ABSTRACT
Biomass feedstocks are energy sources derived from plants, microbial cells, and the wastes and residues associated with their processing (e.g., agricultural residues and forestry wastes).
CONTENTS
5.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 103 5.2 Feedstocks for Biorenery .................................................................................................... 104 5.3 What Is a Biorenery? .......................................................................................................... 105 5.4 Types of Bioreneries ........................................................................................................... 106 5.5 Various Methods of Conversion ........................................................................................... 106 5.6 Thermochemical Processes .................................................................................................. 107 5.7 Products from Bioreneries .................................................................................................. 108 5.8 Use of Green Chemistry in Bioreneries ............................................................................. 109 5.9 Rural Bioreneries ................................................................................................................ 109 5.10 Challenges and Opportunities .............................................................................................. 113 Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................... 116 References ...................................................................................................................................... 116
They are generally formed through photosynthesis, whereby plants (and some microbial cells) garner atmospheric CO2 and sunlight to produce high energy carbonaceous compounds (i.e., biomass) and oxygen (Klass 1998; Abdeshanian et al. 2010). When the energy constrained within biomass is released, the carbon is oxidized to CO2, which can be recycled to produce new biomass. Theoretically, no additional greenhouse gas is produced because the emitted CO2 is part of the current carbon cycle. Therefore, if efciently utilized, biomass is regarded as an alternative clean and renewable source for energy and other commodities due to its abundance, high energy content, sustainability, and its biodegradability. Although numerous biorenery schemes and conversion technologies exist for the transformation of biomass into usable energy forms, they are not cost efcient and economically viable in competition with existing petroleum renery technologies. In particular, the recalcitrant nature of several feedstocks presents a major technological obstacle for their processing and transformation (Srirangan et al. 2012).
