Abstract
Advanced biorefineries aiming to utilize all major components of biomass to produce a wide spectrum of bioproducts and fuel are seen to play a key role in implementing a biobased economy. However, due to the low technology readiness levels, it is critical to assess the commercial feasibility and economic competitiveness of these biorefinery approaches using techno-economic analysis (TEA) before making investment decisions and policy regulations. This chapter discusses the basic concepts of TEA and summarizes the studies on various advanced biorefinery concepts. Focus is given on three approaches: (i) biorefineries processing cellulosic feedstocks where sugars are converted to biofuel and part of the lignin is converted to fuel or high-value biochemical products, (ii) biorefineries converting hexose sugars to biofuel and pentose sugars to high-value chemicals, and (iii) biorefineries processing engineered lipid-producing energy crops.