Fuels from biomass

The biofuels of today ...

A 1st generation of biofuels is currently available in gas stations, mixed with gasoline and gasoil in variable proportions. These comprise two main families:

• biodiesel, intended for diesel engines and produced using oil-containing plants (rapeseed, sunflower, soya, palm),
• ethanol, alcohol produced by fermentation of the sugar or starch contained in plant biomass, used for gasoline engines.

Esterfip-H^TM
IFP Energies nouvelles has been a pioneer in the development of these 1st-generation biofuels. For example, it developed the Esterfip-H^TM process with Axens, which is marketing it. It is used to produce biodiesel. More than 10% of global biodiesel production currently comes from units using IFP Energies nouvelles technologies.

Hydrogenation of vegetable oils
IFP Energies nouvelles also works on the hydrogenation of vegetable oils (HVO Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil ). The fuels produced using this technology offer excellent qualities for diesel engines: high cetane number, absence of sulfur and aromatic hydrocarbons, adjustable cold properties. This process will be brought to market by Axens in 2011 under the Vegan^TM brand. It can also be used to produce a base for kerosene.

... to a 2nd-generation biofuels produced from lignocellulosic biomass ...

The 2nd-generation biofuels are produced by processing the whole plant - particularly its lignocellulose, the main component of plant cell walls. The resource is available in large quantities in a variety of forms: wood, straw, hay, forestry waste, etc.
The 2nd-generation processes do not compete with food uses. Their objective is to produce fuels that can be used – either directly or in blends – with gasoline, gasoil and kerosene.
Two processes are being studied: biochemical conversion and thermochemical conversion.

Ethanol from biomass
Biochemical conversion is used to convert biomass into ethanol. IFP Energies nouvelles works on the development of new processes for each of the stages involved in the technology: pretreatment to release the complex sugars, enzymatic hydrolysis to convert the complex sugars into simple, readily fermentable sugars, fermentation using microorganisms (yeasts) to convert the simple sugars into ethanol and, last of all, separation via an initial distillation step and a final dehydration step, to achieve the purity specifications required of ethanol for use as a biofuel.

Futurol
IFP Energies nouvelles' expertise is applied to the Futurol demonstrator project. The objective of the Futurol project, launched in 2008, is to develop a complete chain for the production of 2nd-generation bioethanol from whole plants. The ultimate goal is to bring to market a process, technologies and products (enzymes and yeasts) that have been optimized in terms of their energy efficiency, for the production of bioethanol in line with sustainable development principles. Thanks to the results of its research conducted as part of the European Nile project (development of new enzyme mixtures that degrade cellulose and modified yeast strains capable of converting sugars with five carbon atoms into ethanol), IFP Energies nouvelles is a major contributor to Futurol.

Thermochemical conversion of biomass
The second biomass conversion process being studied by IFP Energies nouvelles is thermochemical technology, or BtL . The process involves the packaging and gasification of biomass and the purification of the synthetic gas produced, followed by Fischer-Tropsch synthesis to convert the gas into very high quality gas oils and biokerosenes. The BioTfueL demonstration project, launched in 2010 by IFP Energies nouvelles with industrial and R&D partners, incorporates all these steps. The objective is to develop a competitive and sustainable integrated process, making it possible to treat biomass with other resources, such as oil residue and coal, by 2017.

Biosynergy
IFP Energies nouvelles Energies is working on the various options possible for the recycling of by-products of biomass conversion processes (hemicellulose, for instance), particularly within the European Biosynergy project. This research fits squarely within the biorefinery concept, aimed at separating and purifying substances of interest produced from under-valued plant resources.

... towards a 3rd generation produced from algae

The term 3rd-generation is used for biofuels that can be produced using autotrophic (operating via photosynthesis) algal biomass, as opposed to a heterotrophic process (operating via the supply of an external carbon, such as sugar). Some microalgae can accumulate the CO₂ produced by photosynthesis as lipids, present in concentrations of up to 80% of the dry substance.
A number of obstacles limit the economic and environmental viability of biofuel production from microalgae (production cost, energy consumption, yield, harvesting procedures, etc.). In order to more accurately identify these obstacles, assess the expected improvement potential and define potential research avenues, IFP Energies nouvelles has set up a national think tank and exchange group bringing together most key players in the field (Airbus, EADS, Ifremer, Inra, Sofiprotéol, etc.).
The analyses performed have demonstrated that the energy and environmental performances are major issues, since, in order to ensure the economic viability of the process, it will be necessary to significantly reduce the amount of energy consumed throughout the chain.

Assessing the performance of processes

To assess their economic, environmental and industrial performance - and hence their viability -, the various biofuel production processes need to be examined globally. This is the purpose of the life cycle assessments (LCA) that IFP Energies nouvelles specializes in. These methods have become a European reference standard for the qualification of renewable energies. Work is currently being done in this area in order to move beyond the evaluation of the greenhouse gas balance and integrate other environmental footprint factors (water, chemical pollutants, etc.).

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