ECONOMICS OF COMMODITY CHEMICALS AND FUELS FROM FOREST BIOMASS: THE BIOREFINERY OPTION

The world is critically dependent on petroleum. New oil supplies are expensive: they are located in remote areas or require extensive processing. As concern grows over the eventual exhaustion of inexpensive, light, sweet crude, the search is on for alternative sources of hydrocarbons. Coal is dense and easily transported. Supply is well over 100 years at current consumption rates [1]. Coal can be converted to liquid hydrocarbons and from there to petro-chemicals, via gasification and Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis processes. This pathway is economically advantageous when coal supplies are cheap and plentiful. There is an increasing interest in converting biomass to chemicals and fuels currently produced from petroleum. Many analyses describe wholesale conversion of biomass into a single commodity product, whether power, fuels or platform chemicals. This paper compares potential gross revenues per tonne of wood to the revenues from Kraft pulping, where 2.4 oven-dried metric tons (odmt) of wood are consumed to produce a ton of bleached pulp worth about $850, or about $340/odmt of wood consumed. (1) The forest biorefinery concept, where wood is disassembled and maximum value is obtained from each component, will prove more resilient and offers the potential for revenues at least as high as the Kraft mill it extends and replaces. Commodity chemicals and fuels will be part of the process but will use residues from higher-value applications, as feed.