Post by
TheRock07 on Apr 21, 2011 7:41am
Ethanol to lignin ratio perspective
The commercial-scale biorefinery proposed by Lignol would produce 80 million litres of cellulosic ethanol (approximately 20 million United States gallons) and 55,000 tonnes of high-performance lignin (HP-L) derivatives annually.
Thats 120 million lbs of lignin derivatives which is 6 lbs of lignin derivatives are produced for each gal of ethanol.
Its my understanding that ethanol production from non-food feedstocks , in the absence of commecial lignin byproducts, requires $125 oil to be a break-even business.
This translates into about $6.50 per gal as a rough break-even cost of ethanol production.
To be profitable, these production costs need to be reduced below the $ 5.00 per litre level and ideally to about $4.50 per gal.
So, with 6 lbs of lignin derivatives produced for each gal of ethanol, Lignols refinery would need to generate about
.25 to
.40 per lb from its lignin byproducts, in order to outcompete gasoline production.
I think this is quite achievable considering the multi-tude of potential and existing products for lignin derivatives , including Lignols new adhesive for composite wood and particle board manufacturing.
There is already a subsidiary for "green ' biofuels in both Canada and the USA but it will diminish to zero over the next 4 years.
Oil prices are expected to rise above $150 per barrel over the next 5 years.
This will be mostly the heavier oils as the supply of low sulpher oil is rapidly diminishing.
As a consequence , all countries are seeking non-fossil fuel green alternatives and food based ethanol production is not a desirable alternative , as food costs are also expected to soar.
Hence, non-food based ethanol production esp from pulp and forest wastes offer the best alternatives.