Biorrefinerías de segunda generación: Fundamentos de diseño

The bioeconomy and the circular economy are widely accepted as cross-cutting transition frameworks that enable society to address macroeconomic, social, and technological challenges associated with increasing population pressure, environmental degradation, raw material shortages, and the need to develop new, high-value products, among others. A prime example of this is second-generation biorefineries, which provide a specific technological solution for transforming residual agroforestry biomass into new products, energy, and more. Due to their unique nature, their design cannot be approached as a generalist strategy, but rather as a response tailored to a specific type of biomass and the production goals of a particular industry. Therefore, given the difficulty of designing such specific solutions, this book aims to be a practical reference tool for organizing and answering the questions that arise during the design of these biorefineries:

What is the nature of the waste, and what realistic valorization options are available?

Which technology should be chosen, and which of these allow for efficient integration into linked processes?

How to detect and avoid bottlenecks?

How to assess whether a solution is technically, economically, and environmentally viable?

Ultimately, the aim is to share with the reader the potential of second-generation biorefineries as a transformative element for agroforestry industries, enabling them to turn their waste management into real industrial opportunities capable of creating and generating value in the region; demonstrating that the future of many industries can begin with what is currently considered waste.