Advanced BioFuels USA

The Organizing Committee of the “3rd Latin American Congress on Biorefineries: Ideas for a Sustainable World”, invites all those interested in participating as an exhibitor to submit their papers. Both oral and poster presentations are considered, presenting the progress, challenges and opportunities of biorefineries in Latin America and the world.

This congress is the leading Latin American meeting dealing with new uses of forest, agricultural and microalgal biomass as source of bioenergy, chemical products and biomaterials.

1. Subject Areas

[a] Chemical Processes

Biomass conversion processes as a way to obtain intermediate products of commercial interest, including scientific, technological, and economic aspects, as well as methodology optimization, product characterization and applications. The main topics that are considered for this subject area are:

• Hydrolysis of lignocellulosic raw materials and microalgal biomass.

• Separation processes of biomass components with organic solvents, gases under sub-and supercritical conditions, ionic liquids, among others.

• Transesterification reactions.

• Chemical modification of cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin.

• Refinement of by-products from lignocellulosic and microalgal biomass to obtain biofuels and bioproducts.

• Scaling up of chemical processes.

[b] Thermochemical Processes

The thermochemical conversion area considers the application of processes at the laboratory, pilot and industrial level, product characterization and applications, and the production of solid, liquid and gaseous biofuels. The following areas are considered:

• Processes for wood, bark and waste organic materials roasting, pellets and roasted pellets.

• Fast and slow pyrolysis to produce bio-oil and biocharcoal.

• Hydrothermal processes for biomass conversion or its components.

• Fischer-Tropsch by-products and bio-oil.

• Biogenic methane obtained from synthesis gas and hydrogen.

[c] Biological Processes

Biological processes consider the conversion of agricultural, forest and microalgal biomass in intermediate products of scientific and/or commercial interest, including, among others:

• Alcoholic fermentation and bioethanol production.

• Anaerobic digestion and biogas production.

• Enzymatic hydrolysis of biomass.

• Use of microorganisms and enzymes to obtain specific products of interest.

• Microalgae production for biodiesel and hydrocarbons.

[d] Sustainability

This area is focused on the application of life cycle analysis in biorefining processes, sustainability analysis fossil fuels substitution with biofuels, as well as the logistic aspects and availability of biomass. The following topics are considered:

• Life cycle analysis of biomass biorefining processes.

• Economic, environmental and/or social assessment on biorefining processes.

• Energetic evaluation of biorefining processes.

• Biomass logistics applied to biorefineries.

• Availability of biomass as raw material for biorefineries.

• Cultivation and improvement of dendro-energy species.

[e] Biomaterials

Products and processes related to new types of biomaterials, their characterization and development of commercial applications, in particular, it is important to note:

• Thermoplastic biomaterials.

• Biodegradable materials.

• Thermosetting resins based on renewable resources.

• Composite biomaterials.

• Conventional and functional packaging based on renewable resources.

2. Submission of Papers

Contributions must be submitted in the form of an abstract, not exceeding 500 words, that must include the following information:

• Title (no more than 15 words).

• Full name of the author and co-authors.

• Brief résumé of the author (including phone and e-mail) and preferred mode of presentation (oral or poster).

• Subject area of ​​the abstract, according to the terms of section 1 of this document.

The prestigious Journal of Biobased Materials & Bioenergy will edit a special issue (during the first half of 2013) containing selected papers from the Conference.

• Deadline for abstract submission is June 30th, 2012.

• Notification of paper acceptance for oral and paper presentations will be sent on August 15th, 2012.

• On-line registration will be available from August 15th, 2012.