Techno-economic Analysis of Sustainable Biofuels for Marine Transportation

Li, S.; Tan, E.; Dutta, A.; Snowden-Swan, L.; Thorson, M.; Ramasamy, K.; Bartling, A.; Brasington, R.; Kass, M.; Zaimes, G.; Hawkins, T. (2022). Techno-economic Analysis of Sustainable Biofuels for Marine Transportation. Environmental Science & Technology, 56(23), 17206-17214. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c03960

@article{Li-2022-4103,
author = {Li, S and Tan, E and Dutta, A and Snowden-Swan, L and Thorson, M and Ramasamy, K and Bartling, A and Brasington, R and Kass, M and Zaimes, G and Hawkins, T},
title = {Techno-economic Analysis of Sustainable Biofuels for Marine Transportation},
journal = {Environmental Science & Technology},
year = {2022},
month = {nov},
publisher = {American Chemical Society (ACS)},
volume = {56},
number = {23},
pages = {17206--17214},
doi = {10.1021/acs.est.2c03960},
url = {https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.2c03960},
keywords = {Biogenic Gases, Forest Biomass, Wastes and Byproducts, Renewable Diesel (HVO / FT), Bio-crude, Bio-oil, Catalysis, Thermochemical, Fuel Production Pathways, Fuel Properties and Characteristics, Lifecycle Assessment (LCA) and Air Emissions, Markets and Forecasting, Unspecified Vessel Segment},
}

TY - JOUR
TI - Techno-economic Analysis of Sustainable Biofuels for Marine Transportation
AU - Li, S
AU - Tan, E
AU - Dutta, A
AU - Snowden-Swan, L
AU - Thorson, M
AU - Ramasamy, K
AU - Bartling, A
AU - Brasington, R
AU - Kass, M
AU - Zaimes, G
AU - Hawkins, T
T2 - Environmental Science & Technology
AB - Renewable, low-carbon biofuels offer the potential opportunity to decarbonize marine transportation. This paper presents a comparative techno-economic analysis and process sustainability assessment of four conversion pathways: (1) hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of wet wastes such as sewage sludge and manure; (2) fast pyrolysis of woody biomass; (3) landfill gas Fischer–Tropsch synthesis; and (4) lignin–ethanol oil from the lignocellulosic ethanol biorefinery utilizing reductive catalytic fractionation. These alternative marine biofuels have a modeled minimum fuel selling price between $1.68 and $3.98 per heavy fuel oil gallon equivalent in 2016 U.S. dollars based on a mature plant assessment. The selected pathways also exhibit good process sustainability performance in terms of water intensity compared to the petroleum refineries. Further, the O and S contents of the biofuels vary widely. While the non-HTL biofuels exhibit negligible S content, the raw biocrudes via HTL pathways from sludge and manure show relatively high S contents (>0.5 wt %). Partial or full hydrotreatment can effectively lower the biocrude S content. Additionally, co-feeding with other low-sulfur wet wastes such as food waste can provide another option to produce raw biocrude with lower S content to meet the target with further hydrotreatment. This study indicates that biofuels could be a cost-effective fuel option for the marine sector. Marine biofuels derived from various feedstocks and conversion technologies could mitigate marine biofuel adoption risk in terms of feedstock availability and biorefinery economics.
DA - 2022/11//
PY - 2022
PB - American Chemical Society (ACS)
VL - 56
IS - 23
SP - 17206
EP - 17214
UR - https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.2c03960
DO - 10.1021/acs.est.2c03960
LA - English
KW - Biogenic Gases
KW - Forest Biomass
KW - Wastes and Byproducts
KW - Renewable Diesel (HVO / FT)
KW - Bio-crude
KW - Bio-oil
KW - Catalysis
KW - Thermochemical
KW - Fuel Production Pathways
KW - Fuel Properties and Characteristics
KW - Lifecycle Assessment (LCA) and Air Emissions
KW - Markets and Forecasting
KW - Unspecified Vessel Segment
ER -