7.7 Biorefineries
7.7.1 Introduction
Oil has been the main source of energy and fine chemicals of the world for the last
70 years, but prices are increasing due to the higher demand, depletion of reserves,
and political instability. The use of oil is related to pollution and climate change,
so there is a movement toward the substitution of oil for renewable sources, but the
actual production of biofuels from sugarcane, vegetable oils, and maize starch
creates a competition with food production both by diverting food grade materials
or by absorbing crop land, and is considered to be an indirect cause for the rise in
food prices (Sachs 2008). Therefore, the best candidate to substitute oil is lignocellulosic biomass, as it is renewable, cheap, readily available, and is produced in
high quantities as a by-product of forest, agriculture activities, and even some
industries (U.S. Department of Energy; Turner et al. 2007).
Lignocellulosic biomass is the most abundant source of biomass in the world
and is readily available as it is obtained as a by-product of any agriculture or
timber activity and even some industrial processes such as paper recycling render
various forms of lignocellulosic biomass as a waste. FAO estimates the production
of 2.9 9 10
6 tons of lignocellulosic wastes just from cereal crops and 1.08 9 10
8
metric tons of lignocellulosic waste from sugarcane; moreover, in some products
such as palm oil and coffee, the waste generated is higher at 90 % of the total
biomass produced. Hence lignocellulosic biomass is practically an inexhaustible
source of energy and precursors (FAOSTATS 2011).
7.7.2 Biorefineries
A biorefinery is an industrial facility capable to use the activity of microbial cells
to transform biomass into chemicals, commodities, and fuels. In order to make this
a promising idea achieving success is necessary to change the production systems
and even complete economies from oil-based materials to biological products in a
gradual approach. Meanwhile, bigger and better biorefineries have to be developed
and established; this requires a new approach in which biology, chemistry physics,
and engineering will have to work together to develop new technologies (National
Research Council 2000). Moreover, to make the substitution of oil as a source of
energy and chemical precursors in the world a reality, it will be a necessary much
more than creating biorefineries, to process fast and efficiently very high quantities
of biomass. The main goal for biorefineries is the ability to receive several biomass
sources and implement several processes that confluence in a mixture of very welldefined products (Turner et al. 2007; Kumar et al. 2008; Bhatia and Paliwal 2010).
The United States Department of Energy has published a list of valuable
products based on petrochemical refineries, but biorefineries have to develop a
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S. de J. Romero-Gómez
7.7.1 Introduction
Oil has been the main source of energy and fine chemicals of the world for the last
70 years, but prices are increasing due to the higher demand, depletion of reserves,
and political instability. The use of oil is related to pollution and climate change,
so there is a movement toward the substitution of oil for renewable sources, but the
actual production of biofuels from sugarcane, vegetable oils, and maize starch
creates a competition with food production both by diverting food grade materials
or by absorbing crop land, and is considered to be an indirect cause for the rise in
food prices (Sachs 2008). Therefore, the best candidate to substitute oil is lignocellulosic biomass, as it is renewable, cheap, readily available, and is produced in
high quantities as a by-product of forest, agriculture activities, and even some
industries (U.S. Department of Energy; Turner et al. 2007).
Lignocellulosic biomass is the most abundant source of biomass in the world
and is readily available as it is obtained as a by-product of any agriculture or
timber activity and even some industrial processes such as paper recycling render
various forms of lignocellulosic biomass as a waste. FAO estimates the production
of 2.9 9 10
6 tons of lignocellulosic wastes just from cereal crops and 1.08 9 10
8
metric tons of lignocellulosic waste from sugarcane; moreover, in some products
such as palm oil and coffee, the waste generated is higher at 90 % of the total
biomass produced. Hence lignocellulosic biomass is practically an inexhaustible
source of energy and precursors (FAOSTATS 2011).
7.7.2 Biorefineries
A biorefinery is an industrial facility capable to use the activity of microbial cells
to transform biomass into chemicals, commodities, and fuels. In order to make this
a promising idea achieving success is necessary to change the production systems
and even complete economies from oil-based materials to biological products in a
gradual approach. Meanwhile, bigger and better biorefineries have to be developed
and established; this requires a new approach in which biology, chemistry physics,
and engineering will have to work together to develop new technologies (National
Research Council 2000). Moreover, to make the substitution of oil as a source of
energy and chemical precursors in the world a reality, it will be a necessary much
more than creating biorefineries, to process fast and efficiently very high quantities
of biomass. The main goal for biorefineries is the ability to receive several biomass
sources and implement several processes that confluence in a mixture of very welldefined products (Turner et al. 2007; Kumar et al. 2008; Bhatia and Paliwal 2010).
The United States Department of Energy has published a list of valuable
products based on petrochemical refineries, but biorefineries have to develop a
244
S. de J. Romero-Gómez