INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR SCIENCE AND HIGH TECHNOLOGY

United Nations Industrial Development Organisation

Technologies for biofuel production

(a brief survey)
S. Miertus
Pure & Applied Chemistry Area
ICS-UNIDO
First-High Level Biofuel Conference in Africa
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
30th July - 1st August 2007

Biofuel value chain and

UNIDO radius of attention
Biomass resources

Supply systems

Oil bearing plants

Conversion

End products

Chemical
(transesterification)

Transportation fuels

Physical chemical
(extraction)

Solid fuels
(wood pellets, charcoal)

Biochemical
(fermentation)

Heat
Electricity

Thermochemical
(gasification)

High added-value
chemicals

(biodiesel, bioethanol)

Harvesting,
Agricultural crops
and residues

collection,

Woody biomass

handling,

Industrial and
municipal waste

and storage

(pharmaceuticals,
polymers)
byproducts

FAO

UNIDO and FAO

UNIDO
(ICS-UNIDO expertise)

UNIDO and UNCTAD

Overview of Biofuel Production Technologies

First Generation of Biofuels

Biofuel type

Specific name

Feedstock

Conversion Technologies

Pure vegetable oil

Pure plant oil (PPO), Oil crops (e.g. rapeseed, oil Cold pressing extraction
Straight vegetable oil palm, soy, canola, jatropha,
castor, )
(SVO)

Biodiesel

Bioethanol
Biogas
Bio-ETBE

- Oil crops (e.g. rapeseed, oil - Cold and warm pressing

Biodiesel from
energy crops: methyl palm, soy, canola, jatropha, extraction, purification,
and ethyl esters of
castor, )
and transesterification
fatty acids
- Waste cooking/frying oil
- Hydrogenation
- Biodiesel from
waste
Conventional bioSugar beet, sugar cane,
Hydrolysis and
ethanol
grain
fermentation

Upgraded biogas

Biomass (wet)

Anaerobic digestion

Bioethanol

Chemical Synthesis

Overview of Biofuel Production

Technologies
Second/Third* Generation Biofuels

Biofuel type

Specific name

Bioethanol

Cellulosic bioethanol

Biogas

SNG (Synthetic Natural Gas)

Biodiesel

Feedstock

Conversion
Technologies
Lignocellulosic
Advanced hydrolysis &
biomass and biowaste fermentaion
Lignocellulosic
Pyrolysis/Gasification
biomass
and residues
Lignocellulosic
Pyrolysis/Gasification &
biomass and residues synthesis

Biomass to Liquid (BTL), FischerTropsch (FT) diesel, synthetic

(bio)diesel
Other biofuels Biomethanol, heavier (mixed)
Lignocellulosic
Gasification &
alcohols, biodimethylether (Bio-DME) biomass
synthesis
and residues
Biohydrogen
Lignocellulosic
Gasification &
biomass and biowaste synthesis or biological
process

*Use GMO as a feedstock to facilitate hydrolysis / technologies for hydrogen production

Comparison of technologies
Technology aspects

Current stage of
development

Techna.
Effort

Expected plant
b
capacity
[MW bf]

Overall efficiency
[%]

Distri-d
bution

Use

Many different concepts for biofuel

options of the 2nd generation;
associated with appropriate
benefits and bottlenecks along the
pathway.

regarding system complexity (+ less promising.++++ very promising)

related to biomass feedstock
c
according state of development (many different concepts) only theoretical values
d
suitability for current distribution and use (+ less promising.++++ very promising)
b

Source: IEE Leipzig, 2007

Overall biorefinery concept

- a new chemical industry sector
- equivalent to the petrochemistry concept

Biomass to high added value

chemicals, an emerging
chemistry

Biomass

Extraction
of chemicals
Proteins
Vitamins
Fragrances
Pharmaceuticals

Biodiesel
production

Sugar
fermentation

Thermochemical
conversion

Glycerol

Ethanol
Lactic acid

Bio-SNG

Chemicals

Chemicals

Chemicals

DST concept

Biofuel/biofuel production technology selection criteria

Technological criteria (energy content, non

renewable energy consumed, availability,
carbon residue, sulfur content, viscosity,
density, efficiency, scale up, )

Financial criteria (static, dynamic, risk)

Environmental criteria (CO2 , CO, NOx, SO2,

etc.)

Socio-economic criteria

Comparison of technologies
Economic versus environmental aspects
Source: IEE Leipzig, 2007

Selected ICS-UNIDO activities 2006/2007:

Renewables to biofuels and biobased
products

A) Awareness and capacity building

EGM on Technologies for Exploitation of Renewable Feedstock and Waste

Valorisation, 20-30 May 2006 Trieste, Italy
Workshop on Sustainable Plastics and chemical products from renewable
resources, Belgrade, Serbia & Montenegro, June 2006
Workshop on Bio-fuels from palm oil: emerging technologies and their assessment
4 July 2007, Malaysia
Workshop on Technologies for renewable feedstock exploitation and bio-fuels
production Accra, Ghana, December 2007 in cooperation with UNIDO ECB branch
Joint event in Senegal, February 2008

Promotion of joint pilot projects in Africa (UNIDO + ICS)

B) In house development of expertise tools

Survey of technologies for exploitation of renewable feedstock for biofuels (technological,

economic, environmental parameters)
Decision support tool for assessment of technologies for renewable feedstock exploitation
Molecular modelling of chemical processes (catalysis, separation, etc.)
Strategies for developing countries

Example 1: Malaysia ICS-UNIDO-MPOB

cooperation proposal
Catalytic processes for exploitation of palma biomass

Project 1: Transesterification
Solid basic catalysts (supported alkali and alkaline earth metal
oxides/salts, modified or pretreated Group II-III metal oxides,
hydrotalcite-like materials, alkali exchanged zeolites and molecular
sieve materials, strong organic bases grafted on inert support, super
bases)
Project 2: Glycerol based syntheses and products
Substitute for polyols (microbiological and catalytic conversion of
glycerol to 1,3 propanediol)
Polymeric materials.
Glycerol as fuel (bio-transformation of into CO and methane,
synthesis of glycerol tertbutyl ether as gasoline additive, catalytic
transformation of glycerol into CO/CO2 and H2)
Carbonatation of glycerol (glycerol carbonate is a good protic polar
solvent)
Project 3: Catalysts for palm oil biomass gasification

Example 2: 2008 GREENOLYMP (Green

Olympics, Beijing) a project for green

plastics

Agro food
waste
(by
product of
cheese
productio
n)
Alcaligenes latus Cells for the production
of environmentally degradable plastics

1st to 45th day

The biosynthetic pathway of PHB and P(HB-HV) in Alcaligenes
eutrophus:

The general structure of polyhydroxyalkanoates:

Recent ICS-UNIDO publication

BIO-FUELS
Technologies Status and Future Trends
Feedstock and Product Valorisation
Assessment of Technologies and DSTs
2007
Authors:

A. Sivasamy1, P. Foransiero1, S. Zinoviev1, S. Miertus1

F. Mueller-Langer2, D. Thraen2 & A. Vogel2
1

ICS-UNIDO, Trieste, Italy

IEE, Leipzig, Germany

Available at ICS-UNIDO website: www.ics.trieste.it

Stanislav.Miertus@ics.trieste.it
www.ics.trieste.it