Shifting Focus on Second-Generation Biofuels

Shifting Focus on Second-Generation Biofuels
 
As agricultural or forestry residues are expected to be the main feedstock, the development of second-generation biofuels would not only address the “food vs. fuel” issue, but also other critical national issues such as better energy security and improved waste management
 
The biofuel industry has witnessed tremendous growth in the last decade, largely driven by the need to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, which have been indicated as contributing toward climate change. At the same time, rising fossil fuel prices led to biofuels becoming a competitive alternative. One of the biggest impacts of this growth was on the agricultural sector, as demand grew for biofuel feedstocks such as corn, soybean and sugarcane. The highest growth was witnessed in the USA, Europe and South America, where the US became the largest producer of corn-based ethanol and Brazil became the largest producer of sugarcane-based ethanol. On the other hand, Europe saw a higher growth for biodiesel, due to its preference for diesel-powered vehicles.
 
After a decade of growth, however, the biofuel industry is expected to take a slight downturn in 2012, largely driven by the elimination of tax credits in the USA at the end of 2011. In the case of ethanol, production is expected to be lower than the preceding year. Margins for both ethanol and biodiesel are expected to remain slim, leading to the possible shutdown of plants. In 2011, the US overtook Brazil as the biggest exporter of ethanol, as a confluence of events in Brazil such as bad weather, high currency strength and rising production costs led to the erosion of Brazil’s competitiveness.Another major challenge in 2012 will be the increasingly rigid requirements for sustainability certification. A study published by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in late 2011, which is based on the ILUC (indirect land use change) model, indicated that 70 per cent of the direct savings offered by biofuels is eliminated when land use change is considered, leaving biofuels with only a 17 per cent improvement over traditional fossil fuels. This study is among a spate of recent studies to indicate that biofuels are not as environment-friendly as once imagined. The lengthy and costly sustainability certification process has also deterred several agricultural stakeholders from contributing to the biofuel industry, as there are no such requirements if the same feedstock is going to be used for non-fuel applications.
 
Technology-wise, 2012 will witness a breakthrough when the first commercial-scale plant producing second-generation biofuels comes online. Second-generation biofuels refers to biofuels that are produced from biomass, containing either cellulose or lignocellulose. In comparison, first-generation biofuels are produced from sugar, starch or oil-based feedstocks. There are several types of 2nd generation biofuels, namely, cellulosic ethanol, biomass-to-liquid (BtL) fuels, and Fischer-Tropsch synthetic diesel. Conversion of biomass to biofuels occurs via two routes: the first is biochemical (usually involving fermentation or enzymatic hydrolysis). The second route is thermochemical, where gasification is commonly used to produce syngas, which is subsequently converted to synthetic fuels.
 

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