Byogy: Biofuels Digest’s 2015 5-Minute Guide
Byogy has developed a catalytic platform that converts any source of ethanol, butanol, mixed alcohols, or related olefins, into full replacement, and cost competitive biofuels including gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. Byogy’s jet fuel is not an additive, but instead, a full replacement standalone fuel, and hence can be used at any blend ratio up to 100%.
Byogy’s primary goal is to increase the long term profits of “ANY” ethanol producer and to provide commercial aviation, and military divisions, with a high quality alternative jet fuel to help alleviate the 100% dependence on jet fuel refined from crude oil.
Byogy’s mission is become the low cost producer of the highest quality renewable jet fuel and gasoline in the world, and to act as a catalyst for the development of a global supply chain for these fuels.
Byogy’s technological process has been developed to convert ordinary ethanol, into advanced biofuels. The ethanol is converted into a mixture of long chain hydrocarbons by catalytic synthesis. The hydrocarbons are then fractionated into renewable jet fuel and gasoline.
This technology is highly flexible and “tunable” in the sense that the process can utilize different alcohols equally effectively including ethanol, propanol, butanol or other convenient and low cost alcohols. The process parameters can be adjusted to target the production of renewable gasoline or jet fuel or a mixture of the two, depending on market requirements. In addition, the process can be “tuned” to adjust the specific properties of the fuel to meet customers’ individual requirements. Byogy’s process can also be used to produce chemical intermediates such as aromatics and other bio-chemicals.
Rankings
The 40 Hottest Smaller Companies in the Advanced Bioeconomy, #40, 2014-15
The Situation
Last year, news has arrived from Byogy Renewables that it had invested in a strategic partnership with AusAgave Australia, aimed at developing multiple feedstocks to develop low cost sugars for the production of renewable fuels and chemicals. Structured initially as a strategic partnership, Don Chambers, CEO of AusAgave, will join the Byogy team to drive overall global feedstock operations — and, if all goes well, we may find that a merger of the companies may emerge down the line. With feedstock cost representing over 65% of fuels final cost, according to Byogy — it makes sense for aviation biofuels companies to take a strategic interest in it. But the capital and management problems are tough. Consider the problem of, say, acquiring and managing some 50,000 acres of farmland to support a 50 million gallon aviation biofuels plant with feedstock (for this example, we’ve used agave sugar yields — obviously, cane, corn, algae and other feedstocks have different agronomics, but you get the idea.).
Top Past Milestones
In March 2015, Byogy executed an MoU and Work Plan with EMBRAPA, the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, to introduce proprietary high sugar agave plants from AusAgave Australia into Brazil to evaluate sugar and fibre production in semi-arid regions where agave can thrive and sugarcane cannot.
In February 2015, Byogy has executed a strategic partnership agreement with Gen 2 Energy, an alternative energy company from Ames, Iowa, to develop a more cost-effective biofuel production process. New yeast strains developed by Gen 2 Energy, Iowa State University and the USDA, improve the alcohol yield of conventional fermentation from a variety of feedstocks – including agave, a monster energy crop being deployed as part of the Byogy value chain.
In April 2014, Avianca Brasil and Byogy Renewables announced a partnership to drive approval of the alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) renewable jet spec and terms for fuel offtake. The initiative will also study to validate the significant beneficial environmental impact achieved using Byogy’s ATJ to satisfy the proposed ICAO 2050 Neutral Carbon Growth mandate for the country of Brazil by leveraging the existing, and abundant sugar cane feedstock, as opposed to waiting for years before other agriculture feedstock industries are proven cost effective.
In April 2012, Qatar Airways was reported to be considering an investment in the California firm Byogy Renewables, reports Bloomberg. Chris Schroeder, a senior manager with QA is quoted as saying, “We’re looking to underwrite an investment into Byogy of up to 10 percent, coupled with an off-take agreement… This will enable the company to go into the market and look for further equity investment or other partners.”
Major Milestone Goals
Deployment of a commercial scale system
Competitive Edge
Bio Ethanol production is a mature global Industry. Since a conventional global ethanol industry already exists, Byogy has access to sufficient renewable bio ethanol feedstock to immediately reach commercial-scale volumes, while driving towards lower-cost sugars for the longer term.
No new infrastructure. Byogy does not need to build new biorefineries or buy and retro-fit existing ethanol plants to make different alcohols, like bio butanol in order to make renewable diesel, gasoline and jet fuel..
No new feedstocks. Byogy utilizes any source of ordinary bio ethanol and converts it directly into renewable jet fuel.
No boatloads of hydrogen. There is no need for large quantities of expensive externally supplied hydrogen from fossil fuel sources or massive hydrogen manufacturing infrastructure to make renewable jet fuel or gasoline as most competitive processes require.
No new “magic” bugs or enzymes. Byogy does not require the use, development, or invention of any new or expensive enzymes, genetically modified organisms or breakthroughs in industrial biotechnology. Byogy’s process technology can be adapted to any current bio ethanol production plant.
No need for biobutanol or other mixed alcohols. It is completely unnecessary, say Byogy, “to invent new ways and means to make bio-butanol or other mixed alcohols, in order to make high quality, cost competitive renewable jet fuel. Byogy can produce advanced, renewable jet fuel from ordinary bio ethanol. Byogy’s technology can take the hydrous ethanol from an ethanol plant (before the molecular sieve) and process a direct conversion to jet fuel, diesel and gasoline. There is no need to retrofit an existing ethanol plant or affect its operation.”
Research, or Manufacturing Partnerships or Alliances
AusAgave
Avianca
Category: 5-Minute Guide
