Abstract
Biorefinery is a new term to designate two main subjects, bioproducts and bioenergy, which play important roles towards a more bio-based society. This paper reviews the current biorefineries model as well as its future importance focusing on pulp mill opportunities. There are currently several different levels of integration in biorefineries which add to their sustainability, both economically and environmentally. Enzymatic pretreatment for biomass deconstruction aiming to release the polysaccharides is a key technology in the future biorefineries and it is currently the subject of intensive research.
Highlights
A great challenge for the modern civilization is becoming a sustainable society based on more realistic needs and rational utilization of the natural resources
15 - 20 content of 40%, 30% and 17.7% for cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin, respectively [30]. These values are adequate for biorefinery applications, in special the low lignin content that indicate an easier fractionation of this material in deconstruction processes
Such optimization requires a particular emphasis on the development of analytical methods for the characterization of the structural and non-structural biomass constituents and the study of their fate during the pretreatment and deconstruction process
Summary
A great challenge for the modern civilization is becoming a sustainable society based on more realistic needs and rational utilization of the natural resources In this context, energy is one of the most important issues. The scientific community believes that in the near future large volumes of biomass will be processed to produce biofuels together with valuable co-products, which will be increasingly used to make other bioproducts [1]-[6] In this scenario, certain bio-based industries such as the pulp and the sugar cane could take enormous advantage of their current knowhow in order to make intelligent use of their biomass feedstocks, by operating their facilities as biorefineries. This paper reviews the current biorefineries model as well as its future importance focusing on cellulosic pulp mill opportunities
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call