Kara Technologies Produces Advanced Renewable Fuels

Challenges of existing lignin-based renewable fuel

• Utilizes feedstock materials such as wood, corn husks, and rice stover to produce fuels.
• Feedstock is readily available around the world.
  • U.S. dry biomass supply is expected to be ~1 billion tons by 2030.
• Feedstock is inexpensive.

What are “lignins” and what are their benefits?

• Significant moisture content
• Poor hydrogen / carbon ratio
• 30 – 40% oxygen content
• Large complex molecular structure.

Sources: Equity research; Note: ¹ Per report titled “2016 Billion-Ton” published by the US Department of Energy; ² Per research paper titled “Drop-in biofuel production via conventional (lipid/fatty acid) and advanced (biomass) routes. Part I” published by Sergios Karatzos, J. Susan van Dyk, James D. McMillan, and John Saddler in November 2016

• Historic processes for producing bio fuel from lignin feedstock do not yield a truly usable fuel. The heating value is unacceptable, the water and oxygen content is problematic and the fuel still requires significant refining and hydrotreating which results in unnecessary GHG emissions.
• The biofuel from the KARR system is a stand-alone high cetane fuel, which does not require any hydrotreating. The heating value is high and the water and oxygen contents are negligible.
• This high-quality fuel can be produced throughout much of the world and used directly in many industrial applications with resulting low GHG emissions.