2-01: Considerations for research, development and commercialization/scale-up of biomass pretreatment processes

Much of the current activity to commercialize production of biomass based fuels and chemicals hinges on the development of cost-effective pretreatment processes as yields would be too low without pretreatment to be economically viable.  Many pretreatment technologies employ thermochemical reactions to reduce the recalcitrance of ligno-cellulosic matrices, solubilize fractions of the biomass, and expose reactive sites for subsequent reactions.  Resource limitations, including feedstock supply, analytical capabilities, workspace, staffing, and funding constrain research and development efforts at each stage, ultimately resulting in delays in schedules and greater costs. Less than complete understanding of feedstock characteristics and early-stage decisions frequently compromise results and delay technology scale-up and commercialization or lead to unforeseen “dead-ends”.  Some of the challenges facing introduction of new pretreatments and other technologies will be summarized, and approaches to optimizing research and technology development, scale-up, and commercialization will be described in conjunction with strategic approaches to project development and finance.