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Critical analysis of techno-economic estimates for the production cost of lignocellulosic bio-ethanol

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  • Chovau, Simon
  • Degrauwe, David
  • Van der Bruggen, Bart

Abstract

Bio-ethanol has been claimed to be a green and sustainable alternative to gasoline. The use of food crops on a large scale is ethically unacceptable, but lignocellulosic ethanol has potential to become an alternativfe transportation fuel. This relates to technical issues, and to the eventual cost of bio-ethanol, which requires determination of an absolute production cost. The minimum ethanol selling price (MESP) estimated in different studies varies between $234 and $1210 per m³ ethanol ($0.89 and $4.58 per gallon), although often the same processing methods are assumed. This entails uncertainties about the potential of bio-ethanol from lignocellulosic sources.

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  • Chovau, Simon & Degrauwe, David & Van der Bruggen, Bart, 2013. "Critical analysis of techno-economic estimates for the production cost of lignocellulosic bio-ethanol," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 307-321.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:26:y:2013:i:c:p:307-321
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2013.05.064
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    2. Karthik Rajendran & Sreevathsava Rajoli & Mohammad J. Taherzadeh, 2016. "Techno-Economic Analysis of Integrating First and Second-Generation Ethanol Production Using Filamentous Fungi: An Industrial Case Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-13, May.
    3. Zheng, Ji-Lu & Zhu, Ya-Hong & Su, Hong-Yu & Sun, Guo-Tao & Kang, Fu-Ren & Zhu, Ming-Qiang, 2022. "Life cycle assessment and techno-economic analysis of fuel ethanol production via bio-oil fermentation based on a centralized-distribution model," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    4. Mesa, Leyanis & Martínez, Yenisleidy & Barrio, Edenny & González, Erenio, 2017. "Desirability function for optimization of Dilute Acid pretreatment of sugarcane straw for ethanol production and preliminary economic analysis based in three fermentation configurations," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 198(C), pages 299-311.
    5. Taghizadeh-Alisaraei, Ahmad & Motevali, Ali & Ghobadian, Barat, 2019. "Ethanol production from date wastes: Adapted technologies, challenges, and global potential," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 1094-1110.
    6. Krystyna Kurowska & Renata Marks-Bielska & Stanisław Bielski & Hubert Kryszk & Algirdas Jasinskas, 2020. "Food Security in the Context of Liquid Biofuels Production," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-16, November.
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    8. Mesa, Leyanis & Martínez, Yenisleidy & Celia de Armas, Ana & González, Erenio, 2020. "Ethanol production from sugarcane straw using different configurations of fermentation and techno-economical evaluation of the best schemes," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 377-388.
    9. Huang, Caoxing & Jiang, Xiao & Shen, Xiaojun & Hu, Jinguang & Tang, Wei & Wu, Xinxing & Ragauskas, Arthur & Jameel, Hasan & Meng, Xianzhi & Yong, Qiang, 2022. "Lignin-enzyme interaction: A roadblock for efficient enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosics," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    10. Meng, Fanran & Dornau, Aritha & Mcqueen Mason, Simon J. & Thomas, Gavin H. & Conradie, Alex & McKechnie, Jon, 2021. "Bioethanol from autoclaved municipal solid waste: Assessment of environmental and financial viability under policy contexts," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 298(C).
    11. Carrillo-Nieves, Danay & Rostro Alanís, Magdalena J. & de la Cruz Quiroz, Reynaldo & Ruiz, Héctor A. & Iqbal, Hafiz M.N. & Parra-Saldívar, Roberto, 2019. "Current status and future trends of bioethanol production from agro-industrial wastes in Mexico," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 63-74.
    12. Zech, Konstantin M. & Meisel, Kathleen & Brosowski, André & Toft, Lars Villadsgaard & Müller-Langer, Franziska, 2016. "Environmental and economic assessment of the Inbicon lignocellulosic ethanol technology," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 347-356.
    13. Chen, Hongzhang & Fu, Xiaoguo, 2016. "Industrial technologies for bioethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 468-478.
    14. Khajeeram, Sutamat & Unrean, Pornkamol, 2017. "Techno-economic assessment of high-solid simultaneous saccharification and fermentation and economic impacts of yeast consortium and on-site enzyme production technologies," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 194-203.
    15. Ma, Yingqun & Cai, Weiwei & Liu, Yu, 2017. "An integrated engineering system for maximizing bioenergy production from food waste," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 83-89.
    16. Monirul Islam Miskat & Ashfaq Ahmed & Hemal Chowdhury & Tamal Chowdhury & Piyal Chowdhury & Sadiq M. Sait & Young-Kwon Park, 2020. "Assessing the Theoretical Prospects of Bioethanol Production as a Biofuel from Agricultural Residues in Bangladesh: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-18, October.
    17. Jay Sterling Gregg & Simon Bolwig & Teis Hansen & Ola Solér & Sara Ben Amer-Allam & Júlia Pladevall Viladecans & Antje Klitkou & Arne Fevolden, 2017. "Value Chain Structures that Define European Cellulosic Ethanol Production," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-17, January.
    18. Manochio, C. & Andrade, B.R. & Rodriguez, R.P. & Moraes, B.S., 2017. "Ethanol from biomass: A comparative overview," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 743-755.
    19. Vasilakou, K. & Nimmegeers, P. & Billen, P. & Van Passel, S., 2023. "Geospatial environmental techno-economic assessment of pretreatment technologies for bioethanol production," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    20. Daylan, B. & Ciliz, N., 2016. "Life cycle assessment and environmental life cycle costing analysis of lignocellulosic bioethanol as an alternative transportation fuel," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 578-587.
    21. Zhao, Xuebing & Liu, Dehua, 2019. "Multi-products co-production improves the economic feasibility of cellulosic ethanol: A case of Formiline pretreatment-based biorefining," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 250(C), pages 229-244.
    22. Jonker, J.G.G. & van der Hilst, F. & Junginger, H.M. & Cavalett, O. & Chagas, M.F. & Faaij, A.P.C., 2015. "Outlook for ethanol production costs in Brazil up to 2030, for different biomass crops and industrial technologies," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 593-610.

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