Ethanol and methanol from cellulosic biomass

Book · Fri Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1993

OSTI ID:142309

Wyman, C E; Bain, R L; Hinman, N D ^[1]; Stevens, D J ^[2]

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1. National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO (United States)
2. Cascade Research, Inc., Kennewick, WA (United States)

Cellulosic biomass includes agricultural and forestry wastes, municipal solid waste, and energy crops. Enough ethanol or methanol could be made from cellulosic biomass in countries such as the United States to replace all gasoline, thereby reducing strategic vulnerability and lowering trade deficits for imports. Direct alcohol blends and gasoline containing ethers of ethanol or methanol decrease emissions of carbon monoxide, and neat alcohols reduce smog. In addition, producing alcohol fuels from biomass that is grown sustainably does not contribute to the accumulation of carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) in the atmosphere. Significant progress has been made over the past few years in the technologies for converting biomass to ethanol or methanol. The simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) process is favored for producing ethanol from cellulose, because of its low cost potential. Technology has also been developed for converting hemicellulose into ethanol. Burning the remaining fraction -- predominantly lignin -- can provide enough heat and electricity for the conversion process and generate extra electricity for export. Developments in conversion technology have reduced the projected selling price of ethanol from about US $45 per gigajoule ($0.95 per liter) ten years ago to only about $13 per gigajoule ($0.28 per liter) today. For methanol production, improved gasification technology has been developed, and more economical syngas cleanup methods are available. The projected cost of methanol has been reduced from about $16 per gigajoule ($0.27 per liter) to less than $15 per gigajoule ($0.25 per liter) at present. Technical opportunities have been identified that could reduce the costs of ethanol and methanol produced from cellulosic biomass to levels competitive with gasoline (%0.21 per liter) derived from oil at $25 per barrel. 110 refs., 3 figs., 15 tabs.

• OSTI ID: 142309
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

09 BIOMASS FUELS
10 SYNTHETIC FUELS
AGRICULTURAL WASTES
ALCOHOL FUEL CELLS
ALCOHOL FUELS
BIOMASS
BIOMASS CONVERSION PLANTS
BIOSYNTHESIS
COAL GASIFICATION
ECONOMICS
ENZYMATIC HYDROLYSIS
ETHANOL
ETHERS
FOREST LITTER
FUEL ADDITIVES
FUEL SUBSTITUTION
GAS GENERATORS
GASIFICATION
GASOHOL
METHANOL
MUNICIPAL WASTES
NATURAL GAS
RESOURCE ASSESSMENT
SACCHARIFICATION
SYNTHESIS GAS
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT