The Agriculture/Cleantech Nexus
Doug Cameron Alber8 Advisors LLC
Wisconsin Bioenergy Ini8a8ve 2010 Wisconsin Bioenergy Summit October 14, 2010 Madison, Wisconsin
There are big, global challenges around energy, agriculture and environment Problems are opportuni8es for savvy researchers, entrepreneurs and investors Many emerging opportuni:es at the nexus between cleantech and sustainable agriculture Wisconsin and the Midwest are should be the natural leaders at this nexus Some examples of opportuni:es in biomass, power, biofuels and bio‐based chemicals
Big, global challenges
Jonathan Foley, Scien:fic American, March 2010
cleantech
sustainable agriculture
Renewable energy
Efficient land use
Carbon management
Soil conserva:on
Energy efficiency
Efficient nutrient/fer:lizer use Water management Benign weed and pest control
Na8onal Venture Capital Associa8on investments buckets: SoNware Life Sciences Cleantech Internet
An emerging area: Sustainable agriculture
A very visible example of the cleantech/ag nexus
Solum makes a field‐deployable measurement tool that can give immediate answers on soil nutrient needs. Fer:lizer is a major cost for commodity crops, amoun:ng to 40‐50% of the opera:ng expense for corn. It is currently applied in an inefficient manner based on average values rather than per‐acre needs. Our services and tools give farmers confidence that they can increase their yields and reduce their costs by applying fer8lizer in the right amount, at the right place, and at the right 8me. Using our tools makes farming more sustainable by reducing nitrogen runoff (which causes "dead zones" in areas such as the Gulf of Mexico) and comba:ng the dominant source of nitrous oxide—the third most important greenhouse gas and the leading cause of ozone deple:on. Solum was founded in 2009 by Nick Koshnick, Mike Preiner, and Jus:n White, three Applied Physics PhDs from Stanford.
Clentech/Ag Nexus—renewable, biomass power
Charter Street Hea:ng Plant, Madison, WI
poplar
Short rota:on willow
Miscanthus switchgrass
Sweet sorghum
Energy cane
Mixed grass study, David Tilman
Equipment for mechanized sugarcane harves:ng, Piracicaba, Sao Paulo, Brazil (for ethanol fuel produc:on)
Single‐pass corn stover harvester Iowa State, Poet, John Deere
Philip Benfey, PhD Co‐Founder and Chief Execu2ve Officer
Cleantech/Ag Nexus: Addressing the biomass supply chain
Sapphire, New Mexico
Less exo:c—diges:on of animal waste to biogas
…and more controversial
Fibrominn LLC, Benson, MN, 55 MW, 700,000 tons poultry waste annually
Policy, legal an regulatory opportuni8es at the cleantech/ag nexus
Renewable Fuel Standard, include life cycle analysis and influence of land use change
Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007
Biofuels: Current Technology yeast fermenta8on
corn starch ethanol cane sugar (sucrose) methanol
soybean oil
rape seed oil
palm oil hip://www.bioprofilelabs.com/Maize.jpg hip://img.alibaba.com/photo/11648118/Sugar_Cane.jpg hip://www.biotechnologyonline.gov.au/images/contentpages/soybeans.jpg hip://www.cambridge2000.com/gallery/images/P4230761.jpg hip://img.alibaba.com/photo/11564472/Crude___Refined_Palm_Oil_From_Malaysia.jpg
Trans‐ esterifica8on
glycerol
biodiesel
A broader view of renewable fuels and chemical “photosynthesis” CO2
Non‐fossil biomass (or direct to fuels and chemicals)
“Reac8ve” Intermediates Hydrolysis (“sugar plaXorm”) Non‐fossil biomass
Pyrolysis (“bio‐oils”)
Gasifica8on (syngas)
Fuels and chemicals
A collec8on of biofuels, all with some commercial interest hydrogen
iso‐pentanol
methane methanol dimethylether
methyl levulinate methyltetrahydrofuran (MTHF)
ethanol propane isopropanol
dimethylfuran (DMF)
Iso‐tetradecane, a representa8ve hydrocarbon
n‐butanol iso‐butanol
farnesene
Methyl oleate, a fa[y acid methyl ester (FAME), representa8ve biodiesel molecule
BiocharÂ
Bio‐based chemicals Petroleum
Petro‐ chemicals
Refinery
Fuels (gasoline, diesel)
Non‐fossil biomass
Biorefinery
Biofuels (ethanol, biodiesel, other)
Bio‐based chemicals
Neo‐chemurgy??
Chemurgy is a branch of applied chemistry that is concerned with preparing industrial products from agricultural raw materials. The word "chemurgy" was coined by chemist William J. Hale and first publicized in his 1934 book The Farm Chemurgic. (Wikipedia)
Petrochemical building blocks ethylene
benzene
propylene
toluene
butadiene mixed xylenes
Emerging biobased chemicals polyesters
Biomass
polyethylene isooctane/fuels polyacrylates
nylon, 6
The cleantech/ag nexus: a big, global need and opportunity?
Thank you Doug Cameron dcc@alber8advisors.com
AHS Probine