Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
Alberti Advisors Founder and Managing Director Doug Cameron's opening presentation at the 2010 Wisconsin Bioenergy Summit on 10/14/10.
Citation preview
The Agriculture/Cleantech Nexus
Doug Cameron Alber8 Advisors LLC
Wisconsin Bioenergy Ini8a8ve 2010 Wisconsin Bioenergy Summit
October 14, 2010
Madison, Wisconsin
There are big, global challenges around energy, agriculture and environment
Problems are opportuni8es for savvy researchers, entrepreneurs and investors
Many emerging opportuni:es at the nexus between cleantech and sustainable agriculture
Wisconsin and the Midwest are should be the natural leaders at this nexus
Some examples of opportuni:es in biomass, power, biofuels and bio‐based chemicals
Jonathan Foley, Scien:fic American, March 2010
Big, global challenges
cleantech sustainable agriculture
Renewable energy
Carbon management
Energy efficiency
Efficient land use
Soil conserva:on
Efficient nutrient/fer:lizer use
Water management
Benign weed and pest control
Na8onal Venture Capital Associa8on investments buckets:
SoNware Life Sciences Cleantech Internet
An emerging area:
Sustainable agriculture
A very visible example of the cleantech/ag nexus
Solum makes a field‐deployable measurement tool that can give immediate answers on soil nutrient needs. Fer:lizer is a major cost for commodity crops, amoun:ng to 40‐50% of the opera:ng expense for corn. It is currently applied in an inefficient manner based on average values rather than per‐acre needs. Our services and tools give farmers confidence that they can increase their yields and reduce their costs by applying fer8lizer in the right amount, at the right place, and at the right 8me. Using our tools makes farming more sustainable by reducing nitrogen runoff (which causes "dead zones" in areas such as the Gulf of Mexico) and comba:ng the dominant source of nitrous oxide—the third most important greenhouse gas and the leading cause of ozone deple:on.
Solum was founded in 2009 by Nick Koshnick, Mike Preiner, and Jus:n White, three Applied Physics PhDs from Stanford.
Charter Street Hea:ng Plant, Madison, WI
Clentech/Ag Nexus—renewable, biomass power
poplar
Short rota:on willow
Miscanthus
switchgrass
Sweet sorghum Energy cane
Mixed grass study, David Tilman
Equipment for mechanized sugarcane harves:ng, Piracicaba, Sao Paulo, Brazil (for ethanol fuel produc:on)
Single‐pass corn stover harvester
Iowa State, Poet, John Deere
Philip Benfey, PhD Co‐Founder and Chief Execu2ve Officer
Cleantech/Ag Nexus: Addressing the biomass supply chain
Sapphire, New Mexico
Less exo:c—diges:on of animal waste to biogas
Fibrominn LLC, Benson, MN, 55 MW, 700,000 tons poultry waste annually
…and more controversial
Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007
Renewable Fuel Standard, include life cycle analysis and influence of land use change
Policy, legal an regulatory opportuni8es at the cleantech/ag nexus
corn starch
ethanol cane sugar (sucrose)
soybean oil
rape seed oil
palm oil
biodiesel
methanol
Biofuels: Current Technology
hip://www.bioprofilelabs.com/Maize.jpg hip://img.alibaba.com/photo/11648118/Sugar_Cane.jpg hip://www.biotechnologyonline.gov.au/images/contentpages/soybeans.jpg hip://www.cambridge2000.com/gallery/images/P4230761.jpg hip://img.alibaba.com/photo/11564472/Crude___Refined_Palm_Oil_From_Malaysia.jpg
glycerol
Trans‐ esterifica8on
yeast fermenta8on
A broader view of renewable fuels and chemical
CO2
Non‐fossil biomass
Non‐fossil biomass (or direct to fuels and chemicals)
“Reac8ve” Intermediates
Hydrolysis (“sugar plaXorm”)
Pyrolysis (“bio‐oils”)
Gasifica8on (syngas)
Fuels and chemicals
“photosynthesis”
A collec8on of biofuels, all with some commercial interest hydrogen
methane
methanol
ethanol
dimethylether
n‐butanol
iso‐butanol
iso‐pentanol
methyl levulinate
methyltetrahydrofuran (MTHF)
dimethylfuran (DMF)
Methyl oleate, a fa[y acid methyl ester (FAME), representa8ve biodiesel molecule
propane
isopropanol Iso‐tetradecane, a representa8ve hydrocarbon
farnesene
Biochar
Petroleum
Refinery
Fuels (gasoline, diesel)
Petro‐ chemicals
Non‐fossil biomass
Biorefinery
Biofuels (ethanol, biodiesel,
other)
Bio‐based chemicals
Bio‐based chemicals
Chemurgy is a branch of applied chemistry that is concerned with preparing industrial products from agricultural raw materials. The word "chemurgy" was coined by chemist William J. Hale and first publicized in his 1934 book The Farm Chemurgic. (Wikipedia)
Neo‐chemurgy??
Petrochemical building blocks
ethylene
propylene
butadiene
benzene
toluene
mixed xylenes
Biom
ass
polyethylene
isooctane/fuels
polyacrylates
nylon, 6
polyesters
Emerging biobased chemicals
The cleantech/ag nexus: a big, global need and opportunity?
AHS Probine
