title: Biofuels 2020: Biorefineries based on lignocellulosic materials.
abstract: The production of liquid biofuels to blend with gasoline is of worldwide importance to secure the energy supply while reducing the use of fossil fuels, supporting the development of rural technology with knowledge-based jobs and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. Today, engineering for plant construction is accessible and new processes using agricultural residues and municipal solid wastes have reached a good degree of maturity and high conversion yields (almost 90% of polysaccharides are converted into monosaccharides ready for fermentation). For the complete success of the 2G technology, it is still necessary to overcome a number of limitations that prevent a first-of-a-kind plant from operating at nominal capacity. We also claim that the triumph of 2G technology requires the development of favourable logistics to guarantee biomass supply and make all actors (farmers, investors, industrial entrepreneurs, government, others) aware that success relies on agreement advances. The growth of ethanol production for 2020 seems to be secured with a number of 2G plants, but public/private investments are still necessary to enable 2G technology to move on ahead from its very early stages to a more mature consolidated technology.
authors.affiliation: Biotechnology Department, Abengoa Research, Calle Energía Solar n°1, 41014, Sevilla, Spain.|Department of Business Administration and Marketing, University of Seville, Sevilla, Spain.
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Valdivia
authors.affiliation: Department of Business Administration and Marketing, University of Seville, Sevilla, Spain.
authors.forename: Jose Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Galan
authors.affiliation: Department of Financial Economics and Accounting, University of Seville, Sevilla, Spain.
authors.forename: Joaquina
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Laffarga
authors.affiliation: Biotechnology Department, Abengoa Research, Calle Energía Solar n°1, 41014, Sevilla, Spain.
authors.forename: Juan-Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Ramos
mesh_terms: D056804:Biofuels / Q000382:microbiology*; D001711:Biotransformation; D000431:Ethanol / Q000378:metabolism*; D008031:Lignin / Q000378:metabolism*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000254:growth & development
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; C036909:lignocellulose; D000431:Ethanol; D008031:Lignin