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Lignocellulose is the most abundant biomass on Earth, with an estimated 181.5 billion tonnes produced annually. Of the 8.2 billion tonnes that are currently used, about 7 billion tonnes are produced from dedicated agricultural, grass and forest land and another 1.2 billion tonnes stem from agricultural residues. Economic and environmentally efficient pathways for production and utilization of lignocellulose for chemical products and energy are needed to expand the bioeconomy. This opinion paper arose from the research network “Lignocellulose as new resource platform for novel materials and products” funded by the German federal state of Baden‐Württemberg and summarizes original research presented in this special issue. It first discusses how the supply of lignocellulosic biomass can be organized sustainably and suggests that perennial biomass crops (PBC) are likely to play an important role in future regional biomass supply to European lignocellulosic biorefineries. Dedicated PBC production has the advantage of delivering biomass with reliable quantity and quality. The tailoring of PBC quality through crop breeding and management can support the integration of lignocellulosic value chains. Two biorefinery concepts using lignocellulosic biomass are then compared and discussed: the syngas biorefinery and the lignocellulosic biorefinery. Syngas biorefineries are less sensitive to biomass qualities and are technically relatively advanced, but require high investments and large‐scale facilities to be economically feasible. Lignocellulosic biorefineries require multiple processing steps to separate the recalcitrant lignin from cellulose and hemicellulose and convert the intermediates into valuable products. The refining processes for high‐quality lignin and hemicellulose fractions still need to be further developed. A concept of a modular lignocellulosic biorefinery is presented that could be flexibly adapted for a range of feedstock and products by combining appropriate technologies either at the same location or in a decentralized form. The opinion paper first discusses how the supply of lignocellulosic biomass can be produced sustainably and suggests that perennial biomass crops are expected to play an important role in lignocellulosic biorefineries. For its use, two biorefinery concepts are the compared and discussed. A modular concept for a lignocellulose biorefinery is presented that could be flexible adapted for a range of feedstock and products by selection of appropriate refining modules.

This special issue covers three important fields of the bioeconomy: sustainable biogas value chains, bio‐based products from lignocellulose, and the use of microalgae as a biomass resource and for the production of food and feed. In order to develop sustainable products and processes, an interdisciplinary systemic approach to the analysis of entire value chains is necessary. For this reason, the contributions cover aspects of the complete biobased value chain from biomass production, pretreatment, and conversion, through to the manufacture and marketing of biobased products, and in addition, include socio‐economic and ecological assessments.

The reaction products formed during the decolorization of the sulfophthalocyanine textile dyes Reactive blue 15 (RB15) and Reactive blue 38 (RB38) by the white-rot fungus Bjerkandera adusta were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection and with liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry. Sulfophthalimides (SPI; 3 and 4) were identified as major metabolites by comparison with synthesized reference compounds. SPI was formed from both dyes in fungal cultures and by incubation with its purified manganese peroxidase and lignin peroxidase. Quantitative assessment of the SPI formed from RB15 accounted for approximately 60% of the theoretical amount.

The reaction products formed during the decolorization of the sulfophthalocyanine textile dyes Reactive blue 15 (RB15) and Reactive blue 38 (RB38) by the white-rot fungus Bjerkandera adusta were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection and with liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization–tandem mass spectrometry. Sulfophthalimides (SPI; 3 and 4) were identified as major metabolites by comparison with synthesized reference compounds. SPI was formed from both dyes in fungal cultures and by incubation with its purified manganese peroxidase and lignin peroxidase. Quantitative assessment of the SPI formed from RB15 accounted for approximately 60% of the theoretical amount.