A newly-published textbook, edited by Keith Waldron and involving over sixty respected international experts, provides a wide ranging and systematic look at the latest developments in biorefining, and how they are helping to produce more sustainable fuels and chemicals.

Published by Woodhead Publishing, Advances in Biorefineries: Biomass and Waste Supply Chain Exploitation will be an invaluable reference text for biorefinery engineers, industrial biochemists, biomass and waste scientists as well as researchers and academics in the biorefining field.

Biorefineries are an essential technology in converting biomass into biofuels or other useful materials. Advances in Biorefineries provides a comprehensive overview of biorefining processing techniques and technologies, and the biofuels and other materials produced.

Part one focuses on methods of optimizing the biorefining process and assessing its environmental and economic impact. It also looks at current and developing technologies for producing value-added materials. Part two goes on to explore these materials with a focus on biofuels and other value-added products such as biolubricants and bioadhesives. It considers the properties, limitations, and practical applications of these products and how they can be used to meet the increasing demand for renewable and sustainable fuels as an alternative to fossil fuels.

Professor Keith Waldron in the Biorefinery at IFR

Professor Keith Waldron of the Institute of Food Research is the Director of the Biorefinery Centre, on the Norwich Research Park. The Biorefinery Centre pioneers new ways of exploiting waste and co-products from the food production chain to produce biofuels and other high value products. Its facilities allow pilot studies on all stages of the biorefining process, from biomass pre-treatment through to fermentation.

The book also features a chapter on the use of biomass for packaging films and coatings co-authored by Dr Henriette Azeredo from EMBRAPA, the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation. Dr Azeredo is currently undertaking research at the IFR on the use of wheat and banana co-products as sources of biofuels and biodegradable food packaging materials.

Website: http://store.elsevier.com/Advances-in-Biorefineries/isbn-9780857095213/