Estimation of Liquid Fuel Yields from Biomass

We have estimated sun-to-fuel yields for the cases when dedicated fuel crops are grown and harvested to produce liquid fuel. The stand-alone biomass to liquid fuel processes, that use biomass as the main source of energy, are estimated to produce one-and-one-half to three times less sun-to-fuel yield than the augmented processes. In an augmented process, solar energy from a fraction of the available land area is used to produce other forms of energy such as H(2), heat etc., which are then used to increase biomass carbon recovery in the conversion process. However, even at the highest biomass growth rate of 6.25 kg/m(2).y considered in this study, the much improved augmented processes are estimated to have sun-to-fuel yield of about 2%. We also propose a novel stand-alone H(2)Bioil-B process, where a portion of the biomass is gasified to provide H(2) for the fast-hydropyrolysis/hydrodeoxygenation of the remaining biomass. This process is estimated to be able to produce 125-146 ethanol gallon equivalents (ege)/ton of biomass of high energy density oil but needs experimental development. The augmented version of fast-hydropyrolysis/hydrodeoxygenation, where H(2) is generated from a nonbiomass energy source, is estimated to provide liquid fuel yields as high as 215 ege/ton of biomass. These estimated yields provide reasonable targets for the development of efficient biomass conversion processes to provide liquid fuel for a sustainable transport sector.