Identification and Assessment of Most Promising Biorefineries until 2020 in IEA Bioenergy Task 42 'Biorefinery'

The IEA Bioenergy Task 42 „Biorefineries“ made the following definition on biorefinery: “Biorefining is the sustainable processing of biomass into a spectrum of bio­based products (food, feed, chemicals, materials) and bioenergy (biofuels, power and/or heat)”. “Energy­driven” biorefineries and “product­driven” biorefineries are distinguished. Based on the ongoing activities in the 12 countries (A, AUS, CA, DK, FR, G, I, IR, NL, T, UK, US) participating in Task 42, the task identifies and assesses the current status and development potential of both “energy­driven” biorefineries (incl. biofuels) and “product­driven” biorefineries. These assessments are based on a “Full Value Chain approach”, covering raw material issues, conversion processes and final product applications in an integrated approach. As a first step the 15 most interesting “energy­driven” biorefinery concepts until 2020 and their value chains, including the integration and deployment options in existing industrial infrastructures, are analysed. These concepts produce the following transportation biofuels: biodiesel, bioethanol, FT­biofuels, biomethane from upgraded biogas and SNG (synthetic natural gas) with the following feedstocks: oil crops, oil residues, sugar and starch crops, wood chips, straw, grass, saw mill residues, (sulfite) liquor, algae. The Task 42 is assessing the sustainability of these concepts by analysing economic, environmental and social aspects in comparison to conventional processes and products.
Proceedings of the 19th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 6-10 June 2011, Berlin, Germany, pp. 1075-1079