Lignocellulose-Based Chemical Products

The use of plant biomass as starting material is one of the alternatives to reduce the dependency on fossil oil for transportation fuels and is the main alternative to replace petrochemicals. The biomass can be transformed into energy, transportation fuels, various chemical compounds and materials such as natural fibers by biochemical, chemical, physical and thermal processes. The fermentation and the chemical conversion of carbohydrates into value-added compounds has received increasing interest in the last decade, and in a biorefinery different advantages may be taken from both processes. However, the potential competition with food and feed applications and the consequent rise in feedstock prices is an important aspect to take into consideration. Therefore the use of lignocellulosic feedstocks (often referred to as second-generation feedstocks) is strongly advocated. In addition to carbohydrates also substantial amounts of lignin is produced when using lignocellulosic feedstocks. In this chapter the composition of lignocellulosic biomass is discussed followed by an overview of the most important pretreatment and fractionation technologies. Especially the effect of the different technologies on the subsequent fermentative/chemocatalytic conversions is addressed. The importance is illustrated by an overview of the most important commercial as well as anticipated chemical building blocks from carbohydrates and lignin with a special emphasis on the production of furan-based building blocks from carbohydrates and aromatic building blocks originating from lignin.