(US Department of Energy) On June 11–12, 2014, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) hosted a workshop in Lakewood, Colorado, to discuss research and development (R&D) opportunities related to the efficient production of biofuels and bio-based chemicals from lignocellulosic biomass. The workshop was entitled, the Process Integration and Carbon Efficiency (PRINCE) Workshop. Fifty two stakeholders from industry, national laboratories, and universities provided
information on biological and chemical conversion processes, separations technologies, and integration of unit
operations….
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Technologies that deconstruct lignocellulosic biomass feedstocks into intermediates, convert those intermediates into fuels or chemicals precursors, upgrade precursors to final products, and separate components into useful streams are a key R&D focus for BETO. Significant resources and investment is needed to overcome R&D barriers and challenges for current and future technologies to become commercially viable. To understand what these challenges are and what is needed to overcome them, BETO held the PRINCE Workshop.
Technologies to produce biofuels and bio-based chemicals from lignocellulosic biomass are still in a relatively nascent stage. The few successful technologies that are moving towards commercial implementation are specific processes tailored for specific end products, such as Myriant’s work to develop a process for production of succinic acid and Amyris’s development of organisms to produce hydrocarbon fuels. While future methods for producing fuels and chemicals will also be tailored for the various end products, the current lack of established and integrated processes mean that numerous R&D challenges remain.
The pathways of interest … for this workshop can be generally described as consisting of the deconstruction of biomass feedstocks to usable intermediates that can be upgraded to various fuels and chemicals through biological or chemical means.
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The Process Integration and Carbon Efficiency Workshop gathered knowledgeable stakeholders for a day and a half of discussion on the current state of technology and barriers to commercialization of biological and chemical processes that convert lignocellulosic biomass to biofuels and bioproducts. Three speakers from BETO began the workshop by presenting the Office’s vision and priorities for executing that vision. Jonathan Male, BETO Director, spoke on the overall purpose for the Office and his vision for the bioeconomy. The Conversion Program Manager, Kevin Craig, gave an overview of the program and the technologies it supports through R&D efforts. Finally, Jim Spaeth, the Demonstration and Deployment Program Manager, spoke about scaling technologies from the lab bench to pilot, demonstration, and commercial scales, including recent projects that are demonstrating technologies with the assistance of DOE funds.
Participants were split into two breakout groups to discuss topics pertaining to the four outlined sessions (Appendix
A). The sessions were as follows:
• Challenges and barriers to efficient biological conversion
• Challenges and barriers to efficient chemical conversion
• Challenges and barriers to efficient integration of unit operations
• Challenges and barriers not addressed in previous sessions.
Each breakout session lasted two hours. Participants were asked to brainstorm on specific technologies and challenges.
Their answers were gathered using notecards and sorted based upon technology. Each technology was discussed, including identification of current barriers, the R&D needed to overcome those barriers, and the impact if the technology were to succeed. The discussions were captured in spreadsheets and notes, and the input of participants is reflected in the session summaries below. At the end of each day, selected members of the breakout groups reported out highlights of that day’s sessions to the group at large. READ MORE Download report