The Biorefinery
Research Institute

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Welcome to BRI - The Biorefinery Research Institute.

Vision

An intellectual center of technology and engineering for biomass conversion to energy and chemicals

History

BRI was formally initiated at SUNY-ESF in the summer of 2007 in a meeting attended by Drs. Bruce C. Bongarten (VP academic and Provost, SUNY-ESF), Gary M. Scott (Chair and Professor, PBE), Neil H. Ringler (Dean of Research, SUNY-ESF), Thomas E. Amidon (Professor and Director of ESPRI, PBE), and Shijie Liu (Associate Professor, PBE). It was established as a home for the biorefinery research activities initially centered around the Department of Paper and Bioprocess Engineering, i.e.
 
PBE which was also formerly known as PSE, the Faculty of Paper Science and Engineering. PBE is one of the engineering departments at the State University of New York – College of Environmental Science and Forestry, which is commonly referred to as
 
SUNY-ESF who is at the center of Enviornmental and Forestry education and research. It is a natural home for the biorefinery research institute.
 
ESPRI The biorefinery research activities can be traced back to 2000 when Dr. Amidon proposed a project to transform the pulp and paper industry with "new forest products and materials" initiative in the Empire State Paper Research Institute (ESPRI). Since then, there have been sporatic activities in the biorefinery research by various faculties in PBE. While no direct support was coming from ESPRI, some of the research results were endorsed by some of the members within ESPRI. The intial activities were centered around forests as the source of raw materials and paper as a product. Other products are either used in the paper manufacturing or branded as value-added by-products.
 
With   the expansion of biorefinery research activities, it has become apparent that both the feedstock and the product are limiting the scope of the biorefinery research. A process-centered program is in the works, begun in 2005 when Dr. Shijie Liu joined SUNY-ESF. The exapansion in research activities has led to the need of a new venue for the research results dissimilation.
 
Dissimilatio n of reserach results to wider constituents forms part of the BRI initiatives. The first Forest Biorefinery Conference was successfully held in Holiday Inn Liverpool, October 20 and 21, 2007. Over 200 attendees were present at the first conference. This annual event serves as the venue to report on biorefinery research activities.