DOE Selects 5 Pyrolysis Oils Projects for Funding
07 October 2008
DOE has selected five advanced biofuels projects for awards totaling up to $7 million, subject to annual appropriations. The five projects selected will develop cost-effective, environmentally friendly ways to convert non-food feedstocks into stabilized pyrolysis oils, for the ultimate production of transport fuel.
Pyrolysis oils offer the potential of a greenhouse-gas neutral, renewable, and domestically produced alternative to petroleum-based fuels.
The five projects are:
UOP LLC (Des Plaines, Ill.) With partners: Ensyn Corp, DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (Golden, Colo.), DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (Richland, Wash.) and USDA-Agricultural Research Service.
Virginia Polytechnic Institute (Blacksburg, Va. and New Brunswick, N.J.) With partner: Rutgers University.
Iowa State University (Ames, Iowa and Houston, Texas) With partner: ConocoPhillips.
RTI International (Research Triangle Park, N.C. and Decatur, Ill.)With partner: Archer Daniel Midland Co.
University of Massachusetts-Amherst (Amherst, Mass.) With partner: Renewable Oil International.
Can these process have byproducts along the lines of biochar?
Posted by: arnold | 07 October 2008 at 03:49 PM
Yes, biochar is one of the products of various pyrolysis methods. You also get pyrolysis oils and varying amounts of gas product.
Until algal biodiesel can be produced at less than $20 a gallon, pyrolysis oils and gasification are the two leading prospects for near term biofuels and bioenergy. Co-firing biomass with coal and CHP combined cycle biomass are also going to be important bio-energy sources.
Posted by: Alicia van Finverness | 07 October 2008 at 04:18 PM