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.