Fuel Production:

Bio-oil

Global bio-oil sales totaled 35,000 gallons in 2011, and are expected to grow to 120,000 gallons in 2012, with associated revenues of $100,000 and $350,000, respectively.

Bio-oil is a type of advanced fuel that is created through the pyrolysis (rapid thermal decomposition) of biomass. Wood byproducts such as bark and branches, algae, perennial grasses, and the non-edible parts of corn can be used as inputs to the bio-oil production process. Bio-oil, like petroleum, requires upgrading, but the resulting products can be used for many of the same purposes as petroleum-based fuels, including as industrial boiler fuel.

Global bio-oil (also known as pyrolysis oil or biocrude) sales totaled 35,000 gallons in 2011, and are expected to grow to 120,000 gallons in 2012, with associated revenues of $100,000 and $350,000, respectively. Within the industry, advanced biofuel research and investment efforts are increasingly targeting opportunities to produce specific products and to commercialize conversion processes. These processes produce intermediate chemicals such as ethylene, BDO (1,4-Butanediol), butadiene, and succinic acid that can be further refined into various end products.

The United States accounted for 74% of bio-oil sales in 2011 and is expected to increase its market share to 87% in 2012. In April 2012, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced up to $15 million in funding for demonstration of biomass-based oil precursors (bio-oil for renewable transportation fuels). The DOE will fund between 5 and 10 projects by the end of 2012 to produce bio-oil prototypes that can be tested in oil refineries. The prototype bio-oils, produced from a range of feedstocks including algae, corn and wheat stovers, dedicated energy crops, and wood residues, will be used to develop comprehensive technical and economic analyses of how bio-oil production can be expanded to commercial scale. The goal of the DOE’s efforts is to isolate technologies and pathways to facilitate the commercialization of bio-oil production at scale, but also to underscore the nascent state of the commercial bio-oil market and of integration with existing petro-refinery infrastructure.