Decarbonising transport with 10%(+) advanced biofuels without - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Bio-LNG expert seminar September 4th 2013 Brussels

Peter van der Gaag www.hollandinnovationteam.nl

Bio-LNG production in Europe – Decarbonising transport with 10%(+) advanced biofuels without (In)direct Land Use Change

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• What is bio-LNG?
• Premium bio-LNG versus LNG
• Bio-LNG and other liquid biofuels
• Comparing bio-LNG with other fuels: eco-performance
• How much bio-LNG can be produced
• Biogas uses
• Bio-LNG: cheapest way to fulfill RED in transport
• Two concept of bio-LNG production
• 1) Landfill and 2) organic waste
• Some possible projects
• Conclusions and recommendations

Content of the presentation

Bio-LNG expert seminar September 4th 2013 Brussels

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Bio-LNG: what is it?

Bio-LNG is produced from biogas. Biogas is produced by anaerobic digestion. All organic waste can rot and produce biogas, the bacteria do the work. Therefore biogas is the cheapest and cleanest biofuel without competition with food or land use. Bio-LNG (LBM) = liquid bio-methane. For the first time there is a biofuel which has always a better quality than its fossil counterpart LNG, so: Bio-LNG is a premium fuel in comparison with fossil LNG

Bio-LNG expert seminar September 4th 2013 Brussels

Advantages of bio-LNG (over fossil LNG)

• Fuel quality
• Bio-LNG is of better quality than fossil LNG. The bacteria do not produce ethane,

propane and butane, therefore:

• Bio-LNG has a higher methane number than fossil LNG.
• Bio-LNG is of constant quality (fossil LNG is not)
• This is the first time that a bio fuel is better than its fossil counterpart.
• While bio-LNG can be used without blending, it can also be used to improve the quality
• f fossil LNG
• Versatile
• Bio-LNG is suited as fuel for heavy duty applications including mobile machinery
• But can also be used to produce bio-CNG for private cars with minor additional costs

(this also combats boil-off at the fuelling stations).

• Environmental
• Bio-LNG is able to decarbonise transportation in Europe
• Bio-LNG has a much lower carbon footprint than fossil LNG
• Bio-LNG can even be carbon negative.
• Good for Europe
• Bio-LNG comes from own European organic waste (fossil LNG does not)
• Bio-LNG only needs short distance logistics (fossil LNG does not)
• Bio-LNG delivers much more employment to Europe than fossil LNG

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Bio-LNG expert seminar September 4th 2013 Brussels

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The bio-LNG production process

Biogas is produced by anaerobic fermentation. The aim is to produce a constant flow of biogas with consistently high methane content. The biogas must be upgraded: removal of H2S, CO2 and trace elements. The bio-methane must be purified (maximum 50 ppm CO2, no water) to prepare for liquefaction. The cold box liquefies pure bio-methane to bio-LNG (-162 Celsius @ 1 bar)

Bio-LNG expert seminar September 4th 2013 Brussels

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Bio-LNG less complicated than LNG

Bio-LNG expert seminar September 4th 2013 Brussels

Bio-LNG no dust no mercury, No butane, pentane No radon

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Well-to-wheel CO2 emissions (source: Air-LNG)

Bio-LNG expert seminar September 4th 2013 Brussels

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LNG emissions versus biodiesel: what about bio-LNG?

LNG scores much better than biodiesl so bio-LNG!!!

Bio-LNG expert seminar September 4th 2013 Brussels

How much bio-LNG can be made? Enough

The picture shows the status quo of biomethane possibility in transportation in 2003; since then enormous progress in anaerobic digestion technology

Source:http://ecocomplex.rutgers.edu/PeterBoisen.pdf 9

Bio-LNG expert seminar September 4th 2013 Brussels

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Innovation increases biogas potential

Retention time and kind of biomass are important for biogas production. Pretreatment of biomass to open the cell structure is crucial Vacuum pretreatment, steam explosion, hydrogenesis, educated bacteria colonies and elevated temperatures are technologies which changed the world of biogas production: New technologies make it possible to use cheap lignocelluloses as feedstock for biogas production while decreasing retention time Estimate: in 2020 well over 20% of the transportation fuels in Europe can be replaced by bio-LNG from organic waste (without ILUC and food for fuel issues)

Bio-LNG expert seminar September 4th 2013 Brussels

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Especially those biomass which have large percentage of ligno- Cellulose are cheap and suitable for anaerobic digestion Use lignocelluloses and not food

Bio-LNG expert seminar September 4th 2013 Brussels

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An optimized bio-LNG production process

Pre-treatment: with pre-treatment like steam explosion it is possible to digest celluloses and therefore use various cheap feedstocks. Digestion: using good mixes and elevated temperatures, you can decrease retention time and reduce cost of the biogas installation. Upgrading: using modern techniques, you can reduce methane losses and methane slip and reduce energy use. Advanced upgrading: use modules with minor energy use or use new methods (alternatives for molecular sieves). Liquefaction: if you use small scale liquefaction you should minimize energy consumption and use container-sized modules.

Bio-LNG expert seminar September 4th 2013 Brussels

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Why does bio-LNG not conquer the market?

Biogas can also be used to make electricity Advantage: direct use of electricity, extensive grids Disadvantages: biogas (H2S) damages gas engines, possibility of air pollution, electricity is cheap, subsidy driven Biogas can also be used to be fed into the gas grid Advantage: existing gas grid can be used Disadvantages: often no gas grid present, introduction of CO2 into the gas grid, pipeline gas is sometimes cheap, subsidy driven.

Expensive infra to use biomethane in cars (pipeline to gas grid – pipeline from gas grid to fuelling station – high energy use to compress biomethane to 200-250 bars)

Overall: vested interests in other biofuels, the above biogas applications and in fossil LNG are high, involved stakeholders are strong players with influence on politicians who sanction subsidy schemes which so far exclude bio-LNG

Bio-LNG expert seminar September 4th 2013 Brussels

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More arguments to choose bio-LNG

Bio-LNG is the only biofuel which is better than its fossil counterpart Bio-LNG provides a perspective for biogas in places where there is no grid

• r need for electricity (islands without grid – mountainous areas – parts of

New Member States) and as such creates a more level playing field for biogas producers in Europe In contradiction with other biogas uses, the financial support necessary for bio-LNG will be much lower than for feed in tariff of

• biomethane. The price differential between small scale LNG

and (better quality) bio-LNG is considerably smaller than between natural gas and biomethane (“green gas”) in the grid And: bio-LNG can be used to produce bio-CNG, which should be used to set the fuel quality standard for bio-CNG in Europe

Bio-LNG expert seminar September 4th 2013 Brussels

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Case 1: Landfills are a waste of land, use them for bio-LNG

There are approximately 150,000 landfills in Europe with app. 30-50 trillion cubic meters of waste (Royal Haskoning 2011). All landfills emit landfill gas. Landfills will contribute an estimated 460 to 650 billion cubic feet of methane emissions per year (in 2000) in the USA. You can flare landfill gas. You can make electricity with landfill gas. But you also can produce the cleanest and cheapest liquid bio fuel: Bio-LNG. The gas is for free – turning it into bio-LNG will cost less than natural gas to LNG in certain parts of Europe

Bio-LNG expert seminar September 4th 2013 Brussels

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Hydraulic fracturing increases landfill gas yield and economy of scale for bio-LNG

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The method consist of a set of drillings from which at certain dept the landfill is hydraulically

• broken. This means a set of circular horizontal

fractures are created from the well at preferred depths. Sand or other materials are injected into the fractures. Gas gathers from below in the created interlayers and flows into the drilled well. In this way a “guiding” circuit for landfill gas is created. With a 3-5 fold quantity of gas, economy of scale for bio-LNG production will be reached rapidly. Considering the multitude of landfills worldwide this hydraulic fracturing method in combination with containerized upgrading and liquefaction units offers huge potential. The method is cost effective, especially at virgin landfills, but also at landfills with decreasing amounts of landfill gas.

Bio-LNG expert seminar September 4th 2013 Brussels

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Case 2: 100 tons/day Bio-LNG refinery

Production of bio-gas, upgrading and liquefaction to LNG

Cambi fermentation unit, Cirmac upgrading, Cryonorm liquefaction)

Aqua ammonia Fermentation

• f Bio-mass

Bio-gas treatment, H2S removal + CO2-removal NH3 removal

Water recycle & treatment

Digestate, 10% moist.

Groen-gas (90% CH4)

99% CO2,

Bio-mass 90% s

Digestate drying

Liquefaction

Bio LNG (99% CH4)

Electric energy LP/MP steam LP/MP steam

LP steam

LNG-gas (> 98% CH4)

Bio-LNG expert seminar September 4th 2013 Brussels

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Production costs of bio-LNG

Dependent on feedstock, scale and co-siting For landfills: for 15-25 million liter per annum production the costs of bio- LNG will be <€0.23 per liter or €0.55 per kilogram. For 85 million liter per annum plant from agricultural waste the production price per liter will be <€0.36 per liter (if we consider present biomass prices)

• r €0.85 per kg

For 200 million liters plant prices will be lower than €800 per ton This means that in certain cases and certain areas, bio-LNG can be cheaper than small-scale fossil LNG.

Bio-LNG expert seminar September 4th 2013 Brussels

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What do these prices mean?

Bio-LNG prices from landfills at a level of 55 €ct/kg is competitive with fossil LNG and far below that of other biofuels. Bio-LNG produced at a level of 80-100 €ct/kg, with incentives from the EU (subsidies, RED biotickets), will be at par or cheaper than fossil LNG and still much cheaper than biodiesel and bio-ethanol (energy equivalent). Bio-LNG from landfills equals negative methane slip. This means that bio- LNG from landfills has the best carbon footprint and especially combats strong biomethane emissions Bio-LNG from agricultural waste does not use land or food and helps decarbonise transportation in Europe We can market bio-LNG as a premium fuel, which means positive publicity for companies that produce bio-LNG from their own European waste and drive on bio-LNG.

Bio-LNG expert seminar September 4th 2013 Brussels

Conclusions

Bio-LNG does not compete with food or land use, has the best CO2 reduction potential, does not emit NOx/PM Bio-LNG can be produced much cheaper than bio-ethanol or biodiesel Bio-LNG blending can fulfill the RED obligation in transport at much lower cost than with bioethanol or biodiesel

Bio-LNG improves quality of LNG

RED mandates percentage of renewable energy in gasoline and diesel (usually leading to bioethanol and biodiesel blending), but should also mandate renewable LN, i.e. Bio-LNG

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Bio-LNG expert seminar September 4th 2013 Brussels

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Recommendations

We recommend the obligation to blend LNG with bio-LNG in the same way as biodiesel in diesel and bioethanol in gasoline. We recommend to open equal opportunities for biogas applications, i.e. same subsidies for bio-LNG energy equivalent (as for electricity from biogas and feed in of biomethane into the grid (subsidy per produced MJoule) We recommend a dedicated EU tender in the next Framework Programme for bio-LNG projects (not hidden under a generic category of biofuels), the grant for Gasrec for bio-LNG (in this case only blend of 25- 75) is a good example (Especially from landfills and there were there are no grids) We recommend EU officials to participate on bio-LNG tours with workshops

Bio-LNG expert seminar September 4th 2013 Brussels

And we see a great future for bio-LNG Thank you for your attention

Peter van der Gaag Remco Hoogma Holland Innovation Team www.hollandinnovationteam.nl More on bio-LNG website sponsored by the EU www.bio-lng.info (in Dutch)

So keep thinking out of the box!

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Bio-LNG expert seminar September 4th 2013 Brussels