Raw materials used in the production of bio based products are produced in agriculture, forestry and microbial systems. The content of the material undergoes treatment and processing in a refinery to convert it, similar to the petroleum. While petroleum is obtained by extraction, biomass already exists as a product (Kamm & Kamm, 2004) that can then be modified within the actual process, to optimally adapt the results so as to obtain particular target product(s). This is contained within the technology of the bio refinery whose objective is to convert the raw material into intermediate and final useful products. The basic principles of the biorefinery are shown in Figure3. A biorefinery can utilise different feedstocks, can incorporate many different processes, and can result in many different end products. The exact configuration of a particular biorefinery will depend on market prices of inputs, demand for final products, access to the appropriate technologies, availability of financing, operational knowledge, and supporting policies and institutions. .
