SCA: Exclusive Interview for AT

Sometimes I usually write about off-topic in this blog that I consider important. In this case, although it has to do with technology, it is something different, although I hope you like it. It is an interview with the Swedish company SCA, leader in the manufacture of biofuels.

If you want to know a little more about it, I invite you to continue reading the full interview. You can also learn more about SCA on their official website.

Architecnología: What advantages do biofuels have over 100% electric technologies or hydrogen?

SCA: All these technologies are needed for the transition from fossil-based energy to fossil-free in order to combat climate change. Globally, two thirds of the electricity production is based on fossil fuels, which means that electricity is not an alternative to fossil fuels until you have made the gigantic investments needed to remedy this. This transition in electricity production will take decades even if the intent is wholehearted. Electrification also need input such as rare earth metals, which will require, mines, mills, distribution etc. And hydrogen requires tremendous amounts of electricity.

Biofuels is an available, however limited, resource than can be fed into existing engines, fuel distribution etc. More than a hundred countries have various programs for increasing feed-in of biofuels into fossil fuels. This is the most rapid and cost-efficient way to reduce emissions from fossil fuels and it will gain us time to invest in fossil-free electricity production.

AT: Do biofuels require any modifications to existing engines (Otto/Diesel) and coal-fired power plants?

SCA: That depends on the fuel and the technology. Advanced liquid biofuels can be used all engines (that’s more or less the proof-point for their being advanced). You can use biofuels in a coal-fired power plant but that is probably the least efficient way to use biofuels in the energy-system.

AT: Do biofuels provide sufficient performance to be used in high performance engines?

SCA: See above.

AT: Is mass production of biofuels sustainable to fully replace petroleum-based fuels?

SCA: As for all other alternatives to fossil fuels, the production capacity needs to be expanded, which will require investments. There is also need for further development of this fairly new technology. Finally, the raw material base need s to meet high sustainability standards. There are considerable resources in the form of sawdust, black liquor, bark, logging waste etc. Some of these are used today for other purposes but can be switched to a use that brings higher value. Other are presently left in the forest (tops and branches) as there is no economy in bringing them out, but as raw material for advance biofuel there will be economy in making use of this resource.

AT: Can waste and by-products be used to make biofuels?

SCA: Definitely. By-products such as bark, sawdust, black liquor and tall oil is used for energy production today. But the value can be enhanced by using them as raw material for advance liquid biofuels.

AT: And, going a bit further, can organic waste or hazardous waste be used to turn it into something productive?

SCA: Waste is to a great extent used as fuel in combined heat and power production in Sweden. This is done in large efficient boiler with high standard emission treatment. Several European countries are paying Swedish heat and power producers for taking care of their household waste. (This have had the effect of wiping out the market for logging waste as a fuel for combined heat and power. There is no economy in bringing tops and branches from the forest when the alternative fuel is subsidized by the supplier.).

AT: Crude oil refineries produce gas, gasoline, diesel, tar, glycerin, kerosene, etc. What substances can be obtained in biorefineries?

SCA: All those. Biomass have essentially the same carbon hydrates as fossil fuels and depending on the preferred main products, you will get a set of byproducts.

AT: To which generation do your biofuels belong?

SCA: We have several types of biofuels. We supply unrefined biofuels (bark, rotten wood) to boilers, both our own and external, mainly heat and power. We produce fuel pellets from sawdust, which are used by households, larger energy producers and by ourselves. We use for example pellets as fuel in our chemical recovery processes in our kraft pulp mills. And we are building a biorefinery together with the Finnish energy company St1 where we will be producing advanced liquid biofuels from talloil. Finally we have permissions and are doing the pre-engineering for a biorefinery based on biomass and black liquor.

AT: When biofuels are burned, what types of gases and particles do they emit?

SCA: That depends on the fuel and the process. Biodiesel or biogasoline in car engines emit the same substances as their fossil alternatives. The advantage with the bio-alternatives is that they do not emit fossil carbon dioxide and do not contribute to climate change.

AT: What are the challenges you are facing in developing the fuels of the future?

SCA: The regulatory environment for biofuels is complex already today and presently the debate, at least in Europe, is heated with proposals and demands in many directions. This makes it very difficult to make a well-founded investment budget. You need to know the regulatory and economic conditions for at least a decade in order to dare to invest billions in new technology and new facilities. When, for example, the European Commission is demanding a ban on explosion engines by 2030, it is unclear if this includes engines driven by biofuels. Since we will not have replaced all explosion engines by electric engines by 2030 (nor have the fossil-free electricity production capacity), a large number of cars either will have to stop where they are or will have to use a climate-friendly fuel.