With crude oil reserves dwindling, the hunt for a sustainable alternative feedstock for fuels and materials for our society continues to expand. The biorefinery concept has enjoyed both a surge in popularity and also vocal opposition to the idea of diverting food-grade land and crops for this purpose. The idea of using the inevitable wastes arising from biomass processing, particularly farming ...

The cleavage of lignin bonds in a wood matrix is an important step in the processes employed in both the biorefinery and pulp and paper industries. β-O-4 ether linkages are susceptible to both acidic and alkaline hydrolysis. The cleavage of α-ether linkages rapidly occurs under mildly acidic reaction conditions, resulting in lower molecular weight lignin fragments. Acidic reactions are typicall...

Our work on the potential of oxidative biocatalysts in eucalypt biorefinery, including cellulose and biofuel production, is revised in the context of related studies. Organisms selectively degrading lignin from eucalypt wood are ideal models for these biotechnological applications. Among them, the white-rot fungus Ceriporiopsis subvermispora has been largely investigated for eucalypt "biopulpin...

Faced to the economic and energetic context of our society, it is widely recognised that an alternative to fossil fuels and oil-based products will be needed in the nearest future. In this way, development of urban biorefinery could bring many solutions to this problem. Study of the implementation of urban biorefinery highlights two sustainable configurations that provide solutions to the Wallo...

This paper presents a thermodynamic analysis of a biochemical process for the production of bioethanol from a lignocellulosic feedstock. The major inefficiencies in the process are identified as: i) the combustion of lignin for process heat and power production and ii) the simultaneous saccharification and fermentation process. As lignin is not converted to ethanol and lignin has a high value o...

The biorefinery concept offers a promising solution to transform the struggling forestry industry. Not only will the implementation of new products and processes help to diversify revenues, it will also offer an opportunity to change the manufacturing culture by better managing the flexibility of assets to react to volatile market conditions. In this paper, an integrated supply-chain planning f...

Plant biomass that primarily composed of polysaccharides and lignin constitutes a renewable energy source. The conversion of biopolymers into fuels, energy, and chemicals with a concept of biorefinery involves a chemical/biological treatment to facilitate components release performance. However, the accurate understanding of cellular architecture of plant cell walls remains unclear owing in par...