Skip to main content
ARS Home » Southeast Area » Florence, South Carolina » Coastal Plain Soil, Water and Plant Conservation Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #365868
Research Project: Improvement of Soil Management Practices and Manure Treatment/Handling Systems of the Southern Coastal Plain

Location: Coastal Plain Soil, Water and Plant Conservation Research

Title: Production of ethanol from livestock, agricultural, and forest residuals: an economic feasibility study

Author
item Ro, Kyoung
item DIETENBERGER, MARK - Us Forest Service (FS)
item LIBRA, JUDY - Leibniz University
item PROESCHEL, RICHARD - Proe Power Systems
item ATIYEH, HASAN - Oklahoma State University
item SAHOO, KAMALAKANTA - Us Forest Service (FS)
item PARK, WONKEUN - Clemson University

Submitted to: Environments
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/15/2019
Publication Date: 8/17/2019
Citation: Ro, K.S., Dietenberger, M.A., Libra, J.A., Proeschel, R., Atiyeh, H.K., Sahoo, K., Park, W.J. 2019. Production of ethanol from livestock, agricultural, and forest residuals: an economic feasibility study. Environments [MDPI]. 6(8):97. https://doi.org/10.3390/environments6080097.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/environments6080097

Interpretive Summary: In this study, the economic feasibility of producing ethanol from gasification followed by syngas fermentation via commercially available technologies was theoretically evaluated using a set of selected livestock, agricultural and forest residuals ranging from low valued feedstocks (i.e., wood, wheat straw, wheat straws blended with dewatered swine manure, and corn stover) to high valued rapeseed meal via commercially available technologies. Although the cost for rapeseed meal is much higher than other low-value feedstocks, it was selected for comparing its competing use as animal feed. A preliminary cost analysis of an integrated commercial system was made for two cases, a regional scale 50 million gallon per year facility (MGY) and a co-op scale 1-2 MGY facility. The estimates for the minimum ethanol selling prices (MESP) depend heavily on the facility size and feedstock costs. For the 1-2 MGY facility, the MESP ranged from $5.61 - $7.39 per gallon for the four low-value feedstocks and $9.49 - $9.54 per gallon for the high-value rapeseed meal. These high costs suggest that the co-op scale even for the low-value feedstocks may not be sustainable. However, the MESP for the 50 MGY facility were significantly lower and comparable to gasoline prices ($2.24 - $2.96 per gallon), for these low-value feedstocks, clearly showing the scale-up reduction on construction costs and MESP.

Technical Abstract: In this study, the economic feasibility of producing ethanol from gasification followed by syngas fermentation via commercially available technologies was theoretically evaluated using a set of selected livestock, agricultural and forest residuals ranging from low valued feedstocks (i.e., wood, wheat straw, wheat straws blended with dewatered swine manure, and corn stover) to high valued rapeseed meal. A preliminary cost analysis of an integrated commercial system was made for two cases, a regional scale 50 million gallon per year facility (MGY) and a co-op scale 1-2 MGY facility. The estimates for the minimum ethanol selling prices (MESP) depend heavily on the facility size and feedstock costs. For the 1-2 MGY facility, the MESP ranged from $5.61 - $7.39 per gallon for the four low-value feedstocks. These high costs suggest that the co-op scale even for the low-value feedstocks may not be sustainable. However, the MESP for the 50 MGY facility were significantly lower and comparable to gasoline prices ($2.24 - $2.96 per gallon) for these low-value feedstocks, clearly showing the scale-up reduction on construction costs and MESP.