The biorefinery industry has excellent development prospects, but raw materials are a challenge

On October 21, 2022, John Bell, Director of the European Commission’s Research and Innovation Department and responsible for the EU’s bioeconomy strategy, said that the EU is investing billions of euros in biorefineries and plans to build 300 new sustainable biorefineries by 2030. refinery, and said supply could increase by 1.1 to 3.1 million tons by 2030. The U.S. Department of Energy has also proposed that biomass will provide 5% of electricity, 20% of transportation fuels and 25% of chemicals in the United States by 2030.

Biorefinery, also known as “biomass refining” or “biorefinery”, uses biomass as raw material (wood fiber raw materials, plant-based starch, agricultural waste, etc.) and integrates various processes and equipment for biomass conversion. , the process of recycling and adding value to produce various chemicals, fuels and bio-based materials.

Biorefining converts organic matter into materials that can replace items produced from fossils,<span style="color" published by the Industrial Research Center :#000080;”>“2022-2027 Biorefinery Industry In-depth Analysis and “14th Five-Year Plan” Development Plan Guidance Report” shows that in recent years, as various countries around the world have Renewable energy is being paid more and more attention. Major economies around the world are stepping up the development of renewable energy utilization technologies. At the same time, with the continuous advancement of global biorefinery technology, there are more and more biorefinery production companies, and biorefineries are By converting food waste into useful and safe food, feed and fertilizer ingredients, the biorefinery market is also growing in size. In 2021, the global biorefinery market will reach about 900 billion yuan.

In the future, with the continuous advancement of biorefining technology and the gradual improvement of the industrial chain, the global biorefining market will maintain a rapid growth trend. It is expected that the global biorefining market will reach 1.5 trillion yuan in 2027, and the industry development prospects are excellent.

(1) Policies promote the development of biorefinery industry

Biorefining can convert biomass into fuel, heat, power and chemicals, thus protecting the environment and reducing emissions while achieving sustainable development of resources. Such activities are inseparable from the active promotion and policy guidance of governments of various countries. In recent years, the carbon emission targets and corresponding policies set by various countries around the world have strongly supported the utilization of renewable energy resources. A series of policies from various governments have promoted the development of the biorefinery industry, especially the “2018 EU Bioeconomy Strategy” ” Direct policies such as ” have greatly promoted investment enthusiasm in the biorefinery industry.

(2) Changes in raw material prices and high costs pose challenges to industry development

The raw materials of the biorefining industry include wood fiber raw materials, plant-based starch, agricultural waste, urban and rural organic waste, straw, etc. The availability, sustainability, consistency, and price of biorefining raw materials directly affect the production and operation of biorefining enterprises. Sustainability, cost and scale, etc. Currently, in order to achieve high yields and run as long as possible, biorefinery companies need consistent feed quality. Some companies will purchase large amounts of biomass materials to store and then send them to biorefineries as needed. However, this strategy will lead to A range of logistical issues, loss of biomass due to microbial decomposition or fire, and uneven feedstock quality due to changes in the characteristics of the delivered biomass, etc., lead to significant increases in feedstock costs, low production volumes and low product yields, which Changes in factors pose challenges to the development of the biorefinery industry.