TITLE:
The Economic Potential of Brewer’s Spent Grain (BSG) as a Biomass Feedstock
AUTHORS:
Jack Buffington
KEYWORDS:
Industrial Biotechnology, Lignocellulose, Supply Chain, Brewer’s Spent Grain (BSG)
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Chemical Engineering and Science,
Vol.4 No.3,
July
6,
2014
ABSTRACT: This paper analyzes a
pro-forma economic market and supply chain system for the reuse of a lignocellulose
(brewer’s spent grain) in an industrial biotechnology environment. An extant
literature review was conducted, followed by a technical analysis of BSG, and
the development of a supply chain system and economic market analysis based
upon a participant brewing company and industry experts. In this paper, it was
found that, even with the potential for future improvements in the conversion
of brewer’s spent grain (BSG) from an efficiency standpoint, this industrial
residual is supply chain prohibitive as
a biofeedstock in comparison to other lignocellulose materials, therefore,
centralized market relationships would not be advantageous for sellers and
buyers. Future research should consider the viability of centralized supply
chain structures for alternatives that may exist as future bio-feedstocks.