Techno-economic analysis on biofuels and bioproducts produced from woody biomass

Bioenergy resources, when harvested sustainably, have the potential not only to satisfy the growing energy demand but can also aid in achieving a negative carbon footprint. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has also identified bioenergy resources as an effective tool to achieve zero emissions by 2050 because biomass can be valorized into various products, namely, producer gas, syngas, bioethanol, biomethanol, biochar, bio-oil, etc. by adopting different conversion pathways, thus, aiding in the reduction in consumption of fossil fuel, thereby decreasing the anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHGs) emission into the atmosphere. However, it is necessary to analyze the economic viability of these biorefinery systems for the faster penetration of these products into the global market and to identify the bottleneck haunting its faster dissemination. In this regard, this chapter analyses the technical and economic factors which affect the biorefinery of woody biomass by employing thermo-chemical and bio-chemical conversion processes.