Biorefinery

Petroleum is an important raw material for many products and services in today's society. Transportation and chemical industry cannot function without this resource. This must change in the future; environmental concerns and shortages will ensure that alternatives are sought all over the world. The ECN program Transportation Fuels and Chemicals is developing knowledge and technology for replacing petroleum as raw material with biomass.

Already specific biomass types (such as sugars, starches and fatty acids) are being used to make transportation fuels and chemicals. Research on the use of woody and grassy biomass is important because they would make biofuels more sustainable.

Two types of processes can be used to make transportation fuels and chemicals from woody and grassy biomass: biochemical processes (with bacteria, yeasts or fungi) and thermal processes (at high temperatures). ECN is focussing on the development of knowledge and technology to convert biomass into transportation fuels and chemicals through thermal processes.