The energy and material requirements for growth, dewatering,
stabilization and hydroprocessing are the same for both pathways
evaluated. Slight differences in the sub-process NERs between the
two conversion pathways are the result of differences in bio-oil
recovery, oil yields, and heating values as these directly affect
the functional units. At the industrial-scale, the HTL pathway has
a higher mass yield, 37%, as compared to the pyrolysis pathway,
29%. Experimental data showed the HHV in the pyrolysis was
11% higher than that of the HTL oil. However, the higher bio-oil yield achieved with HTL processing compensates for the lower
bio-oil energy density.