Systems Perspectives on Biorefineries 2012

Replacing fossil fuels with biomass for the production of energy carriers, materials and specialty chemicalsis a challenge that now confronts humanity. In which applications shall we use limited resourcesof biomass? How can biomass be refined into the products we want? What is an optimal design of abiorefinery? How is the most advantageous portfolio of policy instruments designed to realise the biorefineriesof the future?There is not one final answer to these questions. However, different systems studies can provide us withcomplementary pieces of the puzzle. These can be valuable by themselves, or be brought together into alarger and more complex picture. Systems perspectives on Biorefineries 2012 contains nine chapters thataddress different topics related to the immensely important issue of how the world’s biomass resourcescan, or should, be converted into the goods we need and desire. The book is far from complete, but it is acontribution and a start..