It has been generally acknowledged, that North America’s forest products industry must consider new manufacturing strategies and new products if they want to stay competitive in the global market place. One of the industry’s strength is the fact that it is one of the few nationally based industries that have the necessary skill set and infrastructure available to collect and process sufficient biomass for the rapid development and commercialization of biorefining technologies in the near future. The development of biorefining technologies leveraged with pulp manufacturing would be one of the few technological solutions that would avoid the $0.5-1 billion of new investment costs needed to develop a biorefinery capable of processing 1,000-2,000 tons of wood a day.
The forest product industry is part of the manufacturing sectors that convert wood into high-value products and can contribute about 5% to current U.S. GDP. It frequently provides employment in many rural one-industry towns critically dependent upon their natural wood resource such as in the states of Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan, Maine, Alabama, Arkansas, etc. Unfortunately, the recent downturn in the pulp and paper industry and composite wood products sector has resulted in permanent closure of many pulp and board manufacturing facilities. As a reult, these plant closures put those states that are dependent upon the forest industry as a main contributor to economic health and employment in an extrem difficulty situation. The loss of pulp mills has led to substantial increases in rural unemployment and reductions in future economic growth.
Recently there is a renewed interest in the production of biofuels and bio-based chemicals from lignocellulosics because they are derived from a renewable and carbon-neutral feedstock contrary to their fossil fuel-based counter parts. In addition, oxygen rich chemicals are in principle easier to make from the sugar components present in lignocellulosics by mostly fermentation routes, as compared to complex catalytic conversions of oxygen deficient feedstocks such as oil or natural gas. Within these challenging economic conditions tremendous new opportunities are developing in the forest product industry. The conversion of the fuels industry from hydrocarbon-based technologies to carbohydrate-based would dramatically improve rural employment opportunities, enhance national security, and improve environmental performance, including reductions in CO2 emissions, which is so-called "carbohydrate economy".
Traditionally, pulp mills have one main product stream: From wood chips to pulp fiber (and thermal energy). When looking at this industry, it is not difficult to find that pulp mill is a Natural home for the forest product biorefinery because the pulp and paper industry is the largest handler of forest residues (lignocellusics) and has put tons of money to build the infrastructure such as boiler house, generators, control rooms, pipe bridges, water and effluent stations, warehouses, woodyards, wood procurement, storage tanks. These infrustructure can be used or co-utilized, which will save ~ 35% of capital cost compared to new greenfield construction. This industry already has hundreds of highly trained technical professionals that are available for cellulosic biorefineries. The co-production and process integration can reduce allocated production cost. The second product stream such as bioethanol and other biochemicals can add additional revenue to the industry. This is a new concept: The Integrated Forest Product Biorefinery (IFPB), which has two product steams: From wood chips to pulp fibers and biofuels/biochemicals.
