Biorefinery

A biorefinery is a facility that integrates biomass conversion processes and equipment to produce fuels, power, and value-added chemicals from biomass. The biorefinery concept is analogous to today's crude oil refinery, which produce multiple fuels and products from petroleum. There are numerous technical and non-technical obstacles to the implementation and commercialization of the biorefinery. Current technical barriers to the use of energy crops are associated with the cost of production and difficulties in harvesting and storing the material grown, especially for annual or other crops that have to be harvested within a narrow period in the autumn. Transportation costs are of prime importance when calculating the overall costs of biomass; hence, local or regional production of biomass is most favorable.