IEA Bioenergy publishes the assessment of four biorefinery concepts
Type of post: NEWS IN BRIEF.
Earlier this month, the International Energy Agency (IEA) Task
42 Biorefining in a future bioeconomy issued a new report that investigates
four case studies on biorefinery pathways via a technical, economic and
environmental (TEE) assessment.
Figure 1. Cover of the report
The assessment is based on available generic data
and its objective is to establish an open access approach containing the
assessment methodology and primary data origin to create a knowledgeable
community within the biorefinery sector. The results are presented in the
structure of biorefinery fact sheets in order to: make the calculations and
primary data transparent, accessible and updateable; keep the results summary
in a compact, illustrative form for information dissemination to a broader
public; facilitate stakeholder involvement to accelerate information exchange
on an international level.
This report considers the following biorefinery
systems:
- Case Study 1: 2-platform (C5&C6 sugars,
lignin) biorefinery to produce bioethanol, electricity & heat from corn
stover.
- Case Study 2: 2-platform (C5&C6 sugars,
biogas) biorefinery to produce the biopolymer PHB, electricity & heat from
sugar beet or sugar cane.
- Case Study 3: 3-platform (C6 sugar, animal
feed, lipids) biorefinery to produce the biopolymer PLA, animal feed &
lipids from food waste.
- Case Study 4: 3-platform (pulp, lignin, energy)
biorefinery to produce pulp, lignin and energy from wood chips.