State of the Art in Thermal Catalytic Upgrading of Biomass and Biomass-Derived Intermediates

Jacklyn N. Hall; Jacob H. Miller; Rajeev S. Assary; Frederick G. Baddour; Robert Dagle; Vanessa Dagle; Michael B. Griffin; Susan E. Habas; Kristiina Iisa; Theodore R. Krause; Adarsh Kumar; Jeffrey G. Linger; Ashutosh Mittal; Calvin Mukarakate; James E. Parks; Daniel A. Ruddy; Andrew Schmidt; Andrew D. Sutton; Michael R. Thorson; Kinga A. Unocic; Huamin Wang; Austin Winkelman; Xiaokun Yang; Joshua A. Schaidle

doi:10.1146/annurev-chembioeng-082323-122317

State of the Art in Thermal Catalytic Upgrading of Biomass and Biomass-Derived Intermediates

Jacklyn N. Hall
, Jacob H. Miller
, Rajeev S. Assary
, Frederick G. Baddour
, Robert Dagle
, Vanessa Dagle
, Michael B. Griffin
, Susan E. Habas
, Kristiina Iisa
, Theodore R. Krause
, Adarsh Kumar
, Jeffrey G. Linger
, Ashutosh Mittal
, Calvin Mukarakate
, James E. Parks
, Daniel A. Ruddy
, Andrew Schmidt
, Andrew D. Sutton
, Michael R. Thorson
, Kinga A. Unocic

Huamin Wang, Austin Winkelman, Xiaokun Yang, Joshua A. Schaidle

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Biomass-derived energy sources represent a promising domestic route for fuel and chemical production, taking advantage of largely underutilized biological and waste resources. Heterogeneous catalysis plays a key role in these biomass conversion processes, as reflected by all American Society for Testing and Materials–approved pathways for producing sustainable aviation fuel proceeding through a catalytic step. This concise review seeks to establish the state of the art in thermal catalytic process development for various biomass-derived feedstocks and the current enabling capabilities that aid this development. Research needs are identified and described throughout the article, as further advancements in heterogeneous catalysis are required to improve the affordability and realize the full potential of biomass-derived products.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	371-408
Number of pages	38
Journal	Annual Review of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Volume	16
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-chembioeng-082323-122317
State	Published - Jun 9 2025

Funding

This work was authored in part by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, operated by Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC; in part by Argonne National Laboratory, operated by The University of Chicago; in part by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, operated by Batelle Memorial Institute; in part by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, operated by UT-Batelle, LLC; and in part by the Los Alamos National Laboratory, operated by Triad National Security, LLC, for the US Department of Energy (DOE) under contract nos. DE-AC36-08GO28308, DE-AC02-06CH11357, DE-AC05-76RL01830, DE-AC05-00OR22725, and DE-AC52-06NA25396, respectively. The authors would like to acknowledge minor contributions from Peter Ciesielski. Funding was provided by the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Bioenergy Technologies Office in collaboration with the Chemical Catalysis for Bioenergy (ChemCatBio) Consortium, a member of the Energy Materials Network (EMN). The views expressed in the article do not necessarily represent the views of the DOE or the US Government. The US Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US Government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this work, or allow others to do so, for US Government purposes.

Keywords

biochemicals
biofuels
biomass
heterogeneous catalysis
sustainable aviation fuel
thermal catalysis

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10.1146/annurev-chembioeng-082323-122317

Cite this

Hall, J. N., Miller, J. H., Assary, R. S., Baddour, F. G., Dagle, R., Dagle, V., Griffin, M. B., Habas, S. E., Iisa, K., Krause, T. R., Kumar, A., Linger, J. G., Mittal, A., Mukarakate, C., Parks, J. E., Ruddy, D. A., Schmidt, A., Sutton, A. D., Thorson, M. R., ... Schaidle, J. A. (2025). State of the Art in Thermal Catalytic Upgrading of Biomass and Biomass-Derived Intermediates. Annual Review of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, 16(1), 371-408. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-chembioeng-082323-122317

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abstract = "Biomass-derived energy sources represent a promising domestic route for fuel and chemical production, taking advantage of largely underutilized biological and waste resources. Heterogeneous catalysis plays a key role in these biomass conversion processes, as reflected by all American Society for Testing and Materials–approved pathways for producing sustainable aviation fuel proceeding through a catalytic step. This concise review seeks to establish the state of the art in thermal catalytic process development for various biomass-derived feedstocks and the current enabling capabilities that aid this development. Research needs are identified and described throughout the article, as further advancements in heterogeneous catalysis are required to improve the affordability and realize the full potential of biomass-derived products.",

keywords = "biochemicals, biofuels, biomass, heterogeneous catalysis, sustainable aviation fuel, thermal catalysis",

author = "Hall, \{Jacklyn N.\} and Miller, \{Jacob H.\} and Assary, \{Rajeev S.\} and Baddour, \{Frederick G.\} and Robert Dagle and Vanessa Dagle and Griffin, \{Michael B.\} and Habas, \{Susan E.\} and Kristiina Iisa and Krause, \{Theodore R.\} and Adarsh Kumar and Linger, \{Jeffrey G.\} and Ashutosh Mittal and Calvin Mukarakate and Parks, \{James E.\} and Ruddy, \{Daniel A.\} and Andrew Schmidt and Sutton, \{Andrew D.\} and Thorson, \{Michael R.\} and Unocic, \{Kinga A.\} and Huamin Wang and Austin Winkelman and Xiaokun Yang and Schaidle, \{Joshua A.\}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2025 by the author(s).",

year = "2025",

month = jun,

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doi = "10.1146/annurev-chembioeng-082323-122317",

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Hall, JN, Miller, JH, Assary, RS, Baddour, FG, Dagle, R, Dagle, V, Griffin, MB, Habas, SE, Iisa, K, Krause, TR, Kumar, A, Linger, JG, Mittal, A, Mukarakate, C, Parks, JE, Ruddy, DA, Schmidt, A, Sutton, AD, Thorson, MR, Unocic, KA, Wang, H, Winkelman, A, Yang, X & Schaidle, JA 2025, 'State of the Art in Thermal Catalytic Upgrading of Biomass and Biomass-Derived Intermediates', Annual Review of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 371-408. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-chembioeng-082323-122317

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AU - Hall, Jacklyn N.

AU - Miller, Jacob H.

AU - Assary, Rajeev S.

AU - Baddour, Frederick G.

AU - Dagle, Robert

AU - Dagle, Vanessa

AU - Griffin, Michael B.

AU - Habas, Susan E.

AU - Iisa, Kristiina

AU - Krause, Theodore R.

AU - Kumar, Adarsh

AU - Linger, Jeffrey G.

AU - Mittal, Ashutosh

AU - Mukarakate, Calvin

AU - Parks, James E.

AU - Ruddy, Daniel A.

AU - Schmidt, Andrew

AU - Sutton, Andrew D.

AU - Thorson, Michael R.

AU - Unocic, Kinga A.

AU - Wang, Huamin

AU - Winkelman, Austin

AU - Yang, Xiaokun

AU - Schaidle, Joshua A.

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N2 - Biomass-derived energy sources represent a promising domestic route for fuel and chemical production, taking advantage of largely underutilized biological and waste resources. Heterogeneous catalysis plays a key role in these biomass conversion processes, as reflected by all American Society for Testing and Materials–approved pathways for producing sustainable aviation fuel proceeding through a catalytic step. This concise review seeks to establish the state of the art in thermal catalytic process development for various biomass-derived feedstocks and the current enabling capabilities that aid this development. Research needs are identified and described throughout the article, as further advancements in heterogeneous catalysis are required to improve the affordability and realize the full potential of biomass-derived products.

AB - Biomass-derived energy sources represent a promising domestic route for fuel and chemical production, taking advantage of largely underutilized biological and waste resources. Heterogeneous catalysis plays a key role in these biomass conversion processes, as reflected by all American Society for Testing and Materials–approved pathways for producing sustainable aviation fuel proceeding through a catalytic step. This concise review seeks to establish the state of the art in thermal catalytic process development for various biomass-derived feedstocks and the current enabling capabilities that aid this development. Research needs are identified and described throughout the article, as further advancements in heterogeneous catalysis are required to improve the affordability and realize the full potential of biomass-derived products.

KW - biochemicals

KW - biofuels

KW - biomass

KW - heterogeneous catalysis

KW - sustainable aviation fuel

KW - thermal catalysis

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AN - SCOPUS:105007970144

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VL - 16

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JO - Annual Review of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

JF - Annual Review of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

IS - 1

ER -

State of the Art in Thermal Catalytic Upgrading of Biomass and Biomass-Derived Intermediates

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