“bioethics -- literally "life ethics." it is usually used in a way that includes medical...

2nd International Conference on “INTEGRATIVE APPROACHES TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY”

Jānis GrāvītisUniversity of Latvia, Rīga, Latvia, e-mail:

jgravit@edu.lv

GREEN BIOBASED CHEMISTRY PLATFORM FOR SUSTAINABILITY

11-14 May, 2005, Jūrmala, Latvia

What is biomass?Biomass (in our case more correctly phytomass) as very

diverse material has no exact chemical formula. For average biomass the mole ratio formula of main elements – C, H, and O (S

and N are minor) is:Biomass = CH1.4O0.6

This formula is workable for a large number of tree and plant species in case when the water and ash are eliminated from

biomass. On the basis of this formula is possible to write approximate chemical equations for different biomass chemical

conversion processes. For instance, gasification of biomass would be presented:

CH1.4O0.6 + 0.35O2 ? 0.4CO + 0.6H2 + 0.4CO2 +0.1H2O + 0.2C

NATIONALNATIONAL RESEARCHRESEARCH COUNCILCOUNCIL (NRC) (NRC) OFFERSOFFERS TARGETTARGET FORFOR US US BIOBASEDBIOBASED PRODUCTIONPRODUCTION

999995959090MaterialsMaterials

>>909025251010Organic chemicalsOrganic chemicals

5050101011--22Liquid fuelsLiquid fuels

2090209020202020CurrentCurrentProductProduct

PRODUCTIONPRODUCTION LEVELLEVEL (%)(%)

Source: Chemical & Engineering News, vol.78, No.22, 2000, p.40

What is biorefinery?We guess that concentrate answer is given in the US National

Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) definition:“A biorefinery is a facility that integrates biomass conversion processes and equipment

to produce fuels, power, and chemicals from biomass. The biorefinery concept is analogous to today's petroleum refineries, which produce multiple fuels and products from petroleum. Industrial biorefineries have been identified as the most promising

route to the creation of a new domestic biobased industry.By producing multiple products, a biorefinery can take advantage of the differences in biomass components

and intermediates and maximize the value derived from the biomass feedstock. A biorefinery might, for example, produce one or several low-volume, but high-value, chemical products and a low-value, but high-volume liquid transportation fuel, while generating electricity and process heat for its own use and perhaps enough for sale of electricity. The high-value products enhance profitability, the high-volume fuel helps

meet national energy needs, and the power production reduces costs and avoids greenhouse-gas emissions.”

productsproducts

biorefinerybiorefinery

biomassbiomass COCO22

chemistrychemistry

biotechnologybiotechnology

engineeringengineering

wastewaste

-- food;food;-- bioplasticsbioplastics;;-- solvents;solvents;-- fibers;fibers;-- biodetergentsbiodetergents;;-- …….…….

WHAT IS BIOREFINERY?WHAT IS BIOREFINERY?

SWEET SORGHUM PLANTATIONS

HARVESTING

TRANSPORT

BAGASSE

CONVEYOR

GRINDER

ELECTRICITYHEAT

SILOS

GRAINS LEAVES(fodder)

FOOD & FEEDCANE CRUSHING & SUGAR

JUICE EXTRACTOR

BAGASSE DRIER / PELLETISER

SILOS FOR PELLETS STORAGE

COGENERATION UNIT

DISTILLATION UNIT

96% ETHANOL STORAGE

SUGAR JUICE CONCENTRATION (liquid sugar)

CONTINUOUS MULTI-STAGE FERMENTATION UNIT

O

OHOH

O O

OHO

OH

O

OH OH

O

O

OHOH

ONH2

OH

O

OH

OH

OH

OOH

OH

OH

O

OH

NH2

O

O

OHOH

O

CH2

OH

O

CH3

O

OH OH

OH

OH

OH

OH

OH

OH

OH

OH OH

OHOH

OH

O

OH

O

Succinic acid 2,5-Furandicarboxylic acid 3-Hydroxypropionic acid

Aspartic acid Glucaric acid Glutamic acid

Itaconic acid Levulinic acid 3-Hydroxybutyrolactone

Glycerol Sorbitol Xylitol

CO2CH3

CO2CH3

CO2CH3

CO2CH3

CH2 CHCH3CO

O O

CH3

O O

+

Diels-Alder

Ionic liquid

Hydroformylation

+ + H2

Rh catalystHCCH2CH2CH3 + HCCHCH3

Hydrogenation

Pd, H2

Supercritical CO2

98% yield

> 99% yield

OHOH

O

OOH

O

OOH

MeOOMe

OHOH

OH

OH

OH

OH

OH

H

O

OH

OH

OH

OH

OH

O

OHOH

OH

Esterification NaBH4

CH3OHtetrahydrofuran + NaB(OCH3)4

Pseudomonas fragi Escherichia coli

Malic acid

D-Xylose

Current commercial route

Enzymatic route

OH

OH O

OH OH

O

O

OH

O

O

OH

O O

O OH

O

O

O

O

O

OH

NH

O

O

OH

10-Deacetylbaccatin III(natural product)

11 synthetic stepsSeven isolation steps

IMPROVING ON SUCCESS Bristol-MyersSquibb improved on its semisynthetic routeto paclitaxel by developing a plant-cellfermentation process that has no chemicalsynthesis steps. Key to the process arepaclitaxel-producing yew tree cells

No synthetic stepsPurified by chromatography andcrystallization

Paclitaxel

OH OH

*O O

O

*

O

n

Corn-derivedglucose

E. coli fermentation

1,3-Propanediol

Polypropylene terephthalate

“Bioethics -- literally "life ethics." It is usually used in a way that includes medical ethics as a subset. (For this reason, you also see the term "biomedical ethics.") As the more general category, bioethics seems to include additional issues that are not necessarily a part of medical ethics, e.g., research ethics, ethical issues related to new scientific techniques such as cloning, and environmental policy. In general usage, persons may sometimes try to contrast bioethics with medical ethics by seeing the former as a more general and philosophical approach to the same issues that the latter considers from a strictly clinical case-oriented approach. For instance, we can talk about ethical issues related to abortion from a general philosophical approach, e.g., what kind of society do we become if abortion is a frequently used method of birth control? Or a clinical perspective, e.g., What right does the doctor have to impose treatment on a dying woman in order to try to bring a fetus to viability?”

Albert R. Jonsen. The Birth of Bioethics, NY, Oxford University Press, 1998.

BIOMASSBIOMASS

t° Steam, Catalyst

CO 2

Acetic acidAcetic acid Furfural

Glucose Levoglucosan Charcoal Charcoal

MicrocristallineMicrocristallineCelluloseCellulose

Lignin + Lignin + SugarsSugars

Bioethanol

ActivatedCarbon

ActivatedCarbon

CO2

Version 1 -Steam Explosion

Version 2 -Hydrolysis

Version 3 -Fast Pyrolysis

Version 4 -Pyrolysis

t° t°

t° t°

t°

t°

Steam Catalyst

pressure

LIGNOCELLULOSELIGNOCELLULOSE

LigninLignin

Non Non condensablecondensablegasesgases

PyroligneousPyroligneousvapourvapour

PyroligneousPyroligneousvapourvapour

Boiler HouseBoiler House

BIOMASSBIOMASS

PlasticPlastic

CarbonCarbonmaterialmaterial -- FuelFuel

-- Raw materialRaw material-- ProductsProducts-- Energy carrierEnergy carrier

Zero Emissions Biomass Refinery Zero Emissions Biomass Refinery Industrial ClusterIndustrial Cluster