Biorefineries

Biorefining is the efficient processing of biomass into a wide range of marketable products and energy. By means of co-producing relatively (high) value chemicals (e.g. fine chemicals, pharmaceuticals, polymers) the production costs of secondary energy carriers potentially could become market competitors, especially when biorefining is integrated into the existing chemical, material and power industries. Industrial biorefineries have been identified as the novel route to the creation of a new domestic bio based industry. By producing multiple products; a biorefinery can take advantage of the differences in biomass components and intermediates and maximize the value derived from the biomass feedstock.