Biorefineries: Biofuels, biochemicals, and bioproducts

Biorefinery is the sustainable processing of biomass into a spectrum of marketable products and energy. The biomass residues and waste streams from several origins represent important feedstocks that are used to meet the global needs for bioenergy and bio-based products. Sugars, lignin, bio-oils, and syngas are multipurpose platforms for the production of a number of biofuels and bio-based products. Although biofuels are destined to represent the largest biogenic products, the production of other value-added chemicals from bioresources could have important market and social implications, for instance, in terms of revenues and occupations. This chapter widely overviews the current technological status of both biofuel- and bio-product-driven biorefineries. A number of biorefinery schemes are displayed, with an emphasis on lignocellulosic biorefineries. Novel processes and products are described along with facts and figures. The feedstocks used include both terrestrial and aquatic biomass. Critical challenges are emphasized for the technologies overviewed. Snapshots on running industrial initiatives provide a concrete framework of the progress status of biorefineries.