Bioresource use in the forms of new and waste biomass is a great opportunity and a challenge for the future since it offers the chance of replacing fossil fuels for the produc­tion of energy carriers, materials and specialty chemicals and diminishing the market pressure in an almost carbon-neutral way. Industrial biorefineries are seen as one of the most promising directions toward a sustainable bio-based economy. Fully developed biorefineries combine biological and physicochemical processes.

A weakness of biorefineries as an alternative to con­ventional oil refineries consists in the fact that the former is based on biofeedstock, which can require an intensive cultivation and land use.

Moreover, biorefineries could compete with food re­quirements and needs, which would limit the land allo­cated to biomass for biorefineries. As a result, the future of biorefineries should consider the use of nonedible biomass and the advanced processing of biomass waste, as well as land which could not normally be used for agriculture. This type of land could be used for microal­gae cultures or renewable plants. Other sources of raw material for biorefineries could be found on waste from the food industry and urban organic waste. The processing of this raw matter can be successfully and eco-efficiently carried out through the development of enzymatic systems and engineered microorganisms capable of separating useful compounds from waste.

The development of these technologies should also consider the important issue of costs, since, currently, oil-based refineries offer more cost-effective solutions at the expense of environmental degradation and pollution.

Acknowledgments

This work was partially supported by the grant of the Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research, CNCS—UEFISCDI, project number PN-n-ro-PCE-2011-3-0559, Contract 265/2011.