Technology description

In the context described above of growing energy demand coupled with strong incentives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, research programs on the production of biofuels from renewable materials have been initiated. To overcome the drawbacks of first-generation biofuels (limited availability and competition with the food industry), the development of second-generation biofuels is based on the use of the lignocellulosic fraction of the plant. Of the two main production routes currently being studied (figure 3 ), the conversion of biomass into fuels, notably diesel, using the indirect thermochemical route (commonly referred to as the "BTL chain") is characterized mainly by the implementation of a gasification step followed by a Fischer-Tropsch synthesis.