The Wikiwijs arrangementIntroduction to the Biobased Economyis made and kept up to date with help of the Centre of Biobased Economy (CBBE).
In the Centre for Biobased Economy (CBBE) eight education and research institutes have joined their efforts, with help of trade and industry, to educate young professionals for a strong and sustainable biobased economy. Core activitities are:
Knowledge transfer and development of educational materials
Reinforcement of applied research
Stimulation of innovation projects
The CBBE is represented by Wageningen UR | Avans | Aeres Hogeschool Dronten | HAS Hogeschool | Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen | Inholland | Van Hall Larenstein | Hogeschool Zeeland
Closing the loops is a central principle in the biobased economy. The illustration shows that plants grow by photosynthesis, needing energy from the sun and carbon dioxide from the air. The produced biomass is used as food (for humans) and feed (for animals). All what is left can be converted into materials, chemicals, fuels or energy. Examples of "left over" streams are unedible parts of plants, manure, kitchen or supermarket waste and side streams of agricultural processes or products. Thus waste production does not exist and the loop is closed.
In this introduction of the biobased economy three elements are highlighted:
- Biomass production
- Conversion processes and products
- Transition to a biobased society
As you can see the next chapters have the same titles. But before we provide you with information about these specific subjects, it is necessary to provide a good understanding of the backgrounds of a biobased economy. This introduction is given in this chapter.
The biobased economy encompasses the agriculture, forestry, fisheries, food and biotechnology sectors, as well as a wide range of industrial sectors, ranging from the production of energy and chemicals to building and transport. This implicates that for realizing a biobased economy we need generalists and specialists from a great diversity of studies. This introduction is therefore important for young people with know-how of:
- Biomass production: biotechnology, plant breeding and plant cultivation & production, animal husbandry etc.
- Conversion processes and products: environmental science & technology, chemistry, product & industrial design, mechanical and chemical engineering etc.
- Transition to a biobased society: logistics, marketing, business administration, etc.
In other words: the development of a biobased economy needs you!
Watch the two embedded videos for gaining a better understanding of what a biobased economy is.
First introduction video
Second introduction video
In addition we are working on a circular economy. Here, the value of products and materials is maintained for as long as possible. Waste and resource use are minimised, and when a product reaches the end of its life, it is used again to create further value. The term is used to explain what is necessary to create a sustainable society. Sustainability is defined as the kind of development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
Watch the embedded video for gaining a better understanding what a circular economy is.
Circulair Economy... it's the way forward
1.1 Drivers of a biobased economy
Why is a transition towards a biobased economy needed?
The main drivers, which are discussed in more detail are:
- Climate change
- Energy and resource scarcity
- Rural and regional economic development
- Sustainable economic development in The Netherlands
1.1.1 First driver: Climate change
Climate change is happening now: temperatures are rising, rainfall patterns are shifting, glaciers and snow are melting, and the global mean sea level is rising. It is expected that these changes will continue, and that extreme weather events resulting in hazards such as floods and droughts will become more frequent and intense. Impacts and vulnerabilities for nature, the economy and our health differ across regions, territories and economic sectors in Europe. Climate change is caused by the emissions of greenhouse gasses such as carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane.
Global warming
In the next figure the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide is depicted in the last thousands of years. Data from Antarctic ice cores reveals an interesting story for the past 400,000 years. During this period, CO2 and temperatures are closely correlated, which means they rise and fall together.
Carbon dioxide versus temperature: past 400,000 years
In November 2018 the concentrations of carbon dioxide reached 408 ppm, explaining the concerns over global warming. (In the graph the concentrations do not surpass 300 ppm, left axis).
For actual carbon dioxide concentration see: http://co2now.org/
Combating climate change became a more important element of the political agenda after the signing of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. Since then, a range of measures has been identified, and implemented, to reduce GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions. Although some measures focus on energy saving, increasing attention has been given to the production of renewable energy. The common feature of solar, wind, hydraulic and bioenergy is that they thrive on natural forces. In the case of bioenergy plants (biomass!) absorb carbon dioxide to produce glucose while exhaling oxygen. Therefore an economy based on biomass utilization can result in a decrease of greenhouse gas emissions or at least no increase of greenhouse gasses. In 2015 the Paris Agreement was signed and the central aim was to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius. A follow-up climate change conference was organised by the UN in Katowice (Poland) in December 2018. However, more effort is needed to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Why is COP24 So Important? - Conference on Climate Change
Bioenergy came into focus as an option to combat climate change in industrialized countries towards the end of the 20th century, first attempts being made by countries with large natural resources (Sweden, Finland and Germany). The EU embraced bioenergy as an element of its climate change programme in 2005, giving bioenergy a large momentum. Since then, biofuel and other bioenergy programmes have been implemented in a number of other countries, including the USA (Langeveld et al, 2012).
1.1.2. Second driver: Energy and resource scarcity
Our economy today is completely dependent on fossil resources. Crude oil is found trapped in some of the sedimentary rocks of the earth's crust. How these fossil resources were formed is illustrated in the figure below.
Millions of years ago, huge numbers of microscopic animals and plants - plankton - died and fell to the bottom of the sea. Their remains were covered by mud. As the mud sediment was buried by more sediment, it started to change into rock as the temperature and pressure increased. The plant and animal remains were ‘cooked’ by this process, and slowly changed into crude oil.
Fossil resources has been fundamental to industrialization. They delivered energy but also served as basic resource for producing materials such as plastics, paints, floor coverings, pharmaceuticals, shampoos, clothing, asphalt etc.
The limits of this resource had been foreseen and discussed back in the 1950s when Hubbert (1956), developer of the Peak Oil theory, made the first extrapolations of future oil production rates. The point in time when oil production within a given area (a single oil field, a country, a region or the entire earth) reaches the maximum rate of production was later named ‘peak oil’. History has shown that in practice it is impossible to raise the rate of production after a decline. Hubbert said: “The amount of oil will never be completely finished, but the availability of oil will decline”. In other words: at a certain point in time there may still be oil but can we extract it? Peak oil and oil demand, shortages will lead to higher prices for fossil fuels.
Let's take a look at the Dutch situation. The Groningen gas field is a giant natural gas field located near Slochteren in the province Groningen in the eastern part of The Netherlands. Discovered in 1959, it is the largest natural gas field in Europe and the tenth-largest in the world. Substantial income from the national gas endowment has been part of the Dutch government’s operational budget since 1963. The discoveries of oil at Schoonebeek (1943) and gas at Groningen (1959) have had a tremendous impact on the post-war economic recovery of The Netherlands.
Does the Peak Oil theory apply to the Dutch gas bubble? Although much effort is invested to unlock unconventional gas reservoirs large enough to delay the unfolding of a peak scenario for Dutch gas, the answer is cautious be yes. This is illustrated in the next figure.
The graph shows stacked on top of one another the production profiles of the Groningen Field, offshore small fields, and onshore small fields. However, the last years there was another aspect that influences the extraction of Dutch gas in the future. Earthquakes due to the extraction of natural gas made the Dutch government decide to lower the coming years the amount of extracted gas and finally to stop with the extraction in 2030.
In the figure below it is clearly illustrated that the energy consumption has increased immensely the past two centuries worldwide. So, two conflicting issues can be ascertained: a decrease in the availability of fossil fuels and an increase in the demand of energy worldwide.
Rapid increasing world energy demand (https://ourworldindata.org/energy-production-and-changing-energy-sources)
Summarizing, while fossil oil has been available in sufficient amounts at reasonable prices for decades, its position now has become more erratic. Doubts have been cast on the availability of fossil oil as the major energy and material source for the decades to come. In the light of a growing worldwide demand, it is a must to diversicate in the available energy and material sources.
Fossil fuel dependency
Depending on national policy, industrial countries try to secure their energy supply by reducing their dependency on oil imports. This holds especially for the USA and is partly explained by the fact that oil exporters are organised in, and operate under, a cartel: the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). While the formal objective of OPEC has been to stabilize the oil market, it has also been successful in maintaining oil prices at a rather high level. The wish to reduce the dependency on oil-exporting states is further explained by the fact that many of them are located in the Middle East, adding to political and military tensions. There are, however, other geopolitical reasons to limit dependency on oil-exporting countries. One of them is that some exporters seek to use their position as a major oil exporter for political leverage in regional political disputes with its neighbouring states. Oil exporters, finally, often show a (perceived) lack of democratic values, many being run by dictatorial (sometimes military) regimes (Langeveld et al, 2012).
1.1.3 Third driver: rural and regional economical development
The production of biomass is preferably connected on site to the conversion and processing of biomass. This way long-distance transport can be prevented and loops can be closed on a local scale. This implies that the rural agricultural areas will not only function as production sites of raw material but also as production facilities of products with added value. So, biobased innovation can result in the creation of new employment in regions in need of an economic impulse.
Example One
As a first example is selected a proven technology for the processing of biomass waste flows like natural and roadside grass. The company NewFoss located in the province Noord-Brabant in The Netherland has developed a technology to biorefine biomass resources. They can handle 40,000 tons of biomass with an output production of 11,000 tons of biobased lignocellulosic fibre (dry matter). The idea is based on washing of the biomass waste flow to remove material like sand and stones. Hereafter the cells are biologically opened and the intracellular components are released. Subsequently the liquid is extracted and the remaining biomass contains fibre rich material. Huhtamaki, a packaging company, produces biobased egg carton which contains 50% lignocellulosic fibre. Natural grass is obtained from Staatsbosbeheer (The Netherlands).
Egg carton made containing natural grass fibres.
In The Netherlands many biobased initiatives look for cooperation with other companies, public institutions and (applied) universities in their own region.
Example Two
Bioethanol in Brazil is providing employment to over one million people. In a country lacking a social security system to provide a minimum income, unemployment equates to poverty and deep misery, and these jobs often play a crucial role. It is true that many of these jobs, that is, those related to the harvesting of sugar cane, are temporary, and work in the cane fields is physically demanding and threatening to health. It has, however, been argued that income from the biofuel industry often helps the poor and deprived to gain a basic income. The President of Brazil has advocated biofuel production as a major impetus for development in some of the poorest regions of Brazil. Other countries could use bioenergy production to generate employment in underdeveloped regions, and bioenergy holds promise especially for rural areas where economic opportunities currently are scarce (Langeveld et al, 2012).
Brazil is satisfying its fuel needs with bio-ethanol from sugar cane
Example Three
Mention in this short video how the Head of Operations of Clariant's Straubing biorefinery, explains how their new plant uses the latest technology to produce fuel from residues left over after the wheat harvest. The benefit is a sustainable energy source that substitutes for imported petrol and provides additional income for local farmers.
Fuel from agricultural residues
DSM-POET and local economical development in Iowa
1.1.4 Fourth driver: Development of new entrepreneurship between agriculture en chemistry sector in The Netherlands
The development of the biobased economy in The Netherlands is supported by two matching developments:
Strong preference of consumers for "green" products. Biobased products can often be labelled "green".
A rapid development of sustainable technologies, such as green chemistry, fermentation and the use of enzymes.
So, consumers ask for sustainable products and materials while at the same time the technology is more and more able to comply.
In comparison to other countries, the Dutch agriculture is one of the most productive in the world. Moreover, the Dutch chemistry sector belongs to the top of the world. Agro and Chemistry: two totally different sectors which can profit both enormously from a strong collaboration in a biobased economy. The expectation is that the chemistry will be increasingly oriented on agriculture as the deliverer of commodities or feed stocks.
An example is the Biobased Delta. This is an alliance of Dutch provinces, businesses and knowledge centres in the delta region of North Brabant, Zeeland and South Holland.
Bio based Delta, an extensive biobased network of chemistry, process industry, greenhouses and research facilities along the North Sea.
1.2 Biobased economy: part of a transition to a sustainable economy
A biobased economy, a blue economy, a circular economy, People/Planet/Profit (triple P), green chemistry, corporate social responsibility, Cradle2Cradle: indeed, all these ideas are closely related. Each one has its own origin and focus. The main principle behind these theories is the classic definition of sustainability presented in the UN Brundlandt Report (1987):
"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs"
1.2.1 Circular Economy
Let us take the example of the fridge to explain the difference between our present linear economy and the circular economy. The present economy is ruled by the "end of pipe" principle. You buy a fridge because you need cold to store and cool your food. When the fridge is not functioning properly anymore only one option remains: discharge the fridge and return to the store to buy a new one. The destiny of the old fridge is most often the garbage dump. The question is: do you need a fridge or do you need cold? Obviously you need the latter: the cold. So, why not go to the store and ask for cold instead of a fridge? Imagine, you buy cold for several years. It is then up to the store to choose how to fulfil your wishes. They can decide to provide you with a fridge. When this fridge is broken down, the store is obliged to replace the fridge. In the end, it is a prime interest for the store to deliver a fridge that lasts long and to deliver a fridge that can easily be disassembled and all parts can be reused.
Resuming, the circular economy aims at reusing and retrieving of the valuable raw materials. At the end of the life cycle, products are collected and the all the individual components are separated for a future product. The circular economy requires innovative designs and production systems, adapted logistics and business models. Meeting the needs of consumers and services will become more important than owning products.
A circular economy seeks to rebuild capital, whether this is financial, manufactured, human, social or natural. This ensures enhanced flows of goods and services. The system diagram illustrates the continuous flow of technical and biological materials through the ‘value circle’. Click on the link to see the diagram on the original website of an interactive system diagram.
Gunther Pauli developed the economic philosophy blue economy in 1994 for the UN. The power of the blue economy is that it injects money back into the local economy, and contrary to traditional belief, it offers high quality products at a lower cost price. More information about this designer theory is available in the video.
Another definition of a blue economy is the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods and jobs, while preserving the ocean ecosystem health. The concept of the blue economy or blue growth has emerged over the last decade as an increasingly important new direction for the global economy.
1.3 The basic principles of a biobased economy
The European Commission describes a biobased economy as an economy that integrates the full range of natural and renewable biological resources – land and sea resources and biological materials (plant, animal and microbial) – and the processing and consumption of these bio-resources. The biobased economy encompasses agriculture, forestry, fisheries, food and biotechnology and industrial sectors, ranging from the production of energy carriers and chemicals to buildings and transport. In this respect, a biobased economy is nothing new. Before the industrial revolution economies were mainly biobased. New developments comprise a broad range of technological solutions which could be applied in these sectors to enable growth and sustainable development. A biobased economy, therefore, makes more widespread use of biomass to replace fossil-based resources.
To ensure that a biobased economy is also a sustainable development 3 basic principles for a sustainable biobased economy are formulated.
1.3.1 Three principles
Principle 1: Use renewable resources which are available today for the needs of today
In the next chapter attention will be paid to the production of renewable resources (biomass) and it will be illustrated that the production of biomass has its limitations in terms of required inputs (for example nitrogen and phosphorus). Moreover, biomass annually averaged efficiency using photosynthesis to form biomass is restricted to 3-6 % of the incoming radiation. So, when the production of renewable resources knows a certain maximum, the rate of the consumption of biomass should not exceed this maximum. In other words: the production of biomass has to be in pace with the consumption of bioproducts.
Principle 2: Use every part of the biomass
Many cultivated plants are grown for one specific purpose or prime ingredient. For example soy or grass is produced because of the protein it contains, sun flowers and rape seed because of the oil, and maize (corn) and sugar cane because of the sugars. In the figure below an illustration is given off the utilization of all different parts of the plant, in this case hemp.
Possible applications of different parts of the hemp plant
Hemp production and valorisation: which products can be made from hemp?
Principle 3: If possible, use the most valuable parts of the biomass for the most added value products
The easiest way to convert biomass into a product is to combust it and produce energy. Burning wood is world-wide the most common method to produce heat. Think of the use of dead wood in developing countries. Although this is a good example of a biobased practice it can be questioned whether this is the most ecologically desirable and economically profitable way.
The biobased economy’s value pyramid indicates that biomass value is determined by its applications and end uses.
Converting biomass to energy is depicted at the bottom of the Value Pyramid. The market for energy is large (everyone needs energy) , but the market price is low. The market for fine chemicals or pharmaceuticals is small but the price of these products is high. The intention is to convert the most valuable parts of a plant to a product with a high added value. The principle entails optimal value utilization meaning that those substances or materials that can be used in high quality products are isolated first. So, a medicinal plant rich in special plant compounds is in the first instance used to produce pharma. In second instance, applications of remaining components of the plant are being sought in the lower regions of the pyramid. Taking manure as biomass stream, two high value applications are (1) the production of a mineral concentrate as a replacement for an artificial fertiliser or (2) the production of card board from the fibres. Low value applications are converting the biomass to energy, in the case of manure, to biogas.
The sum of the highest possible economic values of all the various components of biomass, makes that biomass as a product can have a higher value for the producers than if the entire product is used only for production of electricity or heat.
1.3.2 Biorefinery
To realise principle 3 Biorefinery is a necessity. Biorefinery is the processing of biomass into a spectrum of value-added products (chemicals, materials, feed and food) and energy (biofuels, heat and power). The biorefinery concept is similar to petrochemical refinery, and depending on its feedstock and processes it could be sustainable (biomass) or not (fossil resources).
Biorefineries exploit all of the elements of biomass, recycling secondary products and side streams of the reaction into valuable products, even producing the energy which powers the process itself. In this respect, the concept is analogous to a petroleum refinery, where oil is refined into many marketable products including chemicals, energy and fuels.
The use of all components of the biomass has a positive impact on both economics and the environment. Typically, a mix of high-value, low-volume products (such as fuels and energy) and low-value, high-volume products (cosmetics and nutraceuticals) are produced in a biorefinery. The high-value products enhance profitability, the low-value products provide scale.
Example grass refinery
The illustration below shows the great diversity of ingredients of grass: proteins, fibres, lipids, minerals etc. A much higher value per ton grass can be achieved when all components can be extracted and converted to products. Grass as a raw material has a market price of 50- 70 euros per ton whereas the separated components represent a value of 700 - 800 euros per ton. In chapter 3.1. attention will be paid to the technological aspects of grass refinery.
Grass contains 10-20 % dry matter. The dry matter contains valuable ingredients for a biobased economy. The numbers in yellow indicate the value per ton.
1.4 Conflicting interests
The premises of the bio-based economy include climate change mitigation, cleaner production processes, an opportunity to achieve circular value chains, more efficient use of bio-based resources, collaboration in efforts to address sustainability issues, and new types of governance of bio-based resources on a global scale (Bennich and Belyazid, 2017). However, there are also issues that need more attention. For example the food-fuel debate or deforestation.
1.4.1. Food-fuel debate
The central question in the food-fuel debate is whether the use of biomass for biofuels is competing with food supply. Biofuel production has increased in recent years. Some commodities like maize (corn), sugar cane or vegetable oil can be used either as food, feed, or to make biofuels. For example, since 2006, a portion of land that was also formerly used to grow other crops in the United Stated is now used to grow corn for biofuels, and a larger share of corn is destined to ethanol production, reaching 25% in 2007. The public sentiment was that less food was available for human consumption, especially in developing and least developed countries, where a family's daily allowances for food purchases are extremely limited. The debate reached a global scale due to the 2007-2009 world food prices crisis. World food prices increased dramatically in 2007 and the first half year of 2008 creating a global crisis and causing political and economic instability and social unrest in both poor and developed nations. Systemic causes for the worldwide increases in food prices continue to be the subject of debate.
Initial causes of the late-2006 price spikes included droughts in grain-producing nations and rising oil prices. Oil price increases also caused general escalations in the costs of fertilizers, food transportation, and industrial agriculture. Main causes may be the increasing use of biofuels in developed countries and an increasing demand for a more varied diet across the expanding middle-class populations of Asia. These factors, coupled with falling world-food stockpiles all contributed to the worldwide rise in food prices. Although the rise of food prices cannot be fully contributed to the production of first generation biofuels, the food fuel debate had an enormous impact on the European and Dutch view on the use of biomass. For example, EU directives were changed in time.
Old directive:
Under the Directive 2003/30/EC on the promotion of the use of biofuels or other renewable fuels for transport, EU established the goal of reaching a 5.75% share of renewable energy in the transport sector by 2010.
New directive:
Under the Directive 2009/28/EC on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources this share rises to a minimum 10% in every Member State in 2020. Regarding the expand of biofuels use in the EU, the Directive aims to ensure the use of sustainable biofuels only, which generate a clear and net GHG saving without negative impact on biodiversity and land use.
Since the crisis Dutch efforts in the biobased economy were focussed on second and third generation biofuels and the use of biomass for biomaterials & biochemicals instead of biofuels.
1.4.2. Indirect land use change (ILUC)
If a country uses land to growth other crops for biomass for replacement of fossil fuels, than other countries can decide to growth the replaced crops. This could result in deforestation and as a consequence there is a release of more carbon emissions. This is due to land-use changes around the world induced by the expansion of croplands for ethanol or biodiesel production in response to the increased global demand for biofuels.
1.5 Learning
1.5 Learning
1.5.1 Multiple choice questions
1. The greenhouse effect is based on the relation between:
A. % CO2 en water availability
B. % CO2 en temperature
C. % O2 en water availability
D. % O2 en temperature
2. Why is biorefinery a prerequisite for a successful biobased economy?
A. Biorefinery creates jobs
B. Biorefinery reduces the green house gas emissions
C. Biorefinery reduces pollution
D. Biorefinery creates a high valorisation of biomass streams
3. The production of energy from biomass is characterized by:
A. High demand and low value
B. Low demand and high value
C. High demand and high value
D. Low demand and low value
1.5.2 Assignments
Assignment 1 Value Pyramid
Choose one of the following plants or biomass streams:
sun flower
maize (corn)
sugar beet
reed
manure
Make this assignment with your selected plant or biomass stream.
In relation to principle 1: Use renewable resources which are available today for the needs of today
1. What is the production per year of the plant or waste steam in The Netherlands?
2. What is the current valorisation of plant or waste stream? So, of what use is the biomass today?
In relation to principle 2: Use every part of the biomass
3. Name every ingredient (part or component) of the biomass stream. What does the feed stock consist of?
4. Make a long list with every possible application or end product from your selected biomass.
(Recommendation: take a look at the example of the hemp plant, chapter 1.3)
In relation to principle 3: Use the most valuable parts of the biomass for the most added value products
5. List the applications from low value to high value.
6. Make the value pyramid (see chapter 1.3) for your biomass.
Assignment 2
Read the following article about the biobased initiatiave HarvestaGG.
Biomass is material from plants or animals that is not used for food or feed; it includes also waste from farming or horticulture (yard waste), food processing, animal farming (manure rich in nitrogen and phosphorus), human waste from sewage plants and municipal waste. For land plants but also microalgae and macroalgae (seaweed) photosynthesis is the driving factor for growth.
For a proper understanding of this chapter it is important to refresh the basic knowledge of photosynthesis. To help you the following video about photosynthesis is embedded.
Explanation of photosynthesis
2.1 Growing biomass
2.1.1 Growing conditions
How much biomass can be produced on a hectare of land? The figure below gives insight in all the factors that determine the eventual production of land plants. These factors are categorized in three groups: defining factors, limiting factors and reducing factors.
(Adapted from Langeveld et al, 2012)
Potential production is determined by light, ambient CO2 concentration, temperature and plant characteristics. Crop management is assumed not to hamper growth. Under conditions with water limitation, potential yields are reduced by water shortage. If nutrients are in short supply, but assuming perfect water supply and full crop protection, yields are denoted as nutrient limited. Of course most crop production suffer from a combination of water and nutrient shortage. In developing countries the loss of production due to water or nutrient shortage is larger than in, for example, The Netherlands. The availability of nutrients and water is strongly related to the soil quality. A high quality soil has a good water holding capacity and steady rate of mineralisation creating a continuous nutrient flow. A low quality soil retains no water and in this soil mineralisation hardly takes place because of a lack of organic matter. Actual production refers to yields reduced by pests, weeds and diseases and/or toxicities (e.g. pollution), often in combination with water and/or nutrient limitation. Reality is always more complex, several factors concurrently exerting their influence, but this framework can assist in analysing and understanding crop production situations. Potential growth varies with latitude, altitude and time of the year (Langeveld et al, 2010).
The actual agricultural yield of each country is lower than the potential production. But note that major differences in yield exist between countries indicating that the gap between the actual and potential production is gigantic in developing countries and smaller in developed countries such as The Netherlands. This phenomenon is explained by land specific climate and soil conditions but also by limited access to water and nutrients (artificial fertiliser) and chemicals for crop protection. Moreover level of education, means for investments etc. also play an important role. As an example the yield of cereals in kg/hectare for different countries is shown in the table below. The table shows that the total production of biomass worldwide has enormous potentials to increase. However, the yield is also dependent on the political situation of a country (e.g. war), which is also a reducing factor.
Cereal yield, measured as kilograms per hectare of harvested land in 1961 and 2016.
To create new cultivars the plant breeder disposes of a multitude of possibilities. The most simple way - already applied for ages - is searching for the best plants in crop selection. More progress can be made by including plants from all over the world in the selection process to make optimal use of natural occurring genetic variation. A further step is making crosses by which characteristics of different plants are combined. Sometimes traits can be changed artificially through chemical treatment or radiation mutation. As a result of increasing knowledge on the organization and action of tissues and cells during the past decade, new techniques have become available such as fusion of cells of different species (cell fusion), exchange of pieces of genetic information between different organisms (transformation) or elimination of genes causing adverse effects. These new techniques are commonly indicated as genetic modification, though actually nearly all breeding activities are a kind of genetic modification. The latest technique used for genetic modification is the CRISPR/Cas technology. However, there is a debate whether this is really genetic modification as no new DNA is inserted in the host. See the movie for explanation of this technique. Both North and South American countries paved the way for development of gene-edited crops by removing regulatory uncertainty. The European Commission has banned biotech crops.
In relation to the biobased economy breeding is for example focussed on the plant cell walls for a better understanding of the cell wall biosynthesis and degradation pathways, both for first and second generation bio-fuels (chapter 2.4). First generation biomass is e.g. maize (corn), potatoes, sugar beet and sugar cane. Second generation biomass is made from side products like wood chips and potato peels. Third generation biomass like microalgae and seaweed do not need arable land. Moreover, breeding enables the identification of interesting compounds and genes for different industrial, food and medical applications.
2.2 Agricultural challenges
The contemporary economy is to a great extent powered by limited resources that are being depleted. As they are being depleted we will have to develop alternative sustainable sources of energy and raw materials; most likely with biomass as a cornerstone. The challenge is to develop an economy that does not undermine the long-term productivity of agriculture and natural ecosystems by depleting the natural capital that is the basis of the productivity. A biobased economy depends on a sustainable production of biomass. First priority in sustainable biomass production will be to ensure conservation, regeneration, recycling and substitution of the needed resources: fossil energy, nutrients, water, soil organic matter. The current agricultural practice is various aspects far from sustainable. In the text below the major challenges are summarized.
2.2.1 Dependency on fossil fuels
Today, the main part of agriculture is driven by fossil energy, either as direct energy for fuels in machinery or as indirect energy in mineral fertilizers and other inputs; for instance, US food production when evaluated at the consumer level consumes seven times more fossil energy than the energy value of the produced food. The out-phasing of fossil energy inputs in agro-ecosystems requires a radical change of agricultural practices. Biofuels can in theory substitute fossil fuels used for machinery. However, self-reliance at the farm level may require more than 10 to 20 per cent of the land (Langeveld et al, 2012).
Artificial fertilisers are made by the so-called Haber-Bosch process. Carbon and oxygen are also critical, but are easily obtained by plants from soil and air. Even though air contains 78% nitrogen (N2), atmospheric nitrogen is nutritionally unavailable; many plants are unable to use this form of nitrogen. Nitrogen is a strong limiting nutrient in plant growth. In 1913 Carl Bosch managed to converse nitrogen from the air in ammonia at full scale. Some people consider the Haber process to be the most important invention of the past 200 years! The primary reason that the Haber-Bosch process is important is because ammonia is used as a plant fertilizer, enabling farmers to grow enough crops to support an ever-increasing world population. The fixation of atmospheric nitrogen (N2) to ammonia (NH3) via the Haber-Bosch process is equivalent to 1-2% of the world's annual energy consumption. The process requires high temperatures and pressure. This is an important disadvantage of the process; it depends heavily on fossil energy.
Haber-Bosch process
Possible solutions for replacing artificial fertilisers are:
(1) The use of nitrogen fixating plants. Nitrogen fixation is a process by which nitrogen (N2) in the atmosphere is converted into ammonium (NH4+). Plants that contribute to nitrogen fixation include the legume family – Fabaceae – with taxa such as kudzu, clovers, soybeans, alfalfa, lupines, peanuts, and rooibos. They contain symbiotic bacteria called Rhizobia within nodules in their root systems (see figure below), producing nitrogen compounds that help the plant to grow and compete with other plants. When the plant dies, the fixed nitrogen is released, making it available to other plants and this helps to fertilize the soil.
Nitrogen fixation legumes
(2) Switching to a (more) vegetarian diet. World meat consumption increased (see figure below) from 23 kilograms per person in 1961 to 43 kg in 2014, almost a doubling. Consumption of milk and eggs has also risen. In every society where incomes have risen, meat consumption has too, perhaps reflecting a taste that evolved over 4 million years of hunting and gathering. As shown below in the figure about “Useable protein per acre of farmland” the conversion of vegetable protein to meat leads to a loss of protein. So, a vegetarian diet stimulates the economically most wise consumption of protein.
One acre (=0.4 hectare) of soy produces 160 kg protein (1 lbs = 0.45 kg). One acre of land used for the production of cattle feed, for example beef, delivers 9 kg protein in the end product.
More information about the N-cycle is given in the following link:
2.2.2 Resources of phosphorus will be more and more difficult to mine
Phosphorus is one of the building blocks of all life. Every living cell requires it. Plants need phosphorus to grow as much as they need water. Many soils do not have enough to meet the demands for phosphorus of high production crops. By mining phosphate from rock and turning it into fertilizer to spread on the land phosphorus can be supplemented to the soil. Unlike nitrogen, phosphorus (P) is a finite mineral resource (current global reserves will depleted in 50–100 years and declining production will occur much earlier). Therefore, future crop production will increasingly have to rely on recycling of P from urban areas, as well as on the breeding of crops that are more efficient in utilizing the soil phosphorus.
Currently, only about 15 percent of phosphorus comes from mines in the Western Sahara and Morocco. But the only other large producers, the U. S. and China, mostly keep supplies for their own use. So Morocco is by far the biggest contributor to international trade, with more than half the total business.
The Bou Craa mine in the Western Sahara sends phosphate down a 150-kilometer-long conveyor belt to the port of El Ayoun.
A huge amount of phosphorus is transferred from the soil in one location to another as food is transported across the world, taking the phosphorus content with it. Once consumed by humans, it usually ends up in local rivers via the sewage system. An example of one such crop in South America that takes up large amounts of phosphorus is soy. At the end of its journey, the phosphorus often ends up in rivers in Europe and the USA. Possible solutions are:
- precision agriculture, making sure the plant is able to take up phosphorus at the right time at the right spot.
- reuse of phosphorus from urban areas, regaining the phosphorus form human and industrial waste.
More info about phosphorus scarcity is found here:
The soil is fundamental to biomass production, and there is a great challenge in developing new agricultural methods in Europe that can improve organic matter levels, soil biological activity and soil structure. Many cultivated soils show a steady decline of organic matter unless they receive frequent applications of organic matter (e.g. animal manure, compost). Soil organic matter improves the water holding capacity and the activity of living soil organisms and thus the soil structure and health.
Sustainable biomass production should lead to a maintained level of soil organic matter. As organic matter levels have been declining for many years, it could be argued that even an increase in the organic matter level would be desirable, trying to compensate for historic non-sustainable land use. Soil organic matter can be managed by inputs (growing perennial crops and use of organic fertilizers) and minimising the degree of disturbance, for example soil tillage (Langeveld et al, 2012) .
2.3 Biomass availability
The use of biomass for biofuels has evoked a worldwide debate. Can we convert maize (corn) into biofuels while at the same time people are suffering from hunger? This food fuel debate is more extensively elaborated in chapter 1.4. In relation to the availability the question is: can the world produce sufficient biomass as food & feed and as feedstock for a biobased economy? Is this technically feasible? Not without restrictions because the conversion of a fossil fuel-based economy into a biobased economy will probably be restricted in the European Union (EU) by the limited supply of ecologically sustainable biomass. Imagine that 25% of the current oil use will be replaced by biomass; what percentage of agricultural land shall be needed to achieve this? The numbers in the table below give an indication.
Replacing 25% of the current oil use for biomass
Crop
Production GJ/ha
% Agricultural area
needed for 25% replacement
wheat
45
40
maize (corn)
54
33
sugar beet
90
20
sugar cane
104
17
soy
9
200
sunflower
16
111
Source: Cahier Biogrondstoffen, 2011
The enormous surfaces required lead to a clear conclusion: no, it is not realistic to replace 25% of our current oil use by biomass. It appears realistic that, for the EU, the sustainable biomass supply will be enough to meet about 10% of the final energy and feedstock consumption in 2030 (Ros et al, 2012). Of this 10% only a limited amount of biomass will be used for energy, the remainder can be used as feedstock for chemicals, fibres, medicines etc. In fact, the limited availability emphasizes principle 3 Use the most valuable parts of the biomass for the most added value products (see chapter 1).
For biomass availability for heat and electricity the following equation can be used:
A = E – T1 – T2 – T3 – T4
A = availability (potential)
E = Existing amount
T1 = Too expensive to use because of lack of technologies, logistics or other limiting factors
Feedstock is the renewable raw material (biomass) that is converted into marketable products in a biorefinery. Today, biomass sources for biorefinery are typically provided from six different categories:
1. Agricultural crops & residues
2. Sewage
3. Municipal solid waste
4. Animal residues
5 Industrial residues
6. Forestry crops & residues
Types of biomass
Types of biomass, especially when used as biofuels, are often categorized in yet another way. This categorization occurred as a result of the food versus fuel dilemma. Food versus fuel is the dilemma regarding the risk of diverting farmland or crops for biofuels production to the detriment of the food supply. Biofuel production has increased in recent years. Some commodities like maize (corn), sugar cane or vegetable oil can be used either as food, feed, or to make biofuels. For example, since 2006, a portion of land that was also formerly used to grow other crops in the United States is now used to grow corn for biofuels, and a larger share of corn is destined to ethanol production, reaching 25% in 2007. Second and third generation biofuels could potentially solve the dilemma's that arose from this food versus fuel discussion.
First-generation products are created largely from feedstocks that have traditionally been used as food. A classic example is the use of starch from maize (corn) for biofuels. Starch can easily be converted into useful products, such as ethanol or lactic acid.
Rape seed is a first generation biomass.
Second-generation products are made from non-food feedstocks using advanced technical processes. Cellulosic ethanol is the most developed second-generation biofuel and is produced from the cellulose or cell wall of plant cells. The use of second generation feedstocks do not compete with the food supply for humans. At disadvantage is, however, that the cellulose is more difficult to break down than starch.
Straw is a second generation biomass
Types of biomass
Third-generation products, like second-generation biofuels, are made from non-food feedstocks, but are harvested from non-arable land e.g. water. Typical examples are duckweed and algae. Growing third generation biomass is not demanding land and it is thus not competing in any way with growing for food.
Microalgae are a third generation biomass
2.5 Learning
2.5.1 Multiple choice questions
1. The production of a certain crop at a certain location has a maximal potential. Which factors do not limit or reduce the potential production of this crop?
A. Water or nutrient shortage.
B. Pests and diseases.
C. Radiation and crop characteristics.
D. Weeds and pollutants.
2. Phosphorus is a limited resource. Efforts are taken to:
A. Produce phosphorus with less energy.
B. Regain phosphorus from the soil.
C. Reuse phosphorus from human or animal waste.
D. Use phosphorus binding plants.
3. Second generation feedstocks generally contain more cellulose than starch. Therefore:
A. Second generation feedstocks have less competition with food.
B. Second generation feedstocks result in stronger end products.
C. Second generation feedstocks are more easily converted.
D. Second generation feedstocks can be cultivated with less fertilisers.
2.5.2 Assignment certification of sustainable biomass
(based on the NTA 8080 standard and Cramer criteria)
What is sustainable biomass? Is biomass produced in a sustainable way?
Check the criteria!
Sustainability Criteria:
1. Greenhouse gases. Considered over the entire chain, the use of biomass needs to result in a sharp reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to fossil fuels.
2. Competition with food and local applications of biomass. The production of biomass for energy purposes may not endanger the food supply or other local applications.
3. Planet biodiversity. Biomass production may never harm protected or vulnerable biodiversity but –wherever possible– needs to strengthen the biodiversity.
4. People well-being. The production of biomass needs to contribute to the well-being of the employees and the local community.
5. Environment. In the production and processing of biomass, the quality of the soil, surface and ground water and air needs to be preserved, if not improved.
6. Profit/Prosperity. The production of biomass needs to contribute to the local economy.
A. Palm oil for biofuel
Obtained from the fruit (both the flesh and the kernel) of the oil palm tree, it contributes to the economic development of the producing countries and to the diets of millions of people around the world. Oil palms are highly efficient oil palm fruit and kernel producers, with each fruit containing about 50% oil. As a result they require ten times less land than other oil-producing crops. In fact palm oil can be found in a huge percentage of every day supermarket products. As a result they can be found in one in two supermarket products, ranging from margarine, cereals, crisps, sweets and baked goods, to soaps, washing powders and cosmetics. Nevertheless you may never have heard of palm oil since it’s rarely listed as an ingredient on product labels, with the term ‘vegetable oil’ often being used instead. Palm oil can also be used in animal feedstuffs and as a bio fuel.
Question:
Is palm oil a sustainable biomass?
Search the internet and check the 6 sustainability criteria to formulate your answer.
B. Verge grass (“bermgras”) for energy and/or materials
The dense infrastructure in The Netherlands consists of a variety of highways and roads with extensive verges that require wide-ranging yearly maintenance. Harvesting the vegetation is necessary to maintain short vegetation for traffic safety. The total area of verge grass in The Netherlands is approximately 50,000 ha. Some 20% of this grass is used as cattle feed. The remaining 80% is composted at high costs. These costs range from approximately 25 to 50 Euro per tonne fresh material. Depending on the vegetation type and time of year verge grass contains valuable proteins, sugars and minerals, and often more than 50% fibrous material weight (approx. 50% dry weight). A lot of effort is dedicated to produce materials and energy from verge grass.
Question:
Is verge grass a sustainable biomass?
Search the internet and check the 6 sustainability criteria to formulate your answer.
Answers MC questions described above:
1. C
2. C
3. A
3. Conversion processes and products
The previous chapter discussed how the biomass as raw material can be produced. However, biomass is not the endproduct. To make an endproduct conversion steps are necessary. Multiple options exists to go from biomass to products. A nice overview of all the possibilities is given in the so-called "Routekaart biobased economy" which you can find here.
For a proper understanding of this chapter it is important to refresh your knowledge about the structure of the basic molecules in biology. Therefore the following video is embedded below.
Often biorefinery serves to (partly) separate the different groups of molecules, and to convert these in order to form bioproducts.
Explanation of the structures of the basic biomolecules
3.1 Mechanical/physical conversion techniques
Definition
Mechanical/physical (e.g., pressing, pre-treatment, milling, separation, distillation) processes do not change the chemical structure of the biomass components; they only perform a size reduction or a separation of feedstock components.
Example 1: First steps of grass refinery
Grass refinery seeks to add more value to the growing surplus of grass. The surplus is due to more extensive farming enforced by manure legislation as well as the expanding area of (natural) grassland. Refining grass aims to isolate the low-grade grass protein and then upgrade it for use in feed concentrates. To make this economically viable, the residual fibre must also be put to profitable use - for instance as an ingredient for the paper-making industry or as a co-product for biogas production.
The grass juice is pressed out and further refined to for example ethanol or a feed product. The remaining fibres can be applied as potting soil, construction material or paper or polymer extrusion products. The screw press is a typical example of a mechanical separation step.
Pressing grass
Example 2: Mechanical separation of manure
Based on its high livestock density, The Netherlands has developed effective mechanisms for the environmentally sound handling and distribution of manure. Environmental quality is guaranteed by strict standards for the use of animal manure and artificial fertilisers. In addition, as of 2014 all farmers are obliged to process their surplus manure. This will lead to the transportation of manure to regions with a shortage, most probably in the form of high quality fertilisers. In addition, the agricultural sector is exploring methods of refining manure to produce novel products that contribute to a biobased economy and a resource-efficient Europe.
Pay specific attention to page 28 and 29 of the following publication " Manure a valuable resource", Wageningen UR, 2014. These pages give an illustration of the production of a liquid N concentrate by several separation steps. In this process reversed osmosis is one of the most complicated and sensitive physical separation steps.
Biochemical (e.g. anaerobic digestion, aerobic and anaerobic fermentation and enzymatic conversion) processes occur at mild conditions (lower temperature and pressure) using microorganisms or enzymes.
Enzymes are the working force in micro-organisms. Depending on the specific technique micro-organisms or isolated enzymes are employed. The use of enzymes has great advantages to classical chemical conversion processes. The reactions with enzymes occur in water and do not need high temperatures or large pressures. This results in a low energy use and low carbon dioxide footprint. A difficult step in enzyme mediated conversions is the isolation of the end product from the watery solution, often by centrifugation or membrane filtration. The use of enzymes to convert biomass is crucial for the biobased economy. A few examples are given as illustration.
Example 1: Anaerobic digestion
As the name anaerobic refers, the anaerobic digestion is carried out by microorganisms that can only live in an oxygen free environment. The decomposition of biowaste occurs in four stages: hydrolysis, acidogenesis, acetogenesis and methanogenesis as shown in the figure below.
The four stages in anarobic digestion
Anaerobic treatment processes require the presence of a diverse closely dependent group of bacteria to bring about the complete conversion of complex mixtures of substrates to biogas (made up mostly of methane and carbondioxde). Every step in the process involves different bacteria groups. The last group is for example called the methane forming bacteria. Biogas can be combusted to produce renewable electricity and heat. Another option is to upgrade the gas to natural gas quality, thus facilitating the inlet of the (green) gas in the natural gas pipeline network.
Dutch farmers exploiting an anaerobic digester are supported by subsidies (MEP, SDE). Nevertheless it is hard to make a profit due to low electricity prices and increasing costs for co-products, such as maize (corn) or glycerol.
Anaerobic digestion at farm scale
Example 2: Yeasts converting C5 sugars
Ethanol can be used as biofuel or basic chemical compound to produce other chemicals. The common way to produce ethanol is by converting feedstocks such as maize (corn) and sugarcane. However, these feedstocks can also be used for human consumption. A lot of effort and research is therefore dedicated to produce ethanol from nonfood feedstocks like straw or wood chips. One technical challenge producing ethanol from cellulose economically is a robust organism to utilize the different sugars present in cellulosic biomass. Unlike starch where glucose (C6 sugar) is the only sugar present, cellulosic biomass has other sugars such as xylose and arabinose, usually called C5 sugars. As shown in the illustration below woody biomass consists of cellulose, hemi-cellulose and lignin. Cellulose is the long chain of C6 sugars. Hemi-cellulose contains C6 sugars but also a minor amount of C5 sugars.
Lignocellulose structure. Credit: Lignocellulose_structure.png: from MicrobeWiki
The three main components of wood: cellulose, hemi-cellulose and lignin. There is one C5 sugar present in hemi-cellulose. The C5 sugar has a ring with 5 angles.
After enzymatic hydrolysis yeasts ferment C6 sugars to ethanol whereas C5 sugars are not fermented to ethanol by any natural microorganism in sufficiently high concentrations. A Dutch company, Royal DSM, has developed the combined fermentation of C6 and C5 sugars from wheat straw on an industrial scale. The combined fermentation results in a 40% increase in ethanol yield per ton of straw, which can result in significant cost cuts in the production of bio-ethanol from cellulosic feedstock. So, the company succeeded in producing industrial yeast strains that are capable of co-fermenting glucose and certain C5 sugars. In the video you can see an example how micro-organisms and enzymes can convert straw into ethanol.
3.3 Chemical conversion techniques
Definition
Chemical processes (e.g., hydrolysis, transesterification, hydrogenation, oxidation, pulping) are processes where chemical changes in the substrate occurs.
Example 1: Biodiesel production
Biodiesel refers to a vegetable oil - or animal fat-based diesel fuel consisting of long-chain alkyl (methyl, ethyl, or propyl) esters. Biodiesel is typically made by chemically reacting lipids (e.g., vegetable oil animal fat with an alcohol producing fatty acid esters). The triglyceride (oil or fat) is chemically changed as shown in the reaction equation.
Chemical conversion from oil or fat to biodiesel. Triglycerid is the fat or oil, the ester is the biodiesel. Glycerol is a by-product.
The chemical process is shown in the videos below.
Biodiesel is meant to be used in standard diesel engines and is thus distinct from the vegetable and waste oils used to fuel converted diesel engines. Biodiesel can be used alone, or blended with petro diesel in any proportions. Blends of 20% biodiesel and lower can be used in diesel equipment with no, or only minor modifications.
The leading biodiesel producers worldwide in 2017 are US, Brazil and Germany with 6, 4.3 and 3.5 billion litres, respectively. The Netherlands produced 0.4 billion litres.
3.4 Thermochemical conversion techniques
Definition
Thermochemical (e.g., pyrolysis, gasification, hydrothermal upgrading, combustion) processes occur where feedstock undergoes extreme conditions (high temperature and/or pressure, with or without a catalytic mean).
Example 1: Lignocellulose pretreatment
Lignocellulose is the most abundantly available raw biobased material on earth. Typical example of lignocellulosic feed stock are wood or straw. It is composed of carbohydrate polymers (cellulose, hemicellulose), and an aromatic polymer (lignin) (see chapter 3.3). A barrier to the production of ethanol or other compounds from biomass is that the carbohydrates necessary for fermentation are trapped inside the lignocellulose. Lignocellulose has evolved to resist degradation and to confer hydrolytic stability and structural robustness to the cell walls of plants. To extract the fermentable sugars, one must first disconnect the cellulose from the lignin.
Thus pretreatment is a crucial process step in the biochemical conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to fermentable sugars and finally to products like e.g. lactic acid or ethanol. Pretreatment, crucial for delignification, has been recognised as one of the most rate limiting and expensive processing steps. A complete process overview from lignocellulosic biomass to bio-ethanol is illustrated in the figure below.
Thermochemical pretreatments steps are for example (Harmsen et al., 2013):
Dilute or weak acid hydrolysis. This is one of the most effective pretreatment methods for lignocellulosic biomass. Acid (sulphuric acid, sulphur dioxide, carbonic acid) is added to the raw material and the mixture is held at elevated temperature (T > 160 °C) for a short period of time. Hydrolysis of hemicellulose occurs and hemicellulose removal increases porosity and improves enzymatic digestibility of cellulose.
Alkaline hydrolysis. The major effect of alkaline pretreatment is the removal of lignin from biomass, thereby improving the reactivity of the remaining polysaccharides, and decrystallisation of cellulose. As opposed to the acid-catalysed methods, the general principle behind alkaline pretreatment is the removal of lignin whereas cellulose and part of the hemicelluloses remain in the solid fraction.
Example 2: Fast pyrolysis
Fast pyrolysis is a process in which organic materials (biomass) are rapidly heated to 450 - 600 °C in the absence of air. Under these conditions, organic vapours, pyrolysis gases and charcoal are produced. The vapours are condensed to bio-oil. This pyrolysis oil can be used in several applications to produce heat, electricity and cooling. The process is explained in the following video in the other videos the application of pyrolysis by BTG in Hengelo in cooperation with Friesland Campina is shown.
3.5 Biobased products
The list of biobased products is growing rapidly. However, it is not only the product but also the technology, sustainability and the way of working (social responsibility) that defines the added value of a biobased product. Some examples of videos of companies producing technologies and products are shown here.
In this assignment we will have a closer look at microalgae. Use the Internet for information.
The end product is presented on 1 A4 max.
Describe:
1. Minimal 5 products that can be derived from microalgae.
2. Minimal 2 techniques to extract compounds from microalgae.
3. Minimal 3 production methods to grow microalgae.
4. Give your own opinion about the future for microalgae.
Mention that sources (Internet links or book references) you have used to write your assignment.
Answers MC questions described above
1. B
2. A
3. D
4. A
4. Transition to a biobased society (partly work in progress)
4.1 Logistics
The purpose of logistics in a biobased economy is to provide the right amount of biomass of the right quality at the right time to the right place. To meet the requirements of the industrial biobased products market (biofuels, bioenergy, biochemical and biomaterials) by delivering a steady, reliable, and year-round supply of biomass (of the right quality), is a huge challenge. The relatively high moisture content and the low bulk density of biomass coupled with a seasonal supply, in small quantities, spread over a large number of locations, makes it even more complex to meet all these requirements. Logistical planning is necessary for overcoming challenges of storage, handling, and transportation. Logistical activities can add significant costs to the sourcing of biomass and must therefore be done as cheaply as possible to limit overall costs of producing industrial biobased products. Because of its low bulk density biomass must often be densified to reduce transportation costs. Also other pre-processing activities may be necessary to transform biomass into more suitable forms for specific conversion technologies.
Reduced to its basic components, the industrial biobased products value chain begins with harvesting or collecting a feedstock, which is then transported and brought together at a central location for processing into one or more biobased products. This processing may involve both pre-processing and one or more stages of primary processing and secondary processing, resulting in one or more biobased products, including energy / fuel, materials and chemicals:
An expanded biobased products value chain generally consists of the following parts: cultivation, harvesting, pre-processing, storage, processing and biorefining, market distribution, product utilization and recycling, and local and long-distance transport between these different links in the chain. A schematic representation of these activities is as follows:
Each link has its own characteristics that affect the logistics activities throughout the supply chain. In the following, the main characteristics that have direct implications for logistics are mentioned shortly.
Cultivation and harvesting
Cultivated biomass has to be transported to a more centralized location, because the supply of this primary biomass is coming from several regionally dispersed areas. Due to the fact that cultivated biomass can be harvested only in certain periods of the year, a buffering in storage facilities is often necessary.
Pre-processing and storage
Advantages of pre-processing of biomass can be a higher material density, favourable dosing and flow properties, low moisture level, better stability during storage, less dust during handling and standardization of quality. Examples of pre-processing that have a qualitative and logistical cost advantage to the supply chain include dryingor compressing of biomass. Transport of dry biomass e.g. is much cheaper and a higher bulk density due to chipping the biomass also leads to lower handling and transport costs.
Storage of biomass is important for buffering due to a seasonal supply and a continuous demand. Central or decentral storage depends on the characteristics of the biomass and the requirements of the user of biomass.
Transport
Transport of biomass can be distinguished in local and long-distance transport. For long-distance transport normally pre-processing activities have to be done at the initial supply locations. Multimodal logistical networks make use of a combination of transport modes (e.g. first by truck, then by ship) to deliver the biomass at the right place.
Processing and biorefinery
The optimal use of biomass for biobased products has led to complex networks of supply chains instead of pure biomass chains. Residues for instance can be used at several places in the chain. This has implications for the logistics of the flow of biomass.
Central or decentral processing of biomass is also an important question that has to be solved. The answer depends not only on the characteristics of the biomass, but also on the market requirements of the resulting biobased products.
Market distribution
The location of the market of our biobased products determines the place where we produce, from where we get the biomass and what kind of transport we have to use.
Product utilization and recycling
Recycling can take place at all links in the chain. Logistics plays an important role in the coordination of all these different flows in the supply chain.
Summarised we can say that the design of an effective and efficient biomass supply chain results in a large amount of logistics questions. Important questions are for example:
What kind of biomass has to be used and from what sources?
Where must pre-processing activities take place?
What kind/type of pre-processing is most suitable?
Where do we have to store the biomass or the pre-processed biomass?
What kind of storage is most suitable?
How much storage capacity is needed?
Where can we dry the biomass?
Which combination of transport modes is the most optimal one?
Where do we locate the conversion/processing plant? Central or decentral?
What is the most optimal scale of the processing plant?
What are the costs of all the components of the logistical chain?
Which streams can be recycled?
Answering these questions starts with a detailed analysis of the biomass chain. For example, a question could be whether to process organic waste centrally or to process it decentrally close to the source. Clearly, such a question requires an analysis that includes transport and processing, and possibly also pre-processing and recycling. On the one hand, central processing could be efficient in terms of having a good mix of material quality and quantity over time, but could lead to a lot of transport. On the other hand, decentral processing could reduce the transport requirement significantly, but could also cause economic and/or environmental processing inefficiencies due to loss of economies of scale and fluctuations in material quality and quantity.
This illustrates that an integrated supply chain perspective is often essential, and simulation and optimisation techniques can be used to support the required supply chain analyses and provide quantitative input to decision makers
In the opinion of the scientific and technological commission for the biobased economy, a transition to a biobased economy will result in a redesign of cultivation, harvesting, and production of biomass (WTC, 2011). This means that the redesign of the agricultural chains will:
change the forms of cooperation;
lead to new business models;
lead to cooperatives or even vertical integration;
lead to a redistribution of added value; and
lead to geographical shifts.
Source: WTC (2011), Naar groene chemie en groene materialen; Hoofdstuk 5. Beschikbaarheid en logistiek van biomassa, Rapport Wetenschappelijke en Technologische Commissie voor de Biobased Economy, pp. 79-89.
(Author of chapter 4.1: Renzo Akkerman, Wageningen University)
4.2 Business models
Business models show "the logic of the firm, the way it operates, and how it creates and captures value for its stakeholders" (Casadesus-Masanell and Ricart, 2010). The term business models becomes popular with the rise of the internet since the 1990s, but it mirrors the interest in so-called model farms and model factories more than a century ago. In recent times, the term business models is often mixed up with value configuration, capabilities, business propositions, and revenues models. Managers en mass picked up the business model concept when Osterwalder & Pigneur (2010) published their pursuasive yet challenging Business model canvas. Business models are not only recipes, not merely role models, not a product-market strategy, and not the contracts or the incentive mechanisms of a firm. "In short, a business model defines how the enterprise creates and delivers value to customers, and then converts payments received into profits" (Teece, 2010). As so-called ideal types, based on both observations and systematic analysis, they play different roles for different purposes.
From an internal study the Rabobank concluded that during the economic crisis roughly half of all the companies had a business plan, but that number was only a quarter for the group that had to stop.
One should distinguish between three groups of business models. First, business models oriented at innovation management to better understand innovation-driven collaborative networks, and the connection between techologies and customers. Second, business models oriented at e-commerce, that focusses on pricing, revenues mechanisms, network formats and market dominance, driven by technologies. Third, business models that look at activity system-based value creation mechanisms, entrepreneurship, and sources of competitive advantages, resulting in firm performance (Zott, et al 2011). Biobased business is typically related to the first and third groups of business models, as it has activities based on materials that must processed/transformed, often in several steps.
Business models boil down to the following 4 components. One, the ambitions of the entrepreneur or firms. What drives them, what do they expect to realise out of their business? This is often called the mission and vision of the company. For example, do they want to change the world by a research and time-intensive, impactful biobased innovation, or are they up for sale once patents and market tests show positive potentials?
Two, the value proposition; what is offered, and how is it projected customer relation? What a firm can do (its capability), how the firm can help a customer segment’s needs, and at what cost, that trade off must overlap with the trade off between perceiced benefits versus perceived costs to the customer. Quite some biobased customers want exact replacements of fossils-based inputs, so-called drop-ins. Thus, they are not willing to pay a green premium, as they do not perceive additional benefits. Here, (lack of) openness for experimentation and hysteresis are important. For example, vegetables-fiber enriched paper production turned out to lower the problem of flocking, causing interesting savings on process-chemicals. This specific benefit was not sought for, but it was evidently welcomed. Give it a try!
Third, the actual value creation and delivery: the way resources and activities are organised to produce value. So who in the value chain is doing what; how do firms coordinate their daily operations; and how are relationships (governance) formalised? Problems may surface due to a fundamental lack of mutual understanding by agri and industry. For example, industry typically expects delivery on volume, quality, and timing of delivery to maximize processing efficiency or responsively fulfill customer demands. Biomass suppliers, however, are used to weather impact on available biomass, quality variations, and seasonality in harvesting. Composition of resources, activities and linkages are critical. For such reasons, large biobased innovations require real transitions, creating new sectors. Firms better able to include the characteristics and interests of the connected sectors may create synergies, and/or reduce overall costs, bringing competitive advantages to that value chain (IBIS, 2017). This is what synergy parks, and eco-industrial parks, are up to.
Fourth, the value capture, or the earnings model: For what, how much and how does the final customer pay; and how it is the pay divided amongst the value chain partners? (Chesbrough and Rosenbloom, 2002). Firms should address revenues streams, cost structures, and value appropriation tactics, to maximize their interests. Here e-commerce may teach biobased business on pricing tactics: next to the common market-based sale of produce, one may use utilisation fees (like pay per view), membership fees (like pay for the right for prompt repairs), subscription for regular delivery, obligations (like biofuels –coblending), licencies (pay for using a patent, brand name, etc), or one may prefer more dynamic pricing such as auctions (by competitive bidding), real time pricing (follow demand and supply changes), and yield management (inventory and time till usage, like airline tickets) (Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2010).
In recent decades one has moved from closed business models to open business models that explicitly include collaborations, and that specify social and environmental layers to the business model. Traditionally, so-called business plans started with formulating a firm-specific mission, vision and related success factors to detail the why? Next, one would look at the resources (human, materials sourcing, finances, etc), the how? (detail organisation and processes), the what? (product-market combinations) and the results (financial performance). This was very much an isolated, top down approach to new business development. The business model canvas explicitly opend up that box, especially by identifying the key partnerships, and customer segments that a firm may be after to optimise the use of own and external resources for max benefits.
In the 2010s, it became clear that more encompassing sustainable business models were sought for, explicating and relating the environmental, the social and the business aspects. The triple layered business models canvas (3LBMC) may help users to overcome barriers to sustainability-oriented change within organizations (Joyce and Paquin, 2016), by assessing biobased business on their related activities. Using the triple bottom line-approach, one initially details the entries of the individual three layers people (social), planet (environment), and prosperity (business). The environmental layer may build on Life Cycle Assessments. The social layer may benefit from social cost-benefit-analysis, and social impact assesments, taking a stakeholder orientation. Subsequently, one looks at the linages between the triple layers; the parallels to value proposition are functional values and social values. Outsourcing and local communities are the parallels for business partners, etc. One may thereby, for example, learn that the local farmers communities are often enphasized as important (social layer), but they are not key economic partners to coffee brand owners (economic layer). Firms that reduces fringes and create synergies between the three layers, will benefit most from the more coherent business model, performing better for its stakeholders .
What used to work in the past may not be optimal in the future, when dealing with more diverse companies, from categorically different economic sectors. One is in need of business model innovations, a commercial approach to transforming companies into more sustainable activities and businesses (Karlsson et al, 2018). It is not in deep-seated habits and routines, but in innovative business models, coherently depicted, new trajectories that biobased business can find potential for promising business models.
Casadesus-Masanell, R. & J.E. Ricart (2010) From strategy to business models and onto tactics, Long Range Planning, Vol.43, nr 2-3; 195-215.
Chesbrough, H. and R.S. Rosenbloom, (2002). The role of the business model in capturing value from innovation: evidence from Xerox Corporation's technology spin‐off companies. Industrial and Corporate Change, Vol. 11, nr 3, 529–555. https://doi.org/10.1093/icc/11.3.529
Joyce, A., and R.L. Paquin (2016) The triple layered business model canvas: A tool to design more sustainable business models. Journal of Cleaner Production. Vol. 135, 1474-1486 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.11.039
IBIS (2017) Inclusive Biobased Innovation: Securing sustainability and supply through farmers’ involvement (IBIS) https://www.nwo.nl/en/research-and-results/research-projects/i/66/28066.html
Karlsson, N.P.E., M. Hoveskog, F. Halila, Fawzi, and M. Mattsson (2018) Early phases of the business model innovation process for sustainability: Addressing the status quo of a Swedish biogas-producing farm cooperative. Journal of Cleaner Production. Vol. 172, 2759-2772 DOI 0.1016/j.jclepro.2017.11.136
Osterwalder, A. and Y. Pigneur (2010) Business Model Generation. A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers. Publisher John Wiley. 288pp. Also Osterwalder, A., G. Bernarda, and Y. Pigneur (2014) Value Proposition Design: How to Create Products and Services Customers Want. Publisher: John Wiley.
Teece D.J. (2010) Business Models, Business Strategy and Innovation, Long Range Planning, vol. 43, nr 2-3; 172-194.
Zott, Ch., R.Amit, and L.Massa (2011) The Business Model: Recent Developments and Future Research, Journal of Management, Vol. 37 No. 4, July 2011 1019-1042, DOI: 10.1177/0149206311406265
4.3 Legislation
Bio-based products can make the economy more sustainable and lower its dependency on fossil fuels. For this reason, the EU has declared the bio-based products sector to be a priority area with high potential for future growth, re-industrialisation, and addressing societal challenges. However, realising it requires a lot of work, including various types of governmental involvement, such as legislation.
Public instruments
The standard categories of public sector instruments are legal/regulatory, financial-economic, and communicative, set aside law enforcement. By the first three categories governments respectively oblige / forbid, tax / subsidize, and promote / discourage. Thus, by means of legislation governments have set minimum co-blending obligations for bio-ethanol and bio-diesel to stimulate the biobased economy (EC, Renewable Energy Directive 2009/28/EC). The subsidy-instrument SDE+ (Stimulering Duurzame Energieproductie) stimulated manure-digesters, biomass cofiring, and RWZI-sludge digesters. Finally, in communication authorities promote BBE, by websites (see: www.biobasedeconomy.nl), so-called ‘green deals’, and biobased labelling.
Different objectives at different levels of government result in different instruments and incentives for different sectors in the Biobased Economy. Regarding biofuels for example, the European Union, by means of the RED-directive, long had the lead over its member states. At the same moment, food safety and hygiene, made Dutch government to forbid cheap options in spreading manure used for anaerobic digestion, so-called digestate, over fields of others (Ministry van EL&I, Regels voor gebruik digestaat). In addition, as the province of North-Brabant opts for centralized manure processing, it overruled the municipality of Oss that unanimously voted against it in September 2018 (Boerderij, 24 October 2018). Note that manure based energy covers only five percent of total biomass usage for energy in the Netherlands. Nevertheless, manure digestion brings vivid examples of how societal priorities on energy, agriculture, and health, via democratic systems impacts entrepreneurship and business cases.
Public-private collaborations
Legislation, and other public sector instruments, is critically important in other BBE-cases as well, such as biobased components, (fine) chemicals, and materials (http://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/biotechnology/bio-based-products_en), for a wide variety of sectors such as housing (See catalogus biobased bouwmaterialen) and vehicles (see: WTC-BBE (2014) Strategy for a green society. Biomaterials as driving force for the BBE). The Commission’s bio -economy strategy and action plan aims at shifting the European economy towards a more resource-efficient use of renewable resources (see: A resource-efficient Europe). Especially the public-private 3.7 Bln Euros Bio-Based Industries Joint-Undertaking is to advance the biobased industry with value-added products, to replace fossil-based markets. (see: BBI-JU). As regards communicative instruments, many EU-countries report that the existence of networks, platforms, associations and clusters supports the bio-based industrial sector (See: Examples of good practices reported by the BBI JU States Representatives Group, Dec 2018).
Nevertheless, the R&D investments required for new bio-based and biodegradable products, such as bioplastics have placed them at a commercial disadvantage, compared to mature, large-scale petrochemical-based plastics. Simultaneously within BBE, level-playing fields for bioplastics, components, and biomaterials is said lacking due to biofuels-blending obligations and subsidies. The hindrances are mainly due to lack of abundant, cheap biomass, too small demand, and learning curve losses. Nevertheless, important companies like Suikerunie, DSM, Avantium, Corbion, Rodenburg, and Croda, like to run their biobased R&D in Europe, if not in the Netherlands.
The Biobased Initiative Joint Undertaking
What are we talking about?
Interestingly, hindrances already start with a variety in terminology, how to identify bio-based contents in blends, set sustainability and LCA-criteria, and ascertain certifications (See: CEN/TC 411 "Bio-based products”). Standards are needed to convince consumers, industrial clients, and financiers at large to prevent confusion and disagreement. It resulted in a series of standards, such as EN 16575:2014 Bio-based products – Vocabulary.
For example, the term bio-based only refers to the fact that that the product is wholly or partly derived from biomass. Likewise the C-14 content is considered an adequate tracer of chemicals recently synthesized from atmospheric CO2, captured by recently produced bio-mass (see table below). These definitions do not refer to any other product characteristics such as LCA-performance, biodegradability or the sustainability of biomass used, or non-EU usage. Though these characteristics, and other elements, may be important selling points, they need to be assessed and communicated separately. One understands the importance of having an end-of-waste status to a medium for insects production, raised for proteins for food companies, but als for struvite-recovery at RWZI-sites for the phosfate-industry. In short, when information about bio-based content is exchanged between businesses, or with consumers, one must be aware of these differences, and clearly state the standards behind statements on Biobased terms, quality, and content.
Statement
Standard
Description
US Bio-based content
ASTM D6866
The amount of bio-based organic carbon expressed as fraction of the total amount of organic carbon in sample.
EU Bio-based carbon content
EN 16640
The amount of bio-based carbon (= organic + inorganic) expressed as fraction of the total amount of carbon in sample
EU Bio-based content
EN 16785-1
The amount of bio-based C, H, N, O expressed as a fraction of the total mass of sample
Statements on bio-based content
(Auteur Chapter 4.3: dr. E.F.M.Wubben, Wageningen University)
4.4 Greenwashing
Greenwashing is the general term for deceptive practices that present a company or its products as more environmentally friendly, more socially responsible, more ethical, and/or more sustainable than it actually is. Since environmental movements became popular in the 1960s and early 1970s companies have responded by ‘jumping on the green bandwagon’ in their advertising and promotion. The term ‘green washing’ was coined in 1986, to differentiate misleading environmental claim from the general misleading claims and overstatements that characterize modern marketing. In 2002 companies like ExxonMobil and BP but also the US Government were awarded for their elaborate greenwashing practices, as they spent vast amounts of money on presenting themselves as environmentally conscious rather than on research and policies that would actually reduce their levels of pollution. Since then the amount of greenwashing has gone up rather than down (Lyon & Montgomery, 2015).
Greenwashing can take many forms, like deceptive advertising, green spinning, or creative accounting. Greenwashing by deceptive advertising ranges from irrelevant and misleading claims to outright falsehoods (Carlson, Grove, & Kangun, 1993; Kangun, Carlson, & Grove, 1991). Green spinning covers public relation and press releases that employ a range of rhetorical techniques to either overstate a company’s sustainable activities or understate a company’s non-sustainable performance (Lyon & Montgomery, 2015). In environmental accounting environmental impacts are reduced to measurable parameters that can be attenuated, for example by recalculating and increasing past impacts (showing an improvement for current impacts), by reporting relative impact if this improves compared to absolute impact due to production increase, or by reporting absolute impact if this is more beneficial due to a decline in production (Lippert). Recently also technological greenwashing has caught the attention thanks to the Volkswagen Diesel scandal, where specific software was built into cars to minimise their emission under standardised test conditions rather than under real traffic conditions.
Though greenwashing may seem profitable for companies in the short term it evidently undermines consumer trust, and without consumer trust sustainable marketing doesn’t stand a chance to succeed (Nuttavuthisit & Thøgersen, 2017).
(Author Chapter 4.4: Dr. Ynte van Dam, Wageningen University)
Greenwashing: False Claims on Recycling, Sustainability and Eco Friendly Products
Are Aluminium Water Bottles better?
References Chapter 4.4
Carlson, L., Grove, S.J., & Kangun, N. (1993). A content analysis of environmental advertising claims: A matrix method approach. Journal of advertising, 22(3), 27-39.
Kangun, N., Carlson, L., & Grove, S.J. (1991). Environmental advertising claims: a preliminary investigation. Journal of public policy & marketing, 47-58.
Lyon, T.P., & Montgomery, A.W. (2015). The means and end of greenwash. Organization & Environment, 28(2), 223-249.
Nuttavuthisit, K., & Thøgersen, J. (2017). The importance of consumer trust for the emergence of a market for green products: The case of organic food. Journal of Business Ethics, 140(2), 323-337.
4.5 Learning
Learning for Logistics
What are in general the most important logistic costs?
Focused factories (a factory that supplies its products internationally to a wide market and focuses on a limited segment of the product assortment) have an impact on the important trade-off between cost and delivery lead time. Make a list of the advantages and disadvantages of focused factories.
Give four arguments for processing manure centrally and four arguments for processing manure decentral at farmers level.
Why are pre-processing activities mostly executed in the area of origin?
What are the most important cost trade-offs in the biobased supply chain? Give an example.
Mention which aspects have to be researched to get sustainable, economically profitable logistic biomass chains.
What are the most important differences between traditional food supply chains and biobased supply chains?
Mention the most important logistical challenges in designing a biobased supply chain.
The Biobased Economy, Biofuels, Materials and Chemicals in the Post-oil Era. Hans Langeveld en Marieke Meeusen, 2012. Beschikbaar in bibliotheken of aan te schaffen.
5.2 References
(To be updated)
Annevelink. E. De logistiek van biomassa voor de biobased economy; startnotitie, ISBN-nummer 978-94-6173-609-3, 2013
Cherubini et al. Toward a comon classification approach for biorefinery systems. Biofuels, Biopord. Bioref 3:534-546 2009
Harmsen, P. et al. pretreatment of lignocellulose for biotechnological production of lactic acid, WUR report 1384, 2013
Langeveld et al. The Biobased Economy Biofuels, Materials and Chemicals in the Post-oil Era, 2012
McCormick, K. & Kautto, N The Bioeconomy in Europe: An Overview Sustainability 2013, 5, 2589-2608
Ros et al. Sustainability of biomass in a bio-based economy, PBL Publication number: 500143001, 2012
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Business case HarvestaGG
