Biomass feedstock in biobased value chain can be primary or secondary depending upon their source of origin. Within the INFORMBIO project primary and secondary biomass have been segregated by sector into
a) Agriculture sector which are derived from agricultural land and which includes i) grass, ii) energy crops (hemp, willow, miscanthus feedstock), iii) pulses (pea, lupin, chickpea, etc.), iv) cereals (wheat, maize, sugarcane), iv) secondary sources such as underutilized agriculture residues (such as cereal straws, horticultural residues such as mushroom residues, plant residues, food waste at the primary processing phase)
b) Forestry sector which includes i) wood (hardwood, softwood) and pulp as raw material, ii) secondary sources include wood residues (e.g., forestry residues, wood processing residues like bark, sawdust and wood waste, and other potential by-products such as lignin, pulp residues, pulp industrial side streams)
c) Marine sector which includes i) seaweed ii) microalgae, iii) and fish as primary resources and iv) marine waste (algae waste streams, fish, fish byproducts and fish waste)
d) Agro-industrial side streams (secondary resources) sector which includes i) livestock coproducts and waste (e.g., slaughterhouse waste such as blood, lungs, animal fats, feather meal, dead poultry, animal manures/slurries, sheep wool), ii) dairy wastewater, iii) brewery and iv) distillery wastewater streams
e) Domestic waste which includes i) Municipal solid waste and ii) Post-consumer Food waste.
f) Carbon-dioxide and waste gases which can also be turned into useful chemicals by efficient carbon dioxide capture and conversion technology. This has been included, since for the purposes of INFORMBIO, it represents a significant term opportunity for contributing to climate mitigation targets. A schematic of the biomass feedstock, technology conversion routes and the products obtained from different BBVC considered are depicted in Fig 1.
Following the biorefinery classification approach proposed by several studies, the main biomass technology conversion used to classify bio-based value chains is described in Figure 2. These include:
a) Mechanical: Mechanical treatment includes milling, chipping, grinding, shredding, homogenization, mechanical separation (fractionation) to reduce the particle size of the biomass for increasing mass transfer enhancing the yield of the products.
b) Thermochemical: Thermochemical treatment includes pyrolysis, gasification, liquefaction, combustion, hydrothermal carbonization, torrefaction, etc.
c) Biochemical: Biochemical treatment includes anaerobic digestion, fermentation (anaerobic & aerobic) and other biological routes (for biomass growth followed by harvesting, extraction and purification).
d) Chemical: Chemical treatment includes esterification, hydrolysis, polymerization, hydrogenation, other upgrading chemical technology routes for product upgrading
INFORMBIO collected a catalogue of feedstock-specific bio-based value chains (BBVC), which is available to screen here. Most BBVC’s adopt a cascading biorefinery approach and therefore use multiple technology conversion routes (unit operations) including some sort of pretreatment, conversion pathways, and purification steps for the various product portfolio as depicted in Fig 1 and Fig 2

Fig 2: Biomass conversion route overview
The production (biomass conversion) route and initial feedstock composition both determine the array of products that can be obtained for a particular BBVC. Based on the feedstock utilization, bio-refineries can be categorized into the first, second and third generation. The common feedstocks used in the first-generation biorefineries include crops rich in sugar (e.g., sugar cane, sugar juice, molasses, sugar beet, palm juice, and fruits), crops rich in starch (e.g., wheat, rice, barley, corn, sweet sorghum, cassava, and potato), and edible oils (e.g., sunflower oil, palm oil, rapeseed oil, and soybean oil). First generation biofuels such as biodiesel, biohydrogen, biomethane, syngas are primarily produced from bioresources like primary agricultural and forestry biomass and some lipid rich marine strains. These biofuels are mainly used as transport fuels1.
Most of the Europe’s biofuels and bio-based plastics are currently generated from first generation feedstocks. However, in recent years, there has been a focus on phasing out of first-generation feedstocks, and the inclusion of more residual feedstocks to meet the needs of the bioeconomy.
Second-generation biorefineries utilize feedstock which are produced from residual biomass streams, such as those from agriculture and forestry residues and which includes lignocellulosic residual materials such as straw, stover, as well as residual leaves, and animal slurries. Since the EU is promoting the development of second-generation biofuels actively within its policy, there are several initiatives underway to developed fuels such as cellulosic ethanol and second-generation biodiesel. Clariant’s LignoFlag initiative producing ethanol from wheat straw is one such example.
In second-generation bio-refinery, commercially valuable chemicals can also be produced from these residual streams, including organic acids (e.g., glyceric acid, lactobionic acid, muconic acid, succinic acid, acrylic acid, lactic acid, acetic acid, citric acid, itaconic acid, propionic acid, glycolic acid, adipic acid, levulinic acid, butyric acid, and xylonic acid), microbial lipids, glycerol and its derivatives (e.g., glycerol ethers, propylene glycol, acetals, 1,3-propanediol, lactic acid, polyglycerols, epichlorohydrin, polyglycerols, furfural and its derivatives)2. These intermediate chemicals are used in pharmaceutical, cosmetics, industrial, nutritional supplements, and agrochemical industries.
Third generation bio-refinery based on aquatic marine macro/micro algae yields a lot of commercially important high value chemicals such as antioxidants (e.g., tocopherols, polyphenols, catalase, superoxide dismutase), microalgal lipids (e.g., arachidonic acid, docosahexaenoic acid, linolenic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid), vitamins, and pigments (e.g., astaxanthin, carotene, canthaxanthin, chlorophyll, lutein, phycocyanin, zeaxanthin).
Microbial lipids are commercially efficient feedstock for oleo-chemical industries in the production of detergents, soaps, oleo-gels, and wax esters. Macroalgae is highly used in the cosmetics industry for the manufacturing of sunscreen lotions and many hair care products due to its valuable properties like anti-ageing, anti-irritants, early repairing of skin ageing, prevention of stretch mark formation, reducing wrinkle formation, and stimulating the synthesis of new tissues by cell propagation. In the pharmaceutical industry, microalgal lipids for the manufacturing of laxatives, capsules, syrups, gums, and tablets as a base polymer.
In the food industry, aquatic-derived bio-products are used in the making of drinks, gums, snacks, pasta and used as a gelling agent, stabilizer, and flavor enhancer3. Various residual biomass sources that can be utilized as source of bio-based value chains have also been identified within the INFORMBIO project. For example, industrial side stream comprises different value chain arising from dairy, brewery, distillery, and livestock residues (wool, slurry, feather, animal by-products, etc.). These residues can have several end products depending upon choice of technology. Domestic waste which is mostly comprised of organic fraction can come from municipal solid waste and food waste as depicted in Fig 3.
Finally, INFORMBIO also considers carbon capture and utilization BBVC in our findings which contributes to net zero greenhouse gas emission and circular economy. The initial feedstock composition and production (biomass conversion) route both determines the array of product that can be obtained for a particular BBVC. In repository products are classified according to the biomass value pyramid below, with most value chains delivering a combination of different product types (Figure 3)

Fig 3: Biomass Value Pyramid