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7. Biorefinery concept

7. Biorefinery concept

Find out everything about biorefineries in this book.

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7.2 Commercial application and research

Commercial application

Commercial applications are mainly found in processes that are either based on the production of biofuels or highly marketable products such as cellulose, sugar or starch.

This website provides a nice overview and interactive graphics on the processes, locations and biomass used by biorefinery plants in Europe.

The following table was created using information from the website. However, the site offers many other evaluation options.

Feedstock Origin of biomass Plattform Number of plants
Sugar plants Primary: 91%, Waste: 9% C6 Sugar 43
Strach plants Primary: 87%, Waste: 13% Starch 43
Öl plants, used cooking oil Primary: 85%, Waste: 15%  Oil 71
Wood Primary: 66%, Waste: 34% Pulp and waste liquor 60
Lignocellulose plants Primary: 63%, Waste: 37% C5 & C6 sugars and lignin 33
Overview of biorefineries in Europe, primary: raw materials from plants from agriculture and forestry; waste: use of waste or residual materials by Anne Rödl (CC BY), adopted by Jana Schultz


Examples of sugar and starch biorefineries

Verbio produces biogas, bioethanol and biodiesel from agricultural lignocellulose biomass (straw), grain and rapeseed, as well as animal feed and fertilizers and high-quality biocomponents for the pharmaceutical, food and chemical industries.

Crop Energies a subsidiary of Südzucker, produces bioethanol, neutral alcohol, food and animal feed, biogenic CO₂ and biochemicals for the cosmetics, pharmaceutical and chemical industries from sugar beet and grain.

Examples of wood-based biorefineries

UPM Biochemicals produces wood-based glycols and lignin-based functional fillers (RFFs) that can be used in the production of textiles, PET bottles, packaging, refrigerants, composites, rubber and plastics.

Lenzing produces pulp and fibers from wood for the production of textiles and nonwoven products.

Examples of oil- and fat-based biorefineries

Nesteproduces biodiesel and biokerosene as well as polymers and chemical products from used fats and animal waste.

Research and innovation

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