Session 14: Special Topic 2: Biogas as a Feedstock for Biological Conversion to Fuels and Chemicals
Wednesday, April 27, 2016: 6:30 PM-8:30 PM
Key Ballroom 9-10, 2nd fl (Hilton Baltimore)
Convener:
Philip T. Pienkos - National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Waste to Energy (WTE) is becoming an increasingly important concept for the transition to sustainable practices that can supply the needs of a growing world population.  Organic matter from wastewater, municipal solid wastes, and agricultural wastes can be converted to biogas (primarily a mixture of CH4 and CO2) through deliberate conversion in anaerobic digesters or through natural and uncontrolled processes.  The methane in biogas, while a significant energy resource, is largely wasted due to the low value driven by successes in extracting fossil natural gas through hydrofracturing technologies.  As a result much biogas can be seen as a lost opportunity because it is either vented or flared, unnecessarily adding to greenhouse gas emissions.  In recognition of the consequences of continued wasting of biogas, increasing attention is being placed on developing WTE technologies.  This special session will provide a timely overview of this emerging field and will summarize the technologies available for the controlled production and upgrading of biogas, the magnitude of opportunities for WTE, the economies of WTE, and the hurdles that stand in the way of commercialization.
6:30 PM
WTE (Waste-to-Energy) resource and techno-economic analysis of biogas from WWTP biosolids authors
Ling Tao, Phillip T. Pienkos, Jennifer Markham and Yanan Zhang, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO, USA
6:55 PM
Methane valorization: construction and validation of whole genome metabolic model of Methylomicrobium alcaliphilum 20Z
Dr. Ilya Akberdin1, Dr. Sergey But2 and Marina Kalyuzhnaya1, (1)San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA, (2)University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
7:20 PM
Carbon-efficient bioconversion of methane to biofuels and biochemicals by an obligate methanotrophic bacterium
Calvin A. Henard, Holly Smith, Ling Tao, Nancy Dowe, Philip T. Pienkos and Michael T. Guarnieri, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO, USA
See more of: General Submissions