CO2 AND THE
BIOREFINERY
W. Verstraete
Lab Microbial Ecology and
Technology
April 2013
LabMET
40 Years Club of Rome
2013
Preambula
(Furfari 2001; www.leonardo-energy.org)
Preambula
General:
* Club of Rome , 40 yrs ago :The boost was predicted to be
followed by a bust
Actually , in terms of scarcity we have been able to adjust very
well but food remains of concern
* Furari 3 yrs ago : There is no real scarcity in fossil fuel !! ;
plenty of oil ( fracking of oil shale) and massive amounts of
gas
* Hence :two key problems have to be adressed :
-we must decrease the CO2 output so that the climate is
kept under control
-the food chain is too long: sun /plant/animal /human
Preambula
Preambula
CO2 and the Biorefinery
Biorefinery / Bioeconomy
Hypes
Serendipities
Conclusions
Biorefinery
Biorefinery
Renewable energy roadmap of the EU
Total of some 200 Mtoe per year
The yearly production of biomass on Earth
(170 000 Mtoe ; only 5% is used ) equals that of
all fossil fuel consumed thus far + all known
reserves
Biorefinery
Johan Sanders Wageningen Univ: Select
specific biomaterial / Apply technological
upgrading / Focuss on products at high value
Willy Verstraete Ghent Univ : Digest ‘All mash’
/ Distill & transform / Connect to the petrotechnology
Biorefinery
Soil improvement
Nutrient recycling
Plant biotechnology
Industrial biotechnology
Process
supply
Process
water
Down stream treatment
Environmental biotechnology
Recovery of:
*Energy
(Biogas, Heat)
*Water
Nutrients
(N, P, K,...)
Thermochemical conversion
Wallaeys plant,
Nuresys: high quality MAP
Biorefinery
Bioproducts
Biomaterials
Biofuels
Plant (green)
biotechnology
Industrial (white)
biotechnology
Biorefinery
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Bioplastics
Biofuels
Biodetergents
Bulk chemicals
Fine chemicals
Cosmetics
Farmaceutical ingredients
Vitamins
Food ingrediënts
Flavours and fragrances
…
Biorefinery
The sustainable sugarcane system
Sugarcane
whole crop
100
Sugar juice
Ethanol
fermentation
Bagasse
Leaves
60
Hydrolysis
Residues of
vinasses
bagasses
leaves
N, P, … nutrients
as NSF
Ethanol
AD
(Weiland et al. 2009.
In: Biofuels. (W. Soetaert&
E.J. Vandamme, Editors).
pp 172-195. John Wiley &
Sons Ltd.
ISBN: 978-0-470-02674-8;
LabMET)
Biogas
25
Take home: The
sugarcane biorefinery is
the model for the future
Carbonisation
Biochar
15
Biorefinery
The biobased economy can combine
economical, societal and ecological progress
More sustainable production processes
/
yet the fertilizer-irrigation-pesticide link is quite unustainable
Biocompatible or biodegradable products
Decrease of CO2 emissions
Decrease of our dependence on fossil resources
New market creation for agricultural products
Better distribution of wealth over the world population / yet Pareto ?
Biorefinery
AD Biogas based sustainable organic chemistry
Flexible crop production
Humus + Clean
nutrient
All kinds of biomass
“All mash” biogas
fermentor
Upgrading to syngas by Fisher Trops
Conventional
petro-chemistry
Biocatalytic conversions
Commodity chemicals with AD as a first line “all mash” biomass convertor
(Datar et al., 2004; Biot. Bioeng. J. 86: 587-594)
(Yeuneshi et al., 2005; Biochem. Eng. J. 27: 110-119)
CO2 and the Biorefinery
Biorefinery / Bioeconomy
Hypes : Algae / Hydrogen
Serendipities
Conclusions
Phototrophs
General:
* Use light to convert CO2 to Organic Carbon
-Higher plants
-Algae
-Photobacteria ( low intensity light )
Special :
•
Cyanobacterium synechococcus as GMO consuming CO2 to
make isobutyraldehyde
100x faster than the process for making bio-ethanol ( Liao ,
Univ Cal 2009)
Higher Algae : CO2 to Isobutanol and Terpenes ( Chemistry World
,Nov 2009)
Phototrophs
The Craig Venter approach (2011)
Cyanobacterium
Metabolic engineering
via Myxoplasma + synthetic DNA
Algae which in pure culture
convert sunlight to ‘isoprene’
Take home : Nice as science, but very high technical barriers
Phototrophs
Algae photosynthetic
efficiencies in practice
close to 4-5% vs 3% for
terrestrial crops
Outdoor productivities
achieved between 40-80
ton DM ha-1 a-1
(Richmond, 2004, ISBN:
0632059532;
Sheehan et al., 1998; US NREL)
Unreasonable targets:
100-227 ton DM ha-1 a-1
(Schenk et al., 2008; Bioenergy
Res. 1, 20-43; Stephens et al.
2010; Nat. Biotechnol. 28, 126128)
World map of estimated algae productivity
(ton DM ha-1 a-1) at 5% photosynthetic efficiency
(Tredici , 2010; Biofuels 1, 143-162)
Phototrophs
Photosynthetic organisms
No competition for food
crops
No need for freshwater
No pesticides and
herbicides
Varying concentrations of
carbohydrates, lipids,
proteins...
Biomass free of lignin
Microalgae
(5 – 50 µm)
Cyanobacteria
(5 – 50 µm)
Macroalgae
(multi cellular
+ tallus)
Phototrophs
Currently, there are two main cultivation
systems
Open ponds (raceways) *Photobioreactors (PBR)
(Cyanotech; Kona, Hawaii;
www.cyanotech.com)
(Bioprodukte Prof. Steinbery;
Germany, www.algomed.de)
The scum solution (Savage, 2011, Nature 474: 15-16)
(Murphy & Allen 2011, EST 45: 5861-5868)
Take home: Biomass equivalent energy demand
to pump water
1 ton DM/ha.yr
harvest
4 ton DM/ha.yr
process as
40 ton DM/ha.yr (!)
liquid fuel
Note : Total max. 80 ton DM/ha.yr !
Conventional production
Electricity
Heat
Heat
A necessary step
Effluent
(fertilizer)
Power
generation
Biogas
Anaerobic
Digestion
CO2
Sun light
Electricity
Electricity
Heat
CO2
Microalgae cultivation
H2O
Nutrients
Biomass dewatering
H2O/Mineral nutrients
(Chisti, 2007; Biotechnol. Adv. 25, 294-306)
(Wiley et al. 2011; Wat. Env. Res. 83; 326-338)
Methanol
Catalyser
(acid or base)
Electricity
Lipid
extraction
Transesterification
Glycerol
Solvents
Conventional production
Electricity
(40% of total energy)
CO2
Sun light
Combined heat and power
generation (CHP)
Electricity
Microalgae
cultivation
(Effluent from
wastewater
treatment plant)
Heat
(45% of total energy)
Biogas
Electricity
Pre-concentration
H2O/Mineral nutrients
Anaerobic
Digestion
Heat
LabMET Concept for Algae
1 000 m3 d-1
0.2 – 0.6 gDM L-1
Effluent
(return to pond)
950 m3 d-1
Settling
Open pond
2 000 m3, 0.5 m depth, module 0.4 ha
50 m3 d-1
4 – 12 gDM L-1
DAF
Effluent
(return to pond)
40 m3 d-1
(Adapted from Benemann and Oswald ,1996; US DOE)
To a high rate AD
digester
10 m3 d-1
20 – 60 gDM L-1
LabMET Concept for Algae
Proposed
FiT
Scenario 1
Scenario 2
Biomass
Take home: Energy from algae is not so bad
Offshore wind
relative
to other green sources.
Scenario
3
Onshore wind
Solar PV
(IEA, 2010; ISBN: 9264084304)
Products from Phototrophs ; C&EN 2011
Firm
Solazyme
Technology
Heterotrophic dark algal
production on
sugarcane feedstock
Product
*Biodiesel
*Skin cream (alguronic acid)
*Algal flour with Roquette
*Fine chemicals with Bange (Br)
Cellena
Photobioreactors &
ponds
*Neutraceuticals
*Oleo chemicals
Photobioreactors
*Ethanol and propylene in
headspace
Algenol
(Dow)
Sapphire
Open ponds with
*Fuel oil
Exxon Mobilesynthetic biology
Synthetic
Genomics;
The only money makers thus far
BP-Energy
Bioscience
are the “dark algal” producers
Hydrogen : for dinner !!
Hydrogen + CO2
to higher forms
of food, eg in aquaculture
Note: The rumen of the cow thrives on microbial H2
(Petersen et al. 2011, Nature 476, 176-180)
Microbial Chemo-autotrophs
Use chemical energy to convert CO2 to Organic
Carbon
-Oxidize ammonium , sulfer , iron , … : not much
perspective
-Oxidize hydrogenEnergy
:
* Aerobic H2 + ½ O 2 → H20
CO2
Microbial products
- Proteins (SCP)
- Oils ,Fats(PHB)
Take home: very short route to food
* Anaerobic H2 + CO2 → Acetic acid, methane
Microbes for New Food
•Bluegreen cyanobacteria
Lysate
Muscle cell growth by in vitro tissue engineerin
Cultured Meat
On energy use
On greenhouse gas emission
On water use
On land use
Factor
2
Decrease relative
to conventional meat
20
20
100 !
(Tuomisto and Texeira, 2011; Envir. Sci. Technol. 45:6117-6123)
31
Microbes for New Food
Winston Churchill in 1932:
“Fifty years hence we shall
escape the absurdity of growing a whole chicken in order
to eat the breast or wing by growing these parts
separately under a suitable medium”
The timing of this prediction proved ambitious,
but the technology is becoming attainable
Moreover , the public is ready to welcome such developments if they are
more environmentally sustainable
Hydrogen : Bio Electrochemical
Systems
(Logan et al., 2006; Env. Sci. & Tech. 40: 5181-5192; LabMET)
Take home:
• Thus far
- MFC: 1 kg COD m-3 d-1
- MEC: 5 kg COD m-3 d-1
• MEC-BEAMR:
(Sleutels et al. 2009; Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 34:
9655–9661)
H2 is produced at 1/3 of the energy input of normal electrolysis
(Liu et al. 2005; Env. Sci. Technol. 39: 4317-4320)
Electro-chemical H2-production
Hydrogen production
CO2 footprint
Solar
→ Photo voltaics
High
→ Thermal
Moderate
→ Water photosplitting
(CdS)
Low
Wind
Low
Hydro
Low
Koroneos et al. (2004), Hydrogen Energy 29: 1443-1450
Dufour et al. (2012), Hydrogen Energy 37: 1173 – 1183
Take home: The LCA of H2 by wind energy offers perspective
Hydrogen production
Use H2 produced in valley hours for
*Injecting in Anaerobic Digesters :CO2
becomes CH4 (Angeledaki , DN )
*Bio-electrosynthesis at the cathode : fatty
acids , alcohols … (Marshall et al : AEM
78:8412-8420 )
*Direct conversion with high value CO2 to
SCP / SCO and novel foods and feeds
(Avecom 2012)
Derek Lovely ( Univ Amherst )
“ The Electrical Leave “ : Geobacter with nano-wires
feeding on the cathode ( New Sci 2 febr 2013)
Light
CO2
Geobacter
Short track
to
FOOD !
Hydrocarbon fuel (Derek Lovely / Univ Amherst
High quality food/feed ! (Willy Verstraete / Ugent)
CO2 and the Biorefinery
Biorefinery / Bioeconomy
Hypes
Serendipities
Conclusions
The soil / The future
*Now ca 2000 million ha of agricultural soil;
but also 2000 million ha of marginal soil
which are needed for the bio-economie
and must be brought into production
Microbial Heterotrophs
CO2 – emission from sequestered carbon
10 X
0.6 * 1016 g C/y
12 * 1016 g C/y
6 * 1016 g C/y
6 * 1016 g C/y
Fossil Fuels
Soil and Sediments
6 * 1016 g C/y
150 * 1016 g C
Boodschap : Doe iets met de bodem en de planten ; waardeer de
ecosysteemdiensten van de bodem // Vertraag het bodemmicrobioom
Microbial Heterotrophs
Bacteria consume humus = mineralise it
at a few % per year , ie some 0.6 ton
per ha per year .
Bacteria produce humus = a kind of
organic carbon sink and reserve . The
rate is about 1 ton organic carbon per ha
grassland per year
Special Case : Biochar( halflife of 500 years)
Thermochemical conversion for
biochar production and application
Biochar production from waste biomass
High solids
anaerobic digestion
of waste biomass
Pyrolysis
of digestate
at 300-500°C
Biochar
Biochar
(Lehmann et al., 2007; Nature 447: 143-144)
• Improves soil structure
• Enhances the
Microbial Resource Management
of the soil ecosystem
• 1 ton C = 3 ton CO2
Represents 69 euro GHG equivalent
Microbial biotech of soils
Biochar
• Slow release of bound N, P, …
• Induced systemic resistance by low MW aromatics
• Hotspot dosing of nitrification inhibitors (DCD, …) to
maximise N-efficacy and minimize N2O-/NO3- -loss
44
The soil / The future
New sewage treatment to save 4% of our CO2 output IE per Year
The “Zero-Waste” Water Technology
A-line (Major flow)
SEWAGE
SCREENING
UPCONCENTRATION
NEWater
UF/RO
BRINE
COARSE
MINERALS
ANAEROBIC
DIGESTER
FILTER
PRESS
B-line
Minor flow (max 10 %)
P-RICH
CAKE
COMBINED
HEAT AND
POWER
UNIT. THE
CO2 GOES
TO THE
ALGAL
FARM
BIOGAS
NITROGEN-RICH
WATER
NATURAL
STABLE
FERTILIZER
(NSF)
PYROLYSIS
(Verstraete et al., 2009; Bioresource Techn. 100: 5537-5545; LabMET)
BIOCHAR
Biomineralisation
CaCO3: biomortars for microbiologically enhanced crack remediation
(De Muynck et al., 2008; Cem Concr Res, 38: 1005-1014; LabMET)
Self-healing concrete
(Van Tittleboom et al., 2010; Cem Concr Res, 40: 157-166;
Wang et al., 2011; Constr and Building Mat,
DOI:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2011.06.054; In Press, LabMET)
Conclusions : Plenty of room for novel bio-catalysts
CO2 and the Biorefinery
Biorefinery / Bioeconomy
Hypes
Serendipities
Conclusions
Conclusions:Biorefinery
1.The biorefinery can be sustainable provided adequate integration of
▪ Main conventional crops
▪ Anaerobic Digestion
▪ Nutrient recovery
▪ Maintenance of full ‘soil ecological services’
2. The biorefinery can be linked to the conventional petro-based
industry
Conclusions : CO2
1. Plenty
of “hypes” about novel routes for biological CO2
sequestration
2.Our maverick : a fast track to efficient
High
food production !
valueCO2
Sunlight
Wind
Low impact
H2 production
Microbial based
Top Food
products such as
SCP ;PHB
and
Mussels, Cows
Cultured Meat
…