Lignin is primarily burned for heat and power in industrial processes, but its aromaticity and high energy content make it a promising source for liquid fuels, fuel additives, and chemical feedstocks. Conversion of lignin to monomers and smaller molecules can be done thermochemically through gasification; however, this process does not produce the desired fraction of liquid products, mainly yielding gases and char. In addition, such processing of lignin on a larger scale may encounter barriers, namely difficulty achieving selectivity of the conversion reactions and extensive requirements for separations, both before and after treatment of the material. A low temperature conversion of lignin may achieve better thermodynamic efficiency, provided a target catalyst can be used to generate a significant conversion of product. This project includes discussion of center dot the experimental evaluation of a number of different low temperature (20-30 degrees C) catalytic pathways for the decompo sition of lignin into small molecules, and center dot the evaluation of flowsheets for lignin conversion in terms of thermodynamic efficiency, separation requirements, and technical feasibility.