Gas From Grass
By Byron Gibbs

 

Cows have been doing it for centuries. Now, Oklahoma is in the energy race as they aggressively lay the foundation to be the industry leader in production of cellulosic ethanol.

OK’s “Grow Oklahoma Biofuels Conference” was held Oct 16-17, 2007 and attended by Byron Gibbs. In this conference, presenters gave progress reports and inspired “renewable energy enthusiasts” and investors.

OK anticipates that this market will pump billions into the OK economy. As a result, this conference was supported by several top OK agencies:

• Office of the Secretary of Energy
• Department of Agriculture
• Office of the Secretary of Environment
• Department of Commerce

 The State of Oklahoma is taking this industry very seriously as Gov. Brad Henry approved $40M in May 2007 for the creation of the Oklahoma Bioenergy Center. Oklahoma has a strong heritage of energy production and agriculture. Oklahoma is seizing the opportunity to bring these two industries together in Bioenergy production. Oklahoma, with its perennial native grasses, is leading the charge in the development of cellulose ethanol refineries.

 Conference Speakers and panelists included:

•      Governor Brad Henry
•      3 OK State Representatives
•      4 University professors
•      Scientists, geneticists, researchers, and industry experts
•      OK Department of Energy
•      OK Department of Commerce
•      OK Department of Agriculture
•      OK Environmental Protection Agency
•      National Security – Former director of the CIA

 What is cellulose?

According to Wikipedia, cellulose is the stuff from green plants that is combustible. It is “the primary structural component” that makes up “the cell wall in green plants.” Mammals can’t digest cellulose (grass) directly. However, some animals like cows, sheep and others, have bacteria, fungi and/or enzymes in their digestive systems that break down and convert cellulose into sugars, which are then used by the animal. The human system, however, does not have these organisms for this conversion and we call cellulose “dietary fiber” or “roughage”.

 The world produces 1.5 billion metric tones of cellulose annually – quite a bit more than corn production. Why not use that tonnage to produce ethanol – after all, 1 acre of corn can produce 400 gallons of ethanol while 1 acre of Switchgrass is forecasted to produce 1000 gallons of ethanol. To put it another way, Texas native grasses (like switchgrass) needs no irrigation, no cultivation (a “no-till” operation), needs no herbicides, no pesticides, only small amounts of fertilizer (if any); yet,  2 times more ethanol can be produced from switchgrass than from corn. Therefore, it seems to make sense to let nature to do the work for us. All we have to do is be smart about how we manage the resource. Energy crops (cellulose being the target harvest) could be grass, trees, corn stover (byproduct of corn), wheat straw (byproduct of wheat), wood chips, and sugar cane bagasse. If it were only that simple. A little thing called “price” seems to get in the way.

 Making ethanol from cellulose.

Cellulose ethanol is simply ethanol made from cellulose (grass if you will). Ethanol is the same regardless of its origin (grain starch, sugar or cellulose), i.e. Wikipedia says that cellulose ethanol is chemically identical to ethanol made from grains.

 Ethanol from Cellulose - How?

•      Cellulolytic method → Convert cellulose to sugar by hydrolysis (pressure cook the grass) and then ferment the sugars.
•      Gasification method → Heat up the cellulose (1200 deg F) until it forms gases (carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen) then convert the gas into ethanol by fermentation or by thermochemical catalysis.

 Gasification isn’t new, the Germans built the 1938 6-cylinder, 3.5-liter Opel Kapitän that used wood for fuel using a “wood gas generator”

 What this means to Oklahoma?

• Billions of dollars for the OK economy
• Markets for farmers
• Challenges to protect the OK environment. OK’s last 30 years experienced significant above average participation compared to the previous 150 years. The younger generation in OK does not remember the dust bowl. OK is overdue for a correction and a modest drought like the one that created the dust bowl could be devastating. If OK gets a drought equal and opposite in intensity as their last 30 years of above average precipitation, good conservation practices will be essential for survival for this new emerging BioFuel industry.
• Water is a precious resource – it takes 4 gallons of water to produce 1 gallon of ethanol. For every gallon of ethanol that OK sells, they have to acquire 4 gallons of water from somewhere. At the projected ethanol production levels, water acquisition could be a challenge.

 

So - what does it mean for North Texas?

• Markets for cellulose will be available - ethanol processing capability will be just across the Red River.
• There may be markets for left over hay in the spring.
• Energy crops may be a wave of the future to include: Native grasses, corn, corn stover, wheat, wheat straw, sorghum sugar, sorghum stocks, wood chips, GMO (genetically modified organism) – genetically modified native grasses or other crops to improve their performance or overcome short falls.
• We may see some changes in the way we bring product to the market. Refineries want to see products in “standard format”. A bale of hay and a load of lumber are vastly different. Things will change – the question is “How will they change?”  Will we need to grind the hay? Will we need to grind the wood into chips? Will we need to ferment sugars from sorghum at the farm? 

 

The Bottom Line

Unlike the oil industry in its infancy that wasted resources and destroyed our environment, let us protect our environment as we participate in development of this new energy industry – we may not get a 2^nd chance to do it right.

 

Events For Texans

  

National Ethanol Conference

Orlando, Fl

February 25-27, 2008

Distillers Grains Research, Financing Opportunities and Challenges for Ethanol, Cellulose Technology, Ethanol Safety, the International Biofuels Market, Cellulose Ethanol Technology