Green chemistry: making wood chemicals profitable

Wood is a renewable resource in big quantities which can provide a response to the issues and challenges involved in sustainable chemistry and, more generally, in sustainable development. It has a wide range of uses: as timber and saw wood, fibre products, composite materials, a source of chemicals, energy. By transforming its three main constituents, cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, numerous other products become available for application in many important fields. In addition, certain minor constituents can be extracted for various uses. The CRITT – Chimie – Formulation – Matériaux is an association which provides development support and backup to regional businesses in the chemicals and materials sector. The Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region (S.-E. France) is very interested in the wood resource of which it has big quantities. The CRITT has launched the Biorafmed project whose objective is setting up a cluster of biorefineries to make profitable use of biological resources. Such biorefineries can be built on the numerous industrial sites in the region. The Aleppo pine is the region’s main silvicultural resource. Big quantities are available but its management is hindered by numerous obstacles. Even so, solutions do exist and action is under way to remedy the situation.