Journal of Fundamentals of Renewable Energy and Applications
Open Access
ISSN: 2090-4541
+44 1300 500008
ISSN: 2090-4541
+44 1300 500008
Alex Michine
MetGen, Finland
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Fundam Renewable Energy Appl
Biofuels, chemicals, and materials derived from lignocellulosic biomass have been the focus of the international R&D community and technology developers for the last decades. However, despite intense efforts, a real breakthrough has not been achieved yet. This has been mainly due to a biased view, focusing solely on a certain end product�??for example, cellulose pulp or ethanol�??and considering by-products as low-value waste streams for energy applications. With the new wave of lignocellulosic biomass fractionation technologies being demonstrated at a pilot scale, success stories are closer than they have ever been. Biomass fractionation to high purity intermediate building blocks of cellulose to C6 sugars and hemicellulose to C5/C6 sugars and lignin, instead of just one main product, provides a way to produce a diversity of products and establish novel bio-based value chains. Especially important is the availability of higher purity lignin for different direct drop-in or after processing (depolymerization etc.) applications, which�??compared to the conventional lignins derived from pulp mills or ethanol refineries�??provides totally new applications and perspectives to enable the increased use of biobased raw materials in various industries.
Alex Michine is a Founder and CEO of MetGen since 2008. MetGen is a biotechnology company committed to serving industrial customers with enzymatic solutions tailored to their specific needs. He is a serial entrepreneur in the industrial biotechnology sector. He has relentlessly been promoting the future technologies for bioeconomy and has been an active spokesperson for great potential of cross-disciplinary collaboration.
E-mail: alex@metgen.com