IEA Bioenergy publishes the assessment of four biorefinery concepts

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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.
Report: “Technical, Economic and Environmental Assessment of Biorefinery Concepts: Developing a practical approach for characterisation”.

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.

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