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Presentation at GIC and University of Memphis Fogelman College of Business Food and Inflation Conference
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“Ethanol…..and Beyond” Food and Inflation: Truth & Consequences
GIC and University of Memphis Fogelman College of Business
Memphis, Tennessee February 8, 2012
*Source: Louisiana Oil and Gas Association, US DOE 1 Bbl oil = 5,800,000 BTU’s 1 Bbl oil = 23,200 hours human work
The Challenge of Replacing Fossil Feedstocks
3 barrels of oil produces the energy equivalent of one human worklife.*
The Petrochemical Economy Source: DOE/USDA Top Value-Added Chemicals Vol. I, 2004
Petroleum
Natural Gas
Fossil Feedstocks are Finite Resources
Feedstock Renewal time
Oil gas, coal (Fossil) 200 million years
Trees 5-80+ years
Shrubs 1-5 years
Grasses 1 year
Agricultural Crops 3 months – 1 year
Algae 1 Month
Source: Amidon, Tom, et al. Industrial Biotechnology, 2(2):113-120, 2006
What can replace Fossil Feedstocks?
Feedstock Key Chemical Component(s) Crop Examples
Oils Plant oils: triglycerides Soybeans, Canola, Sunflowers, Algae
Starch Sugar polymers (polysaccharides) Corn, Barley, Grain sorghum
Sugar Sucrose, glucose, fructose Sweet sorghum, sugar beets, sugar cane
Lignocellulose Lignin, cellulose, hemicellulose Wood, crop residues, switchgrass
Major Biomass Feedstocks
Source: Regional Strategy for Biobased Products in the Mississippi Delta (Battelle 2009) Memphis Bioworks Foundation, report at www.agbioworks.org
The Bioeconomy Source: DOE/USDA Top Value-Added Chemicals Vol. I, 2004
Sugar is the “New Oil” Novel fermentation technologies moving to commercialization
Leading Chemicals from Sugar
Ethylene Glycol Coca-Cola “Plant Bottle” Butanol, Isobutanol
Gevo (Silsbee, TX), Cobalt BP/DuPont, Tetravitae/Eastman
1,3-Propanediol DuPont/Tate & Lyle (Loudon, TN)
Bioisoprene, Butadiene Genencor/Goodyear, Amyris/Michelin
Succinic Acid Myriant (Lake Providence, LA)
BioAmber/Mitsui, DSM/Roquette, BASF/Purac
BioDimensions is developing Industrial Sugar Crops
• Sweet Sorghum – Single crop per year in TN
– 4 month season w/ hybrids
– Rotation w/ winter wheat
– Low inputs, drought tolerant
• Sugarbeets – Winter crop option in mid-South
– Storage for off-season processing
– Successful introduction & trials
– Sugar yield equal to sorghum
Sugarbeets, Whiteville, TN, 2010 Sweet sorghum harvesting, Whiteville, TN, 2011
Sweet Sorghum as a Biorefinery Feedstock
Component Composition Possible Downstream Products
Juice C6 Sugars Fuels, chemicals, spirits
Bagasse Lignocellulose Feed, cellulosic sugars/fuels, fuel pellets, materials
Seed Starch Specialty feeds, sugar products
Some Parting Thoughts
• Fossil feedstocks have a huge advantage for liquid fuel & chemicals production
• Ultimately fossil feedstocks are finite & cause other problems
• Development of alternative sustainable feedstocks takes time and money (think decades and Trillions)
• First generation technologies are always flawed
• New technologies and products must ultimately be tested and improved in the marketplace, not the laboratory
BioDimensions pilot-scale Biorefinery; Whiteville, TN
Thank You!