Unlocking the potential
Infrastructure and transport logistics in terms of feedstock supply, access to blending facilities and steam and power, are all important factors, as is the need for flexibility in terms of future upgrade and capacity increases. Balancing the many commercial factors in a biofuels plant can be very complex, so technology selection and project definition are two critical stages. Aker Solutions' execution capabilities and extensive European market knowledge, combined with the cutting-edge, technological expertise of Praj, enables the two companies to deliver customised and value-for-money solutions to the market.
Through its Project Execution Model™, Aker Solutions possesses immense experience in concept selection and optimisation to map out the necessary considerations. Aker Solutions' ability to draw upon sound project execution experience and best practice is invaluable to achieving a productive, flexible and reliable biofuels plant.
Shashank Inamdar, CEO of Praj, said, “At Praj we have the technology and the process design, but we needed the strong project execution element that Aker Solutions can provide. Our clients demand a full solution, and the market is asking us to bid on new projects and to do feasibility studies, so there is a lot of interest. The market is moving in this direction. There are emerging new stakeholders in Europe.”
The challenges of a newcomer
With economic growth driving energy consumption, the challenge is to find acceptable and sustainable alternative energy sources to help meet this demand. Biofuels is a new and emerging industry, which of course has many hurdles ahead, but offers some very real and exciting opportunities.
With so many variables the choice of feedstock will change regionally over the short to long-term. The challenge then is to assess the long-term availability and cost of a feedstock. For example, wheat is currently expensive in Europe, but a plant being built now will be operating for the next 20-30 years. Another key consideration is whether there is an outlet for the by-products, to draw greater sustainability benefit from the plant.
Supply of feedstock, such as ethanol, has been variable over the last year, so Praj’s research and development into alternative options, such as cellulose and other energy crops, are very important to the offering going forward. The continuous R&D effort in Praj's Matrix centre in Pune is therefore of ultimate importance.
There are much publicised discussions about the issues relating to biofuels, particularly associated with food crops and other feedstock production, potential environmental conflicts and more. Concerns are being raised about the potential impact upon the food chain, for example, with the diversion of corn or wheat into ethanol production. Whilst the global cereal supply and demand situation is moving closer together and stockpiles are decreasing, there are many factors influencing supply and pricing.
The appropriate discussion is: for what purpose can we use the land. One of the challenges is to find crops that can grow on lower quality soil (one of Praj's developments in this area is sweet sorghum), and of course the next generation biofuels.
Indeed what many in the industry feel is that to do nothing is not an option any more. The next generation biofuels may be some way off, but the prospect for success is there!
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