A general distinction can be made between the bio-chemical and the thermo-chemical routes to processing lignocellulosic biomass. Because of the possibilities for making use of the many
existing molecules of this natural resource, a combination ofraw-material fractionation and bio-chemical conversion was chosen for this study. The single processing steps to fractionate lignocellulosic material and to produce platform chemicals are currently being developed. Until now many of the approaches have been carried out in the laboratory or at the pilot scale only and have not yet been properly integrated.