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科学家、工程师和发明家正在加紧研发先进的木质纤维素生物燃料。一些实例包括纤维素乙醇，生物柴油和合成天然气。这可能会影响木屑颗粒行业。
Scientists, engineers and inventors are putting great effort towards developing advanced lignocellulosic biofuels in Canada. Some examples include cellulosic ethanol, biodiesel, and synthetic natural gas. It is interesting to consider how this might impact the wood pellet industry.
木质纤维素生物燃料可以变得如此有价值，以至于它们的生产要消耗目前用作生产木屑颗粒原料的所有林业废弃物？或者，除了用于供热和发电之外，木屑颗粒可以成为木质纤维素生物燃料的原料吗？
Could lignocellulosic biofuels become so valuable that their production will use up all the forestry residues currently being used as raw material for wood pellets? Or, in addition to their use for heat and power, could wood pellets become a feedstock for lignocellulosic biofuels?
第一代生物燃料如乙醇和生物柴油是由粮食作物制成的。乙醇通常由甘蔗、玉米或小麦制成。制造过程相当简单。用甘蔗的情况下，碾磨甘蔗，将糖汁发酵，然后蒸馏成乙醇。从玉米和小麦制造乙醇稍微复杂一些。将玉米和小麦研磨成淀粉，然后加水蒸煮，然后糖化发酵并蒸馏成乙醇。生物柴油是另一种第一代生物燃料。 在加拿大，生物柴油通常由卡诺拉油制成，一种粮食作物。卡诺拉油通过称为酯交换反应转化为生物柴油。 First-generation biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel are made from food crops. Ethanol is typically made from sugar cane, corn or wheat. The manufacturing processes are fairly straightforward. In the case of sugar cane, the cane is milled, the sugar juice is fermented and then distilled into ethanol. Making ethanol from corn and wheat is only slightly more complicated. Corn and wheat are milled into starch, which is then liquefied and cooked with enzymes that convert the starch to sugar. Then the sugar is fermented and distilled into ethanol. Biodiesel is another first-generation biofuel. In Canada, biodiesel is typically made from canola; again, a food crop. Canola oil is converted to biodiesel by a process known as transesterification, which is the reaction of a triglyceride (fat/oil) with an alcohol to form esters and glycerol. 第一代生物燃料存在严重的缺点：只有植物的一小部分用于制造燃料 - 即糖、淀粉或油 - 而其余部分被浪费。 使用粮食作物来制造燃料是有争议的；温室气体减排不足；没有足够的耕地来生产足够数量的第一代生物燃料，不利于替代化石汽油和柴油消耗。这是促使第二代或先进生物燃料发展的原因。先进的生物燃料使用非食品原料生产。使用整个植物，而不仅仅是糖，淀粉和油。先进的生物燃料通常比第一代生物燃料更可持续，并产生更大的温室气体效益。 There are serious disadvantages to first generation biofuels: only a small part of the plant is used to make fuel – i.e. the sugar, starch or oil – while the rest is wasted; using food crops to make fuels is controversial; the greenhouse gas savings are insufficient; and there isn’t enough arable land to produce a sufficient volume of first-generation biofuels to make a meaningful impact on displacing fossil gasoline and diesel consumption. This is what has prompted the development of second generation or advanced biofuels. Advanced biofuels are produced using non-food feedstocks. The entire plant is used rather than just the sugars, starches, and oils. Advanced biofuels are typically more sustainable than first-generation biofuels and yield greater greenhouse gas benefits. 木质纤维素生物燃料是一种先进的生物燃料。木质纤维素生物燃料，顾名思义，由木质素、纤维素和半纤维素制成。所有植物含有木质素、纤维素和半纤维素。 木质纤维素生物燃料的典型原料可能包括甘蔗渣、秸秆、玉米芯和玉米秸秆、草、人工林作物如柳树和杨树，以及伐木和锯木厂生产的林业废弃物。 将木质纤维素原料转化为生物燃料是很好理解的。然而，影响转化所需的工程过程仍在开发中，预计在2020年之前不会广泛商业化。一般来说，木质纤维素生物燃料是使用生物化学或热化学转化方法制备的。生化转化用于制造纤维素乙醇。 这个过程比转化淀粉和糖的第一代过程要困难得多。 使用木质纤维素原料，植物细胞壁由复杂聚合物组成，复杂聚合物必须经历第一阶段酸解，然后固液分离，并且在发酵和蒸馏成乙醇之前进行第二阶段的酸解。这种复杂性将使其超过第一代乙醇的生产成本。 热化学过程包括热解和气化。热解的主要产物是生物油，可以精炼成运输燃料和其他化学品。问题是，生物油是酸性的，含水量高，不稳定。处理这些挑战和净化生物油的工程流程仍在开发中。气化的主要产物为合成气，可精制成氨、甲醇、合成天然气，其他化学物质，甚至喷气燃料。通过气化生产生物燃料的过程也在开发中。因此，在2030年之前，第二代生物燃料不太可能被广泛部署。 木屑颗粒将是木质纤维素生物燃料非常需要的原料。与其他原料相比，木屑颗粒是同质的；它们的灰分、水分、氯和氮含量都很低。它们广泛可用，易于运输，并且存在可靠的木屑颗粒供应链。如果生物燃料开发商选择使用林业废弃物而不是木屑颗粒作为原料的话，那么将显著增加成本，来进行已经通过木屑颗粒生产过程完成的大量必要的预处理。 Wood pellets would be a highly desirable feedstock for lignocellulosic biofuels. Compared to other feedstock options, wood pellets are homogenous; they are low in ash, moisture, chlorine and nitrogen. They are widely available. They are easily transportable and a dependable wood pellet supply chain exists. If biofuel developers choose to use forestry residues rather than wood pellets as feedstock, then significant cost will be added to carry out much of the necessary pre-treatment that has already been accomplished though the wood pellet production process. 目前，不像木质纤维素生物燃料行业（还不存在）那样，木屑颗粒行业是有利可图的。 全球每年约消耗3000万吨木屑颗粒用于供热和发电。年消费量持续增长。在可预见的将来，似乎不太可能将木质纤维素生物燃料视为木屑颗粒的竞争对手。
Lignocellulosic biofuels are one family of advanced biofuels. Lignocellulosic biofuels, as the name suggests, are made from lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose. All plant matter contains lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose. Typical feedstock for lignocellulosic biofuels might include bagasse and straw from sugar cane production, corncobs and corn stover, grasses, fast-growing forest crops like willows and poplars, and forestry residues from logging and sawmill production.
The chemistry related to converting lignocellulosic feedstocks into biofuels is well understood. However, the engineering processes required to affect the conversions are still being developed and are not expected to be widely commercialized before 2020. Generally speaking, lignocellulosic biofuels are made using biochemical or thermochemical conversion processes. Biochemical conversion is used to make cellulosic ethanol. This process is much more difficult than the first-generation processes of converting starches and sugars. With lignocellulosic feedstocks, the plant cell walls are composed of complex polymers, which must undergo a first stage of acid hydrolysis, then separation of liquids and solids, and a second stage of acid hydrolysis before the fermentation and distillation of sugars into ethanol. This complexity will add significant cost over first generation ethanol production.
Thermochemical processes include pyrolysis and gasification. The main product of pyrolysis is bio-oil, which can be refined into transportation fuels and other chemicals. Unfortunately, bio-oil is acidic, has high water content, and is unstable. Engineering processes to cope with these challenges and to purify bio-oil are still being developed. The main product of gasification is syngas, which can be refined into ammonia, methanol, synthetic natural gas, other chemical outputs, and even jet fuel. The processes to produce biofuels through gasification are also still under development. Thus, it is unlikely that second-generation biofuels will be widely deployed before 2030.
然而，木质纤维素生物燃料最终将必须与第一代生物燃料以及化石燃料争夺市场份额。虽然木质纤维素生物燃料有优越的温室气体效应和可持续性认证，但仍然需要具有合理的成本竞争力。现在显然生产成本更高。这意味着要尽量减低原料成本带来的巨大的压力，所以用木屑颗粒可能太贵了。另一方面，生物燃料不可能与木屑颗粒竞争以获得林业废弃物。
However, lignocellulosic biofuels will ultimately have to compete for market share with first-generation biofuels, and indeed fossil fuels. While lignocellulosic biofuels will have superior GHG and sustainability credentials, they will still need to be reasonably cost competitive. Yet they will be more expensive to produce. This means that there will be enormous pressure to minimize feedstock costs, so wood pellets might prove to be too expensive. On the other hand, it is not likely that biofuels will be able to compete with wood pellets for access to forestry residues.
Presently, unlike the lignocellulosic biofuel industry, which does not yet exist, the wood pellet industry is profitable. About 30 million tonnes of wood pellets are consumed annually for heat and power around the world. Annual consumption is continuing to grow at a rate of about 15 per cent annual production. It seems unlikely that we will see lignocellulosic biofuels as competition for wood pellets in the foreseeable future.
