
Lignin is the most abundant natural raw material available on Earth in terms of solar energy storage. It represents 30 per cent of all the non-fossil organic carbon on Earth. Lignin can be used as a green alternative to many petroleum-derived substances, such as fuels, resins, rubber additives, thermoplastic blends, nutra and pharmaceuticals. It is also known to be the only renewable source for industrial aromatics production. Lignin can be found in other plants, such as cereal straws, bamboo and bagasse, but it is in wood that lignin content is the highest in terms of weight: 20–35 percent in wood compared to 3–25 per cent in other lignin sources.