Chemical Characterization of Commercial Willow Hybrids—a Potentially Superior Renewable Feedstock

Lignocellulose may be a renewable carbon substitute for petroleum; however, lignocellulosic biorefinery requires thorough physical and chemical characterization to design the most economical method for its exploitation. We therefore performed a range of extractions, degradations, and analyses to characterize a commercial willow biomass resource that has not yet been defined and may be a promising woody resource for the Midwestern USA, especially Michigan. These characterization procedures are believed to be generalizable to examine other lignocellulosic resources, which inspired us to compose a course outline that may convey bioeconomy concepts. Our data complements existing characterizations of willow biomass and identifies which of our assortment of willow varieties are particularly suited for different products of the emerging bioeconomy, which is the raw data that is essential to inform the selection and processing mechanisms of biomass resources.