Lignocellulosic biomass

Abstract

Lignocellulosic biomass is a complex mixture of biomacromolecules that varies significantly from one specie to the other and even throughout the same specie depending on many aspects such as geographical location, season, soil, etc. Cellulose-based material is the most abundant source of renewable carbon on earth and the increasing concerns toward reduction of GHG emissions around the globe will surely draw significantly more attention to it in the upcoming years. Non-edible biomass (also called second-generation biomass) is often divided in three categories, which are straws, softwood and hardwood. Each of these categories involves the same major macromolecules: cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin. To a lesser extent, this biomass may also contain proteins and lipids (mostly for agricultural biomass belonging to the straw category). Finally, all contain extractives (or secondary metabolites) which amongst all constituents are the most unpredictable. Finally, the inorganic content of lignocellulosic biomass has also a major impact on its application, especially in the field of bioenergy. In this chapter, the focus will be given on providing different levels of quantification for each of these macromolecules. When, in some cases, only a general composition is sufficient, simple analysis based on gravimetric methods will be provided. However, some applications of biomass will require a deeper investigation of the different macromolecules and in that sense, more comprehensive protocols, involving state of the art analytics such as spectroscopy and chromatography will be provided.