Biotechnology Of Biomass Conversion

Overview of bioconversion of renewable resources such as wood waste, agricultural crops, and crop remainders. The following are dealt with : the scientific basic concepts (biologic and technologic), the industrial application of biomass conversion to fuel alcohol and the economic aspects

The consumption of petroleum has surged during the 20th century, at least partially because of the rise of the automobile industry. Today, fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas provide more than three quarters of the world's energy. Unfortunately, the growing demand for fossil fuel resources comes at a time of diminishing reserves of these nonrenewable resources. The worldwide reserves of oil are sufficient to supply energy and chemicals for only about another 40 years, causing widening concerns about rising oil prices. The use of biomass to produce energy is only one form of renewable energy that can be utilized to reduce the impact of energy production and use on the global environment. Biomass can be converted into three main products such as energy, biofuels and fine chemicals using a number of different processes. Today, it is a great challenge for researchers to find new environmentally benign methodology for biomass conversion, which are industrially profitable as well. This book focuses on the conversion of biomass to biofuels, bioenergy and fine chemicals with the interface of biotechnology, microbiology, chemistry and materials science. An international scientific authorship summarizes the state-of-the-art of the current research and gives an outlook on future developments.

Biomass Conversion Technology: Principles and Practice covers all the aspects of biomass production and utilization, including fundamental principles as well as practical applications. The book presents papers on biomass pretreatment; the production of fuels and solvents; and the production of SCP. The text also includes papers on the production and action of cellulases as well as other biomass conversion technologies. Scientists, engineers and others who are interested in learning or reviewing some of the basics and current developments in biomass conversion technologies will find the book invaluable.

Throughout the world many projects have been underway to investigate the conversion of renewable biomass into energy and synthetic fuels by thermo chemical methods such as combustion, pyrolysis, gasification and lique faction. While many of these represent prior art used during the early 20th century, the recent decade since the 1970s oil shock has immeasurably increased the knowledge base for such processes. Much of the new knowledge has been gained by persons who were not trained in classical wood chemistry and there have not yet been many attempts to synthesize the knowledge into a corpus of systematic information. To bring this about the International Energy Agency's Forestry Energy collaboration, the Gas Research Institute, the National Research Council of Canada and the US Department of Energy jointly sponsored a conference on the Fundamentals of Thermochemical Biomass Conversion in Estes Park, Colorado which was held on October 18-22, 1982. The Conference, which was structured around invited plenary papers and contributions from researchers, served as the basis for the papers in this volume which reflect the substantial conclusions of the Conference. During the planning for the Conference, it was realized by the editors in their capacity as Co-chairmen that a major problem in biomass research was the lack of reproducibility between reported experiments and their inter comparison on account of the heterogeneity of biomass materials. A well known wood chemist, George M.

The potential that biomass energy has to supplement traditional fuels and reduce greenhouse gas emissions has put it front and center in the plan to replace fossil-based fuels with renewable fuels. While much has been written about biomass conversions, no single textbook contains all the information needed to teach a biomass conversion course—until now. Introduction to Biomass Energy Conversions presents a comprehensive review of biomass resources available for conversion into heat, power, and biofuels. The textbook covers biomass characterization and discusses facilities, equipment, and standards (e.g. ASTM or NREL) used for analysis. It examines the range of biomass resources available for conversion and presents traditional biomass conversion processes along with extensive biomass characterization data tables, illustrations, and graphical presentations of the various biomass energy conversion processes. The author also describes how to set up a laboratory for biomass energy conversion, and presents economics and sustainability issues. Loaded with real-world examples, the text includes numerous worked examples and problems in each chapter. No one knows what the price of oil will be next year or in future decades. It is governed by many factors other than supply and demand (politics, wars, etc.), however, whatever the future of energy is, bio-fuels will play an important role. This technical guide prepares students for managing bio-refineries, no matter what type of bio-fuel is produced. It also provides practicing engineers with a resource for starting a small bio-fuel business.

There have been many developments in the science and technology of thermo chemical biomass conversion since the previous conference on Advances in Thermochemical Biomass Conversion in Interlaken, Switzerland, in 1992. This fourth conference again covers all aspects of thermal biomass conversion systems from fundamental research through applied research and development to demon stration and commercial applications to reflect the progress made in the last four years. All aspects of bioenergy systems are covered from pretreatment through to end-user applications with increased consideration paid to the environmental benefits and problems of implementing bio-energy systems. There was an excellent response with over 200 papers offered and over 180 delegates from 29 countries attending the conference. The programme was divided into five main areas covering pyrolysis, pretreatment, gasification, combustion and system studies and this division is reflected in the structure of these conference proceedings. Each main section was preceded by a state-of-the-art review to provide a focus for the ensuing presentations and an authoritative reference. All the papers included have been subject to a full peer review process. As with any international conference, an important aim was to exchange ideas and discuss problems with fellow researchers, as well as to hear about the latest research and development and applications. A workshop programme was included to encourage this interaction in areas of interest selected by participants. The resul tant workshop reports provide a summary of topical problems and opportunities.

This book covers biomass modification to facilitate the industrial degradation processing and other characteristics of feedstocks and new technologies for the conversion of lignocelluloses into biofuels and other products.