The world’s economy is highly dependent on fossil fuels. The utilization of plant materials for the production of ethanol is a severe problem economically and socially, and mainly for the environment. Shrimp shell waste is a potential raw material for the production of biofuel. The use of shrimp shells and its chitinous material for the manufacture of biofuels is a sustainable way to reduce the cost of the ethanol as well as to reduce the environmental pollution caused by selfish waste. Several microorganisms are known to produce chitinolytic enzymes, which can convert chitin into its monomer, N-acetyl-β-D-glucosamine. The chitin, as well as N-acetyl-β-D-glucosamine, can be utilized by the microorganisms as the sole carbon source for biofuel production. In this study, the extraction of chitin from shrimp shell waste, use of chitin and N-acetyl-β-D-glucosamine as the sole carbon source, simultaneous saccharification, and fermentation of chitin and utilization of raw shrimp shell as a biocatalyst for production of bioethanol and biodiesel were discussed.

世界经济高度依赖化石燃料。在经济和社会上，主要是对环境而言，利用植物材料生产乙醇是一个严重的问题。虾壳废料是生产生物燃料的潜在原料。使用虾壳及其几丁质材料生产生物燃料是降低乙醇成本以及减少自私废物造成的环境污染的可持续方法。已知有几种微生物会产生几丁质分解酶，这些酶可将几丁质转化为其单体N-乙酰基-β-D-葡萄糖胺。几丁质以及N-乙酰基-β-D-葡萄糖胺可被微生物用作生产生物燃料的唯一碳源。在这项研究中，从虾壳废料中提取甲壳质，