The Other Ethanol
by Jeff McIntire-Strasburg, St. Louis, MO 
on 05.26.06
Last summer, we came across Canadian company Iogen, and liked what we saw. They're in the ethanol business, but not the corn-based kind that only US politicians and corn farmers seem to love unconditionally. Rather, they've developed a process that "brews" wastes from plant farming into ethanol:
"Essentially we start with a bale of wheat straw, add enzymes to convert the straw into sugar, and then let fermentation and distillation make the sugar into ethanol."Now that's the way to produce ethanol! We'd still provide a benefit to farmers, and wouldn't have to limit that benefit to one kind of farmer. The waste itself provides the source of the fuel as well as the source of energy to create that fuel, likely with a much smaller carbon footprint than coal or natural gas. The only problem Iogen has had is investor reluctance to fund the first commercial-scale plant (everyone wants to fund the second plant, after they work out the bugs in the first one). That's changed now, as Goldman Sachs has thrown $30 million into the pot. Somebody please tell our Midwestern politicians about this so we can avoid the pitfalls of corn-based ethanol -- this looks like a true win-win.What's more, producing ethanol with this process creates a byproduct called lignin, a mix of polymers found naturally in woody plants that binds plant fibers together.
The lignin extracted from farm waste can be burned like coal to power the ethanol production facility, according to Iogen.
"Almost a quarter of plant fiber is lignin, which can be extracted to run the boiler," Easterly, the energy consultant, said.
Hosein Shapouri of the U.S. Department of Agriculture says that such factories wouldn't need energy from fossil fuels to run the plant.
"[They] can even produce extra electricity that can be sent to the public power grid," Shapouri said. "These plants will be self-sufficient."
And farmers operating near the plants will be offered a new source of income for their previously discarded agricultural waste.
By the way, if you're interested in more details of the crop wastes to fuel industry, make sure to check out C. Scott Miller's Bioconversion Blog -- that's his thing, and he's definitely got his finger on the pulse... :: National Geographic News
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These guys were also profiled on NPR, the other day.
Canadian Dreams of Ethanol Distilled from Grass
Thanks for the referral Jeff.
Iogen is certainly finding success in its development and marketing of a bioconversion process to pretreat agricultural waste feedstock into a brew suitable for fermentation into ethanol.
The particular relevance for Treehugger is that enzymes are being isolated and developed for pretreatment of woody biomass. This could be an ideal solution for the disposal of forestry waste.
The question I have for Iogen is how do they intend to burn the lignin? Combustion "like coal" will result in the release of greenhouse gases. Gasification will not.
Actually, gasification (reduction of solid biomass into syngas in a closed environment) can heat the same boiler and the syngas can also be converted into ethanol using anaeorbic bacteria. No toxic emissions, co-generation of green electricity, plus production of a cleaner gas alternative. WIN-WIN-WIN.
These emerging biotechnologies are welcome alternatives to fossil fuel biorefineries and even sugar fermentation biorefineries that are at the heart of the oil dependence controversy.
As with all emerging technologies, there are emerging questions for environmentalists. I welcome those questions here and at my Bioconversion Blog.
"The question I have for Iogen is how do they intend to burn the lignin? Combustion "like coal" will result in the release of greenhouse gases. Gasification will not."
Unless I'm missing something, the burning of lignin that comes from plants and trees would be carbon neutral (these plants got their carbon out of the atmosphere, burning it sends it back from where it comes from). The main problem would be with emissions (particulate matter, NOx, etc), and that can probably be mitigated with good emission control systems.
But burning lignin certainly would be cleaner than getting that energy out of fossil fuels.
Carbon neutral would not be good enough in many states. In California, our Air Quality Management District and our California Integrated Waste Management Board shoot for zero emissions. A plan for any biorefinery or waste-to-energy site that included combustion of carbonaceous materials would never get permitted. It is also the reason we have so much agricultural waste (like rice straw) that needs to be replowed under or spread over landfills.
It's a high standard but one that pilot stage technology is ready to meet. Incredibly, getting permits for commercial-scale research of the pilot technology is meeting environmentalist resistance in Sacramento.
That's interesting.
Well, in any case, nobody's forcing them to burn the lignin for energy. It's just a way to use everything from the base cellulose. They could probaby use energy coming from solar or wind, and just compost (?) the lignin.
How much of the required type of plant waste does California produce?
I would think that this company - though hopefully pruducing ethonal on a regional basis - would not be considering California for a production facility.
I would think that they would be looking at Utah, Idaho or Oregon but then agin maybe my understanding of California's capability to produce suitable quantities of the required plant waste is invalid
This product has much more potential compared to corn. Goldman, Sachs, the big capitalist investment bank led by Republican CEO Henry Paulson, recently made a big play investing $27 million in Iogen.
GreenGOP you've just made me a very happy camper with that bit of news :)
In your article on 5/26/06 about the Iogen company making ethanol out of wheat straw: isn't that what Celunol is doing in Jennings,LA, using genetically engineered microbes? How is it different?
I love that they are processing the whole plant, and not just some seeds from it. We are going to have to use much more than just seeds, if we are going to try to replace oil with biofuel.
I remember there was a company combining recycled wood fiber and fresh lignin into gorgeous patterned tiles. Lignin could definitely be a useful byproduct.
From the two companies websites
"Iogen has new, highly potent and efficient cellulase enzyme systems tailored to the specific pretreated feedstock"
Whereas
"The key element of Celunol’s technology is genetically engineered strains of Escherichia coli bacteria that are capable of fermenting into ethanol essentially all of the sugars released from all types of cellulosic biomass."
Also of note;
"Iogen operates the world's first and only pre-commercial demonstration facility where clean-burning cellulose ethanol fuel is made from agricultural residues."
Whereas
"Celunol is developing a 55-million gallon ethanol production facility in Jennings, Louisiana. This Project will use traditional ethanol dry mill technology to process corn and grain sorghum (milo) from Louisiana and the Midwest."
If the Jenning plant was utilizing their own improved method I'd say that they would be ahead ... but it seems according to their own websites they are not using the improved process. This would put Iogen in the lead.
Iogen, Celunol, BRI Energy, Future Fuels... all are nascent, bleeding edge technology companies fighting for regulatory relief that will allow them to get building permits and investment dollars.
Much of the holdup in state legislatures is by self-described "environmental" groups who either fight against permits because they distrust advances in technology, or they are afraid of losing control of their special niches, or they are fronting for opposing interests (possibly unwittingly) .
I hope that the readers of this site will fight for the R&D and deployment of new biorefineries of the type described in this article. We need commercial-scale successes before we'll see any real progress against fossil fuel dependence.
BTW, I saw "An Inconvenient Truth" and reviewed it. I am looking for comments on my Bioconversion Blog.