Lew P. Christopher
Biorefining Research Institute, Lakehead University, Canada
Title: Integrated Forest Biorefineries of the Emerging Bioeconomy
Biography
Biography: Lew P. Christopher
Abstract
Uncertainties about global petroleum reserves and oil prices, increasing energy demands and concerns about global warming have accelerated research and development programs in alternative renewable energy. Plant biomass is the single most abundant and renewable resource on earth that has the potential to supplant the use of fossil-derived transportation fuels and help create a more stable energy future. Forestry is traditionally a strong economic sector in North America that comprises about a third of the biomass resources in the U.S. and approximately 50 % of the biomass available for biorefining in Canada. However, due to the strong off-shore competition and gowing global movement for green fuels and chemicals, the North American pulp and paper and other fiber processing industries need to create additional revenues and diversify their products and markets to remain competitive. To achieve this, these industries need to evolve into integrated forest biorefineries (IFBR) - our oil refineries of the future where oil is inevitably replaced by lignocellulosic biomass. IFBR are viewed as one of the economic pillars of the emerging global Bioeconomy, however, less than 10% of the total global fuels and chemicals production is currently biobased. This presentation provides an overview of the IFBR production and conversion platforms. The major research needs for IFBR deployment through process integration and waste utilization will be summarized, with a critical assessment of recent progress and remaining challenges that we currently face in our endevors to transition to a bio-based economy and society.