Unlocking New Technological Routes for Ethanol Biorefineries

This study evaluates the evolving role of ethanol biorefineries within the renewable energy transition by combining a bibliometric assessment with a technological analysis of emerging pathways. To evaluate the strategic role of biorefineries within the current renewable energy landscape, a keyword co-occurrence analysis was performed using VOSviewer on a dataset of 499 contributions from EUBCE 2025. The intellectual structure identifies three primary strategic axes: thermochemical conversion, biochemical processes, and system-level circular economy. In this context, this study highlights the expansion of ethanol applications beyond light-duty transport into hydrogen production, energy carrier systems, solide oxide fuel cells (SOFC) and sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), all of which present strong potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in several sectors. In parallel, the valorization of biorefinery residues and the utilization of biogenic CO2 enable the production of value-added chemicals and fuels with neutral or even net-negative carbon intensity. Together, these pathways position ethanol biorefineries as integrated hubs for low-carbon energy and chemical production, supporting both economic value creation and global decarbonization efforts.