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1 The Concept of Biorefinery 29

Fig. 2.3 The refinery and the biorefinery (Kamm, B., Kamm, M., Gruber, P. (2012). Biorefineries -
Industrial Processes and Products. In: Ullmann’s Encyclopedia of Indutrial Chemistry, WILEY-
VCH, Weinheim, p 668)

biomass into biofuels, molecular platforms for green chemistry, and into chemical
specialities such as biolubricants and biosolvants. The production processes used in
biorefineries are the same as those commonly used in oil refineries: raw-material
distillation, processing of these materials, separation of the products formed, all of
which is carried out using integrated material and energy flows and processes.
The biorefinery competes with the oil refinery as it commercialises similar
molecules in terms of properties and/or applications.
By producing bioenergy and biosourced products, the biorefinery takes advan-
tage of all the components and intermediate products and maximises the value
obtained from its refining operations.
7
According to de Cherisey (2010), numerous studies have attempted to classify
and map the biorefineries of the world. Biorefineries can be classified on the basis of
the raw materials they use

• The cereal biorefinery processes grain and starch.
• The oilseed biorefinery.
• The “green” biorefinery, which processes water-based raw materials.

7
The European projects Biopol, Biorefinery Euroview and, more recently, Star Colibri.