As many suspected would happen, the U.S. EPA significantly dropped the 2010 cellulosic biofuel requirement with the release of the RFS2 final rule. Initially an overly ambitious 100 million gallons, the 2010 requirement is now a significantly lower 6.5 million ethanol-equivalent gallons. The new cellulosic biofuel standard is based on an updated market analysis considering detailed information from pilot and demonstration-scale plants, an Energy Information Administration analysis, and other publically and privately available market information, according to the EPA.
Despite the huge overestimate, the EPA maintains that a number of companies and projects appear to be poised to expand production over the next several years. Additionally, since the cellulosic standard is lower than the level otherwise required by EISA, cellulosic credits will be available to obligated parties for end-of-year compliance, if needed, at a price of $1.56 per gallon (gallon-RIN). The EPA intends to continue to assess the growth of the cellulosic biofuel industry and issue a notice of proposed rulemaking each spring and a final rule by Nov. 30 of each year to set the renewable fuel standard for each ensuing year.
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The fledgling cellulosic ethanol industry is working hard to bring capacity online to serve the mandated volumes that will expand as installed capacity increases. The nation’s two top ethanol producers are moving forward with plans to keep them at the forefront of cellulosic ethanol production as well.
ADM and Poet
Poet LLC unveiled its cellulosic ethanol pilot plant in Scotland, S.D., in early 2009, leading towards deployment of Project Liberty, the planned 25 MMgy plant to produce ethanol from corn cobs to be co-located with Poet’s corn-to-ethanol plant in Emmetsburg, Iowa. Poet CEO Jeff Broin says the company filed an application [for a loan guarantee] with the DOE in April, and needs to have a favorable ruling on it this calendar year. “If we get that favorable ruling, we told the DOE that we will start construction by the end of this year, which puts us on track to start up the facility in early 2012,” he says. This spring, Poet announced its long term goal to add 1 billion gallons of cellulosic ethanol production from corn stover to its existing 26 ethanol plants, and produce an estimated total of 3.5 billion gallons of cellulosic ethanol by 2022, or more than 20 percent of the cellulosic ethanol mandated by RFS2.
Archer Daniels Midland Co. hasn’t made its goals public, but in December the company announced it had received a $24.8 million DOE grant to develop and construct a facility in Decatur, Iowa, to convert biomass into renewable fuel. “Biofuels remain the only widely available alternative transportation fuel available today. This project demonstrates ADM’s commitment to advanced biofuels and our work to meet the goals of the renewable fuel standard program,” said Todd Werpy, ADM vice president, biofuels and biochemical research. The facility will fractionate lignocellulosics with one fraction used to produce ethanol and another fraction used to produce ethyl acrylate, a compound used in plastics, adhesives and coatings. The pretreatment process being developed will also be used in ADM’s efforts to commercialize biocrude, a project being conducted in alliance with ConocoPhillips.
Earlier, ADM received DOE support for a joint project with Purdue University to commercialize a fermentation process using highly efficient yeast to convert cellulosic materials into ethanol fuel. On the feedstock side, ADM is partnering with Deere & Company and Monsanto to identify environmentally, agronomically and economically sustainable methods for the harvest, storage and transport of corn stover.
A number of other cellulosic ethanol projects are moving through the pilot and demonstration stages aiming towards full commercialization. The following is a snapshot of a number of those projects.
Abengoa
Since 2007, Spanish cellulosic ethanol producer Abengoa Bioenergy S.A. has operated a pilot plant in York, Neb., capable of processing 1.5 tons of agricultural residues per day through an enzymatic hydrolysis process. In January, Abengoa announced it had teamed up with Mid-Kansas Electric Co. LLC to develop a cellulosic ethanol and power plant in Stevens County, Kan., that will produce 15 MMgy of ethanol and 75 megawatts of power each year. Abengoa Bioenergy Hybrid of Kansas will use corn stover, wheat straw and switchgrass as feedstocks, procured from producers from seven counties within a 50-mile radius of the plant. ABHK will require about 2,500 tons of biomass per day. Abengoa received a $76 million U.S. DOE grant to help fund the project. Chris Roach, ABHK project development manager, says construction is slated to commence late 2010; completion is targeted for 2012.
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