European Biomass Industry Association

Present context (I)

Brasil ~15 Billion li

Low cost production of Bioethanol from Sweet Sorghum

Dr. Giuliano GRASSI
EUBIA Secretary General

- World Production (2005)

46 Billion li
(most fuel ethanol)

USA ~ 14 Billion li EU ~ 0,6 Billion li

- World Production (2015)

75 Billion li

- USA Bill estabilishing a Ren. Fuel Standard of 7,5 Billion gal./year*

Rue dArlon, 63-65 B-1040 Brussels Belgium

eubia@eubia.org www.eubia.org

Low cost production of Bioethanol from sweet sorghum

Present context (II)

- Production cost (typical)
Brasil ~ 160 $/ton USA ~ 420 $/ton EU ~ 600 $/ton Import duty (EU) ~ 190 /ton

Why Sweet Sorghum for Bioethanol ?

Sweet Sorghum is an extraordinarily promising multifunctional crop for several reasons: A high productivity of several components (grains, sugars, lignocellulosic); It requires common soil even with high % of sand and it is also adapted to salty areas; It requires low of water imputs ( ~ 200 m3 /ton), 1/3 of sugar cane requirements, 1/2 of corn; It has a short growing cycle from seeds (4/5 months), 1/3 of sugar cane; Many varieties are available for genetic improvment (~4,000) It can be grown in all continents, in tropical, sub-tropical and temperate regions (covering sugar-cane most sugarbeet areas);

- Price (Nov 2005)

Brasil (hydrous) ~ 460 $/ ton Brasil (anhydrous) ~ 520 $/ ton USA ~ 620 $/ton EU (hydrous) ~ 700 $/ ton EU (anhydrous) ~ 755 $/ ton

Low cost production of Bioethanol from sweet sorghum

Low cost production of Bioethanol from sweet sorghum

Three main types of Sorghum

Positive Environmental Performance . Sweet Sorghum absorbs large amount of CO2 (~45 t CO2/hax cycle); 1 ltr of bio-ethanol saves ~2,2 Kg CO2 (transport); Low energy, chemical, irrigation water inputs; Respect of biodiversity in large plantations (wide range of varieties); Soil erosion loss (on marginal erodible sites) ~10 t/ha/y, within the tolerance level (11 t/ha/y); Large amount of compost from Sweet Sorghum residues (~15d.t/ha/y cycle) can improve the sustainability of cropping; NOTE Sweet-Sorghum must be considered, multi-functional (energy) crop, not a competitor crop for the sugar market!

Low cost production of Bioethanol from sweet sorghum

Low cost production of Bioethanol from sweet sorghum

Potential geographical areas for S. Sorghum

70 60 52

Sweet Sorghum Etoh Productivity

Typical productivity from different varieties
ETOH (l/ha)

Limit for cereals Sugar beet Sugar cane

7000 6000 5000 4000

4200 5600 6700 6100 5000 5100 6000

Shennong1(China) Shennong1(Italy) Foralco(ITA) Sofra(ITA) Doina(RUM) Carmen(RUM) Doina(India) F-135ST(India)

Sweet Sorghum

3000 2000 1000 0 1

Sweet Sorghum variety But the real crop development for ETOH is not yet started!

Low cost production of Bioethanol from sweet sorghum

Low cost production of Bioethanol from sweet sorghum

How to reach a low cost for Bioethanol?

By high productivity (this has been demonstrated)and control in supplying. By the valorisation of all components of the crop: Grains (80/t) Sugars (50/t) Lignocellulosic (25/t) By the adoption and integration of modern processing technologies and production for industrial, energy, feed, commodities (Biorefinery concept) By attributing a low-value premium to Bioethanol as much as possible By CO2 trading or green-certificates benefits

Why a target figure of 250 /ton for the bioethanol-cost is resonable?

Assuming that 60% of the ETOH production cost is due to the feedstock (sugar cost) supply, this value is: 50 /t ________________
1: Sugar extraction efficiency 2. Fermentation efficiency 3. ETOH/sugar conversion 4: Industrial efficiency

0.961*0.932*0.53*0.954

= 118 /t ETOH

Therefore the anticipated cost of bioethanol from sweet sorghum is ca 200/t. Conservative figure: 250 /t

Low cost production of Bioethanol from sweet sorghum

Low cost production of Bioethanol from sweet sorghum

Which size of Integrated Sweet Sorghum Complex could be economically viable in the E.U. ?
- Minimum plantations size (Decentralised production): 1000 ha Bioethanol capacity (microdistillery): 6,000 m3/ y 1 or 2level of integration - Large plantations size (Centralised production) : 10,000 - 50,000 ha (or more) Bioethanol capacity 60,000 - 300,000 m3/ y

Typical Sweet Sorghum complex (1,000-50,000 ha)

Sweet Sorghum Plantation Harvesting Cane Crushing Sugar juice Purification Grains Drying &Stor. Grains Milling Liquefaction & Saccarification Centrifugation

Trashes

Bagasse

Fermentation

Pelletisation CHP CO2

For complex operation

Distillation

Dehydratation Pelletisation

Agro-pellets
Storage & Sale

Heat for sale

ETOH
Storage &Sale

DDG
Storage & Sale

Low cost production of Bioethanol from sweet sorghum

Low cost production of Bioethanol from sweet sorghum

Energy performance of sweet sorghum

R = product energy output product energy input 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. On field crop production: R ~ 20 Production of ETOH + DDG + Agropellets: R ~ 7.3 Production of ETOH + DDG + Green power plant (~28%): R ~ 4.3 Production of ETOH + DDG + Coal/pellets cofiring(~40%): R ~ 4.8 Production of ETOH + DDG + Biohydrogen: R ~ 4.6

Energy performance of sweet sorghum

7,3
7,5 7,0 6,5 6,0 R 5,5 5,0 4,5
ETOH+DDG+Agropellets ETOH+DDG+Cofiring ETOH+ DDG+H2 ETOH+DDG+greenPOWER

4,8

4,6 4,2

(See figure next slide) For comparison (co-products not considered) Bioethanol from wheat: 1.1 Bioethanol from corn: 1.3 Bioethanol from sugar beat/potatoes: 1.76 Bioethanol from sugar-cane: (Brasil): ~8
Low cost production of Bioethanol from sweet sorghum

4,0 3,5 3,0 1 Final product mix

Low cost production of Bioethanol from sweet sorghum

Which R.O.I. can be expected ?

Sweet Sorghum Complexes

1st level Bioethanol of integration Production (with HCP); DDG (animal feed) Agro-pellets CO2 recovery (in some cases) 2nd level Bioethanol of integration Production DDG Green power

- Decentralised Bioethanol production: (~1,000 ha) Investment: 6 mio R.O.I. ~ 15 - 20 % - Centralised Bioethanol production: (> 20,000 ha) Investment: ~ 65 mio R.O.I. ~ 20 - 25 %
( With Bioethanol market value: 500 /m3)

3rd level Bioethanol of integration production DDG Agro-pellets (for sale) Agro-pellets conversion in Bio-hydrogen (or Biofuels) Bio-methanol prod.: ~0.6 l of METH for each l of ETOH

Note: All these productions could be carried out now utilising existing commercial technologies. Also bio-H2 and Biomethanol production appear to have reached competitiveness in comparison to natural gas at ~10 $/MMBtu

Low cost production of Bioethanol from sweet sorghum

Low cost production of Bioethanol from sweet sorghum

Markets for agro-pellets

Sweet Sorghum and sugar-cane plantations produce large amounts of lignocellulosic residues (Bagasse, trashes, etc..): 15-20 dry ton/ha That means: 16,5 22 ton (Agropellets)/ha per year Use of modern cogeneration technology for ETOH processings will make thus available a large amount of Agro pellets for sale or other uses: Agro pellets can economically substitute BTZ fuel (305 $/ton) for fuelling medium-large capacity boilers. Infact assuming a cost of biomass: 50 $/dry ton

1. Heat Production

13 19 ton/ha per year Possible uses:

1. Heat production 2. Green power production 3. Biohydrogen production 4. Siderurcical pellets 5. Biomethanol production
Low cost production of Bioethanol from sweet sorghum

cost of pelletisation: 40 $/dry ton cost of transport: 20 $/dry ton

Total cost = 110 $/ton (Agro pellets) Corresponding to ~ 270 $/TOE = 260 $/ ton BTZ equivalent Note: If CO2 trading in future will be available (i.e. 40/ t CO2) agropellets could get a benefits of ~ 60 / ton with large improved competitiviness
Low cost production of Bioethanol from sweet sorghum

World power supply

2. Green Power production Source: www.isofoton.it

If green certificates (~0,1/KWhe) are available green power co-production become very attactive. The best option will be coal agro-pellets cofiring (el 40%) with benefit for each ton of agro-pellets ca 200 /ton. In decentralised green power generation the benefits for 1 ton of pellets ca 140 /ton. Investments Cofiring (+ 8 / kW e) Power plants (1600 2000 / kWe) Small co-generators (50 - 500 kWe: 1400 /kW e, not yet commercial) This economic benefit should be distributed between the farmers and the power producers

Low cost production of Bioethanol from sweet sorghum

Low cost production of Bioethanol from sweet sorghum

3. Biohydrogen production Industrial Biohydrogen (98% purity) could be produced commercially in a very short time from Agro-pellets by a three steps process (carbonisation of agro pellets + steam reforming + CO shifting) 55Kg of biohydrogen/ t pellets can be obtained in competition with that derived from natural gas by S.R.
Production cost of H2 from Nat. Gas (at 10 $/MMBTU) ca 2,400 $/t Biohydrogen from pellets (100$/t)ca 2,250 $/t CO2 potential benefitca 500 $/t Real BioH2 cost ca 1,750 $/t

4. Siderurgical pellets Huge potential market for high-quality steel. Estimated production cost of syderurgical charcoal pellets:~200/t 5. Biomethanol production Utilising Bio-H2 (from bagasse) for cathalitic synthesis with CO2 fermentation ~ 0,6 liter of Bio-Methanol for 1 liter of Bio-Ethanol produced could be co-produced at competitive cost in comparison to that derived from Nat. Gas

Low cost production of Bioethanol from sweet sorghum

Low cost production of Bioethanol from sweet sorghum

Impact of R&D on Bioethanol cost reduction

Sweet Sorghum Plantation

Agropellets machine 1. Sweet Sorghum increased productivity - Sweet Sorghum planting machine (gain: 1month) - Conventional genetic improvement - Sweet Sorghum DNA genome sequencing (8-10 M/2-3 years)

2. Stabilisation of humid ligno-cellulosic residues (multistage machines for very humid biomass)

3. Innovative Distillation and Deshydratation technology

Low cost production of Bioethanol from sweet sorghum

Harvester machine
Low cost production of Bioethanol from sweet sorghum

Microdistillery

Large ETOH plant

European Biomass Industry Association

Thank you for your attention!

EUBIA Rue dArlon, 63-65 B-1040 Brussels, Belgium eubia@eubia.org www.eubia.org

Small facility for new distillation technology

Low cost production of Bioethanol from sweet sorghum Low cost production of Bioethanol from sweet sorghum

Annex
Sweet Sorghum varieties productivity parameters:
Sweet Sorghum variety Fresh bio. (t/ha) Shennong 1 (Cina) 70,0 Shennong 1 (Italy) 70,7 Foralco (Italy) 64,0 Sofra (Italy) 82,0 Doina (Romania) 96,4 Carmen (Romania) 89,5 F.135 ST (India) 100,0 Doina (India) 61,0 Grains (t/ha) 5,2 5,1 1,0 2,2 8,5 5,8 7,6 8,1 Sugar (t/ha) 7,4 7,9 7,3 11,2 7,3 7,1 7,6 7,6 Dry Biom. (t/ha) 14,3 14,5 10,2 13,3 17,3 18,0 22,6 19,7

Annex: Agronomical Practice

An intensive cultivation of Sweet Sorghum as energy crops requires dedicated machines for harvesting to separate the pannicle and leaves from the cane to facilitate the recovery of grains, lignocellulosic and sugar-juice.

Even if Indian varieties (hybrid S. Sorghum) seems to be the most promising for the future, chinese varieties are particular interesting because of their equilibrated spread between sugar,grains and dry lignocellulosic productivity. In future research priority on Sweet Sorghum should be focused on the identification & development of on new varieties tolerant to colder and changeable climatic conditions.

Canes cutted into billets are ready for the cane crushing machine where sugar juice is sepatated from lignocellulosic material.

Grains from pannicles are ready to be dried for storage

Low cost production of Bioethanol from sweet sorghum

Low cost production of Bioethanol from sweet sorghum

Annex: Sweet Sorghum Productivity

The productivity of Sweet Sorghum depends on many parameters: climatic conditions, soil quality, variety of sorghum inputs and agronomic practice.
Sugar t/ha

Annex: Agronomical practice

Not only new machines have been developed to improve Sweet Sorghum cultivation but also new varieties of seeds and agronomic technique: For German high latitude sites (Braunshweig) S. Sorghum Korall varieties, developed by KWS Co., had productivity parameters near to the standard ones. It has also been tested a planty machine for sweet sorghum cultivated inside green-house and followed by open field growing (temperature is > 10C) . After one month plants are moved in open field using a planting machine (as visible in figures below).This technology is not commercial.

Typical values are presented in diagrams.

Stem fresh, dry matter and sugar yield of Sweet Sorghum in various EU regions (trials). Ranges within regions are due to varieties, years and treatment effect.

Low cost production of Bioethanol from sweet sorghum

Low cost production of Bioethanol from sweet sorghum

Annex: Impact of R&D on BioETOH cost

Sweet Sorghum planting machine (gain: 1 month) for cold areas the crop emergence is obtained in green houses Conventional genetic improvement (large number of varieties is available) Sweet Sorghum DNA genome sequencing (750 Mbp long of the human genome) A budget of 8-10 mio and 2-3 years period should be sufficient. Benefits: Improved yields Cultivation in colder regions Modification of sugars composition Reduced inputs of chemicals New conversion technologies

Annex: Impact of R&D on BioETOH cost

Stabilisation of humid ligno-cellulosic reidues A first commercial innovative mechanical drying and compactation technology 1-8 t / h is new apparing on the market. This new technology (not requiring pre-drying of humid biomass) is able to produce in particular agro-pellets from cane residues (bagasse-trashes) or any other type of agriculture residues or mixtures (without binding compound) with low energy inputs (~70 kWhe/ t pellets) and reasonable processing cost (~ 35 /t in EU) Bulk density: 0,6 t/m3 This conversion of residues into agro-pellets open considerable opportunities for improving the economics of bioethanol. From agropellets (esy to handle, transport, storage use) can be co-produced by existing commercial technologies: Heat Green-power Biohydrogen Synthetic biofuels
Low cost production of Bioethanol from sweet sorghum

Low cost production of Bioethanol from sweet sorghum

Annex: Impact of R&D on BioETOH cost

Innovative Distillation and Deshydratation technology Low cost crystal-hydrated compounds absorb from ethanolwater solution preferentially ethanol molecules. It is expected that this fast absorption regeneration technology can implement distillation from 3 -5degree level up to 100% degree with considerable energy and investment reduction; therefore large impact on future bio-ethanol activity is expected.

Low cost production of Bioethanol from sweet sorghum