Course 02 of 20 · Biofuels and SAF Desk Academy

Feedstocks, Pathways & Commercial Yields

Stage A, Market foundations. Level 1 of 10.

Feedstock classes, conversion pathways, and the mass and energy yield arithmetic that turns an input tonne into saleable product.

126 chapters · 12 modules · every chapter one 8 to 10 minute explainer · builds on: Course 01

Enrol or enquire See the 126 chapters
How a chapter is delivered

One chapter is one idea taken to the point of use

Each chapter covers one idea to the point where you can use it, and comes two ways: a narrated explainer, and a deep dive audio discussion of around thirty minutes that works the same material at depth.

Self-paced throughout, and the same chapters can be taught as a cohort. Chapters run in order: each one assumes only what the chapters before it taught, and capability belonging to a later course is named and deferred rather than half-covered.

Curriculum

12 modules · 126 chapters

Open any module for its full chapter list, in teaching order.

M0 What a Feedstock Is, Commercially Ch 1-10
  1. A Tonne of Input Is Not a Tonne of Product
  2. The Four Questions Asked of Any Offered Feedstock
  3. Feedstock, Intermediate and Finished Fuel Separated
  4. Why the Route Chosen Decides the Product
  5. Biogenic Carbon and Why the Atom's Origin Matters
  6. The Vocabulary of Feedstocks and Conversion
  7. Waste, Residue and Co-Product as Commercial Categories
  8. Why a Yield Figure Must Name the Plant
  9. Nameplate Capacity, Throughput and the Slate
  10. What Feedstock Knowledge Settles on Its Own
M1 Crop Oils and Fats Ch 11-20
  1. The Triglyceride and the Three Chains It Carries
  2. Rapeseed and Canola Oil on a Renewable Fuels Slate
  3. Soybean Oil and the Meal That Carries Its Cost
  4. Palm Oil and the Fractions a Mill Produces
  5. Palm Kernel and Coconut Oil: The Short-Chain Lipids
  6. Sunflower, Safflower and the Minor Edible Oilseeds
  7. Camelina, Carinata and Purpose-Grown Oilseed Crops
  8. Castor, Jatropha and the Non-Edible Oils
  9. Crude, Degummed, Refined and Bleached Oil Grades
  10. The Oilseed Crush: Oil Yield per Tonne of Seed
M2 Sugar and Starch Crops Ch 21-29
  1. Sugarcane: Sucrose, Bagasse and the Mill's Choice
  2. Sugar Beet and the Temperate Sugar Route
  3. Maize and the Starch Behind Most Fuel Alcohol
  4. Wheat, Barley and the Small-Grain Starches
  5. Cassava, Sweet Sorghum and the Tropical Starch Crops
  6. Molasses and the Sugar Streams Sold On
  7. Fermentable Sugar as the Real Unit of Account
  8. Why Two Maize Cargoes Yield Different Alcohol Volumes
  9. Brazil and the United States: Two Different Starting Crops
M3 Waste and Residue Lipids Ch 30-40
  1. Used Cooking Oil and Where It Is Collected
  2. Grading Used Cooking Oil: Why Collectors' Tonnes Differ
  3. Animal Fats and the European Category System
  4. Tallow, Lard and Poultry Fat Compared
  5. Palm Oil Mill Effluent and the Sludge Oil Route
  6. Palm Fatty Acid Distillate and Refining By-Products
  7. Distillers Corn Oil from an Alcohol Plant
  8. Brown Grease, Trap Grease and the Sewer Streams
  9. Acid Oils, Soapstock and Gums
  10. Tall Oil and the Pulp Mill Lipid Streams
  11. The Annex IX Lists as a Classification Device
M4 Lignocellulosic and Waste-Carbon Inputs Ch 41-50
  1. Cellulose, Hemicellulose and Lignin as Three Fractions
  2. Agricultural Residues: Straw, Stover and Husk
  3. Forestry Residues, Thinnings and Sawmill Waste
  4. Energy Crops: Miscanthus, Switchgrass and Coppice
  5. Municipal Solid Waste and the Biogenic Fraction
  6. Refuse-Derived Fuel and the Sorted Waste Streams
  7. Industrial Waste Gases as a Carbon Source
  8. Biogas, Landfill Gas and Raw Methane Streams
  9. Captured Carbon Dioxide and Renewable Hydrogen
  10. Algae and the Aquatic Feedstocks
M5 The Quality Parameters That Decide Yield Ch 51-62
  1. Free Fatty Acid Content and the Yield It Costs
  2. Moisture, Insolubles and Unsaponifiables Combined
  3. A Wet Tonne and a Dry Tonne Are Different Purchases
  4. Phosphorus, Metals and Catalyst Poisoning
  5. Chlorides, Nitrogen and Sulphur in Waste Feeds
  6. Iodine Value, Saturation and the Hydrogen Implied
  7. Polymers, Gums and Residual Solids
  8. Ash, Alkali and Slagging in Solid Feedstocks
  9. Particle Size, Bulk Density and Feeder Constraints
  10. Starch, Sugar and Fibre Content Assayed
  11. Oxygen Content and the Mass It Costs
  12. Building a Yield-Based Acceptance Window
M6 Lipid Conversion Pathways Ch 63-73
  1. Two Ways to Turn a Fat into a Fuel
  2. Transesterification: The Reaction in Plain Terms
  3. The Methanol Input and the Ester Product
  4. Alkali Catalysis and Why It Needs a Clean Oil
  5. Acid Esterification for High Fatty Acid Feeds
  6. Pre-Treatment: Degumming, Bleaching and Adsorbents
  7. Hydrotreatment and the Route to Paraffins
  8. Isomerisation, Cracking and the Jet Cut Decision
  9. Co-Processing a Lipid in a Refinery Unit
  10. The Ester and the Hydrocarbon as Two Products
  11. One Tonne of Used Cooking Oil Through Both Routes
M7 Fermentation and Alcohol Pathways Ch 74-82
  1. Milling, Cooking and Starch Hydrolysis
  2. Enzymes and the Conversion of Starch to Glucose
  3. Fermentation: Yeast, Sugar and the Two Products
  4. Distillation, Dehydration and Anhydrous Fuel Alcohol
  5. Dry Milling and Wet Milling Compared
  6. Cellulosic Alcohol and the Recalcitrance Problem
  7. Alcohol to Jet: Dehydration and Oligomerisation
  8. Gas Fermentation: Microbes That Eat Carbon Monoxide
  9. Butanol, Isobutanol and the Higher Alcohols
M8 Thermochemical and Synthetic Pathways Ch 83-93
  1. Gasification: Solid Carbon into Synthesis Gas
  2. Reading a Synthesis Gas Composition
  3. Gas Conditioning and the Clean-Up Train
  4. Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis and Chain Length
  5. Upgrading Fischer-Tropsch Wax into Distillate
  6. Fast Pyrolysis and the Bio-Oil It Produces
  7. Upgrading Pyrolysis Oil and the Oxygen Problem
  8. Hydrothermal Liquefaction and the Wet Route
  9. Methanol Synthesis and the Methanol to Jet Route
  10. Power to Liquid: Electrolysis, Carbon and Synthesis
  11. The ASTM D7566 Annexes as a Pathway Register
M9 Mass Yield Arithmetic Ch 94-105
  1. Mass Yield Defined, and the Basis It Must Carry
  2. Wet, Dry and Dry Ash-Free Bases Reconciled
  3. Stoichiometric Yield as a Ceiling, Not a Forecast
  4. The Transesterification Mass Balance Worked Through
  5. The Hydrotreatment Balance and the Oxygen Removed
  6. The Fermentation Balance and the Carbon Dioxide
  7. A Gasification and Synthesis Mass Balance
  8. Conversion, Selectivity and Overall Yield Distinguished
  9. Losses: Purges, Vents, Flares and Off-Spec Runs
  10. Recycle Streams and Why Yield Per Pass Misleads
  11. Yield Stated Per Tonne, Per Hour and Per Year
  12. One Illustrative Tonne Tracked from Receipt to Product
M10 Energy Yield, Hydrogen and Utilities Ch 106-115
  1. Energy Yield Against Mass Yield: Two Ratios
  2. Heating Value in a Yield Calculation
  3. Where the Energy Goes That Does Not Reach the Fuel
  4. Hydrogen Consumption in a Hydrotreating Route
  5. Where the Hydrogen Comes From and What It Costs
  6. Electricity, Steam and Gas as Process Inputs
  7. Self-Supply: When the Plant Burns Its Own Residue
  8. Carbon Efficiency: Input Carbon Reaching the Fuel
  9. The Energy Return Argument and Its Assumptions
  10. An Illustrative Energy Balance for a Lipid Plant
M11 Co-Products, Pathway Comparison and Limits Ch 116-126
  1. Why Almost No Pathway Makes Only One Product
  2. Glycerine, Crude and Refined, from an Ester Plant
  3. Naphtha, Propane and Light Ends from a Hydrotreater
  4. Distillers Grains and the Protein Co-Product
  5. Lignin, Char and Ash as Solid Residues
  6. Co-Product or Waste: The Label Changes the Arithmetic
  7. Splitting a Yield Across Two Saleable Outputs
  8. Flexibility: Shifting the Cut Between Diesel and Jet
  9. Three Pathways Ranked on Yield Alone, Part One
  10. Three Pathways Ranked on Yield Alone, Part Two
  11. What Yield Arithmetic Cannot Decide

The brochure gives each of these 126 chapters a paragraph on what it covers and what you can do once you have worked through it.

This is course 2 of twenty

It stands alone, and it is also the entry point to the Biofuels and SAF Desk Academy pathway.

Enrol or enquire See the whole pathway