Vision for Washington's Bioeconomy
Washington
State University (WSU) and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have
established a new partnership that will leverage decades of research to provide
national leadership and advance our region’s role in the emerging bioproducts
and bioenergy industry. WSU has already created the Center for
Bioproducts and Bioenergy to focus its research efforts. And, the
co-funded Bioproducts, Sciences, and Engineering Laboratory (BSEL), slated to
open this year on the WSU-Tri-Cities campus, will serve as a unique facility in
which PNNL research will be leveraged with that conducted by WSU faculty.
To help set priorities for the collaboration, WSU and PNNL are conducting
analyses of our state and regional resources that also will serve as a roadmap
to guide future research, investments and strategies required to create and
maintain an economically sustainable bioeconomy in the
Pacific
Northwest
.
Early
analysis indicates that
Washington
State
has a variety of biomass
resources that may be used to develop bio-based products and fuels.
However,
Washington
’s
feedstocks differ significantly from those currently being used to produce
biofuels in other regions. Therefore, significant work must be done to
develop crops and conversion technologies that are targeted to
Washington
State
’s conditions.
Today, the
leading strategies for producing fuel from biomass in the
United States
rely upon conversion of grains, particularly corn and soybeans, as these crops
have high sugar, starch and oil content and can be converted to fuel with
proven technology. The remaining parts of the plant are used for other purposes
or are converted to higher value products. Many of these approaches have
been built around existing industry infrastructure and an abundant supply of
commodity crops. Yet even in ideal scenarios, biofuel production from
these crops can be economically challenging and often relies on government
incentives.
Due to our
climate and growing conditions,
Washington
’s
most abundant sources of biomass are woody and complex in nature (timber waste,
wheat straw, municipal solid wastes). This type of biomass is referred to
as cellulosic biomass because the energy and fuel potential lies in the plant
structure itself (the cellulose), rather than the seeds. More typical
biofuel feedstocks, such as corn and soybeans, are not produced in quantity in
Washington
and must be
imported (or irrigated if grown regionally), so the associated economics are
even more challenging for our state.
While
Washington
faces some
challenges in producing energy crops, it has a variety of other biomass
resources. To provide perspective, converting our region’s entire grain
acreage to energy crops (at current yields) would supply only about 10 percent
of the region’s transportation fuel needs – an indication that the Northwest’s
agricultural base alone is not sufficient to support a large, sustainable
biofuels industry based on the production of energy crops. However, data
suggest that
Washington
has “waste” biomass (otherwise requiring disposal) sufficient to provide 20-30
percent of our state’s transportation fuel, if the required infrastructure and
technology can be developed to collect and convert it economically.
Given
Washington State’s significant cellulosic biomass resources and the challenges
associated with producing today’s leading energy crops cost competitively,
Washington would be wise to invest in developing conversion technologies that
will enable us to utilize our most abundant biomass resources while also identifying and establishing feedstocks that have
the greatest potential to succeed in
Washington
’s
growing climate.
Co-production
of high-value products, such as chemicals and pharmaceuticals, from biomass
will further enhance the economics of a biofuels industry in
Washington
. WSU and PNNL have worked
for more than 30 years to develop the enabling science to convert cellulosic
biomass “waste” into high-value products and will focus future efforts on
creating novel technologies to more effectively access new, high-yield
cellulosic, starch and oil crops that are more conducive to conversion.
There is an
opportunity for
Washington
to expand the benefits of its early leadership in bioproducts and biofuels
development with prudently conducted research and creation of wise policy
measures. Research will help create the needed collection, transportation and
conversion technologies, improve existing and develop new sources of biomass,
and uncover high value bioproducts to enhance the economics of the bioeconomy.
Public policy and outreach/extension measures will assist the public and
private sectors of
Washington
to embrace and
deploy bioproduct and biofuel technologies that are tailored to the
Washington
State
’s climate and resources.
Implementing
this vision will take near-term, mid-term and long-term efforts. The
state has demonstrated early leadership in fostering a biofuels industry.
The budget request of the Governor provides the foundation for expanding that
leadership. This document provides details about the steps that can be
taken to develop a robust bioeconomy in
Washington
State
.
Key
findings and critical issues follow:
- Cellulosic Biomass:
Washington
’s most abundant biomass
resources are complex lignocellulosic materials. A study conducted
by WSU with funding from the Department of Ecology indicates that such
biomass could be a significant contributor to meeting
Washington
’s energy needs. For
example, assuming that about 50% of the available resource could be
efficiently collected and converted, this could yield nearly 25% of the
state's transportation fuel needs (see Table 1).
Table1. Leading examples of potential biomass resources in
Washington
- Focus on cellulosic biomass
conversion: Considering
the results of the “waste” biomass study, it is clear that our effort must
focus sharply on the conversion of cellulosic materials, such as municipal
solid waste, forest and mill residues, agricultural straws, and the solid
components of livestock and poultry waste, with the first two accounting
for over 2/3 of the state’s available biomass. However, new approaches to
cleanly and economically convert cellulosic biomass into fuels, chemicals
and products will require the development and deployment of new energy
conversion technologies.
- Expand mixed feedstock options: Unlike the Midwest,
Washington
’s
biomass is relatively diverse. It takes significant technological progress
to make small scale biomass processing systems work economically with mixed
feedstocks. Developing distributed bioproduct and bioenergy systems that
can utilize mixed feedstock is critical to the success of the bioeconomy.
- Explore additional sources of
biomass: Adding to the future bioeconomy are purposely grown biomass materials such
as hybrid poplars, high biomass-yielding grasses, grains, and oil seed
crops. These resources can be part of the mix, but there are barriers to
overcome. Research and co-product development are needed to improve the
economics of these technologies and the agricultural production practices
that produce the crops. Improved yields, less dependence on costly inputs,
and development of valuable bioproducts that are co-produced throughout
the value chain with the biofuel from these materials will be essential to
maximize the impact these crops can have in
Washington
. WSU-Pullman and USDA/ARS
Prosser will bring important capabilities to bear on these challenges.
- Access to native crops will
require new conversion technologies: Accessing native feedstocks, such as agricultural
residues and forestry wastes, will require completely different conversion
technologies than those used for simple starch and oil. WSU and PNNL
are developing a research agenda for BSEL that will address this
challenge.
- Bioproducts: Biomass can be use to produce a wide variety of products such as
plastics, fibers and solvents, which are currently made with petroleum.
The market for products created from biomass can be the economic engine
that drives the bioeconomy. However, we will need to direct new
research efforts towards exploring possible new products and developing
the enabling conversion technologies – another critical role for BSEL.
- Biomass contributes to the
state’s power grid: The
Pacific Northwest
buys power
from the southwest (natural gas and coal). I-937 requires additional
development of renewable power beyond our hydropower base. Adding to the
vision of transportation fuel and bioproduct production is the reality of
converting biomass to clean heat and power. This is an opportunity
for both our dairy and forest products industry. Again, like
biofuels, the co-product revenue streams need to be improved. Our state is
fortunate to have abundant renewable power from hydropower and a growing
wind power industry, in certain circumstances, probably where
transportation costs are the deciding factor, the highest and best use of
the biomass may be to produce electricity.
Making
the vision a reality – what will it take?: While there is a substantial federal agenda to develop
biomass and biofuels, it is critical to understand that biomass is locally
produced and its optimization requires research infrastructure and operating
funds together with policy measures and outreach/extension tailored to our
state. Washington’s scientists and entrepreneurs will compete and be successful
in acquiring federal funds, but federal priorities and the local nature of each
biomass source requires a state-specific set of programs. Presently a synergy
exists among state agencies, the state’s research universities and Pacific
Northwest National Laboratory. Wise investment in research targeted at our
state and progressive policy development to enhance the deployment of the
various elements of the bioeconomy will assure that the vision becomes a
reality.
More information is
available by contacting:
Larry Ganders, Assistant
to the WSU President
360-280-6320,
ganders@wsu.edu
