Parallel Session BioreFuture 2009

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Impacts of Biorefineries onrural & regional development,

employment and environment.

Session on sustainability at BioreFuture 2009, 30th March 2009

Adrian Karbowski, IPiEO, Poland

[email protected]



Biorefineries in

focus

1. Chemrec biorefinery in Piteå, Sweden2. Domsjö Fabriker in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden3. British Sugar, Wissington, Norfolk, UK

4. Cargill/ Cerestar Trafford Park, Manchester,UK 5. Greenmills/Amsterdam, The Netherlands

6. BioMCN, The Netherlands7. Nedalco, The Netherlands8. Biowert, Brensbach, Germany



Important findings of

the survey

• Biorefineries usually are set up at the existing

facilities (6 of 8 cases)• Only Biowert and Greenmills – greenfield ones

Biorefineries are still risky investment

andthe learning curve is less costly whenat the existing plants (i.e. by utilising

current processing infrastructure)



Important findings of

the survey

• Biorefineries contribute to:

– creation of new workplaces in the localeconomy

– development of rural areas and regionaldevelopment

– the protection of environment & overall

sustainability



• Transition of existing plants tobiorefineries helps in the maintenance ofcurrent jobs.

• Effects on employment in agriculture are

mostly positive but also depend on thegeographic supply chain structure.

Important findings

of the survey



Biorefineries create

jobs in the localeconomy ?

• both direct and indirect for greenfield

biorefineries

• mostly indirect (supply chain and clients) at theexisting facilities

Direct Indirect

BioMCN 100 4 to 5.000

Domsjö 340 ++

Biowert 7-9 (3-shifts) +

Greenmills 200 ++

1 job iscreated pereach 1000

ton of newlyinstalledprocessingcapacity*.

* based on the study of Ecofys



Biorefineries createjobs?

• can displace direct jobs like in the case of

Cargill/Cerestar

Why ?

• because of economics (change: corn to wheat)

!!!! But !!!!

now supports local wheat growing

and the wheat price

good for farmers (jobs in agriculture)



Biorefineries contribute to the

development of rural areas?

Local biomass (yes / no)

BioMCN No: Glycerine from biodiesel plants

Domsjö Yes: (70%): Wood from forests

Biowert Yes: Grass and municipal wastes

Nedalco No: Waste from wheat processing, Yes:Straw/wood remains

Chemrec Yes: Wood from forests

BritishSugar Yes: Sugar beet (the UK’s entire crop).

Greenmills No

Cargill/ Cerestar Yes: wheat

depends if plant operator will use biomass from the region or not



Will biorefinery use

local or importedbiomass ?

• Depends on biorefinery localisation (sea

access or not):

• Example: BioMCN – port of Groningen,

mostly imported feedstock

i.e. cost of transporting 1 tonne of biomass fromVienna to Groningen =

transport costs from Singapore to Groningen



• Will biorefineries disadvantage regionalagriculture ?

• Keywords:

monocultures,

reduction of conservation areas

• What needs to be done to ensure that

biomass is produced sustainably ?

Questions?



Indirect impact

on rural areas.

Effects i.e.

Domsjö Lignosulfonates for feed industry, Soilconditioners

Biowert Protein component – AgriProt BWNatural fertilizer – AgriFer BW

in cases when they manufacture sustainable

resources for agriculture i.e.

Less nitrate in drinking water in rural areas



Bioerfineries arepropelling agriculture ?

• Conclusion by Dr. Arend Oetker, President of theStifterverband for German Science*

„Industrial nations are facing a resolution in the fieldsthat will propel agriculture from its current

peripheral existence to the forefront of innovation .….biomass and agricultural products are thusbecoming key pillars of technology for the 21stcentury ”

*Stifterverband is the business community’s innovation agency for the German science system www.stifterverband.de



Criteria for

environment

• carbon footprint (plant and/or product)

• water use

• handling residues• reuse of co-products >> feedstock or

energy carier• energy efficiency



sustainable model of raw

materials processing

waste strains as feedstock• Chemrec and Domsjö: spent cooking liquors

from pulping processes

• BioMCN: unwanted glycerine• Greenmills: unwanted waste frying oil

• Nedalco: lignocellulosic waste of wheat, wood &

straw remains

significant cost advantages



• British Sugar: the Wissington plant

• the leftover sugar from betaine production isfermented to bioethanol,

• CO2 and waste heat is used to grow tomatoes,

• Milk of lime and CO2 are used to make calcium

carbonate or chalk for farming

• a new outlet for surplus sugar beet






• More sustainability through ‘nature-based’ processesing

– renewable materials both asfeedstock and processing agents

i.e. Nedalco:

using yeast strains that canconvert xylose from lignocellulosic

waste into bioethanol

Important findings

of the survey





employing renewable yeast strains insteadof a many stage chemical process for

production of ceramides for cosmetics atEvonik.




• British Sugar: the Wissington plant

• Betaine is separated from the sugar and sold asaquaculture feed.

• Residues sold as high protein animal feed

pellets.

• Lime from purification of sugar is sold to farmers.






i.e. by eliminating the need for of pesticides and

usage of natural fertilizers.

The case of Biowert:

• Farmers who supply grass receive NPK bio-

fertilzer in return.

sustainable model of

biomass production

Are other biorefineries following

this pattern ?



more sustainability through products i.e.

– feed additives that reduce impactsof livestock husbandry on the

environment

– biobased food additives for humansi.e. to be manufactured by Biowert

Important findings

of the survey



Biorefineries add sustainability tothe economy through

ready to use products that havelower carbon footprint than

their fossil counterparts

Important findings of the survey



• Loss of natural habitats ? NO

• People from the region are involved ? NO

• Cause wages’ increase in the region ? NO

• Land use change NO

• Land prices may rise (Chemrec)

Other findings



Biorefineries are catalyst forinnovation in the regions

(case of Biowert)

Biorefineries strengthen job creationeffects in the industry and especially

R& D area.

Other findings of

the survey



Biorefineries want to showcase bestpractices (represent forward-looking

thinking)

to increase their chances for deployment

Sometimes not invested optimally becauseof the learning-curve.

Other findings of

the survey



Biorefineries promote better efficiency

• Chemrec - improved electricity yield /BLGCC system compared to recoveryboilers/ (at full scale unit)

• BioMCN - syngas to methanol made moreeffective

• British Sugar: the Wissington plant is >80%efficient in terms of energy production.

Other findings of

the survey



Biorefineries promote better efficiency

• BioMCN: tankers delivering the rawglycerine collect a return load of methanol

• Biowert: grass juice fed to the biogas plant

better than slurry and available on site

Other findings of

the survey

lower logistcs costs



Why water use

minimization isimportant ?

• Water scarcity in at least 17 % of Europe• chemicals and petroleum industries – 50% of all

water use by manufacturing industry,

• paper and food processing - the rest

• Improve the efficiency of water use byagriculture !!!

• The Water Framework Directive - 'promotion ofsustainable water use '.



Sustainable watermanagement

– BioMCN: cooling of power plant by seawater

– Nedalco: Cargill provides water

recycled from its own processes to theNedalco plant.

– After use the process water fromNedalco is fed back to Cargill’s waterrecycling plant



Impacts on

environment

Cargill/Cerestar:

• before: corn - 3 times per week withship,

• Now: wheat - a lot of lorries daily, butmore cost-effective.

Trade off: economy vs. environment



• Biorefineries often employ whitebiotechnology because

it is a necessary link between biomass(input) and biomass materials (output).

• White biotechnology means less inresources than traditional processes

Other findings of

the survey



Why subsidies can

be bad ?

– Biowert: reimbursements if people bought

AgriCell

– product demanded due to the lower price

– People tended to think as inferior product(needs help for market placement)

More effective to supportdemonstrations at trade fairs etc.



Thank You For Your Attention

BioreFuture 2009, Brussels, 30th March 2009

Adrian Karbowski, IPiEO, Poland

[email protected]

Documents

Parallel Session BioreFuture 2009