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76 Biofuels for a More Sustainable Future

• Biohydrogen: Hydrogen produced from biomass and/or the biodegradable
fraction of residues.
• Pure vegetable oil produced from oleaginous plants: Crude or refined oil pro-
duced by pressure, extraction, or comparable methods from oleaginous
plants.

3 Production of biofuel in biorefineries

Biorefineries can be defined as industrial installations that convert biomass
and other biological raw materials into products capable of being utilized
in the transformation industry such as chemical resources, biofuels, energy
(heat and power), among others (Kamm and Kamm, 2007). These installa-
tions do not encompass only one process or technology, as different conver-
sion routes can be utilized in function of the resource employed and
products to be obtained, according to the type of biomass (Bio2Value,
2015)(Fig. 4.1).
Biorefineries are part of the research, development, and innovation
agenda of most developed and developing countries, such as Brazil, mobi-
lizing public and private efforts and high amounts of resources directed
toward the optimized utilization of resources, to add value to the productive
chain of biomass and reduce possible environmental impacts associated
(Fava et al., 2015; Vaz, 2011).
Therefore it is necessary to know the possibilities of implementing a bior-
efinery, regarding the availability and type of biomass. Besides, it is necessary
to select the basket of products, taking into consideration some sustainability
aspects. Knowledge on the inherent characteristics of conversion processes,
along with the technological development degree and its limitations is para-
mount for a viable and sustainable utilization of resources, besides helping in
the decision-making process (Cardona and Moncada, 2016).

Products
Fossil resource
– Energy (fuel, etc.)
– Crude oil
– Chemicals
– Natural gas
Petro-refinery – Materials (plastic, etc.)
Products
Biomass
– Energy (fuel, etc.)
– Trees, crops – Chemicals
– Grass, clover
– Materials (plastic, etc.)
– Waste
Biorefinery – Human and animal food
Fig. 4.1 Biorefinery versus petro-refinery.