Not So Run of the Mill The forest products industry has years of
experience in conversion technology, and cellulose and lignin
separations. The industry is now looking to develop its pulp and
paper mills into biorefineries with ethanol as a focus. A
biorefinery is generally defined as a renewable mirror of a
petroleum refinery, where a variety of fuels, chemicals and
power are produced from one source, and the mix of these
products can be adjusted based on market value. The forest
products industry is now evaluating its potential as
biorefineries. As biorefineries, pulp and paper mills could
utilize technologies such as gasification, biomass boilers,
biodiesel and ethanol production. Such technologies would reduce
or eliminate fossil fuel consumption, provide value-added
products and streamline pulp production. "I have always taken
the approach of an integrated biorefinery," says Arthur
Ragauskas, a chemistry and biochemistry professor at the
Institute of Paper Science and Technology at Georgia Tech. Since
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