Biomass conversion to biomethanol

Although the reforming of fossil fuels to syngas followed by catalytic syngas conversion is the common route to produce methanol, concerns over climate change, growing demand for methanol, and depletion of fossil fuels have created interest to produce biomethanol from renewable feedstocks. Typically, the biomethanol production routes could be classified into two main groups based on the applied process. The first group includes the bio-syngas production from biomass resources through gasification, pyrolysis, plasma processing, and anaerobic digestion techniques, followed by bio-syngas conversion to methanol. In the second group, the biomass is biologically converted to biomethane, and the produced biomethane could be converted to methanol through conventional processes. In this chapter, the concept and reaction chemistry of biomass conversion to biomethanol, developed technologies and barriers, and driving forces to commercialize the technologies are presented.