Fostering
the use of agricultural biomass to reduce the dependence from fossil fuels, R&D
community made efforts for developing the technological concept of biorefinery.
A biorefinery facility integrates biomass conversion processes and equipment to
produce biofuels, power, and value-added chemicals from biomass.
Industries converting lignocellulosic biomass into a wide range of products
fit the scope of a biorefinery.
Sugar Platform Biorefineries breaks biomass down into different types of
sugars for fermentation or other biological processing into liquid
transportation fuels such as biodiesel and/or bioethanol and at the same time
generating electricity and process heat, through combined heat and power (CHP)
technology.
For example, in a Sugar Biorefinery based on sugar cane, the main
biomass-energy chains are the conversion of molasses to bioethanol, use of
bagasse for heat and electricity generation as well as use of bagasse for
conversion to bioethanol, and finally the vinasse’s to methane.
Either from sugar cane, sugar beets or sweet sorghum, the high-value products
increase profitability of the company, the produced biofuels help meet energy
demand, and the power production reduces the energy costs and greenhouse gas
emissions from conventional power plant facilities.
