Dynamotive plans to build 6 bio-oil plants in Argentina

According to Argentinian media, Dynamotive Latinoamerica S.A., a subsidiary of Canadian biofuels company Dynamotive, plans to build 6 pyrolysis plants in the forested regions of the Northeastern Argentinian province of Corrientes.

Dynamotive is an innovative biofuel technology firm involved in developing modular fast-pyrolysis plants that can convert forestry and agricultural biomass residues into so-called bio-oil (earlier post). Pyrolysis is a thermochemical bioconversion path that decomposes biomass by heating it to 500 °C in the absence of air (image, click to enlarge). Several research organisations are working towards optimizing the process (earlier post and here). The pyrolysis oil or bio-oil resulting from the technique can be further refined into clean liquid biofuels. By-products released during fast-pyrolysis are basic components for green chemistry.

The most interesting aspect of Dynamotive's concept is the modularity and scaleability of its plants. Transporting bulky biomass like forestry residues to large centralised processing facilities is uneconomic. Converting the feedstock locally into an oil with a relatively high energy density, is a possible solution to this logistical problem. In short, Dynamotive brings the factory to the forest, instead of the forest to the factory. The concept is interesting especially for the developing world, where it could be used to convert vast biomass waste-streams from forestry and agriculture into carbon-neutral and renewable liquid fuels.

Last year, the company established a subsidiary in Argentina in cooperation with strategic partner Tecna S.A., a local (oil & gas) engineering firm. Tecna built Dynamotive's second and largest (200 tons per day) full-scale plant in Guelph, Ontario. This facility has a capacity to produce 130,000 barrels of oil equivalent per year.

The plans to build 6 such facilities in Argentina imply an investment of US$27 million, and will benefit forestry communities in Virasoro and Santo Tomé. In a first phase, the plants will use sawdust from local mills as bio-oil feedstocks. The sawdust in the region has been accumulating for years and large amounts of it are currently burned in the open air, causing, besides CO2 emissions, air and water pollution. The accumulated sawdust yields cetanol, a strong toxic element that pollutes local water bodies:
bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: forestry :: sawdust :: pyrolysis :: biomass :: bio-oil :: Argentina ::

Provincial authorities say the investment will provide a considerable amount of direct and indirect jobs, and revitalise other industrial sectors, most notably logistics and transport. Local energy security - a problem for this remote province - will be boosted and an environmental problem will be solved.

Different stakeholders, including provincial governor Arturo Colombi, the Minister for Public Works and Services Marcelo Falcione and the intendant of Virasoro, Rodolfo Fernández, accompanied by municipal authorities, met with with Raúl Parisi, vice-president of Dynamotive Latinoamericana SA to discuss the plans. Most of these officials were in favor of the project.

Fernández and Colombi stressed the bio-oil plants would benefit not only the local communities but "the entire province." Colombi said vice-president Al Gore expressed support for the project as it was presented to him during an American biofuels conference held in Buenos Aires. Fernández added that the project would not involve any funding from the Province nor from the State.

Minister for Public Works and Services Marcelo Falcione said a strong analysis of real costs had still to be made, because fuel pricing in Argentina is relatively complex. The final costs of the biofuels made by Dynamotive will have to be compared to the real costs of fossil fuels, because the latter are heavily subsidised in the country. If the biofuel is not cost-competitive with non-subsidized fuels, the project will cost money to the nation. For this reason, it is fundamental "to assess whether the economic and financial equation of such a contract [between the province which will buy the fuel] works out and benefits the provincial government."

More information:
La República de Corrientes: Anuncian que podrían instalar seis plantas de bio oil en la provincia - April 28, 2007.

Momarandu: Capitales canadienses instalarían seis plantas de biodiesel en la provincia - April 28, 2007.

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EU underestimates biofuel potential - study

According to a study by the Fachhochschule Eberswalde - Brandenburg in Germany, the European Commission underestimates the potential for biofuels in Europe.

The school's biomass potential study group[*German] assessed current biofuel refinery capacity across the Union, and concludes that Europe-wide there is already a capacity that allows 6% to 10% biodiesel and bioethanol to be mixed into the liquid fuel supply of the Union.

Speaking at a conference organised by Eurosolar, the European Association for Renewable Energy, in Potsdam, professor Hans-Peter Piorr, agronomist at the Fachhochschule Eberswalde presented details of the study. "We already have a higher production capacity than the EU thinks", he said, indicating that the Commission's target to mix 5.75% biofuels into Europe's liquid fuels by 2010 can already be reached today.

Piorr sees the maximum potential for biofuels made from feedstocks in the EU standing at 20%. This would require careful land-use planning, but modern analytical tools, including Earth Observation and GIS systems should make this possible.

When the EU imports feedstocks or finished biofuels from the South, the potential is much larger, says Piorr:
bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: ethanol :: biodiesel :: biomass :: refinery :: land-use :: EU ::

For sugar crops, we have a potential to replace 10 to 15% of all liquid fuels in Europe. Importing ethanol and sugar from other countries can boost energy security over the long term.

But imports of raw materials like palm oil should be placed within the context of certification mechanisms. "This feedstock must be produced sustainably. Tropical rainforests should not be cut down to make place for oil crops like palm oil. The EU market must be protected against imports of unsustainably produced biofuels."

In the EU, biodiesel is produced mainly from rapeseed and sunflower oil, whereas bioethanol is made from maize, potatos, sugar beets.

More information:
Rundshau.de: Forscher: EU unterschätzt Biokraftstoffe - April 12, 2007.

Fachhochschule Eberswalde/Brandenburg: Potenzialstudien Biomasse / Bioenergie [*German]- project overview.

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Vinod Khosla funds green chemistry start-up Segetis

Mix Soviet chemists, Silicon Valley capital and Minnesota know-how and a promising cleantech company is born. Segetis Inc. aims to develop chemical products made from biomass as alternatives to petrochemical products. The hot topic in venture-capital circles these days is 'the bioeconomy' and the Minnesota start-up founded by a pair of Russian chemists with big ideas and some impressive Silicon Valley backers is hoping to become a leader in the field. One of the investors is Vinod Khosla, founder of Sun Microsystems, and serial biofuel entrepreneur (in Brazil, and in the US).

Segetis, the brainchild of former Soviet scientists Sergey and Olga Selifonova, is aiming to develop renewable chemical products such as bioplastics, adhesives and solvents from agricultural and forestry crops and byproducts, replacing petrochemicals. The company has secured US$15 million in three installments from Khosla Ventures, a highly respected California venture capital firm founded by Vinod Khosla, a leading green fuel and products investor. The first US$5 million came in the first quarter of the year.

"For decades, the production of many products of everyday life, from plastic table tops to shampoo bottles to car seat cushions, has been dependent on fossil materials such as petroleum, gas and coal. Green chemistry can deliver novel cost-competitive products that perform at par with or better than the existing petrochemical goods." - Sergey Selifonova.

Using crops and trees as the chemical building blocks for products has significant transportation and raw material cost advantages over petrochemicals. In addition producing value-added goods from crops could help phase out the need for farm subsidies around the world, creating a new kind of green revolution - a transition away from the petro-economy towards the bright green bioeconomy:
bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: green chemistry :: biorefinery :: bioplastics :: biomass :: Khosla ::

The Selifonovas, who met as college freshmen at Gorky University in the U.S.S.R. and are about to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary, came to America as visiting scientists in 1990. That was during the Glasnost era before the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. After eclectic academic and corporate careers that included stops in Pennsylvania, Florida, Minnesota and California's Silicon Valley, they've settled in the Twin Cities to build their company.

Segetis, a Latin word that means "of the crop field," was founded in Minnesota for several reasons, the couple said. They've lived in the Twin Cities periodically since the mid-1990s; both have worked at the University of Minnesota, and Olga worked at Cargill's Biotechnology Development Center from 2000 until earlier this year.

"We like the state, we like the people, and we have to be in the Midwest," Olga said, because that's where the resources for their green chemistry technology are -- not only the land, crops and forests, but the farmers and other agricultural experts. We would like the Twin Cities to be the prime capital of sustainable chemistry," Olga said. "All the ingredients are here -- we just need to change the mentality, and show by example that it can be done."

Another big plus is the University of Minnesota's University Enterprise Labs in St. Paul, an incubator for start-ups where they have leased lab space while they look for a suitable building. Making use of that facility allowed them to get Segetis up and running quickly.

They moved in two weeks ago, and although they are waiting for lab equipment and furniture to be delivered, they have hired nine researchers and are interviewing for more jobs. They said they expect to have 20 or so employees by year's end.

Their company is being built on the principles of sustainable chemistry and responsibility for future generations, "and capitalism," Sergey added with a grin. Because of their background, he said, "we see capitalism with very different eyes. It's a chance for scientists to see what makes sense economically -- how to build an enterprise out of an idea."

Their idea -- and a trove of intellectual property and patents on their broad-based technology -- convinced Khosla Ventures of Menlo Park, Calif., that Segetis was an attractive investment, said Doug Cameron, Khosla's chief scientific officer and interim CEO of Segetis.

Khosla Ventures was founded in 2004 by Vinod Khosla, who founded Sun Microsystems and went on to become a highly lauded venture capitalist, specializing in green technology. Fortune magazine recently dubbed him one of the nation's most influential ethanol advocates. "Vinod is like a rock star in the venture capital world," said Dan Carr, CEO of the Collaborative, a Minneapolis-based forum for business development. "Activity breeds activity. To have [Khosla] make an early-stage investment in a non-ethanol, cleantech company is a good thing."

Cameron, who worked with Olga Selifonova at Cargill when he led biotechnology research at the agribusiness giant, said the couple is "smart and hard-working, with a strong entrepreneurial spirit."

While using ag products as renewable chemical raw materials isn't new -- Cargill's NatureWorks operation is a pioneer in the field -- Segetis is working on next-generation products and technology, Cameron said.

"There are numerous, numerous challenges ahead," he said. "Anybody who knows about the chemical industry knows there are lots of speed bumps when you introduce new molecules into the field. But we're fully aware of that. ... We're hoping that we're a little bit leading the way, but positioning ourselves to be a leader in the field."

The Selifonovas said Khosla Ventures' mentoring and guidance has been just as valuable as its investment. "They really do care ... it's pretty much a family relationship," Sergey said. "And [Vinod Khosla] has made every mistake he could make, so we don't have to."

More information:
StarTribune: Venture funding backs 'green chemistry' start-up - April 30, 2007.

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The bioeconomy at work: companies team up to produce methacrylate monomers from cellulose

Ceres Inc. a biotech firm dedicated to developing energy crops, and Rohm & Haas Company, a leading manufacturer of specialty materials, today announced a research collaboration project that will work toward producing plant-based methacrylate monomers as an alternative to the petroleum-derived material used in thousands of home and industrial products. Such an innovation would boost the economics of energy crops and biofuel production, and could one day displace as many as 6.6 million barrels of oil annually with a renewable source, in the United States alone.

Funded by a €1.1/US$1.5 million research grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the three-year green chemistry project will determine if energy crops planted for cellulosic ethanol could simultaneously produce the methacrylate monomers, a key raw material used in the manufacture of many products including paint and coatings, building materials, and acrylic sheet and resins. The economics are attractive. More than 680,000 tons of methacrylate monomers are produced annually in the United States, a market worth €573/US$780 million.

Though in its early stages, the science looks promising. Molecular biologists and biochemistry experts at Ceres say that some plants naturally produce compounds similar to methacrylate monomers, but do not necessarily accumulate them in extractable forms or quantities. They believe it may be feasible to alter the way plants produce these compounds so that they can be extracted from the dried stalks, stems and leaves before these are fed into biorefineries producing ethanol from cellulose (image, click to enlarge). Cellulosic ethanol derives its energy from the whole plant rather than just the grain, as in corn-based ethanol.

The potential production of co-products may encourage greater investments in biorefineries capable of producing ethanol from cellulose.

"Getting the cellulosic ethanol industry up and running will take significant investments and the bigger the prize at the end, the better. Methacrylate monomers are a compelling co-product due to the significant market size, feasibility of plant-based production and the fact that it is currently derived from oil and natural gas." - Richard Hamilton, Ceres President and CEO.

There is a readymade market for plant-based methacrylate sources, but the final product will still need to be up to industry specifications, says Tim Donnelly, Global Technology Director for Rohm and Haas Company's Primary Materials business. As one of the world's leading producers of acrylate and methacrylate monomers, Rohm and Haas Company is bringing its market knowledge and technical expertise to the project. They will assist in developing extraction and isolation technology as well as evaluating the end-products:
bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: petroleum :: ethanol :: biomass :: cellulose :: green chemistry :: biorefinery :: bioeconomy ::

"Rohm and Haas Company's Primary Materials business is aggressively
pursuing economically viable routes to acrylic monomers made from renewable materials. We look forward to adding our monomer expertise to this project," says Donnelly.

Steve Bobzin, Ph.D , Ceres' principal investigator on the grant, says that the research will focus first on producing methacrylate monomers and similar compounds in a model plant with well-understood metabolic pathways. Successful traits would then be applied to energy crops.

Funding for this project was provided by USDA and DOE's 2006 Biomass R&D Initiative grant program, which has targeted $17.5 million for 17 biomass projects. Separately, Ceres received a second $1.5 million grant under the program to double switchgrass yields by 2020. Switchgrass is one of the top feedstocks being considered for cellulosic ethanol production.

Ceres is a leading developer of high-yielding energy crops that can be planted as feedstocks for cellulosic ethanol production. Its development efforts cover switchgrass, miscanthus, poplar and other energy crops. Founded in 1997 as a plant genomics company, Ceres holds the largest proprietary collection of fully sequenced plant genes, including more than 75,000 genes and 10,000 gene promoters. The privately held company also licenses its traits to other organizations. Ceres' headquarters are located in Thousand Oaks, California.

Rohm and Haas has developed innovative technologies and solutions for the specialty materials industry. The company's technologies are found in numerous industries, including: building and construction, electronics, food and retail, household and personal care products, industrial process, packaging, paper, transportation and water. Based in Philadelphia, PA, the company generated annual sales of $8 billion in 2006.

Image: idealised concept of the bioeconomy with its biorefineries that replace the petrochemical industry.

Edit (May 5, 2007): a personal communication from a plant cell wall expert at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology taught us that the monomers are produced in the plant cells and are not derived from the cellulose. After extraction of the monomers, the cell walls (including the cellulose) are then converted to bioethanol.

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