Introduction to Chemicals from Biomass New Edition

“[The book] provides a thorough introduction to this fast moving sector. The authors include a wide variety of accesible definitions… Overall I found the book very readable and would recommend it to anyone wishing to learn about the benefits of microreactor technology.” ( Chemistry World , March 2009)

Introduction to Chemicals from Biomass New Edition presents an overview of the use of bioresources in the 21st century for the manufacture of major chemical an material products. The book covers resources, chemical composition, biorefinery concepts, utilization of wastes, extraction technologies, controlled pyrolysis, fermentation and platform molecules and green chemical technologies for their conversion to valuable chemicals.

This book is intended to show that while biomass has biological origins and that biological methods will be an important part of the biorefinery toolkit, biomass is essentially a rich mixture of chemicals and materials that can be extracted for direct use or conversion into other useful products including high value chemicals. When we manipulate biomass we must build on the ideal start for any product lifecycle of a renewable resource, and use green (bio)chemical technologies for transformations to what could be genuinely green and sustainable products.

Introduction to Chemicals from Biomass New Edition will prove useful to both academic and industrial scientists involved in process/industrial chemistry within the areas of biotechnology, chemical engineering, fine and bulk chemical production, agriculture, crop science and energy & power generation.

We need to bring the chemistry to the biorefinery as well as take the chemicals form the biorefinery – and we must make sure it’s all green chemistry!

Topics covered include:

• The Biorefinery Concept
• The Chemical Value of Biomass
• Green Chemical Technologies
• Production of Chemicals from Biomass
• Production of Biomaterials and Biopolymers from Biomass
• Production of Energy from Biomass