Progress in lignocellulosic biomass valorization for biofuels and value‐added chemical production in the EU: A focus on thermochemical conversion processes

Abstract

The demand for sustainable energy sources has increased owing to environmental concerns, such as climate change, rising energy demand and rapid industrialization. Biomass utilization for bioenergy and value‐added chemical production has become essential for creating a circular low‐carbon bioeconomy and sustainable waste management techniques. This review focuses on thermochemical processes and analyzes the trends of biomass utilization for energy production in the EU over the last decade. It discusses the current state‐of‐the‐art of gasification, pyrolysis, advanced combustion and liquefaction technologies, and presents the individual challenges and prospects of each process. A comprehensive overview of previous studies related to each conversion technology is provided to pave the way for future thermochemical, biochemical and integrated biomass valorization studies. Additionally, the review discusses biomass thermochemical conversion processes, which are combined with carbon capture, such as gasification, liquefaction and pyrolysis. These processes offer the potential to achieve negative net atmospheric carbon emissions, which can contribute to global warming mitigation efforts.

Biomass: A Versatile Resource for Biofuel, Industrial, and Environmental Solution

“…1) Pyrolysis: There are many thermal, biological, and physical ways of converting biomass into biofuel [90]. Pyrolysis is a prominent biomass-to-energy conversion method owing to its ease of storage, transportation, and versatility in applications such as combustion engines, boilers, and turbines [91], [92]. In addition, solid biomass and waste are difficult and costly to manage, which promotes pyrolysis research [93], [94].…”

Unlocking renewable energy potential: Harnessing machine learning and intelligent algorithms

“…As predicted, biomass energy could account for more than 50% of energy demand in the developping countries by 2050 (Demirbas, 2008). Indeed, the main biomass sources in the world include farm waste, woodworking wastes, forestry and agricultural residue, and aquatic plants (Ağbulut et al, 2023;Alzamora and Barros, 2020;Bandh et al, 2023;Dhyani and Bhaskar, 2018;Güleç et al, 2023). The variety in feedstock processing, shorter reaction times, cheap capital costs, wide product range, high process yield, CO2 neutrality, and possibility for product improvements have made the thermal conversion of biomass into bioenergy a viable approach (Chen et al, 2022b;Hoang et al, 2023bHoang et al, , 2021bSaravanakumar et al, 2023).…”