Highlights from 2013 ABLC-Next; hot slides, hot perspectives, Part I

October 14, 2013 |

As ABLC-Next concludes, here is the first installment in a review of the hottest slides, stories, intrigue and perspective from the Big Conversation amongst the bioeconomy’s elite.

In California, ABLC-Next has concluded for this year — and the convergence of advanced biofuels leaders in R&D, commercialization, policy and finance will reconvene in Washington DC on April 21-23 of next year.

This week, we’ll be providing highlights from this years presentations.

Jim Spaeth, Demonstration and Deployment Program Manager at the DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office.

Though DOE officials were unavailable because of the shutdown, the DOE overview was included in materials for delegates. Among the highlights – a slide on the prospective appropriations for DOE’s fiscal year 2014 and 2015.

Overall, requested appropriations are between $275 million and $300 million for both years. On the docket? A substantial expansion in feedstock infrastructure. thermochemical conversion, biochemical conversion and integrated biorefineries.

Spaeth-ABLCN-2013

Julio Baez, Program Manager, Advanced Biofuels Process Demonstration Unit at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Highlighted at ABLC – the advantages in a new ionic liquid pretreatment technology. The technology produces the same amount of hydrolyzed cellulose as dilute acid (benchmark) pretreatment 45 times faster — or can be used over the same 90 hour period as the benchmark dilute acid pretreatment to lift hydrolyzed levels from below 60% to 95%.

Baez-ABLCN-2013

Jennifer Holmgren, CEO, LanzaTech

A highlight from the LanzaTech presentation: a focus on waste carbon as a Resource for Product Synthesis. The array of waste carbon available is quite astonishing. As Holmgren observed, whether it is flared natural gas, waste gases from steel, or solid waste, waste is waste and it is important from a cost and sustainability point of view to capture these.

She highlighted waste industrial gases from steel, PVC and ferroalloy production, methane hydrates, stranded natural gas, solid wastes including industrial and municipal solid waste. All sources that can be tapped via gas fermentation and the LanzaTech organism.

Holmgren-ABLCN-2013

Kevin Weiss, CEO, Byogy Renewables

In a presentation that focused on the Byogy technology that converts ethanol or biobutanol to jet fuel, Weiss included a slide contrasting the process of breaking down long-chain bio-oils, compared to building up from short chain olefins such as ethylene. The “build-up” approach, notes Weiss, produces aromatics that are needed for a 100% drop-in replacement (as opposed to maiing blendstock additives), and can utilize low pressure, low temperature processes that require no external source of hydrogen.

Weiss-ABLCN-2013

Howard Janzen, CEO, Cool Planet Energy Systems

In his presentation, Cool Planet’s CEO highlighted the cost advantages and low capex associated with the Cool Planet process. Renewable (carbon negative) high octane gasoline for under $1.50 per gallon, based on $5-$6 capex per gallon of capacity for the first commercial facility, which is a $60 million project targeted for Alexandria, Louisiana with a planned capacity of 10 million gallons and scheduled to be in operation in late 2014.

Janzen-ALBCN-2013

Kef Kasdin, CEO, Proterro

Kasdin showed some of the fiurst images seen of the Proterro pilot system, which aims to produce low-cost sugars from CO2, sunlight and water. The system, which will be piloted in Florida, features a collapsible low-cost polyethylene cylinder where the patented cyanobacteria grow on vertical fabric panels, water and nutrients drain by gravity on panels, and CO2-augmented air, flue gas inflate the cylinder. Using off-the-shelf materials, the systemn is designed to produce sugars at rates of 145 tons per acre per year — almost 30 times the rate of sugarcane — with no cellulose, hemicellulose or lignin to remove.

Kasdin-ABLCN-2013

Graham Noyes, Partner, Stoel Rives

A highlight for conference delegates, a copy of “The Law of Biorefineries and Advanced Biofuels: A Guide to Business and Legal Issues.” This guide draws on Steol Rives’ experience in first-generation biofuels while focusing on the particular challenges and legal issues facing next-generation biofuels and biochemicals. It’s available for free download here.

Doug Rivers, Director, ICM

Rivers pointed attention from the debate between first-generation biofuels and second-generation, by highlighting the ICM generation 1.5 and generation 1.75 approach – integrating cellulose at existing facilities. This technical approach provides up to 2.1 billion gallons of combined starch/cellulosic ethanol per year with 3.1+ gallons per bushel yield at existing grain ethanol plants. The approach reduces capex to $1.50-$2.50 per gallon — compared to 4-8X as much from greenfield design models.

Rivers-ABLCN-2013

Atul Thakrar, CEO, Segetis

Freshly re-named to the 30 Hottest Companies in Biobased Chemicals last week, the Segetis process makes bio-based speciality and intermediate chemicals from levulinic acid — addressing $47 billion in aggregate, existing markets such as plasticizers, agrochemicals, polymers, cleaners, nylon intermediates and more.

Among the big news announced around ABLC – Segetis announced the successful start up of their pilot plant facility in Golden Valley, Minnesota demonstrating the viability of its proprietary process to convert biomass to Levulinic Acid.

“The significant investment made in the Levulinic Acid process development is the final step in unlocking the full supply chain to exploit our downstream renewable chemicals business in a cost effective way, said Segetis CEO Atul Thakrar. “We are now equipped to advance the dialogue in a meaningful way to building the first fully integrated Levulinic Acid and Derivatives Biorefinery using a variety of carbohydrate feedstocks to meet the global demand for high-performing, safer, non-toxic end use products.”

Thakrar-ABLCN-2013

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