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136 Refining Biomass Residues for Sustainable Energy and Bioproducts

are mostly referred as potential game changer as they reinvent a way for long-term
production of chemicals (Davide and Markus, 2015).
The lignocellulosic biomasses were effectively utilized than other sources owing to
availability and cost nature. The platform chemicals produced from biomass consist of
oxygenated compounds of high molecular mass with complex structure. The unique
structure of this biomass helps in effective generation of bio-based bulk chemicals. This
complex structure helps in the formation of various entities by defunctionalization or
functionalization process (Besson et al., 2014). The extensive research on this field has
created various new developing novel processes that increase the value of platform che-
micals. Continuous flow technology has outspread the research on platform chemicals
with certain environmental footprints. This technology was widely adopted for the pro-
duction of commodity and fine chemicals. The main target on this research field was
ultimately focused to render the material price as effective as the petroleum-based pro-
ducts (Hessel et al., 2013; Hafeez et al., 2018; Ge ´rardy et al., 2018; Plutschack et al.,
2017; Cambie ´ at al., 2016; Mika et al., 2018; Zhang and Huber, 2018). The implemen-
tation of innovative biorefinery concepts acts as channel of instrumentation toward the
upgradation of bio-based chemical industry (Ranjan et al., 2015). This chapter high-
lights the impact of biorefinery concepts toward bio-based bulk chemical production.
Moreover, this chapter also reflects the prominence of process intensification that
serves as route for platform chemicals.

6.2 Renewable chemical industry and its growth

The platform chemicals derived from biomass are remarkably increasing in recent
times. The platform chemicals, such as propane, butanediols, ethanol, polymers,
and amino acids, are gaining ample value in commercial scale. The growth of
value-added chemicals has got great emphasis to its various advantages. It was
reported that bio-based chemicals have contributed about 2% of economic growth
per annum along with global chemical industries. The growth in bio-based chemical
industries has drawn attention of policy designers to bring changes in the regulation,
for a consistent growth (US Department of Agriculture, 2008). Researchers have
started to explore the sensible approach of utilizing biomass for the production of
higher value products as they are easily available with less regulation constraints.
The use of biomass requires extensive modification in the fuel sector as they pos-
sess certain limitation at industrial level. The target of the bio-based chemicals was
found to be significantly higher than the bulk chemicals. The main driving forces
for the production of bio-based chemicals are technological process and subsidies
from the respective governments. The recent development noted in the bio-based
chemical industry is the use of biotechnological process and metabolic engineering,
which shows a significant approach toward high yield of the desired product (Sauer
et al., 2008; Tan and Liao, 2012; Becker and Wittmann, 2012).
The periodic growth in the conversion of platform chemicals was achieved
mainly through diverse competences such as raw material selection and its