Analysis shows H2Bioil technology is cost competitive with oil

Biomass Magazine
By Erin Voegele
June 25, 2012

An economic analysis of Purdue University’s thermo-chemical H2Bioil biofuel technology demonstrates that the process could be price competitive when crude oil is priced at approximately $100 per barrel, depending upon the method used to generate hydrogen used in the process. In the event a federal carbon tax is implemented, the analysis found the process would be even more economical.

The H2Bioil technology involves the rapid heating of biomass to approximately 500 degrees Celsius in the presence of pressurized hydrogen. The resulting gases are passed over catalysts to create molecules similar to those in gasoline. According to information released by Purdue, the technology was created in the lab of Rakesh Agrawal, the university’s Winthrop E. Stone distinguished professor of chemical engineering. The economic analysis was completed by a team led by Wally Tyner, Purdue’s James and Lois Ackerman professor of agricultural economics.

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