Valorization of Biomass as a Raw Material to Obtain Products of Industrial Interest

Abstract

Biomass is the biodegradable fraction of products and waste of biological origin. Biomass comes from activities such as agriculture, forestry, as well as the biodegradable fraction of industrial and municipal waste. A large amount of biomass encourages the proposal of projects aimed at the integrated use of these wastes to obtain products with high added value. In fact, the use of this waste avoids negative ecological impact on agricultural fields, rivers, and lakes, and supports new technologies that can feasibly solve the pollution problem. The presentation of studies related to the use of these wastes as raw material to produce compounds of industrial interest in areas such as agriculture, second and third-generation biofuels, biogas, pharmaceuticals, chemical industry, human and animal nutrition, through chemical, physical, thermochemical, and biological processes, is the objective of this chapter.