Abstract
Biomass is an important contributor to the world economy. Agriculture and forest products industries provide food, feed, fiber, and a wide range of necessary products like shelter, packaging, clothing, and communications. However, biomass is also a source of a large variety of chemicals and materials, and of electricity and fuels. About 60% of the needed process energy in pulp, paper, and forest products is provided by biomass combustion. These processes could be improved to the point of energy self-sufficiency of these industries. Today's corn refinery industry produces a wide range of products including starch-based ethanol fuels for transportation. The biomass industry can produce additional ethanol by fermenting some by-product sugar streams. Lignocellulosic biomass is a potential source for ethanol that is not directly linked to food production. Also, through gasification biomass can lead to methanol, mixed alcohols, and Fischer–Tropsch liquids. The life science revolution we are witnessing has the potential to radically change the green plants and products we obtain from them. Green plants developed to produce desired products and energy could be possible in the future. Biological systems can already be tailored to produce fuels such as hydrogen. Policy drivers for increased use of biomass for energy and biobased products are reviewed for their potential contributions for a carbon constrained world.
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