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Disruptive Technologies APPENDIX C Background: Biofuels and Bio-Based ChemicalsGlobal Trends 2025SRI Consulting Business Intelligence Appendix C–1
APPENDIX C: BIOFUELS AND BIO-BASED CHEMICALS(BACKGROUND)
The Technology
Figure 6
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 TECHNOLOGY ROADMAP: BIOFUELS AND BIO-BASED CHEMICALS
TimeBiofuels and Bio-Based ChemicalsProduction from FoodCrops
 
Biofuels and Bio-Based ChemicalsProduction from FoodCropsLarge-Scale IntegratedProduction of Biofuels,Chemicals, Bioplastics,Power fromLignocellulose
 
Large-Scale IntegratedProduction of Biofuels,Chemicals, Bioplastics,Power fromLignocelluloseProduction of High-PerformanceSynthetic Jet Fuel,Gasoline, Diesel Fuel,and Chemicals
 
Production of High-PerformanceSynthetic Jet Fuel,Gasoline, Diesel Fuel,and ChemicalsTechnology Reach200020102020
First-Generation Biofuels and Bio-Based ChemicalsIntegrated Biorefinery Technology“Custom-Designed”Biofuels
Ability to Engineer/Create NewMicrobes to Convert Biomassto Synthetic HydrocarbonsRapid Growth in U.S.Demand for Corn-BasedEthanol BiofuelCommercializationof New BioplasticsAbility to ConvertLignocellulosic BiomassFeedstocks to Biofuelsand ChemicalsEconomically25% or More of TransportationFuel Supply from Cost-Competitive Biofuels
Source: SRI Consulting Business Intelligence
Biofuels and Bio-Based Chemicals Technologies
Biofuels markets are booming in areas such as the United States, Europe, and Brazilbased on current first-generation biofuels technologies—fuel ethanol from crops such ascorn and sugarcane and biodiesel from crops such as rapeseed and soy. For futuresustainability, the main biofuels R&D focus is on emerging second-generation processesthat produce energy-efficient biofuels and do not compete with the food chain forfeedstocks. Second-generation processes convert lignocellulosic materials, includingagricultural and forest residues such as corn stover, rice straw, wheat straw, and bagasseand possible nonfood bioenergy crops such as switchgrass, poplar, and Miscanthus grass(elephant grass). (Note on terminology: Lignocellulose, the most abundant biomass,
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The Technology Roadmap highlights the timing, features, and applications of significant technologymilestones that would be necessary for developers of this technology to achieve if successful (equivalent tocommercial) application—and possible disruption—is to occur by 2025.
 
 
Disruptive Technologies APPENDIX C Background: Biofuels and Bio-Based ChemicalsGlobal Trends 2025SRI Consulting Business Intelligence Appendix C–2
consists of three main polymers: cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. In common usage,
cellulosic ethanol
refers to ethanol made from lignocellulose.)Cellulosic ethanol technology is still a few years away from economic viability. TheDOE, a major and long-term supporter of lignocellulose conversion R&D, is helping tomake cellulosic ethanol cost competitive with gasoline by 2012 by supporting twoalternative types of technology platforms:• A biochemical or sugar platform depending on acid or enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulose to sugars with subsequent fermentation to ethanol• A thermochemical platform using gasification of biomass to syngas withsubsequent fermentation or catalytic conversion to alcohols.A significant effort is also under way to enable future integrated biorefineries in theUnited States that make a range of biofuels, chemicals, power, and other high-valueproducts from lignocellulosic feedstock rather than using petroleum. A range of established energy companies and new technology start-ups are working to develop newtechnologies, often with cofunding from the DOE. In 2007, the DOE awarded grants forthe construction of six full-scale pioneer biorefineries in the United States that expect toreach economic viability by 2012. DOE also plans to provide an additional $200 millionin funding over five years for the development of small-scale cellulosic-ethanolbiorefineries that will experiment with new feedstocks and processing technologies and$375 million for three new U.S. Bioenergy Research Centers that will focus ondeveloping new, more efficient methods for producing cellulosic ethanol and otherbiofuels.Biodiesel is another biofuel seeing rapid growth worldwide. Feedstocks includeplant-derived oils such as rapeseed, soy, and palm oil, as well as waste oils. Jatropha, aweed that grows in arid climates, is also gaining support in India and some otherlocations. Conventional biodiesel processing often converts less than 10% of the mass of dried plants, so a clear need exists for more efficient biodiesel technologies. ChorenIndustries GmbH (Freiberg, Germany) is developing a new biomass-to-liquids (BTL)technology that involves high-temperature gasification of biomass followed by a catalyticFischer Tropsch process to make a high-cetane synthetic biodiesel. Algae are apotentially rich source of biofuels and an area of intense interest today. Significantpotential exists for cultivating high-oil-content, high-growth microalgae containing morethan 50% oil for conversion to biodiesel. Algae can grow on marginal land or in water soas not to compete with food crops. Costs are still much too high, but many start-upcompanies—along with DOE national laboratories—are now developing new algae-to-biodiesel approaches.New biofuels are also under development. Biobutanol is attracting the attention of anumber of companies because it has some key advantages over ethanol—the predominantU.S. biofuel—including higher energy content and better transport characteristics. BPBiofuels is progressing a near-term effort with DuPont to develop and commercializebiobutanol. The biobutanol-fermentation process initially will use DuPont’s biocatalystand bioprocess technology using locally grown sugar beets. BP and DuPont are working
 
Disruptive Technologies APPENDIX C Background: Biofuels and Bio-Based ChemicalsGlobal Trends 2025SRI Consulting Business Intelligence Appendix C–3
on the development of a second-generation process using a more-targeted biocatalyst andthe ability to process lignocellulosic feedstocks.Future breakthroughs in cellulosic-ethanol production and entirely new biofuels maycome from the field of synthetic biology. Several start-up companies are using synthetic-biology techniques to make renewable hydrocarbon fuels that are very similar to today’spetroleum fuels and are thus completely compatible with existing fuel infrastructures.Researchers are engineering microbes by incorporating genetic pathways from othermicrobes, plants, and animals. Synthetic Genomics (Rockville, Maryland), founded bybiotechnology pioneer Craig Venter, is trying to produce a highly engineered “syntheticorganism” that can perform multiple tasks well: efficiently break down cellulose like abacterium, ferment sugar like a yeast, and tolerate high levels of ethanol. Hoping toimprove on the attributes of ethanol fuel, start-up companies Amyris Biotechnologies,Inc. (Emeryville, California), and LS9, Inc. (San Carlos, California), are both targetingthe custom-designed fuels arena. Amyris is focusing on advanced diesel and jet-fuelformulations; LS9’s focus is on jet fuel, low-sulfur gasoline biofuels, and specialtybiochemicals. Although still early stage, the companies hope to bring these products tomarket within four or five years. Technology challenges include the massive scale-upnecessary to produce the new biofuels in large volumes.A growing number of bio-based chemicals, such as the biodegradable bioplastic PLA(polylactic acid) that derives from corn, are already in commercial production, andseveral additional products will reach commercialization in the next few years. Thelonger-term plan is to use lower-cost lignocellulosic feedstocks in stand-alone plants orfuture integrated biorefineries. Production of high-value chemical building blocks andbiopolymers is key to the success of biorefineries.
The Enabling Building Blocks
For biochemical-conversion technologies, a major R&D focus is on improvingpretreatment technology for breaking hemicellulose down to component sugars anddeveloping more cost-effective cellulase enzymes (biocatalysts) for breaking cellulosedown to its component sugar. Another key enabling technology is the engineering of microorganisms and enzymes that can efficiently convert the complex cellulosic wastesto simple sugars and then to ethanol or chemical building blocks. Lignocellulosicfeedstocks contain both five-carbon pentose sugars (D-xylose and L-arabinose) and six-carbon sugars (glucose, mannose, and galactose). Cost-effective processes need toferment all five sugars rapidly, but the pentoses in particular are not easily metabolizedby common yeasts in use for ethanol production today. For thermochemical-conversiontechnologies, much of the current R&D is on syngas production and use to make fuelsand other valuable products. Technology developers are also working to demonstratetheir integrated conversion processes in real-world applications in rural areas.
Implications of Advancement in Various Technological Capabilities
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