FAQ's - General Questions and Answers |
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Chemists and engineers think of a "refinery" as an adjustable conversion of petroleum to many usable commodities. This approach results in a process and business that responds to changing market conditions by "tuning" its output production to suit the market.
This same concept can be applied to renewable biomass conversion processes. Biomass can be converted to usable products through biochemical and thermochemical processes. Through these processes, products like transportation fuels and industrial chemicals, fine chemicals, bio-polymers, fertilizers and pharmaceuticals, other oils and gases may be manufactured.
One hundred years ago most of our fuels, construction materials, clothes, inks, paints, and even synthetic fibers and chemicals were made from plant matter. Then petroleum flooded the economy and a new industrial era began. By the 1980s less than 5 percent of our industrial products and fuels came from biological materials.
However, new technologies, new laws, and increasingly environmentally aware public are ushering in a new materials base for the 21st century; plant matter. We call it a "carbohydrate economy".
The environmental benefits of a carbohydrate economy are significant. Bio-based chemicals generate a tiny fraction of the pollution generated by the manufacture and use of petrochemicals. The use of biological fuels generates far less carbon dioxide than the use of fossil fuels. Finding commercial uses for the 300 million tons of cellulosic waste generated annually in our rural and urban areas would itself achieve important reductions in pollution. Switching to grasses or crops for making paper and construction materials would allow us to preserve old growth forests.
The carbohydrate economy promises economic as well as environmental benefits. Thousands of locally owned biorefineries that make multiple products from a single biological feedstock could inject billions of dollars into rural economies. The knowledge generated from this new manufacturing sector could become an important export.
The Institute for Local Self Reliance (contact David Morris - V.P.) has published numerous monographs and papers on the subject of the "Carbohydrate Economy" and may be contacted through its Web site "www.ilsr.org" for additional information.
On a molecular basis, there is no difference between a chemical derived from sugar and the same chemical derived from petroleum. The advantage of sugar-derived chemicals lies in their origins and their renewability.
First, experts agree that the world's source of petroleum is finite and that there is no new petroleum in production today. They disagree on the amounts still available in the world's reserves. With estimates ranging from 1,000 billion to over 1,500 billion barrels still in the ground, the experts do agree however, that as these reserves decline, stores of remaining petroleum become more costly to extract.
Second, the petroleum in existence today results from the metabolism of plants; millions of years in the making. Plants consume carbon dioxide and release oxygen in a process called "respiration" driven by the energy of the sun. Eons ago, plants consumed carbon dioxide to produce the cellulose within their structures. These plants, under elevated temperatures and pressures deep within the earth, formed the substance we know as petroleum. In today's petroleum driven economies of the world, the carbon dioxide which was fixed over a period of millions of years, is released in a relatively short packet of years for transportation and power. Every drop of oil used today represents the carbon dioxide taken up eons ago by a green plant.
The release of carbon dioxide today greatly outpaces the respiration capacity of the world's green plants. The effects of this imbalance are seen in an alarming rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide which, some say, will result in a greenhouse effect raising the average temperature of the earth.
Third, use of available biomass as a source of our energy needs could correct this imbalance relative to its impact by the activities of humankind.
Fourth, national security costs of petroleum continue to accrue and escalate as the United States protects oil supplies around the world. Estimates of costs for defense are difficult to render because the U.S. military budget is not broken down by mission. Nevertheless, over the past 10 years numerous organizations and individual analysts, including the U.S. Government Accounting Office, have attempted to determine these costs. These estimates range from 15% to 23% of the entire budget, or from $49 billion to $57 billion per year, dedicated to the protection of our Persian Gulf and Southwestern Asia interests. If these national security costs were added to the cost of imported oil, the result would be an immediate increase of over $9 per barrel.
Fifth, the environmental costs of petroleum are incredible when one considers the impact of fossil fuels on global warming issues (N2O, CO2, CH4) and on emissions of regulated air pollutants (SOx, NOx, CO, PM-10, VOC). Air externality costs, the costs of clean-up technology for production, transportation , storage and use of fossil fuels, have been examined by the Tellus Institute, the California Energy Commission, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and others. Their conclusion is that the cost to society of the resulting pollution from fossil fuels is approximately $45 per barrel.
Thus, with a current world "price" of oil ranging about $20 per barrel, we see that the "true" cost of oil is closer to $20 + $9 + $45 = $74 per barrel.
Yes. Arkenol believes that it is necessary to compete in commodity markets with its current capital and operations cost structure. In engineering the Arkenol biorefinery, a focus on cost control has resulted in significant reductions in the overall cost of a facility. Arkenol engineers have already identified process blocks where additional capital and O&M reductions are possible with future operating experience. The table below compares Arkenol's cost with industry using assumptions of $20 per barrel for oil and $3.10 per bushel for corn (current spot costs are over $4.50 per bushel):
| Commodity Chemical Type | Industry Standard | Arkenol Process |
| Fuel - Ethanol ($/gallon) | $1.29 | $0.83 |
| Solvents - Butanol ($/pound) | $0.26 | $0.18 |
| Organics - Citric Acid ($/pound) | $0.45 | $0.39 |
To date, Arkenol owns and operates a 1 ton per day pilot facility in Orange, California. Arkenol has also fully permitted a site near Elverta, California, north of Sacramento, for its rice straw-to-ethanol facility. Several other projects are in various stages of development worldwide.
No. The reagents used in the process are not peculiar and do not require any unique handling. All of the chemicals are commonly used in many manufacturing processes such that there are established and accepted standards of handling and storage which can be implemented. Precautions to insure the safe handling of all chemicals are incorporated in the preliminary design phase of the project and are carried out through operations, Equipment and areas where chemicals are stored are equipped with safety and protective systems designed to meet or exceed all applicable regulations. Where possible, more inert chemicals are used. Impermeable containment facilities are installed in areas where accidental spills may occur. Fire fighting equipment, eyewashes, safety showers are placed to insure quick response to accidents. The commitment to safety during construction and operations is instilled upon all site personnel through oral and written instructions.
Arkenol is a private company whose shares of capital stock are not yet available to the public. However ...
A sister company to Arkenol, Inc., ARK Energy was formed in 1990 to develop independent electric power production facilities. ARK Energy is a privately held company that has successfully developed over 589 megawatts of domestic power. ARK Energy provides expertise in project management, project development, construction management, environmental permitting, engineering and finance to Arkenol.
Arkenol was formed in 1992 and its original mission was to commercialize the technology and develop stand alone steam customers to assist ARK Energy in its power plant development efforts.
The Arkenol process has been designed and engineered to avoid significant impacts to the community and the environment. The plant can be designed, constructed, and operated in accordance with or better than all applicable regulations. Therefore, it is no more difficult to permit the Arkenol process than to permit similar industrial facilities. In fact, the unique environmental benefits of the Arkenol process provide an edge for permitting. Arkenol plants deliver visible environmental and socioeconomic benefits which make them attractive solutions to local problems. Arkenol has already successfully permitted a 15 mgpy rice straw-to-ethanol facility to be
Yes, Arkenol can license its technology to qualified entities for their own project development. However, Arkenol prefers to offer more that just a license. With its team members, Arkenol can provide turnkey engineering, procurement, construction, and operations services. Arkenol will work with developers around the world to license its technology and on an individual project, a corporate or a regional basis.
Opportunities for the development of a biorefinery abound the world. Since a development effort requires expenditure of signicant resources for a prolonged period (typically, US$3 million and 2 years), Arkenol will screen potential opportunities using economic criteria. Using economic data specific to a prospective locale, labor climate, feedstock and product mix, Arkenol's analysts can determine in short order the relative liklihood of success. A copy of the evaluation form is provided for your information. Click here for a copy of the data sheet.
Those interested in learning more about Arkenol should contact James R. Miller, Chief Operating Officer, or Michael A. Fatigati, VP - Engineering & Project Development. Click here for details.
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