Nitrogen is the most limiting plant nutrient. Inexpensive natural gas has substantially reduced costs of ammonia fertilizer for intensive agriculture in the developed world, but its excessive use negatively impacts downstream ecosystems. By contrast, the availability of ammonia fertilizer is a major economic bottleneck for agriculture in developing countries. A dedicated lignocellulosic biomass crop

This paper presents a comprehensive techno‐economic evaluation of an integrated natural deep eutectic solvent (NADES)‐based biorefinery – a 1 ton day−1 capacity design plant. The key parameters include payback period, net present value (NPV), and internal rate of return (IRR). These were compared with the parameters of conventional biorefineries. The ‘n th plant’ results clearly revealed that the single

Jerusalem artichoke (JA) is a crop with excellent potential for application in biorefineries. It can resist drought, pests, and diseases and can thrive well in marginal lands with little fertilizer application. The JA tubers contain considerable quantities of inulin, which is suitable for the production of inulooligosaccharides (IOS), as a high‐value prebiotic, dietary fiber. In this study, five JA

The objective of this study was to perform a feasibility analysis to make an informed decision about whether two bio‐based processes can replace the current petroleum‐based adipic acid production process. The first of these processes, which is considered in Case 1, is the conversion of biorefinery lignin residue (BLR) to adipic acid. The process involves the base‐catalyzed depolymerization of lignin

Lignocellulosic biomass is the most abundant renewable source of bioenergy. However, its intertwined structures prevent the embedded cellulose and hemicellulose from undergoing further chemical transformations. Organosolv pretreatment has been known to be effective in reducing the recalcitrance of lignocellulosic biomass. It possesses advantages in the recovery of components and the recovered components

The emergence of lignocellulosic biorefineries (LBRs) over the past few decades has shown tremendous potential for the development of sustainable renewable resources. Lignocellulosic biorefineries not only meet energy needs but also mitigate environmental problems by replacing conventional petroleum sources. Round the year availability of lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) with affordable price is a major

In 2018, the EU's revised Renewable Energy Directive came into force, increasing renewable energy targets for all energy sectors while limiting the use of first‐generation biomass as feedstock. Fuel components like methanol, ethanol, propanols, and butanols represent promising candidates to enable the targets for transportation to be achieved because they can be used with existing infrastructure and

Process biotechnology can play a very important role in addressing contemporary global challenges in the areas of energy, the environment, and healthcare. This review discusses the development of a biorefinery model using sustainable feedstocks such as microalgal biomass, with multiple benefits. As a case study, it demonstrates the development of a microalgal biorefinery to produce lipid for biofuel

Intercropping (or polyculture) is gaining a lot of interest as it increases yields, allows better utilization of resources (water and nutrients), and provides better land management. The objective of this study is to understand the briquetting characteristics of woody and herbaceous biomass blends, which might result from intercropping. Tests were conducted on blends of lodgepole pine, switchgrass

Climate change mitigation pathways have highlighted both the critical role of land‐use emissions, and the potential use of biofuels as a low‐emission energy carrier. This has led to concerns about the emission mitigation potential of biofuels, particularly related to indirect land‐use change (ILUC). This arises when the production of biofuels displaces the production of land‐based products elsewhere

Fatty alcohols are widely used for various applications and are found in products ranging from detergents to cosmetics and cleaning agents. Currently, over 3 million tonnes of fatty alcohols are produced per year from bio‐based and petroleum‐based feedstocks through chemical conversion and synthetic processes. However, the environmental impact of current fatty alcohol production processes has become

Microbial cell factories have been used for the production of valuable chemical compounds using a classical metabolic engineering approach, but this requires much time and cost, and labor‐intensive processes to make cell factories industrially competitive. Systems metabolic engineering is an upgraded version, which understands the cell as a complex system in which networks of genes, transcripts, proteins

Renewable fuel from the hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids (HEFA) pathway represents a promising short‐term option for reducing fossil fuel use in transportation. However, some life‐cycle assessments (LCAs) have shown that HEFA diesel and jet fuel may have higher life‐cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than the fossil fuels they replace. Many of these studies examined HEFA fuel derived from oilseed

The transition towards a biobased economy requires innovations. In addition to the usual challenges of innovation trajectories, the characteristics of biobased innovations cause extra difficulties. To lower the failure rate of innovation trajectories in general, companies tend to form R&D collaborations. Choices made during the formation of such R&D collaborations play a key role in the project's success

The downward trend of global sugar market prices, as well as rising energy prices, threaten the survival of the South African sugar industry. Operating a single‐stage sugar crystallization process, which produces less crystalline sugar along with sucrose‐rich A‐molasses as a by‐product, to which value can be added in an integrated biorefinery, could be a viable solution for the industry. It would offer

The high substrate variability and complexity of fermentation media derived from lignocellulosic feedstock affects the concentration profiles and the length of the fermentation. Failing to account for such variability raises operational and scheduling issues and affects the overall performance of these processes. In this work, a hybrid soft sensor was developed to monitor and forecast the evolution

The objective of this review is a global assessment of the economics of second‐generation biorefineries, with a focus on the use of food waste and agricultural residues for chemical production by applying biotechnological processes. Analyses are conducted on feedstock and product distribution, applied economic models, and profitability figures for the period 2013–2018. In a study of 163 articles on

The saccharification of lignocellulosic materials like Norway spruce is challenging due to the recalcitrant nature of the biomass, and it requires optimized and efficient pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis processes to make it industrially feasible. In this study, we report successful enzymatic saccharification of sulfite‐pulped spruce (Borregaard's BALI™ process) at demonstration scale, achieved

In Mexico, whey is discarded into drains without treatment, which represents an environmental problem. It is known that whey is a mixture of nutrients that increase biochemical demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD), exceeding the limits established by national and international standards. Some uses of whey have been proposed to reduce the negative impact it produces on the environment. Some

Biodiesel has the potential to contribute significantly to the elimination of the present global energy and climate change logjam, but its production and commercialization have been hindered by the diverse nature of the feedstocks used for production. This paper reviews the effectiveness of applying various types of crop and animal waste‐derived catalysts together with innovative feedstock hybridization

To achieve sustainable energy crop production, energy crops should not compete for land against feed and food crops. One option for sustainable energy‐crop cultivation is the use of double cropping systems with minimum tillage use and digestate as natural fertilizer, where, in the same growing season, a second crop for biomethane production is planted after a first crop used for feed/food. Different

The heavy reliance of the livestock industry of the European Union (EU) on feed protein imports has initiated a transition to alternative protein sources such as grass proteins. Green biorefineries (which process grass into protein and other related bio‐products) are gaining interest in the EU as the EU searches for ways to cut its import of feed proteins, to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels, and

Broccoli offers several health benefits due to its high content of bioactive compounds, especially sulforaphane – a promising anticancer compound. In Chile, the broccoli crop is expanding rapidly, creating opportunities to industrialize this vegetable and exploit its functional properties. Various processes have been studied with the aim of maximizing the sulforaphane content in processed broccoli

There is a lack of widespread interest in slow pyrolysis biochar pathways relative to other bioenergy pathways because of the perceived absence of biochar's market value when produced at a commercial scale. Thus, most refereed techno‐economic analyses focus on fast pyrolysis. This study quantifies the carbon price point at which the economic feasibility of the slow‐pyrolysis pathway for biochar production

Kraft lignin valorization is the cornerstone for the establishment of biorefineries based on residual fractions from the pulping processes. From the precipitation process to depolymerization, various strategies have emerged, all focused on obtaining high yields or higher purity monomers. The strategy used in this study was to modify the structure of the precipitated Kraft lignin with different oxidative

An integrated multi‐feedstock bioenergy (i.e., biofuel, biopower, or bioproduct) supply system has potential to reduce biomass supply system uncertainties and costs. This study identifies optimal configurations of multi‐feedstock biomass‐to‐biorefinery supply chains and pertinent feedstock combinations based on spatial distribution of feedstock and lowest delivered cost to the biorefinery. We used

The characterization of the physical–chemical properties and the thermal behavior of oilseed fruits for biofuels production has gained interest in the scientific community and society more generally, in particular with regard to their use as partial replacements for fossil fuels and for the possible reduction of air pollutants that cause problems for human health, animals, and plants. These oilseed

Orange orchards are typical Mediterranean crops and a major feature of the heritage of the Mediterranean basin, where they play an important environmental and economic role. Their high availability, low price, and potential industrial application make the development of new and valuable uses of the orange's biomass of high interest. This research was focused: (i) on recognition and mapping of orange

This paper focuses on the optimal performance of a small tri‐generation power, heat, and cooling plant, which uses corn stover as the feedstock. First, 100 kg h−1 of the corn stover is converted into syngas by the gasification process, using a downdraft fixed‐bed reactor at gasification temperatures reaching 995 °C and with an oxidant–fuel ratio of 1.65. About 243.18 kg h−1 of product gas mass flow

Catalytic gasification of a residual biomass, obtained from yellow horn (YH) (Xanthoceras sorbifolia Bunge), an energy crop, was conducted to obtain a fuel gas rich in hydrogen. Unsupported nickel‐based catalyst modified with cerium was developed, characterized, and used in the advanced catalytic gasification of this residual biomass, using H2O + CO2 as the gasifying agent. Tests were performed in

In this article we address the environmental assessment of the coprocessing of biomass‐based feedstock in crude oil refineries. In particular, we consider the coprocessing of bio‐oil (from the pyrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass) in fluid catalytic cracking and hydrocracking units, and the cogasification of pyrolysis char (coproduced with bio‐oil) with coke. In addition to a conventional fossil‐based

In this work, a solvent‐based extraction procedure and a procedure using supercritical CO2 to obtain β‐carotene from Dunaliella salina were compared from environmental and economic perspectives. Both processes were simulated using a biorefinery scheme in which β‐carotene was obtained and the waste biomass was used to produce energy. The results were used to carry out a life‐cycle assessment (LCA).

The sugar yield achieved during pretreatment of lignocelluloses has an impact on the economic outcome of biorefineries. Chemical and physiochemical pretreatment methods were evaluated and compared to determine the most favorable pretreatment method for the commercial co‐production of succinic acid and electricity in a sugarcane lignocellulosic biorefinery. Nine methods were identified and simulated

Olive pomace is characterized by its low nutritional value and high phenolic content, which hinders its direct use as animal feed, fertilizer, or as a substrate in bioprocesses such as solid‐state fermentation (SSF). A possible strategy for bioprocessing olive pomace by SSF is the mixture of olive mill wastes with other wastes produced in the same region, such as winery wastes. This may improve the

Excessive cultivation of maize (Zea mays L.) as a biogas substrate has fired debate about potential land‐use change effects of bioenergy cropping systems. Cup plant ( Silphium perfoliatum L.) is a perennial biogas crop that provides more environmental services than maize. This study investigated (i) how to replace maize with cup plant as a biogas substrate in a large‐scale biogas plant located in southwest

Agricultural straw is abundant worldwide, but efficient production of lactic acid from straw is still challenging. In this paper, Trichoderma viride R16 was cultivated using corncob as the substrate in a fed‐batch process, after which the enzymes from T. viride R16 broth were analyzed through protein mass spectrometry and used for lactic acid production. Dioxygenase activity was found in the T. viride

Crop yield modeling is critical in the design of national strategies for agricultural production, particularly in the context of a changing climate. Forecasting yields of bioenergy crops at fine spatial resolutions can help to evaluate near‐term and long‐term pathways for scaling up bio‐based fuel and chemical production, and for understanding the impacts of abiotic stressors such as severe droughts

Electrode and electrolyte materials with higher performance, longer life, and lower cost need to be developed, given the substantial growing demand for advanced electrochemical energy systems. Lignin, the second most abundant natural polymer, has been successfully demonstrated to be a viable precursor or feedstock for the preparation of high‐performance electrochemical energy materials and components

In this article we explore the quantitative challenges posed by the intended circular biobased economy. To do this, we present the relative sizes, in terms of mass and energy, of the agro‐food and fossil production system, and the interrelations in the system of transformation to food, feed, materials, and energy. We deduce that the flows in the fossil system are of a comparable magnitude to the agricultural

Xylitol was produced by Scheffersomyces amazonensis UFMG‐HMD‐26.3 in hemicellulosic hydrolysate obtained from a mixture of sugarcane bagasse and straw (1:1) in batch fermentation, and was recovered using supercritical fluid. The xylitol produced was 20.11 g L−1 and the extraction approach reached a xylitol recovery of 40.51% at a high purity level of 99.59%. An analysis of energy consumption for the

Over the past century, the world's population has increased greatly. The growth in the population has increased the global food demand, so the food sector has increased its production. As a result of the increased production and consumption, a huge amount of agro‐food waste is being generated yearly. Rice husk, wheat straw, sugarcane bagasse, corn husk, peanut shell, eggshell, are just a few examples

This study analyzed the techno‐economic feasibility of a biomass conversion process enabled by high‐solid loading deep eutectic solvent (DES) pretreatment for the co‐production of 2,3‐butanediol (BDO), furfural, and technical lignin. Aspen plus was used for process simulation; economic analysis models were developed to evaluate commercial potential; sensitivity analysis was carried out to evaluate

The pretreatment of biomass and the subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis to sugars play an important role in the production of biofuels from lignocellulosic biomass. However, the influence of pretreatment and hydrolysis yields on the production pathway performance of biofuels is rarely researched from the beginning. Moreover, a clear trade‐off between economic efficiency and environmental impact exists

Hydrolysis lignin (HL) refers to a lignin‐rich residue obtained after the enzymatic hydrolysis of biomass. It is recalcitrant, heterogeneous, insoluble in most common solvents, and less reactive than other lignins. To enhance the reactivity of HL, a novel environmentally friendly depolymerization approach was demonstrated to produce depolymerized hydrolysis lignin (DHL) using Kraft cooking liquor,

This article investigates the level of penetration and barriers to the uptake, of anaerobic digestion technology in 16 Caribbean different territories. All countries considered are small island developing states (SIDS), and face a similar challenge of energy security. Anaerobic digestion technology could be a viable option for a number of these nations to help address this issue of energy security

Plant biomass residues are renewable sources for the production of biofuels and high‐value macromolecules. Sugarcane bagasse is one such plant biomass residue that is available from the sugar‐processing industry. It is used as a raw material for biobased ethanol production. However, some of its properties and its behavior during processing have a major inhibitory effect on its successful conversion

The gap between global energy production and consumption is increasing at a fast pace along with population growth, industrialization, and technological developments, resulting in a rapid increase in the need for energy. This has led countries to use their own resources more effectively. Consequently, in addition to existing energy sources, alternative solutions are now being sought for this problem

The microbial production of organic acids has become a rapidly developing field due to their increasing global market. Recently, research has transitioned towards employing synthetic microbial consortia for organic acid production. Compared with pure cultures, microbial co‐cultures can perform more complex functions and endure more changeable environments. Accordingly, microbial co‐cultivation technologies

In this study, process simulation and techno‐economic analysis (TEA) were conducted to evaluate the production of renewable jet fuel (RJF) through the pyrolysis‐to‐RJF process. The process model was developed based on experimental results for the renewable jet fuel production process using the fast pyrolysis of rice husk, hydro‐processing of pyrolytic oil, and hydro‐cracking / isomerization of hydro‐processed

Beer production generates brewer's spent grain as a byproduct. This biomass contains lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose, and can be used for the production of second‐generation (2G) ethanol and xylitol. For this to be economically viable, fermentable fractions must be used, allowing the conversion of cellulose and hemicellulose to ethanol. This study evaluated the fermentation of hemicellulose liquor

The urgency with which the world economy needs to be decarbonized could lead to the emergence of regions with the capacity to produce renewable feedstock such as biomass. The competitiveness of these regions could result from their ability to produce high value‐added chemicals at the lowest cost. The biomass embodied in a chemical product could reduce carbon emissions, leading to net CO2 removal. The

The cellulosic component of lignocellulosic biomass can be converted to commercially valuable platform chemicals through pyrolysis provided it is effectively controlled and optimized. This review first discusses the underpinning kinetics and mechanism of cellulose pyrolysis to identify target platform chemicals. Platform chemicals like 5‐hydroxymethyl furfural, 5‐chloromethyl furfural, and levoglucosenone

The differences between a biorefinery and an oil refinery are determined by the higher oxygen content of the biorefinery's biomass, its high degree of functionalization, its low thermal stability, its polar components, which are mostly acidic, its highly heterogeneous structure, and its quality variation as result of genotypic and phenotypic characteristics. Levulinic acid (LA) is one of the main high

The aim of this study is to convert organosolv‐treated bamboo into biobutanol hydrolyzed by lignocellulosic enzyme mixtures produced on site through solid state fermentation (SSF). Higher xylanase and β‐xylosidase activity in crude hydrolytic enzyme mixtures produced from untreated bamboo under SSF contributed to a higher saccharification yield (76.1%) than commercial ones (67.3%). The modified organosolv

Organosolv fractionation (OF) is a promising method for lignocellulosic biomass biorefining to produce biofuels, biochemicals, and biomaterials. The fractionated polymeric components may be good feedstocks to produce bio‐based materials such as green polymers via chemical or biological conversion. However, related work to specify the bio‐based materials production via organosolv fractionation of lignocellulosic

Brazil is one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases in the world with most of its emissions coming from the land use, land use change, and forestry (LULUCF) sector. New commitments have been set by the Paris Agreement and are reflected in the country's Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). The Brazilian NDC has three main pillars to reduce emissions: increasing the share of biomass in the