Hemicellulose can be extracted prior to pulping, pelletizing, or combustion

Acid hydrolysis can be used to convert cellulose to glucose and/or other sugars

Enzymatic hydrolysis can be used to convert cellulose to glucose and/or other sugars

Combinations of the above can be used and a note should be made that residual lignin is likely to be present. Therefore, sugars will have to be purified for further processing.

Pyrolysis is one method commonly used to convert biomass to a “liquid wood”. The pyrolysis oil can be burned in conventional boilers, which has been done commercially, or catalytically converted to bio-products (in development)

Supercritical water processes rely on high pressure and temperature to dissolve, react, and convert the biomass to an oil phase and a water phase. The oil can be processed further into fuels and chemicals on-site or processed in a petroleum refinery by blending with petroleum crude oil

Gasification converts all of the organics in biomass to a gas, whose major composition is hydrogen, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. Trace elements of other gases that are stable over ~1400F are typically removed in a subsequent syngas cleanup stage. The syngas can be catalytically converted to specific bio-products with the Fischer-Tropsch process to produce liquids like diesel and wax 

Combustion uses conventional boiler technologies to produce power using biomass as fuel when appropriate power purchase contracts can be obtained. Stand-alone facilities, as done historically by the utility industry, have documented commercial thermal efficiencies of only 18 to 22% (BTUs sold divided by BTUs purchased). When a similar facility is thermally integrated with a steam and hot water host, thermal efficiencies of 70 to 80% have been achieved.

Fermenting cellulosic syngas to ethanol has been done commercially

Gasifying the residues of hydrolysis using the hydrogen has been done to improve yields

Pellets for burning in steam boilers have been from enzymatic residues

Chemical bio-products from all of the renewable processes are logically being developed to add value to each process