Besides high industrial development, Brazil is also an agribusiness country. Each year about 330 million metrics tons (Mg) of biomass residues are generated, requiring tremendous effort to develop biomass systems in which production, conversion and utilization of bio-based products are carried out efficiently and under environmentally sustainable conditions. For the production of biofuels, organic chemicals and materials, it is envisaged to follow a biorefinery model which includes modern and proven green chemical technologies such as bioprocessing, pyrolysis, gasification, Fischer-Tropsch synthesis and other catalytic processes in order to make more complex molecules and materials on which a future sustainable society will be based. This paper presents promising options for valorization of Brazilian agroindustrial biomass sources and residues originating from the biofuel production chains as renewable energy sources and addresses the main aspects of the thermochemical technologies which have been applied.

A zeólita ZSM-5 foi sintetizada utilizando sílica "Aerosil-Degussa -- 380 m²/g" como fonte de silício, em substituição ao trisilicato de sódio, que é normalmente utilizado na síntese dessa zeólita. Subseqüentemente, foi incorporado cobre à ZSM-5 através do método convencional de troca iônica. Técnicas de difração de raios X, microscopia eletrônica de varredura, área superficial e análise elementar por absorção atômica foram utilizadas para verificar a formação da zeólita sintetizada e suas propriedades após troca com cobre. Os resultados mostraram que houve a formação da ZSM-5 nas condições de síntese empregadas e que a amostra modificada pelo processo de troca manteve as propriedades da zeólita original.

The ZSM-5 zeolite was synthesized using silica "Aerosil-Degussa -- 380 m²/g" as silicon source, in substitution to the sodium trisilicate, which is usually employed in the zeolite synthesis. Subsequently, the copper was incorporated to ZSM-5 by conventional ion-exchange method. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, surface area and elemental analysis by atomic absorption have been used to verify ZSM-5 formation and its properties after copper exchange. The results presented ZSM-5 formation in the employed synthesis conditions. The ion-exchanged sample conserved the original ZSM-5 properties.