Liquid Fuels Market

The transportation fuels market represents 60% of total liquid fuels consumed in the US. While hydrogen fuel cells, electric, and hybrid vehicle technology continue to advance, rapid adoption of any of these is limited by the existing transportation infrastructure – for example, it takes about ten years on average for the existing fleet of cars to be largely replaced. Blending transportation fuel with significant amounts of biofuels can be readily achieved without significant modifications to either the existing vehicle fleet or fuel distribution systems. The federal government has provided substantial support and research funding for the development and commercial scale up of liquid fuels from lignocellulosic materials. This technology is less than five years away from commercial scale operation, is a closed-loop carbon system, and can be grown and produced within US borders, providing substantial economic benefits and assisting US efforts towards energy security.

Federal Policy Support

The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 provides for a Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) which mandates that a certain portion of the country's US transportation fuels supply be in the form of biofuels derived from lignocellulosic (LC) biomass. The mandate in 2022 is 16 billion gallons with a stated long term goal of 30%, or 60 billion gallons, by 2030. The 2008 Farm Bill provides a blending credit of $1.01 per gallon for LC gallons. Fuels sourced from Mendel's crops would qualify as LC gallons under these programs.

Lignocellulosic Conversion

While perennial grasses represent the most efficient and sustainable means of producing carbon, the challenge has been to efficiently break down the lignocellulosic complex into fermentable sugars:

Additionally, much progress is being made in the development of better enzymes that can more efficiently convert C5 and C6 sugars to viable transportation fuels. The technology is advancing rapidly. Commercial-scale lignocellulosic biorefineries are projected to be operational within three to five years.

Processing costs have already decreased dramatically* ...

... as conversion efficiency has increased: