Mascoma公司描绘纤维素乙醇路线图.doc

Mascoma公司描绘纤维素乙醇路线图麦斯科玛公司（MascomaCorp.）CEO BruceJamerson是燃料乙醇领域的知名人士，他认为虽然纤维素乙醇是以林业废料与草类为原料来生产，但当前还有许多障碍需要克服。麦斯科玛公司是美国有相当影响的纤维素乙醇生产企业，在纽约和田纳西州建有示范工厂，在密执安州也有一套大规模的生产装置，此外，该公司还从州政府和联邦政府获得多种资助。BruceJamerson认为纤维素乙醇目前生产成本相对较高，虽然未来目标是跟玉米乙醇相比形成竞争力，但今年还不能实现。但纤维素乙醇具有自身的优势，例如能量平衡即生产过程消耗能量与实际产生能量的比例，玉米乙醇为1.5，而纤维素乙醇为5.5，这意味着纤维素乙醇厂家在同等原料条件下产能更多。此外，纤维素乙醇较玉米乙醇燃料后释放二氧化碳量更少。目前纤维素乙醇生产主要面临以下难题：一是将植物纤维素转化为乙醇实际是个炼制过程。基本步骤包括分离纤维素，再转化成糖以及糖转化为乙醇等三步。麦斯科玛公司的基本战略是开发可同时将纤维素转化成糖、将糖转化为乙醇的微生物，把这两步合并既降低成本又加快生产流程。但目前麦斯科玛公司在纽约和田纳西州的工厂尚未实现一步法制乙醇。二是麦斯科玛公司生产纤维素乙醇的主要原料是木屑，该公司纽约的示范工厂年产50万加仑，将从2008年第一季度开始利用木屑进行生产，并在第二季度全部原料均采用木屑。位于田纳西州的乙醇工厂年产量将达到500万加仑，则主要采用柳枝稷。但目前田纳西州没有足够的柳枝稷予以供应，因此，该州启动一个800万美元的资助计划，鼓励农民种植柳枝稷，估计还需要23年的时间。由于这个示范工厂预言在2008年下半年投产，因此，前期只能以木屑作生产原料。三是纤维素乙醇必须解决生产过程中遗留的固体残渣。大约有3040的植物生物质最终会残留下来，BruceJamerson认为可以用来发电。四是建立纤维素乙醇示范工厂需要足够的经费，纽约州政府资助麦斯科玛公司1480万美元，田纳西州对该公司也有一部分资助。密执安州官员透露将与企业共同投入1.5亿美元在该州北部建立示范工厂。迈斯科玛公司历史The Energy Crisis 能源危机During the month of October 1973, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) initiated an oil embargo on the United States and other countries causing price shocks and scarce supply. The resulting energy crisis led to dramatic changes in the political, economic, military, and social landscape of these countries.1973年10月，石油输出国组织OPEC开始对美国等国家实施石油禁运，从而导致价格暴涨与供应紧缺。此次能源危机导致相关国家的政治、经济、军事与社会版图发生了重大变化。In the United States, both the government and the private sector responded vigorously to the oil price shocks of the seventies during which crude prices more than quadrupled. By the early 1980s numerous companies were pursuing a wide variety of alternative energy and conservation technologies. Wind, solar, geothermal and even tidal power technology were actively being developed and commercialized. The United States Department of Agriculture actively encouraged the production of corn ethanol by farmers in the Midwesta return to the late 19th century when ethanol from grain had been used to power some of the earliest automobiles. In fact, the Ford Model T could run on ethanol!在美国，政府与私人领域均对70年代的石油价格暴涨做出了激烈反应，当时原油价格暴涨将近四倍。到80年代初期，有不计其数的公司致力于涵盖范围甚广的替代能源与节能技术研究。风能、太阳能、地热甚至潮汐能均被积极开发出来并投入商业化。美国农业部积极鼓励中西部的农民用玉米制乙醇这是对19世纪后期的回归，当时人们用谷物制乙醇、并将乙醇用在某些早期汽车上。其实，福特的T型汽车就可以燃烧乙醇作为动力。Cellulosic Biofuels have Academic Roots 纤维质生物燃料具备理论依据The energy crisis had a profound impact on scientists and engineers around the world including the co-founders of Mascoma Corporation, Charles Wyman and Lee Lynd.能源危机对世界范围内的科学家与工程师们影响巨大，其中就包括马斯科玛公司的联合创始人查尔斯-怀曼与李-林德。Charles Wymans interest in alternative fuels emerged from a grammar school science fair project on the storage of solar energy. His interest in alternative fuels broadened throughout his education and a doctoral degree in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University in 1971 provided the foundation Wyman needed to further his alternative energy vision. His particular interest in biofuels propelled his career during the late 70s and early 80s when he served as the Director of the Biotechnology Center for Fuels and Chemicals at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden Colorado. Wyman became an authority in the field of cellulosic ethanol in 1996 when he published the “Handbook on Bioethanol”. He is one of the worlds leading experts in biomass pretreatment, the critical first step in all cellulosic ethanol conversion processes. 查尔斯怀曼In New England, Wymans future colleague, Lee Lynd, was working on a farm where he noticed heat energy emanating from a compost pile. The observation of microbes producing energy from biomass sparked Lynd to speculate on the possibility of using biomass as a fuel source. He would follow this idea with tremendous passion for decades to come as he pursued Masters and Ph.D. degrees in engineering from Dartmouth College. In 1987, Lynd joined the Dartmouth faculty where today he is recognized as one of the worlds leading experts in biological conversion of pretreated biomass into ethanol and other fuels.It was not surprising that Charles Wyman and Lee Lynd would cross paths at a biomass energy symposium in the late 1980s. However, those were lean times for alternative energy research and commercialization efforts. With oil prices retreating to pre-embargo levels, private investment had largely dried up during the 80s and 90s and most of the nascent alternative energy companies went bankrupt as a result. The picture was equally grim in the academic world. Despite a lack of funding and fewer graduate students, Wyman and Lynd remained steadfast in their commitment to biofuels research. In 1991, they co-authored a seminal article published in the journal Science in which the authors concluded that industrial production of cellulosic ethanol was technologically feasible. Moreover, this article focused the attention of the scientific, ecological and political communities on the beneficial impact that utilization of cellulosic ethanol could have on global climate change and balance of trade.In 1997, Wyman joined the Dartmouth faculty where he and Lynd continued their research on cellulosic biofuels with a particular focus on the most efficient method of production: consolidated bioprocessing (CBP). 联合生物加工工艺Mascoma Corporation is Founded 马斯科玛公司创立By the turn of the millennium, Lee Lynds and Charles Wymans vision of harnessing renewable and sustainable biofuels with low environmental impact, proved prescient. Global environmental, financial and political considerations ensured a bright future for alternative energy in general and biofuels in particular. After nearly twenty years of research, the goal was within reach and ready for commercialization. The concept for a biofuels