Here we appear to have another
step forward in the challenge to break up wood waste, or any plant waste into useable
feedstocks. This step releases some of
the sugars while the balance must take more time. The important lignums get burned here but
other processes also convert them into useful by products.
We have far to go but this
appears on the way for some level of commercial application in the near term.
We totally need a protocol that economically
converts wood waste in particular into viable feed stocks. It is the largest bottle neck in our agro
energy cycle.
Woodlots presently produce around
fifteen tons per acre of wood waste each year provided it is been well managed. If this waste had immediate cash value
through farm based reprocessing, then the whole problem of proper forest
management completely disappears.
A woodlot needs to be groomed
annually with a chipper and a handy power saw.
Those chips are compact and transportable. At present they have slight cash value. Creating that value eliminates the funding
problem.
All of a sudden forest management
stops been a long term proposition. It
turns into a long term wealth building proposition. It takes no genius to plant high value tress
on obvious inferior lands and to sustain them from the annual production of
waste wood. Way more important, the
maturing forest in a few years is easily evaluated and then easily sold for
full economic value because the inherent cash flow blocks discounting.
I usually steer away from
investment suggestions, but I suggest that it is timely to acquire woodlots at
present market value. Sometime soon, and likely that means inside the next decade,
the market for chips will become valid.
In the meantime one can invest additional cash in properly grooming such
acquired woodlots and simply stockpile the wood chips for now.
SEPTEMBER 27, 2011
NY Times - A Georgia company says it has overcome a major
roadblock in turning agricultural waste into vehicle fuel and other
useful chemicals by experimenting with a technology that treats the waste with
compressed water heated to very high temperatures.
The goal is to accomplish something that has eluded a dozen companies
in recent years despite big government inducements: to commercialize a
technology for making use of cellulosic biomass, or wood chips, switchgrass and
the nonedible parts of crops.
Renmatix, the leading producer of cellulosic sugars, today unveiled the PlantroseTM process, the company’s commercial approach to producing sugars more cheaply than ever before. Access to non food derived low-cost industrial sugars, the foundation of the emerging bioindustrial economy, will trigger a dramatic shift from petroleum-based fuels and chemicals to cost-effective biobased alternatives.
At Renmatix’s demonstration facility in Kennesaw , Georgia
PlantroseTM and Supercritical Hydrolysis
PlantroseTM and Supercritical Hydrolysis
Renmatix’s PlantroseTM process is the first to break down cellulose at industrial scale through supercritical hydrolysis, which utilizes water at elevated temperatures and pressures to quickly solubilize cellulose. The supercritical state of matter has long been utilized in industrial processes including coffee decaffeination and pharmaceutical applications.
Before the arrival of the Plantrose process, supercritical water had never successfully yielded sugar from biomass at significant scale. The process breaks down a wide range of non-food biomass in seconds, uses no significant consumables and produces much of its own process energy. Current methods of breaking down biomass require expensive enzymes or harsh chemicals, and can take up to three days to yield sugars. With its water-based approach, Renmatix is able to provide cellulosic sugar affordably and on large-scale.
“Sugar has game-changing potential for the bio-based fuels and chemicals market,” said John Doerr, a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Renmatix board member. “The Renmatix breakthrough enables access to affordable non-food based sugar on an industrial scale.”
Doerr, who earned his reputation with early investments in Amazon, Google, Sun Microsystems and other tech giants, led today’s discussion on the role of sugar in scaling bio-based fuels and chemicals. The panel comprised a broad representation of bioindustry leaders: Paul Bryan, head of the Department of Energy’s Biomass Program; John Melo, CEO of Amyris, a synthetic biology company working to reduce the cost of lower carbon, second generation, biofuels and chemicals; and DuPont’s industrial biosciences strategy leader, Vik Prabhu. An intimate group of bioindustry peers joined Renmatix, Governor Tom Corbett and local
“In the twentieth century, petroleum was the basis for making materials, chemicals and fuels. In the twenty-first century, sugar is replacing petroleum as the raw material for those industries,” said Mike Hamilton, CEO of Renmatix. “Renmatix will provide those sugars faster and cheaper than anyone else, and our move to the Greater
A Georgia
Technology from Renmatix obtained this sugar solution from wood pulp by
applying very hot water at high pressure.
The company, Renmatix, plans to cut the ribbon on a research
and development center on Tuesday in King
of Prussia , Pa.
If it works, the technology could reduce the nation’s reliance on oil
imports for gasoline in favor of a cleaner-burning and less expensive source of
energy. A company with a workable technology would have a guaranteed market,
given that Congress has set quotas for the consumption of cellulosic fuel but
so far, hardly any is being produced.
What is more, the supply of cellulosic biomass is far larger than the
amount of corn available for making ethanol, and it does not involve diverting
many resources from food production.
Cellulose is made up mostly of sugars that can be fed to microorganisms
to make ethanol or be chemically processed into other fuels or chemical
feedstocks. Yet those sugars are locked up in a form that makes them mostly
useless to anything but grazing cows and termites.
The process developed by Renmatix involves putting hardwoods into a
small pressurized chamber. One class of sugars, the type with five carbon
atoms, is broken off and harvested. The remaining material is pumped into a
second pressurized vessel for a longer period to release the remaining sugars.
A solid component of woody biomass called lignin remains and is burned
to provide energy for the process.
In both phases, the cellulosic material is treated by water at a
pressure and temperature that is so high that the water is neither steam nor an
ordinary liquid but in a form known as “supercritical.”
Competitors use various
combinations of steam, acid and enzymes to convert the woody waste into fuel.
But the enzymes are far more expensive than water, and the acid residue must be
removed from the resulting product. Some companies have tried to blast the
cellulose into very small molecules and then recombine them as alcohols or
other chemicals, but they have had trouble controlling the mix that results.
Renmatix uses only pressurized water. When the water is in the so-called
supercritical phase, the company says, its pH level can be adjusted to turn it
into an acid. When it is depressurized, it reverts to pure water with a neutral
pH level.
Renmatix began its lab-scale process in late 2008. A year later, it
began operating a pilot-scale plant in Kennesaw ,
Ga.
“We use no significant consumables, like enzymes or acids,” said Fred
Moesler, a company engineer who is in charge of scaling up the process.
But scaling up and reaching competitive prices have tripped up several
competitors in the field.
“It’s not unimaginable that it would work,” said Thomas L. Richard, a
professor of agricultural and biological engineering at Penn State University
Renmatix’s process stops at the point that the wood waste is
transformed into useful sugars. Other companies would convert the sugars into
feedstock chemicals or motor fuels.
Kleiner Perkins’ John Doerr, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett, and
Amyris CEO John Melo laud company’s novel use of super critical water
KING OF PRUSSIA, Pennsylvania – September 27, 2011 – Renmatix, the
leading producer of cellulosic sugars, today unveiled the PlantroseTM process,
the company’s commercial approach to producing sugars more cheaply than ever
before. Access to non food derived low-cost industrial sugars, the foundation
of the emerging bioindustrial economy, will trigger a dramatic shift from
petroleum-based fuels and chemicals to cost-effective biobased alternatives.
At Renmatix’s demonstration facility in Kennesaw , Georgia Pennsylvania
The unveiling of Renmatix’s PlantroseTM process was framed by today’s
roundtable of industry leaders, moderated by legendary investor John Doerr of
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB). Roundtable participants discussed
the growing importance of industrial sugars across the global economy and how
Renmatix’s technology is posed to disrupt the industry status quo.
PlantroseTM and Supercritical Hydrolysis
Renmatix’s PlantroseTM process is the first to break down cellulose at
industrial scale through supercritical hydrolysis, which utilizes water at
elevated temperatures and pressures to quickly solubilize cellulose. The
supercritical state of matter has long been utilized in industrial processes
including coffee decaffeination and pharmaceutical applications.
Before the arrival of the Plantrose process, supercritical water had
never successfully yielded sugar from biomass at significant scale. The process
breaks down a wide range of non-food biomass in seconds, uses no significant
consumables and produces much of its own process energy. Current methods of
breaking down biomass require expensive enzymes or harsh chemicals, and can
take up to three days to yield sugars. With its water-based approach, Renmatix
is able to provide cellulosic sugar affordably and on large-scale.
“Sugar has game-changing potential for the bio-based fuels and
chemicals market,” said John Doerr, a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield &
Byers and Renmatix board member. “The Renmatix breakthrough enables access to
affordable non-food based sugar on an industrial scale.”
Doerr, who earned his reputation with early investments in Amazon,
Google, Sun Microsystems and other tech giants, led today’s discussion on the
role of sugar in scaling bio-based fuels and chemicals. The panel comprised a
broad representation of bioindustry leaders: Paul Bryan, head of the Department
of Energy’s Biomass Program; John Melo, CEO of Amyris, a synthetic biology
company working to reduce the cost of lower carbon, second generation, biofuels
and chemicals; and DuPont’s industrial biosciences strategy leader, Vik Prabhu.
An intimate group of bioindustry peers joined Renmatix, Governor Tom Corbett
and local Pennsylvania
“In the twentieth century, petroleum was the basis for making
materials, chemicals and fuels. In the twenty-first century, sugar is replacing
petroleum as the raw material for those industries,” said Mike Hamilton, CEO of
Renmatix. “Renmatix will provide those sugars faster and cheaper than anyone
else, and our move to the Greater Philadelphia
“Renmatix is placing its headquarters here in King of Prussia because
of the talent that exists in this part of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania
About Renmatix
Renmatix is the leading producer of cellulosic sugars for the global
renewable chemical and fuels markets. The company’s proprietary Plantrose™
process challenges conventional sugar economics by cheaply converting biomass –
from woody biomass to agricultural residue – into useful, cost-effective
sugars. Renmatix’s supercritical hydrolysis technology deconstructs non-food
biomass an order of magnitude faster than other processes and enhances its cost
advantage by using no significant consumables. Backed by Kleiner Perkins
Caufield & Byers, Renmatix is privately held, with operations in Georgia
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