Advisory Report Stresses Need for Feedstock Innovation

US-based Lux Research, Inc., an independent research firm that provides strategic advice for emerging technologies, has released a report that emphasized the need for feedstock innovation to cope with the growing demand for biomass used for biofuels and biochemicals.

According to the report, more than a billion metric tons of biomass is required annually for biofuels and biochemicals and by 2030, with increasing demand to meet aggressive biofuel mandates, several regions will encounter major stress on available biomass from sugar crops, oil crops, cellulosic materials and waste feedstock. When biomass demand exceeds supply, a key coping mechanism will be innovations on feedstock technologies and logistics. Lux Research evaluated certain technologies that could make difference which include municipal solid waste and waste gases processing facilities to cater to rising waste feedstock demand, satellite conversion facilities that feed into central processing facility to reduce transportation cost, and innovative crop modification approaches to reduce input requirements.

The report, titled Finding Feedstocks for the Bio-Based Fuels and Chemicals of Today and 2030, is part of the Lux Research Bio-based Materials and Chemicals Intelligence and the Alternative Fuels Intelligence services.