmental benefits of using excess cellulosic materials as a source of cost-effective renewable fuels. And don't forget to thank the producers and researchers of corn ethanol - without this stepping stone, we wouldn't have the knowledge and technology to take us to the next step - cellulosic ethanol.

Did You Know? Did you know that Western Biomass Energy is producing the cellulosic E85 racing ethanol that is powering several entries the 2008 American Le Mans Series including the Corvette Racing entry? This is the first time cellulosic E85 is being used in the transportation section.