The Biomass Program And Possibilities For The Future

rchers are working on new technology that will beRegardless of which are used, many products are
able to do hydrolysis of cellulosic biomass toproduced in this manner. Some examples are
sugars and lignins and also the thermochemicalpaint, drugs, plastics, and solvents. With the
conversion of biomass to synthesis gas forcontinuous decrease of petroleum resources, it is
fermentation and catalysis of these platformbecoming imperative to manufacture an increasing
chemicals to produce slates of biopolymers andamount of these products with the plant and crop
fuels. To expand the role of biomass in America'sbased materials. Today they account for about
future, the DOE Office of the Biomass Program5% of the bioproducts produced. It is estimated
fosters biomass technologies with a balancedthat about 12.4 billion pounds of biobased products
portfolio of research and development. theare produced with renewable resources per year,
following graphic shows the technology andout of the hundreds of billions of pounds that are
anticipated process that the Biomass Program isproduced each year. This discrepancy and the
concentrating on.limited amount of petroleum reserves for the
Biomass FeedstocksUnited States show that the potential for
The feedstocks are essentially the plant andrenewable bioproducts is basically limitless.
plant-based material that are used to produceBiorefineries
biomass energy. Currently, this consists mostly ofIn addition to reducing dependence on foreign oil,
easily processed agricultural crops and low- orfostering a domestic biorefinery industry modeled
negative-cost industrial residues. Future plansafter petrochemical refineries is a primary
focus more on the use of agricultural andobjective of the Biomass Program. Existing
forestry residues. These can be used not just forindustries such as wet-mill corn processing and
power, but also for production of fuel, chemicals,pulp and paper mills fit the
and materials. Research is being done now tomultiple-products-from-biomass definition of a
improve the collection, transportation andbiorefinery, but the goal is to foster new
harvesting of these residues. It is estimated thatindustries converting lignocellulosic biomass into a
there is about 512 million dry tons of biomass thatwide range of products, including ones that would
is now available for less than $50 per dry ton.otherwise be made from petrochemicals. As with
One of the major problems, however, is collectingpetrochemical refineries, the vision is that the
and transporting the biomass. U.S. scientists arebiorefinery would produce both high-volume liquid
focusing on solving these problems with currenttransportation fuel (meeting national energy
and planned research. These feedstocks are thenneeds) and high-value chemicals or products
converted into either sugars or thermochemicals.(enhancing operation economics).
Sugar and Thermochemical PlatformsPossibilities for the Future
Most plant material is made up of cellulose,It has recently been announced that a $50 million
hemicellulose and lignin. The U.S. Department ofbiodiesel manufacturing plant will be built in North
Energy's Biomass Program is at the forefront ofDakota. It will be the largest plant of its kind in the
a national effort to develop technology to breakUnited States, and produce about 100,000 tons of
cellulose and hemicellulose down into theirbiodiesel each year.
component sugars. Anticipated biorefineries willBiomass is produced here in the United States
then be able to biologically process these sugarsrather than being imported from overseas. Since
to fuel ethanol or other building block chemicals.it is produced at home, new jobs will be created,
Lignin can either be burned to provide processand the agricultural market will be improved. The
heat and electricity or can itself be converted torural American economy will also receive a
fuels and chemicals.much-needed boost. As mentioned, increased
Possibly the oldest way of converting biomass tobiofuel production means reduced dependency on
energy was burning wood. Unfortunately burningforeign oil. Also the use of toxic fuel additives is
wood is not very efficient. If this solid biomass istotally avoided. An increased role for biomass in
converted to liquid or gas before combustion, theAmerica’s energy landscape is an intriguing
process becomes much more efficient. Thisidea, and probably a good one. It can help to
conversion is achieving by heating the biomassconserve what little fossil fuels we have left, while
(wood in this example) with oxygen. Not only isat the same time avoiding all the pollution
the efficiency increased, but the biomass canproblems that fossil fuels give us. The fields that
alternately produce chemicals or materials.biomass crops could use now lie fallow because of
American researchers are hard at workthe decreased role of farming in today’s
perfecting this process.economy. Biomass can revive the economy in
Productsrural areas. Unlike solar and wind power, these
Renewable biobased products (bioproducts) arecrops are not a sore spot in the landscape.
products created from plant- or crop-basedOpponents of hydroelectric power claim that it
resources such as agricultural crops and cropdisrupts the river environment, killing fish and
residues, forestry, pastures. Currently thesemarine plants alike. This problem does not exist
bioproducts are created using petroleum, due towith biomass. Biomass is quite possibly the best
the hydrocarbons that exist in petroleum. Ifrenewable source of energy this country has, and
bioproducts were produced with biomassthat is reflected by the fact that it has become
materials carbohydrates, proteins, and plant oilsthe leading source of renewable energy in this
would be used instead of the hydrocarbons.new millennium.