Creating a Secure and Sustainable Future

Defining an Achievable Means of Meeting our Food, Fuel and Feed Needs Domestically

Martha Schlicher, Ph.D.

National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center

DefinitionsEthanol A two carbon alcohol produced most easily produced by

conventional yeast when they consume single six carbon sugars. Used as spirit or fuel.

Sucrose Two six carbon sugars (glucose and fructose) linked together. Table sugar. Found in sugar cane

Glucose The sugar in your blood Exists as chains of glucose (e.g. starch or cellulose) or glucose with other sugars

Starch Chains of the six carbon sugar glucose present in corn or potatoes that can be easily broken down to free glucose and fermented to ethanol. A carbohydrate.

Cellulose Chains of the six carbon sugar glucose present in fiber/biomass. Potential to convert to ethanol. A carbohydrate.

Hemicellulose Chains of five and six carbon sugars present infiber/biomass. Potential to convert to ethanol.A carbohydrate.

Robert Shleser , 1994

Starch

Cellulose

Lignocellulose

Sucrose

Lignin

Examples

TIME

M B

arr

els

of

Oil

Dis

pla

ced

/Yr

THE POTENTIAL ETHANOL PIPELINE

NEAR TERM 10%

MID TERM20%

LONG TERM40%

B G

allo

ns o

f Eth

an

ol

Pro

du

ced

/Yr

GLUCOSE FROM STARCH

& CORN KERNEL CELLULOSE

SUCROSE FROMSUGARCANE/BEETS

GLUCOSE FROM

STARCH CORN KERNEL &

AVAILABLE BIOMASS

CELLULOSE(wood chips,

waste)

PENTOSES FROM

AVAILABLE BIOMASS

HEMICELLULOSE

GLUCOSE FROM

STARCHCORN KERNEL

& NEWCELLULOSEBIOMASS

PENTOSESFROM

NEW BIOMASS HEMICELLULOSE

2005-2015 2016-2030 2031-20404115

21 MBD Oil in 05; Gasoline only; Use held at 05

20772

401554

ABUNDANT & AVAILABLE

ECONOMICAL

Corn Starch

Switch Grass

US Biomass Sources

Paper

Sugar Cane

Cottonwoods

Stover

Wood Chips

Corn

Fiber

NEAR TERM

Wheat Barley

NEAR TERM STARCH

•1980's --175 plants (20K to 7M gallons)

•1990's -- 33 plants (1.5M to 30 M gallons)

•2000's -- 91 plants (30M to 110M gallons)

Important to Remember Secure the Base while Building the Future

TIME

Barr

els

of

Oil D

isp

laced

RESOURCING THE ETHANOL PIPELINE

NEAR TERM10%

MID TERM20%

LONG TERM40%

Gallo

ns o

f Eth

an

ol

Pro

du

ced

•AGRONOMIC PRODUCTIVITY•DDGS = CORN•PROCESS PRODUCTIVITY•ENERGY USE•NEW COPRODUCTS

GLUCOSE FROM

STARCH CORN KERNEL &

AVAILABLE BIOMASS

CELLULOSE(wood chips,

waste)

PENTOSES FROM

AVAILABLE BIOMASS

HEMICELLULOSE

GLUCOSE FROM

STARCHCORN KERNEL

& NEWCELLULOSEBIOMASS

PENTOSESFROM

NEW BIOMASS HEMICELLULOSE

2005-2015 2016-2030 2031-2040115

772

1554

4

20

40

NEAR TERM STARCH

e

S

n

NEAR TERM STARCH

2004 US Corn Utilization

FEED: 56.4%EXPORT: 18.5%

FUEL: 11.7%

FOOD: 6.7%HFCS: 5.2%

80.9 Million Acres Harvested - 11.8 Billion Bushels

NEAR TERM STARCH

Ethanol Production Locations

Critical Near Term ResearchIncreased Ethanol

Yield Per AcreReduced EnergyUse per Gallon

Agronomic Productivity

High Extractable/Fermentable HybridsCustom Hybrids

Process ModificationsCold Cook/Enzyme advancementsDegerm/DebranCorn Kernel Fiber to Ethanol

Coproduct Optimization and Segregation

DDGS Composition, Quality, TransportWet Distillers/Plant LocationOil Separation for Biodiesel

Fermentation/Starch to Sugar

Ethanol IsolationOrganism OptimizationEthanol Separation

Cogeneration Mining Process Energy and Streams

Critical Near Term ResearchIncreased Ethanol

Yield Per AcreReduced EnergyUse per Gallon

Agronomic Productivity

High Extractable/Fermentable HybridsCustom Hybrids

Process ModificationsCold Cook/Enzyme advancementsDegerm/DebranCorn Kernel Fiber to Ethanol

Coproduct Optimization and Segregation

DDGS Composition, Quality, TransportWet Distillers/Plant LocationOil Separation for Biodiesel

Fermentation/Starch to Sugar

Ethanol IsolationOrganism OptimizationEthanol Separation

Cogeneration Mining Process Energy and Streams

2004 US Corn Utilization

FEED: 56.4%EXPORT: 18.5%

FUEL: 11.7%

FOOD: 6.7%HFCS: 5.2%

80.9 Million Acres Harvested - 11.8 Billion Bushels

NEAR TERM STARCH

One Bushel (56 lbs) of Corn Entering

Dry Grind Ethanol Plant

STARCH

PROTEIN

OIL

FIBER

Pounds Per Bushel of Corn – Dry Weight

Assume corn 15% moisture content

37.2 lbs

4.98 lbs

2.24 lbs

4.98 lbs

0

5.01 lbs

1.74 lbs

ETHANOL

CO2

DDGS – 16 -18 lbs

Products from one Bushel ofCorn Leaving

Dry Grind Ethanol Plant

0

0

2.75 gallons

18.0 lbs

3.74 lbs

NEAR TERM STARCH

1.38 B Bushels of Corn Entering Ethanol Plants

STARCH

PROTEIN

37.2 lbs

6.88 B lbs

0

7.04 B lbs

ETHANOL

CO2

Results in …………

0

0

2.75 gallons

18.0 lbs

Containing

Animal Feed

NEAR TERM STARCH

Amounts of feedstocks to produce 10 ml

ethanol

500 ml graduated cylinders used for comparisons

Corn Fiber DDG Stover

ethanolMoisture Content

Corn 15%

Fiber 46%

DDG 64%

Stover 5%

NEAR TERM CORN KERNEL FIBER

Corn Kernel CellulosicsNear Term Technology Validation

No incremental supply chainCosts

Potential 10% Yield increase

4.5 M gal Ethanol per plantAnnually

Minimal incremental capital

DDGS weight reduced 44%

No increase in corn acres

NEAR TERM

Robert Shleser , 1994

Starch

Cellulose

Lignocellulose

Sucrose

Lignin

Examples

Representative Corn Component Composition

Component Stover Cobs Fiber

Glucan (%)

Xylan (%)

Arabinan (%)

Lignin (%)

Protein (%)

Fat (%)

40.9

21.5

1.8

11.0

7.2

1.3

39.4

28.4

3.6

7.0

3.2

0.7

37.2

17.6

11.2

7.8

11.0

2.5

Wyman; Corn Chemistry and Technology, 2nd edtn.

Selected Pretreatment Strategies

Acid

Base

Pretreatment Pentoses Inhibitors

Strong Acid + ++

Dilute Acid + ++

Hot Water - +

AFEX - -

Alkaline Peroxide - -

Yeast metabolism & nutrition

Sugar and carbohydrates metabolised by Saccharomyces Species

Sugar sources

GlucoseFructose MannoseGalactoseSucroseMaltoseMaltotriose (partially)RaffinoseDextrine (partially)

Sugar and carbohydrates not metabolysed by saccharomyces species but metabolised by species of other yeast genera

Xylose (e.g. Candida shehatae and Pichia stipitis)

Cellobiose (e.g. Scwanniomyces castelli and Candida)

Lactose ((e.g. Candida curvata and Kluyveromyces fragilis)

Starch (e.g. Schwanniomyces castellii and Saccharomyces fibuligera)

Inulin (e.g. Kluyveromyces marxianus)

Metabolites

GlucoseFructose MannoseGalactoseGlucose + Fructose2 Glucoses3 GlucosesRaffinoseDextrine (partially)Ethanol

Recombinant Microorganisms for Fermentation of Mixed Sugars to Ethanol

Recombinant organisms are now available

Recombinant Escherichia coli Recombinant Saccharomyces Recombinant Zymomonas Recombinant Klebsiella oxytoca

Timid Commercialization prospects BCI with recombinant E. coli Iogen with recombinant Saccharomyces

Utilization of Biomass forProduction of Fuel Ethanol

Corn Fiber

Ethanol Recovery

Pretreatment

Enzymatic Saccharification

Fermentation

Representative Corn Component Composition

Component Stover Cobs Fiber

Glucan (%)

Xylan (%)

Arabinan (%)

Lignin (%)

Protein (%)

Fat (%)

40.9

21.5

1.8

11.0

7.2

1.3

39.4

28.4

3.6

7.0

3.2

0.7

37.2

17.6

11.2

7.8

11.0

2.5

Wyman; Corn Chemistry and Technology, 2nd edtn.

1993

Corn Kernel Fiber Solved

Strategy 1

Design a method to CONVERT ALL possible sugars in kernel, maximum increase In ethanol would be 0.328 gallons/bushel.

Weight, lbs/bushel* Ethanol, gal/bushel*

Starch 33.93 2.93

Hemicellulose 2.59 0.228

Cellulose 1.16 0.100

*From Gulati, et al., 1996 Bioresource Technology

Math for 50 mgy plant: 0.328 gal/2.7 gal is 12% increase

0.10 gal/2.7 gal is 3.7% increase

ABUNDANT & AVAILABLE

ECONOMICAL

Corn Starch

Switch Grass

US Biomass Sources

Paper

Sugar Cane

Cottonwoods

Stover

Wood Chips

Corn

Fiber MID TERM

Wheat Barley

TIME

Barr

els

of

Oil D

isp

laced

RESOURCING THE ETHANOL PIPELINE

NEAR TERM10%

MID TERM20%

LONG TERM40% G

allo

ns o

f Eth

an

ol

Pro

du

ced

•AGRONOMIC PRODUCTIVITY•DDGS = CORN•PROCESS PRODUCTIVITY•ENERGY USE•NEW COPRODUCTS

GLUCOSE FROM

STARCHCORN KERNEL

& NEWCELLULOSEBIOMASS

PENTOSESFROM

NEW BIOMASS HEMICELLULOSE

2005-2015 2016-2030 2031-2040

•AVAILABLE BIOMASS SEPARATION AND PRETREATMENT OPTIMIZED•FIVE CARBON SUGAR CONVERSION OPTIMIZED•MIXED SUGAR OPTIMIZED•REGULATORY FRAMEWORK ESTABLISHED•PROCESS EFFICIENCY OPTIMIZED

115

772

1554

4

20

40

Representative Corn Component Composition

Component Stover Cobs Fiber

Glucan (%)

Xylan (%)

Arabinan (%)

Lignin (%)

Protein (%)

Fat (%)

40.9

21.5

1.8

11.0

7.2

1.3

39.4

28.4

3.6

7.0

3.2

0.7

37.2

17.6

11.2

7.8

11.0

2.5

Wyman; Corn Chemistry and Technology, 2nd edtn.

Ethanol Fermentation Of Corn Fiber Hydrolysate by E. coli

FBR5

Time (h)

0 20 40 60 80 100

Con

cent

ratio

ns (

% w

/v)

0

1

2

3

4

ArabinoseGlucoseXyloseEthanol

Future Strains: Critical Traits

• Pentose utilization

• High ethanol yield and productivity

• Genetic and phenotypic stability

• Hardiness (tolerance to ethanol and inhibitors)

• Efficient use of multiple sugars

• Growth at low pH/high temperature

• Ease of use with current production technology

ABUNDANT & AVAILABLE

ECONOMICAL

Corn Starch

Switch Grass

US Biomass Sources

Paper

Sugar Cane

Cottonwoods

Stover

Wood Chips

Corn

Fiber

LONG TERM

WheatBarley

TIME

Barr

els

of

Oil D

isp

laced

RESOURCING THE ETHANOL PIPELINE

NEAR TERM10%

MID TERM20%

LONG TERM40%

Gallo

ns o

f Eth

an

ol

Pro

du

ced

•AGRONOMIC PRODUCTIVITY•DDGS = CORN•PROCESS PRODUCTIVITY•ENERGY USE•NEW COPRODUCTS

IDEAL BIOMASS BY GEOGRAPHY

PRODUCTION, HARVEST,And TRANSPORT

BIOMASSSEPARATION

PRETREATMENTCONVERSION

ORGANISM OPTIMIZATION

COPRODUCTS

2005-2015 2016-2030 2031-2040

•AVAILABLE BIOMASS SEPARATION AND PRETREATMENT OPTIMIZED•FIVE CARBON SUGAR CONVERSION OPTIMIZED•MIXED SUGAR OPTIMIZED•REGULATORY FRAMEWORK ESTABLISHED•PROCESS EFFICIENCY OPTIMIZED

115

772

1554

4

20

40

Cost Comparison for Corn & Stover

Corn Starch

Corn Stover

Annual Ethanol (MMGal) 50 50

Ethanol Prod. Cost ($/gal) 0.96 1.45

Total Prod. Costs (MM$/yr) 47.8 72.0

Co-product Credit ($/gal) 0.26 0.13

Feedstock costs1 ($/gal) 0.793 0.51

Capital Invest. (MM$) 48.0 193.7

USDA, ERRC, March 2005

Hope for

future

1Corn at $2.25/bu & stover at $40/ dry ton

INPUTS Feedstock Sources

• Agricultural Production• Agricultural Waste• Biomass• Industrial Waste

Micro-BiorefineriesUnique Resources vary by Local Geography

OUTPUTS • Process Streams• Feed and Fuel• Food

COMPONENTS • Process Fuel• Labor• Transportation

Key Areas of FocusAcross a Portfolio of

TimeSecure the Base

Grow the Future

•Feedstock Optimization •Process Optimization•Animal Feed Optimization

Supply Demand•FFV Availability•E85 Availability•Consumer Knowledge and Demand•Workforce

•Get the sugars out without destroying them or•Creating a hostile environment•Convert all sugars – effectively and efficiently•Address regulated organisms•Address inefficiencies of low concentration of alcohol in beer for isolation

Key Areas of FocusAcross a Portfolio of

Time

•Ensure there is research funding – nationally as well as locally

•Ensure it is spent well•Balance near, mid and long term research needs•Identify local resources and ensure funds are aligned to solve the technical problems you need addressed•Require measurable commercial outcomes•Don’t create champions•Don’t starve the troops•Be realistic•Don’t be redundant•Do reward results