Technology Integration
There are three major steps in converting abundant cellulosic biomass into products in the emerging biorefining industry. The first step involves growing, harvesting, baling, storing and transporting biomass to a biorefinery. The second step involves the size reduction of the biomass, the pretreatment and/or fractionation and the production of fermentation sugars, lignin and possibly fiber in a biorefinery. The third step is the fermentation and distillation of sugars into industrial and consumer products such as ethanol. The PureVision technology platform focuses on the second step, leaving steps one and three to others.To determine the process and economic feasibility of developing a cellulosic biorefinery in a given location, PureVision undertakes a Preliminary Feasibility Study. Planning to develop a biorefinery begins with identifying a year-round supply of cellulosic feedstock in a given location, typically not to exceed a 50-mile radius. This location should be able to provide one or more feedstocks such as wheat straw, corn stalks, wood, etc. to a well-situated biorefinery. Once the source of biomass feedstock is identified, the biorefinery developers must investigate the logistics and costing to acquire the feedstock for the proposed biorefinery. At this point, PureVision can begin working with the developer to determine the potential location, size, biorefinery end products, financing and the economics of converting the biomass into products. If the end product involves a fermentation and distillation step, PureVision collaborators include companies with expertise in this well-understood fermentation and distillation, back-end process.