The Biorefinery Concept: An Integrated Approach - Introduction to Chemicals from Biomass - page 25

environment (i.e. effect of CO 2 emissions on climate change). In order to main-
tain the world population in terms of food, fuel and organic chemicals and tackle
climate change, it has been recognised by a number of governments and compa-
nies that we need to substantially reduce our dependence on petroleum feedstock
by establishing a bio-based economy [68].
For this purpose, long-term strategies that recognise the potential of local
renewable resources including waste should be developed. Of paramount impor-
tance will be the deployment of biorefineries (of various size and shape) which
can convert a variety of biofeedstocks into power, heat, chemicals and other valu-
able materials, maximising the value of the biomass and minimising waste. These
integrated facilities will most likely employ a combination of physical, chemical,
biotechnological and thermochemical technologies; they must be efficient and
adopt the green chemistry principles in order to minimise environmental foot-
prints and ensure the sustainability of all products generated (cradle-to-grave
approach). Local pre-treatment of low-bulk-density and often wet biomass will be
critical to the development of a sustainable infrastructure capable of working with
significant quantities of raw material. Specific attention should therefore be paid
to the development of these (local) processes. The challenge of the next decade
will be to develop demonstration plants, which will require cross-sector collabo-
rations and major investment in the construction of full-scale advanced
biorefineries.
1.7 Acknowledgement
The authors would like to thank Juliet Burns for the illustrations included in this
chapter.
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