Germany, known as a hotbed for automotive activity in Europe, is now setting its sights on biofuels.  Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) are working on a process to create relatively affordable biofuels out of common plant wastes, such as waste wood.

They hope the technology will yield fuel that costs €0.50 a liter or $2.49/gallon USD.  However, it is dependent on the proper infrastructure being established, says the team.

The new process breaks down wood, straw, or other plant waste by a process known as bioliq.  It yields a number of fuel products that could be refined, to produce gasoline, as well as other useful chemical byproducts.  The process starts with pyrolysis -- heating the plant waste in a vacuum chamber to 500°C.  A thick liquid called biosyncrude, containing solid particles of coke, is produced.

The biosyncrude is subsequently vaporized by a stream of oxygen gas.  The outgoing gas is than heated at high pressures to approximately 1400° C.  This gasification process turns the biosyncrude into a mix of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, known as syngas.

While the researchers' describe their work as "new" and "novel", it is actually quite similar to previous research in the U.S. and elsewhere.  However, the KIT researchers are perhaps closer to commercialization then some, as they have partnered with German process engineering company Lurgi, KIT to build a pilot plant, which is scheduled to be complete and fully operational by 2012.

The cost estimates provided by the team are based on estimated costs of a plant producing 1 million tons of fuel yearly.  To put this production scale in context, a typical oil refinery is about ten times this size, while a plant that produces liquid fuel from oil and gas is a similar size to this target full-scale production size.

The key obstacle the team foresees to syngas biofuels is the transportation of plant waste and the costs incurred.  The team plans to split the pyrolysis process from the gasification.  The pyrolysis would occur at numerous smaller plants, which would then deliver biosyncrude to a central plant for gasification.  This structure would be more feasible than a design featuring a two phase central plant, they say.

Nicolaus Dahmen, leader of the KIT team, states, "Biomass is pre-treated in around 50 regionally distributed pyrolysis plants to produce the biosyncrude.  This can then be transported economically over long distances to supply a central fuel production plant with a high capacity."

Biosyncrude is more compact and thus cheaper to transport than wood, straw, or other plant wastes.  Under the new setup, these materials would only have to be transported a short distance to a plant in the local municipality.

The team's research is featured in this month's issue of the journal Biofuels, Bioproducts & Biorefining.

The researchers admit that bioliq will for some time be more expensive than gasoline or diesel fuel.  However, they hope that European governments will use taxes to make bioliq and other biofuels more cost competitive. 

One key obstacle to such plans is breakthroughs in cellulosic ethanol production.  U.S.-based Coskata says it will soon be able to deliver $1/gallon cellulosic ethanol, using similar plant wastes.  At this cost cellulosic ethanol would easily beat out bioliq.  However, the bioliq researchers still have much time to think up new solutions.