Advanced Biofuels of the Future: Atom-Economical or Energy-Economical?

Journal Article · 17 October 2018 · Joule

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2018.09.007 · OSTI ID:1570771

Fasahati, Peyman  ^[1]; Maravelias, Christos T.  ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States); Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States). DOE Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center

This study aims to identify the critical factors that must be considered in the selection of target biofuels and development of new conversion strategies. Specifically, a high-level carbon and energy analysis of two idealized representative biomass-to-fuel strategies is performed to identify critical trade-offs. The impact of process energy requirements and byproduct (electricity) production, as well as the impact of fuel quality are studied by extending the boundary of analysis to include the end-use of the produced fuel and electricity in the transportation sector. Results show that the energy required to run the biorefinery and the quality of the fuel play a key role.

• Research Organization: Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC), Madison, WI (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
• Grant/Contract Number: SC0018409
• OSTI ID: 1570771
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 1506464
• Journal Information: Joule, Vol. 2, Issue 10; ISSN 2542-4351
• Publisher: Elsevier - Cell PressCopyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English