The concept of Bio-refineries came in light of reduction of dependence on traditional resources for fuel by optimum utilization of biomass. Though it has applicability in solving waste management & GHG emission problems, there are still limitations of raw-material availability and feasibility in the product supply-chain.
We in our quest to survive have tried to exploit almost everything that this planet had bequeathed upon us, but we can’t last longer than a few generations, if we rely merely on the current stocks of these natural resources. It is very important that we develop newer technologies and methods to reduce our dependence on the traditional resources. Bio-refineries is a concept which could make this thought possible, since it delves into the optimum utilization of biomass resources, which are generally either left strewn in the fields, burnt or fed to the cattle.
One of the major challenges that the world faces today in terms of energy solutions, is to solve the imbalance of the power consumption pattern between the developed and the developing nations. The developed world, which comprises just about a fifth of the world’s population, has access to around 60% of the world’s total generated energy, while the developing nations, which constitute the balance four-fifths of the population, have not been as lucky, with only 40% of the total generated energy falling into their laps. While a major power crisis, as evident from these figures, looms in the developing nations, these countries are also gripped by 4-As of energy distribution, vis-à-vis, Availability, Accessibility, Affordability and Acceptability. The socio-economic factors in these countries generally do not allow them to attain or utilize more reliable energy resources and move towards energy independence. The population only adds to the woes. According to an estimate, world’s population is going to reach a staggering 8 billion by 2020 with the annual energy demand crossing the mark of 13 Gtoe (Giga tonnes of oil equivalent) by that year. Hence, it becomes all the more quintessential to look out for novel methods for optimum utilization of nature’s resources, i.e. if the human race seeks to survive the coming generations.
Alternative Solutions: The alternatives proposed and practiced till date, have focussed on use of naturally available resources. Humans have tried to exploit almost everything that is readily available in nature be it The Sun, the wind, the tides, oceans, forests but the problems and complexities associated with utilization of these resources are far too many, raising questions over their reliability as a constant source of energy.. The intermittent characters of all these sources, the humungous costs involved, the technical complexities and the logistical problems have made most of them an out-of-bound affair. Such projects are very difficult to be initiated, unless backed by government’s support or supplemented by financial incentives like the carbon certification revenues.
Biomass potential: India has a tremendous biomass potential which could easily be relied upon to fulfil most of our energy needs. To exemplify the above statement, an estimated 50 MMT (Million Metric Tonnes) of liquid fuels are consumed annually in India, but with the actual biomass potential and its full utilization, India is capable of generating almost double that amount per annum. These biomass estimates only constitute the crop residues available in the country and essentially the second-generation fuels since the use of first-generation crop bases fuels in such food-starved nations is a criminal thought.
Existing Technologies: Currently, there are various technologies available to process such crop-residues and generate value products from them. However, essentially, they all revolve around two main kinds of processes, the Bio-chemical or the Thermo-chemical process.
The bio-chemical process involves either the application of aerobic/anaerobic digestion for the production of biogas; or fermentation, which results in the generation of ethanol. Both these products could be subsequently treated chemically and through trans-esterification process, result into biodiesel.
Alternatively, the thermo-chemical processes involve either the combustion, gasification or pyrolysis techniques, which result into heat, producer gas and liquid fuels respectively. These products can be used as such according to the requirements, or could be further processed to generate high quality bio-fuels.
The raw-materials into consideration are generally the lingo-cellulosic agro-residues and the problems involved in their utilization are far too many, including, high cost of generation, not so environment friendly technologies, un-optimized pre-treatment technologies etc.
The need: The estimated organized energy breakup for India gives us figures of 40%, 40% and 20% for domestic, transport and industrial sectors respectively, of which the current share of crude oil and gases is nearly 90% for the primary and transport sectors and the remaining 10% for the generation of industrial chemicals. But the escalating prices of crude oil in the international market and the resulting concern over energy-security, has lead the nations, mostly the third world countries, which incidentally have the highest population density, to look out for some other means to keep up with the ever-growing needs of their nationals and also to have a consistent economic growth. All this necessitates the need to propel ourselves to look out for solutions for alternate as well as cleaner primary energy sources, transport fuel sources and chemical manufacturing sources. A probable solution comes in the form of the concept of Bio-refineries.
Concept: Bio-refineries in concept are analogous to the traditional petroleum refineries employing fractional distillation process for obtaining different fractions or components from the same raw material, i.e. the crude oil. Bio-refineries, involve the integration of different biomass treatment and processing methods into one system, which results in the outcome of different components from the same biomass, instead of just biogas or just bio-fuel obtained 
normally. This makes the entire chain more viable economically and also reduces the waste generated. The outcomes range from high-volume, low-energy content liquid fuels, which could serve the transportation fuel needs, to the low-volume but high value chemicals, which could add to the feasibility of such a project. Steam and heat generated in the process could be utilized to run such a setup and make it more sustainable and efficient. Various by-products like chemicals, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, polymers etc are generated which provide an extra revenue stream to the investors.
Benefits: The lignocelluloses could be divided into two parts, the biodegradable part and the recalcitrant part. While the biodegradable part could be easily treated with the above mentioned existing technologies, it is the recalcitrant part, comprising of lignin, cellulose and hemi-cellulose, which is an area of concern.
These bio-refineries would help utilize the optimum potential of crop residues and help solve the problems of waste management and green-house-gas emissions. Each of these three components could be converted, through enzymatic/chemical treatments into either hydrogen or liquid fuels. The pre-treatment processes involved with these, generate products like paper-pulp, HFCS, solvents, acetate, resins, laminates, adhesives, flavour chemicals, activated carbon, fuel enhancers, undigested sugars etc. which generally remain untapped in the traditional processes.
The suitability of this process is further enhanced from the fact that it can utilize a variety of biomass resources, whether plant-derived or animal-derived.
Applicability: The model is very recent and is still at the research stage at most places in the world. Problems like raw-material availability, feasibility in product supply-chain, scalability of the model and some others, associated with the model need to be still answered. Only few applications have been made till now and mostly have been on test basis. In India, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is leading the front in bio-refinery research.
Although the technology is still in its nascent stage of development, it holds the key to the optimum utilization of wastes and natural resources that humans have always tried to achieve. The beneficiaries from the technology would not just be the investors for such a project, but it will create a whole new ecosystem around it, with many more people being able to generate livelihood and revenue. The onus now lies on the governments and large private bodies, to incentivize or finance the research and development in this field, for its future certainly looks bright.
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Ajay Tallam
Ajay Tallam
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