Biomass renewable resource

Narayan, R. (1992) Biomass (Renewable) Resources for Production of Materials, Chemicals, and Fuels/ A. Paradigm Shift, in Emerging Technologies for Materials and Chemicals from Biomass, ACS Symp. Ser. 476, in R.M. Rowell, T.P. Schultz, and R. Narayan (eds.), ACS, Washington, DC, pp.1-10. 

Because oil and gas ate not renewable resources, at some point in time alternative feedstocks will become attractive however, this point appears to be fat in the future. Of the alternatives, only biomass is a renewable resource (see Fuels frombiomass). The only chemical produced from biomass in commercial quantities at the present time is ethanol by fermentation. The cost of ethanol from biomass is not yet competitive with synthetically produced ethanol from ethylene. Ethanol (qv) can be converted into a number of petrochemical derivatives and could become a significant source. 

Chemurgy is defined as that branch of appHed chemistry devoted to industrial utilization of organic raw materials, especially from farm products. A more modem and general definition for chemurgy is the use of renewable resources particularly biomass, usually plant or microbial material, for materials and energy (see Fuels frombiomass Fuels fromwaste). 

Xylan-type polysaccharides are the main hemicellulose components of secondary cell walls constituting about 20-30% of the biomass of dicotyl plants (hardwoods and herbaceous plants). In some tissues of monocotyl plants (grasses and cereals) xylans occur up to 50% [6j. Xylans are thus available in huge and replenishable amoimts as by-products from forestry, the agriculture, wood, and pulp and paper industries. Nowadays, xylans of some seaweed represent a novel biopolymer resource [4j. The diversity and complexity of xylans suggest that many useful by-products can be potentially produced and, therefore, these polysaccharides are considered as possible biopolymer raw materials for various exploitations. As a renewable resource, xylans are... 

The use of renewable resources for manufacturing specific performance and speciality chemicals, and for fibres to replace synthetic ones, is growing. The driver for this is improved cost/performance. In order to have a major impact on the amount of oil and gas used there is a need to convert biomass into new, large-scale basic feedstocks such as synthesis gas or methanol. Many technical developments in separation science as well as improvements in the overall yield of chemicals are required before renewable feedstocks can compete effectively with oil and gas, but the gap will continue to narrow. 

Starch and cellulose are potentially important renewable resources for chemical production. Glucose (a component of starch) is relatively easy to obtain from plant material and is used to synthesize existing chemicals. While this is so, the production of such renewable materials, a full fife-cycle assessment of the requirements for their production suggest that much fossil-soiuced energy and material would stiU be employed in the growing, harvesting and processing of biomass. 

Biomass is a renewable resource from which various useful chemicals and fuels can be produced. Glycerol, obtained as a co-product of the transesterification of vegetable oils to produce biodiesel, is a potential building block to be processed in biorefineries (1,2). Attention has been recently paid to the conversion of glycerol to chemicals, such as propanediols (3, 4), acrolein (5, 6), or glyceric acid (7, 8). 

The complete elimination of functional groups is often an undesirable side reaction in organic synthesis, but on the other hand it is a possibility for the recycling of environmentally harmful compounds, for example phenols and haloarenes such as polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDDs or dioxins ). For example, aryl chlorides can be effectively dechlorinated with Pd(0) NPs in tetra-butylammonium salts with almost quantitative conversions also after 19 runs (entry H, Table 1.4) [96]. On the other hand, a C-0 bond cleavage reaction also seems suitable for the fragmentation of sugar-based biomass such as cellulose or cello-biose in that way, sugar monomers and bioalcohol can be derived from renewable resources (entry F, Table 1.4) [164]. 

The opportunities to harness solar, wind, wave, falling water and biomass-waste resources are projected to exceed any wealth created by the exploitation of oil. Progressing past the Oil Age means an important economy of wealth expansion from energy-intensive goods and services with renewable energy. 

Biomass is not a renewable resource unless creation of the source equals or exceeds its use. This is true in energy farms and standard crops, particularly forests. 

Brown, R.C., Radlein, D., Piskorz, J., Pretreatment processes to increase pyrolytic yield of Levoglucosan from herbaceous biomass, chemicals and materials from renewable resources,... 

The biomass is a renewable resource with no apparent negative environmental impacts. 

Until recently, synthesis of nanostructured carbon materials was usually based on very harsh conditions such as electric arc discharge techniques [1], chemical vapor deposition [2], or catalytic pyrolysis of organic compounds [3]. In addition (excluding activated carbons), only little research has been done to synthesize and recognize the structure of carbon materials based on natural resources. This is somewhat hard to understand, as carbon structure synthesis has been practiced from the beginning of civilization on the base of biomass, with the petrochemical age only being a late deviation. A refined approach towards advanced carbon synthesis based on renewable resources would be significant, as the final products provide an important perspective for modern material systems and devices. 

These systems offer the opportunity to produce hydrogen from renewable resources in the mid-term (five to ten years). Using agricultural residues and wastes, or biomass specifically grown for energy uses, hydrogen can be produced using a variety of processes. 

Terrestrial biomass is of course dependent on a non renewable resource - the soil - for mechanical support and the supply and transport of nutrients to the growing plant. The Canadian total land area of 996,6991000 ha has the following land classification (4). 

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