Biorefineries for the chemical industry – A Dutch point of view Dr.ir. Ed de Jong 1 , Drs.ing. René van Ree rea 2 , Ir. Robert van Tuil 1 , Dr.ir. Wolter Elbersen 1 1 Agrotechnology and Food Innovations B.V., P.O. Box 17, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands, Tel.: +31-317-475298, Email: ed.dejong@wur.nl, Web: www.ato.wageningen-ur.nl 2 Energy research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) – Biomass Department, P.O. Box 1, 1755 ZG Petten, The Netherlands, Tel.: +31-224-564741, Email: vanree@ecn.nl, Web: www.ecn.nl Content 1. Introduction 2. Historical Outline – The Chemical Industry: Current Situation and Perspectives 3. Biomass: Technology and Sustainability 4. The Chemical Industry: Biomass Opportunities - Biorefineries 5. Conclusions, Outlook and Perspectives 6. References 1. Introduction As a major policy goal for 2020, the Dutch government has defined that 10% of the energy use should be provided by renewable sources to meet its Kyoto objectives. Biomass is expected to be a major contributor with an anticipated share of more than 50% of the policy goal mentioned. Further, the Ministry of Economic Affairs has defined some very ambitious policy targets for biomass in the longer term (2040), namely 30% fossil fuel substitution in the power and transportation sector and 20-45% fossil-based raw material substitution in the industrial sector. It has been calculated that the energy substitution policy goal corresponds with a long-term required biomass substitution volume of about 600 – 1000 PJ th /a, in a scenario in which severe energy savings have also been taken into account (Ministry of Economic Affairs 2003). Adding the very ambitious raw material policy goal an additional biomass substitution volume of several hundreds PJ th /a will be required. Presently, biomass in the Netherlands that is not used for food applications is mainly utilized as animal feed and fuel for power (and heat) production. Biomass is converted mainly by means of direct/indirect cofiring in conventional coal-fired power plants and also by stand-alone combustion plants (Cuijk, Lelystad). To meet the longer term policy ambitions biomass has to be applied in additional market sectors of the Dutch economy, using new thermo-chemical and (bio)chemical conversion/production processes, such as advanced gasification and fermentation technologies. A current disadvantage of these processes is that final products will be produced that are more expensive than their concurring fossil-based alternatives. Prolonged financial governmental support (e.g. investment subsidies, fiscal measures), necessary to support successful market implementation, is lacking at the moment in the Netherlands. Further, to meet the longer term policy ambitions, the use of potentially available relatively cheap organic side- and waste streams will not be sufficient. The use of dedicated, relatively expensive “energy” crops, grown both in and outside the Netherlands (import), is therefore inescapable. Within this framework biorefineries are believed to play a major role in the transition to a more sustainable Dutch economy. Realization of high-efficient biorefining processes at places where biomass can be gathered, grown and/or imported and where the “green” products can be sold to a cluster of chemical and material industries, are believed to be key technologies to meet the longer term policy goals.