Researchers Awarded Funds to Develop Biomass-derived Renewable Chemicals for Solvents & more

The University of Liverpool has been awarded funding to develop the next generation of renewable chemicals from biomass to use in the manufacture of materials, plastics, solvents and pharmaceuticals.

The 1.8million project, which is in collaboration with the University of York, will involve developing platform chemicals from the sugars, fats, oils and carbohydrates produced by biomass including food supply chain wastes and forestry wastes.

Dr. Jose A. Lopez-Sanchez: "The use of biomass-derived chemicals and products in manufacturing is a priority as the need for industry to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels increases".

More efficient and more economically viable

The project also aims to improve current biorefinery processes by integrating the technologies for separating and activating compounds derived from biomass materials into a single process to make it more efficient and more economically viable.

Fossil fuel sources currently provide the basis for the majority of chemical feedstocks used by industry. Decreasing supplies, increasing oil prices and environmental concerns mean there is growing shift by industry towards renewable and sustainable sources for raw materials. Whilst there have been advances in the development of renewable chemicals issues still remain with regard to efficiency, scaling-up for use by industry, economic viability and the use of feedstocks available in sufficiently large quantities and that do not compete with food production.

Leading the project, Dr. Jose A. Lopez-Sanchez, a lecturer in Sustainable Chemistry and Catalysis within the Stephenson Institute for Renewable Energy, said: "The use of biomass-derived chemicals and products in manufacturing is a priority as the need for industry to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels increases. The use of renewables in the production of bioenergy and chemicals also represents one of the necessary steps required to reduce CO₂ emissions in the near future and therefore reduce the detrimental impact of human activity in our environment.