The National Advanced Biofuels Consortium states that in three years it expects to have developed a pilot-ready process that utilizes lignocellulosic biomass for conversion into advanced biofuels. “We are looking at six technologies in our first year, and we are going to do a down select in years two and three,” according to John Holliday from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Chief Technology Officer for the NABC. “And we are only going to continue with one to three of those technologies because we have been given a clear call from the U.S. DOE that they want pilot-level technologies delivered at the conclusion of this consortium.”

Made up of 17 members including participants from the industry, national laboratory and university level, the NABC has received $50 million in funding to complete the task. Holliday recently spoke during a web presentation titled, “Advanced Biofuels Research Pathways,” about the technologies with which the consortium is considering to succeed in three years. “This work is essential for our partners and for our country,” he said, noting the job growth and economic reinvigoration that will result from the work that can “go into support the U.S.’s emerging bioenergy markets.” The six pathway technologies the NABC is currently researching include: fermentation of lignocellulosic sugars; catalytic conversion of lignocellulosic sugars; catalytic fast pyrolysis; hydropyrolysis; hydrothermal liquefaction; and syngas to distillates.

All of the pathways are based on the premise that advanced biofuels must be compatible with existing transportation infrastructure and can be integrated into existing refineries or distribution networks today. “If you take a look at the needs over the next twenty years,” Holliday said on the nation’s light vehicle needs, “what we see at the DOE is actually a reduction in the demand for gasoline over the next 20 years, and a significant increase in the demand for diesel and jet fuel,” adding, “this is a particularly interesting dilemma for refiners because it is difficult for them to change their refining operations.”

The technologies the NABC is currently working with, however, are more suited for smaller scale plants that are the kind of scales seen in the biomass plants of today, Holliday said. With this in mind, the NABC will look into intermediate technology that can go into large-scale refineries down the road.

As for biomass utilization, NABC thinks liquid transportation fuels offers the best use for most biomass. “This is something we really think a lot about,” he said. “There will be a different answer depending on where you are located and your ability to access infrastructure needed to move biomass around.” One of the defining points the NABC considers, according to Holliday, are related to the amount of options we have for making hydrocarbons. “We have a lot of ways to make electrons renewably for power. We don’t have very many ways that we can make hydrocarbons.”

While the consortium is currently looking into six pathways to produce those hydrocarbons, Holliday also indicated the direction the NABC will take in the next few years. Although biomass synthesis gas presents a lot of opportunities, it also presents a lot of challenges, he said. “A lot of syngas conversion work really well on a large scale but it’s a little bit harder for us [to test] on the smaller scale.” Because of that, he said, the consortium is primarily focusing on the catalytic sugar route, the fermentation route and the pyrolysis route.

To learn more about the NABC and its members which range from BP to Washington State University, go to: http://www.nabcprojects.org/index.html.