E. Kendall Pye,* Claudio Arato and Gordon Gjennstad

Lignol Innovations Corporation, Vancouver, BC, CANADA

210 Timber Jump Lane, Media, PA. 19063

Phone/Fax: (610)566-6295

E-Mail: kpye@lignol.ca

Processes that produce only ethanol from lignocellulosics currently display very poor economics, which must be overcome by constructing large facilities having economies of scale. Lignol Innovations has developed a biorefining technology that employs an ethanol-based organosolv step to separate lignin, hemicellulose components and hydrophobic extractives from the cellulose fraction of woody biomass. The resultant cellulose fraction is highly susceptible to enzymatic hydrolysis, generating rapidly very high yields of glucose with typical enzyme loadings. This glucose is readily converted to ethanol, or possibly other sugar platform chemicals, either by sequential or simultaneous saccharification and fermentation. The liquor from the organosolv step is processed by simple techniques to recover lignin, furfural, xylose, acetic acid and an extractives fraction. The process ethanol is recovered and recycled back to the process. Revenues from the multiple products, especially the lignin, which has numerous commercial applications, assure excellent economics for the process even in plants as small as 100 tpd input; a scale suitable for processing wood residues produced by a single large sawmill. The organosolv part of the technology has been operated for six years at a large demonstration plant using approximately 60 tonnes of wood per day. Commercialization plans will be discussed.