Progress of liquid biofuel development and demonstration facilities in foreign countries and its inspiration for China

Abstract: Biofuels derived from renewable biomass has been the focus of bio-based economy. Especially the development of new processes and facilities from lignocellulosic waste for advanced biofuel production represents an important field for academic research and industrial innovation within bioenergy development. The technical pathways for advanced biofuel production include the processes of cellulosic ethanol through lignocellulose hydrolysis-sugar fermentation, two-step hydrogenation (hydrodeoxygenation and hydroisomerization) of oils and fats (HVO), biomass gasification-Fischer Tropsch synthesis, biomass pyrolysis-upgrading of bio-oil and hydrotreating of algae oil via thermochemical, biochemical and hybrid conversions. Bio-oil, syngas, and sugars are used as platform chemicals. The progress of advanced biofuel development and the project activities in foreign countries were reviewed, which used lignocellulosic biomass, energy crops, municipal solid waste and organic waste as feedstock. The policies and regulations of advanced biofuels in America, Brazil, European Union and Canada, were described and compared. The current status of commercial and demonstration-scale facilities for advanced biofuel production was also discussed, mainly following the conversion processes of lignocellulosic ethanol, hydrotreated oils/fats (HVO) and biomass gasification-Fischer Tropsch synthesis. Although advanced biofuels have advantages for sustainable development, energy security and low carbon emission, the overall production and develop pathways cannot have cost parity with fossil-based fuels. The key barriers associated with its high cost include the unreliable feedstock availability, high production cost and uncertainty of policies. Biomass feedstock, especially lignocellulosic biomass, has huge annual amount worldwide, yet the significant hurdles for collecting, transportation and storage of biomass are needed to overcome in the scale-up of advanced biofuel production. And the limited lignocellulosic feedstock supply is also the result of uncertainties associated with its demand in the current market. Technical risk associated with scaling-up facilities is another restraining factor for investors due to the complexity of lignocellulosic feedstock and its conversion technologies, compared with starch-based corn ethanol. Financial support for pilot and demonstration plants can provide a valuable opportunity to validate technology from lab scale to commercial scale. Thus it would significantly reduce the technical and financial risks for new technology deployment. Cheap crude oil price in recent years is another reason, which resulted in the lack of policy irritation intention from government. As a consequence, the inconsistent developments of advanced biofuels cause its slowdown, and then form a vicious circle for limited feedstock supplements. The assessment of advanced biofuel in China was also discussed and its future development prospect was proposed. Due to the concern of food security in China, the only solution of biofuel production is using waste biomass via advanced technologies. HVO process is relatively easy and mature due to the utilization of bolt-on technologies by introduction of the advanced biofuel refineries into the existing petroleum refinery. Expanding the sources of oil feedstock by screening oil-fixing microorganisms, planting oil plant on marginal land will guarantee its long-term development in China. Cellulosic ethanol, bio-gasoline and biodiesel from lignocellulosic feedstock are essential guarantee for its perspective production. It is necessary to financially support cellulosic ethanol facilities of 100 000 t/a and gasification-Fischer Tropsch facilities of 10 000 t/a to demonstrate advanced biofuel production. And consistent policy measures are needed to provide investors with certainty about the future growth of advanced biofuel production in China, such as national mandatory addition of biofuel in transportation fuel, and adequate investment on demonstration project.