Sugar Cane as a Renewable Feedstock for the Chemical Industry:

Challenges and Opportunities

Dr. Luc Moens

National Bioenergy Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

Dr. Luc Moens a invited speaker presented this paper at the 2002 Sugar Processing Research Institute, Inc., (SPRI) Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Abstract

The extraction of sucrose from sugar cane generates large volumes of bagasse as a low-value by-products for which very limited uses exist in today's market. The challenges associated with the fractionation of bagasse into its cellulosic and lignin components have made it very difficult to establish uses for bagasse as a feedstock material for chemicals production. However, the last two decades have witnessed the development of a new method for fractionating lignocellulosics, as well as the establishment of chemical technologies that allow for the conversion of cellulose into distinct "platform chemicals' in higher yields than before. This convergence of better technologies creates opportunities for the development of new and economically viable routes for converting bagasse into higher-value platform chemicals. This paper will discuss three significant platform chemicals that can be generated from cellulosic fractions in biomass, i.e. levoglucosan, levulinic acid and 3,4-dihydroxybutyric acid. Future work should make it possible to derive these platform chemicals from sugar cane bagasse.

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