Biofuels

November 14, 2013

Announcements
Technology Presentations (sign-up going around)
Technology Papers Topics due today

UT Energy Symposium Valuation of electric vehicles

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Upcoming Schedule
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10/15/2013 Climate Change 10/17/2013 Midterm Exam 10/22/2013 Energy & the Built Environment 10/24/2013 UT Sustainability/UT Power Plant 10/29/2013 Electricity Markets 10/31/2013 Energy Policy 11/5/2013 Pecan Street, Smart Grids Wind Energy & Renewable Energy 11/7/2013 Policy 11/12/2013 Solar Energy 11/14/2013 Biofuels 11/19/2013 Q&A with Jose Bravo 11/21/2013 Nuclear Power 11/26/2013 Switch (movie) 11/28/2013 Thanksgiving - No Class 12/3/2013 Energy Conservation 12/5/2013 Selected Energy Presentations Article Log, Technology Paper Technology Presentations HW #6 Due Policy Paper Due Chapters 21-22 Chapters 23-24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Conclusion

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What Are the Major Renewables?

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Renewables Today

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Source: EIA AER 2012

Renewables

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Source: EIA AER 2012

Biomass Resource Availability

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Biofuels
Ethane Ethanol

Biodiesel
Note: Gasoline and diesel are mixtures, not pure compounds

Diesel

Gasoline

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Biofuel Labels
B is for Biodiesel
E is for Ethanol

B5 = 5% biodiesel by volume
E10 = 10% ethanol by volume E85 = 85% ethanol by volume

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Biomass in a Perfect World

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Source: http://cr.middlebury.edu/es/altenergylife/sbiomass.htm

Ethanol in the News

Source: RT.com

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Ethanol Can Be a Contentious Issue

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2/3 of Corn Goes to Ethanol

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Source: Michael Wang (2005)

Ethanol Production
http://www.ethanol.org/index.php?id=73 http://www.nrel.gov/biomass/thermochem ical_conversion.html

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Biorefineries: Small Scale

211 Ethanol Plants (as of January 2013)
Total capacity: 14.7 billion gallons/yr Average capacity: 70 million gallons/yr Actual production: 13.3 billion gallons/yr

143 Petroleum Refineries (as of January 2013)

Total capacity: 260 billion gallons/yr
Average capacity: 1820 million gallons/yr Actual production: 138 billion gallons/yr
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Source: Renewable Fuels Association and EIA

Ethanol vs. Petroleum Comparison

Source: Michael Wang (2005)

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Net Energy Value of Ethanol

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Source: Michael Wang, Argonne National Laboratory

Why the Uncertainty?

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Source: Michael Wang, Argonne National Laboratory

Ethanol Likely Reduces GHG Emissions

Source: Michael Wang (2005)

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CO2 Emissions

Source: Wang et al., Environmental Research Letters, 2012

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Fossil Fuel Consumption

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Source: Wang et al., Environmental Research Letters, 2012

Ethanol Policy Levers

Mandates to purchase biofuels
Ag subsidies (reduces biofuel costs)

Tax credits to purchase biofuels ($0.51/gal)

Expired January 1, 2012 after $20 billion in subsidies

Tariffs on imported ethanol ($0.54/gal)

Expired January 1, 2012

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Energy Information & Security Act (EISA)

Passed December 2007 (264/163 and 65/27)
Title I: Energy Security through Improved Vehicle Fuel Economy
CAFE standards increased to 35 mpg by 2020

Title II: Energy Security through Increased Production of Biofuels

Required 36 billion gallons of biofuels by 2022 Capped corn ethanol at 15 billion gallons/yr
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Q: What was the political climate in 2007?

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Corn Ethanol ~10% of Gas Consumption

Total gasoline consumption ~135 billion gallons/yr
Corn ethanol capped at 15 billion gallons/yr

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Buildout of Ethanol Plants

Number of Ethanol Plants Under Construction or Expanding
80 70

60
50 40 30 20

10
0

Date
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Source: Renewable Fuels Association

Biorefinery Locations

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Ethanol Production (billion gal/yr) 10 12 14 16 0 1980 2 4 6

1982
1984 1986 1988

1990
1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 Date

Ethanol Production

Source: Renewable Fuels Association

2008
2010 2012

World Ethanol Production

Asia China Europe North & Central America Canada Australia Africa

Brazil

Total Production: 28.4 billion gallons/yr

South America

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Source: Renewable Fuels Association

Biomass Resource Available

~1 billion tons of biomass available in US
Energy content is ~10 MMBTU/ton Total resource availability is ~10 quads

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U.S. Corn Production Improving

Source: University of Missouri

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More Crop with Less Fertilizer

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Source: Michael Wang (2005)

Ethanol Transportation
Feedstocks are solids

Ethanol and water mix very well

Ethanol corrodes pipelines Ethanol transportation via truck/train

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Ethanol as a Fuel
20% lower energy density compared to gasoline
Ethanol is an oxygenate

Ethanol has an octane rating of ~113

Typical gasoline octane ratings are 85-93

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Air Emissions

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Source: Greenwire

Biodiesel Production
Transesterification

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Biomass to Electricity

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Image Source: http://www.energy.ca.gov/biomass/

Biomass to Electricity
Cofiring

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