Thermal treatment of biomass for the circular economy

Thermal treatment of biomass promises to be critical for the full realization of the circular bio-economy, as a result of the manner in which thermal treatment facilitates widespread use and adoption. Broadly speaking, thermal treatment can be categorized as either "pyrolysis" or "gasification," and yields a variety of solid, liquid, and gaseous products whose properties and yield depends on process conditions, and whose end use could be for energy markets or other materials. It can also improve circularity through reduction of transportation costs, improve energy density, and create forms of bioenergy that are compatible with current energy infrastructure. Provision of coproducts is also a potential benefit of the use of thermally treated biomass, in that products produced through thermal treatment can serve as an alternative for non-circular products that otherwise would be difficult to replace. The potential for using thermal treatment in "upgrading" of low value biomass to economically attractive products can also be realized. All of these impacts help to drive the commoditization process, which is a necessary step if biomass energy is to be adopted in a large scale manner.