Declining petroleum resources, increased demand for petroleum by emerging economies, and political and environmental concerns about fossil fuels are driving our society to search for new sources of liquid fuels and commodity chemicals. The only current sustainable source of organic carbon is plant biomass. Large amounts of biomass are present throughout the world and the European Biomass Industry Association (EUBIA) has estimated that Europe could produce 8.900 PJoule of biomass per year. Biofuels, produced in biorefineries, give out significantly less greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions  than fossil fuels and can even be greenhouse gas neutral if efficient methods for production are developed.

The biorefinery itself must address two strategic goals. A well-recognised driver is the substitution of imported petroleum with domestic raw materials, but realization of the energy goal requires a financial incentive to build or retrofit facilities capable of utilising renewable biomass as feedstocks, to justify industrial use of new raw materials and to incorporate technology for their conversion. Since fuel is a high volume, low value product, new, standalone fuel facilities are often burdened by a low return on investment, making their construction less desirable. A biorefinery based on chemical products alone can realize a much higher return on investment, but lacks the potential for a large energy displacement impact as chemical production accounts for only about 7 to 8% of our oil imports. Analysis reveals that producing both chemicals and fuels in an integrated biorefinery meets the energy and economic goals simultaneously. In integrated operations, such as those developed in SUPRABIO, high value products become an economic driver. This provides higher margins to support lower value fuels, leading to a profitable biorefinery operation that also exhibits an energy impact.