Biorefining of biomass to liquid fuels and organic chemicals

Production of medium-chain volatile fatty acids by mixed ruminal microorganisms is enhanced by ethanol in co-culture with Clostridium kluyveri

“…The medium chain VFA can be recovered by extraction or other methods (Singhania et al, 2013) and converted by catalytic chemistry or electrochemistry to various liquid fuels or industrial chemicals. Examples of potential products include ketones and secondary alcohols produced in the MixAlco process (Holtzapple and Granda, 2009); esters by a process analogous to the valeric biofuels platform of Lange et al (2010); or hydrocarbons and alcohols produced by Kolbe or Hoefer-Moest electrolysis (Levy et al, 1983). The carboxylate platform has several attractive features, including feedstock flexibility; minimal feedstock pretreatment; utilization of most organic components of the biomass (carbohydrate, protein, nucleic acid, organic acids and some lipids); non-aseptic operation; and mixed culture stability.…”

Sugar-Based Chemicals for Environmentally Sustainable Applications

“…If the 20 th century was the era of petroleum refining, then the 21 st century may be the era of the "bio-refining" industry (1,2). Before it was recognized that petroleum is not an inexhaustible and universal source of energy, the petroleum industry was growing dramatically with chemical synthesis of new products with novel properties, particularly polymers and plastics (3,4).…”

Projected mature technology scenarios for conversion of cellulosic biomass to ethanol with coproduction thermochemical fuels, power, and/or animal feed protein

“…T he concept of biomass refi ning has been a subject of discussion for more than 25 years [1][2][3] motivated by potential for enhanced energy security, climate change mitigation, and rural economic development. 4,5 Th e focus of most prior analyses has been coproduction of fuels with chemicals and other non-fuel.…”