Databases for biomass and waste biorefinery - a mini-review and SWOT analysis

Abstract

The world is facing problems of the increasing amount of resources wasted as the world population grows. Biowaste streams form a significant part of the overall waste generation, and a circular economy utilizing this biowaste will significantly reduce waste whilst lowering the anthropogenic carbon footprint. Due to their energy content and high concentration of hydrocarbon molecules, bio-based waste streams have the potential to be transformed into valorized products (energy, fuels, and chemicals) using biorefinery technologies. In this work, a mini-review has been conducted on available, mostly European databases on existing biomass types and biorefinery technologies to provide a framework for a desirable, comprehensive database connecting bio-based waste streams, biorefinery technologies and bioproducts, as well as the geographical distribution of feedstocks and biorefineries. The database assessment utilized the SWOT (strengths, weakness, opportunities, threats) methodology to support benchmark analysis and to identify critical gaps in underlying data structures that could be included in a single database. The results show that current databases are useful but insufficient for waste biorefineries due to limited quality and quantity as well as the usability of data. A comprehensive database or improved database cluster would be necessary, not only for technology development but for better investment and policy decisions. The development of the new database architecture would need to incorporate the aspects: expansion of database scope and content depth, improved usability, accessibility, applicability, update frequency, openness to new contributions, process descriptions and parameters, and technology readiness level.