Integrated lignocellulosic value chains in a growing bioeconomy: Status quo and perspectives

Abstract

Lignocellulose is the most abundant biomass on Earth, with an estimated 181.5 billion tonnes produced annually. Of the 8.2 billion tonnes that are currently used, about 7 billion tonnes are produced from dedicated agricultural, grass and forest land and another 1.2 billion tonnes stem from agricultural residues. Economic and environmentally efficient pathways for production and utilization of lignocellulose for chemical products and energy are needed to expand the bioeconomy. This opinion paper arose from the research network “Lignocellulose as new resource platform for novel materials and products” funded by the German federal state of Baden‐Württemberg and summarizes original research presented in this special issue. It first discusses how the supply of lignocellulosic biomass can be organized sustainably and suggests that perennial biomass crops (PBC) are likely to play an important role in future regional biomass supply to European lignocellulosic biorefineries. Dedicated PBC production has the advantage of delivering biomass with reliable quantity and quality. The tailoring of PBC quality through crop breeding and management can support the integration of lignocellulosic value chains. Two biorefinery concepts using lignocellulosic biomass are then compared and discussed: the syngas biorefinery and the lignocellulosic biorefinery. Syngas biorefineries are less sensitive to biomass qualities and are technically relatively advanced, but require high investments and large‐scale facilities to be economically feasible. Lignocellulosic biorefineries require multiple processing steps to separate the recalcitrant lignin from cellulose and hemicellulose and convert the intermediates into valuable products. The refining processes for high‐quality lignin and hemicellulose fractions still need to be further developed. A concept of a modular lignocellulosic biorefinery is presented that could be flexibly adapted for a range of feedstock and products by combining appropriate technologies either at the same location or in a decentralized form.

Downscaling of agricultural market impacts under bioeconomy development to the regional and the farm level—An example of Baden‐Wuerttemberg

“…However, the assumed base price of PBC that is derived from heat values also seems appropriate, as the use of biomass for materials has to compete with its energy use, especially with the desired goal of reducing use of fossil resources. This also shows the need to improve existing new lignocellulosic value chains and to develop new ones (Dahmen, Lewandowski, Zibek, & Weidtmann, ). Furthermore, our results are mainly driven by farm profitability from price developments in bioeconomy scenarios.…”

Fast and Efficient Method to Evaluate the Potential of Eutectic Solvents to Dissolve Lignocellulosic Components

“…Crystal area(%) = (area t /area t0 ) * 100 (2) where area t represents the total area of the crystals at selected time and area t0 represents the total area of the crystals at initial time. Image-Pro Premier ® software was also used for image processing to highlight points of interest and allow optimization of the area filled by crystals.…”

“…The use of lignocellulosic feedstock materials could lead to the development of more sustainable chemical processes as an alternative to the current exploitation of fossil-based resources [1]. In order to achieve this goal, the biorefinery concept which contemplates the fractionation and processing of lignocellulosic biomass components and their subsequent transformation into biofuels, biobased materials, and added-value chemicals should be promoted [2][3][4].…”

Biobased value chains for a growing bioeconomy

“…Due to this abundancy, and also its potentially sustainable supply, there has recently been increased interest in lignocellulosic biomass as a promising renewable resource in a growing bioeconomy. In the introductory opinion article to the lignocellulose section, Dahmen, Lewandowski, Zibek, and Weidtmann () discuss future perspectives for integrated lignocellulosic value chains. They present a modular biorefinery concept as one possible prototype for the future, which can be designed for a range of biomass feedstocks and products and at different scales, from on‐farm to industrial.…”