Biorenewable chemicals: Feedstocks, technologies and the conflict with food production

Bardhan, Soubhik K.; Gupta, Shelaka; Gorman, Michae E.; Haider, M. Ali

doi:10.1016/j.rser.2015.06.013

Cited by 104 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 149 publications

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“…Biochemicals that are derived mostly from non-agricultural commodities, such as lignocellulosic biomass and wood (second generation feedstock; Yang et al, 2015), have yet to reach high commercialization levels. This is currently mainly limited by high costs associated with the conversion of these feedstocks into fermentable sugars (Bardhan, Gupta, Gorman, & Haider, 2015). Due to technological challenges associated with utilizing second generation feedstocks, for example, during the pretreatment phase of the biomass (Biddy et al, 2016;Chen & Qiu, 2010) and related economic challenges of biochemical production from second generation biomass (Chandel, Garlapati, Singh, Antunes, & da Silva, 2018;Lynd et al, 2017), alternative feedstock sources are increasingly receiving attention.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental hotspots of lactic acid production systems

et al. 2019

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Using selected bio‐based feedstocks as alternative to fossil resources for producing biochemicals and derived materials is increasingly considered an important goal of a viable bioeconomy worldwide. However, to ensure that using bio‐based feedstocks is aligned with the global sustainability agenda, impacts along the entire life cycle of biochemical production systems need to be evaluated. This will help to identify those processes and technologies, which should be targeted for optimizing overall environmental sustainability performance. To address this need, we quantify environmental impacts of biochemical production using distinct bio‐based feedstocks, and discuss the potential for reducing impact hotspots via process optimization. Lactic acid (LA) was used as an example biochemical derived from corn, corn stover, and macroalgae (Laminaria sp.) as feedstocks of different technological maturity. We used environmental life cycle assessment (LCA), a standardized methodology, considering the full life cycle of the analyzed biochemical production systems and a broad range of environmental impact indicators. Across production systems, feedstock production and biorefinery processes dominate life cycle impact profiles, with choice in energy mix and biomass processing as main influencing aspects. Results show that uncertainty decreases with increasing technological maturity. When using Laminaria sp. (least mature among selected feedstocks), impacts are mainly driven by energy utilities (up to 86%) due to biomass drying. This suggests to focus on optimizing or avoiding this process for significantly increasing environmental sustainability of Laminaria sp.‐based LA production. Our results demonstrate that applying LCA is useful for identifying environmental impact hotspots at an earlier stage of technological development across biochemical production systems. With that, our approach contributes to improving the environmental sustainability of future biochemical production as part of moving toward a viable bioeconomy worldwide.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental hotspots of lactic acid production systems

et al. 2019

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“…Moreover, the possibility of employing second‐generation feedstocks to obtain fermentable sugars has gained attention in recent years due to their availability and non‐edible nature . In such cases, the focus is generally on the cellulosic fraction of biomass, leaving hemicellulose for secondary options since few organisms have the ability to use xylose as a carbon source.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Process development and techno‐economic analysis of bio‐based succinic acid derived from pentoses integrated to a sugarcane biorefinery

Klein

Silva

Junqueira

et al. 2017

Biofuels Bioprod Bioref

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Bio‐based succinic acid is a potential building block for the production of renewable chemicals and polymers. The use of hemicellulosic hydrolyzate from sugarcane bagasse allows production of succinic acid without competing with food chains and increasing the biomass ‐aggregated value. This work assesses the economic impacts of integrating the production of ‐succinic acid on an optimized sugarcane biorefinery with the production of first‐generation ethanol and electricity. Process simulation was performed to obtain mass and energy balances of the entire process, from bagasse pre‐treatment to pentose fermentation and succinic acid recovery, using several pieces of technical information and data taken from the scientific literature. After ‐assessing the impacts of key economic variables through risk analysis, the obtained results were benchmarked against those of an optimized ethanol distillery. Calculated succinic acid production cost was US$ 2.32/kg, comparable to costs related to less expensive sugar sources. The integrated succinic acid biorefinery presented a slightly lower internal rate of return (IRR) compared to an ‐ethanol distillery. However, even when considering uncertainties, succinic acid production has a strong probability (84.6%) of achieving an IRR higher than 12%. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

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“…Global reserves of fossil oil are depleting, resulting in a greater consciousness of the necessity to develop new sources of renewable fuels. For this purpose, industrial production of biodiesel from oleaginous plants, animal fat, or waste oils from the food industry has already been implemented in several countries [1,2]. However, fuels derived from edible vegetal resources, also known as first-generation biofuels, have been severely criticized because of many related problems arising from competition with the food industry [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sugarcane Distillery Spent Wash, a New Resource for Third-Generation Biodiesel Production

Hoarau

Grondin

Caro

et al. 2018

Water

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Industrial production of biodiesel from microbial catalysts requires large volume of low-cost feedstock for lipid production. Vinasse, also known as distillery spent wash (DSW), is a liquid waste produced in large amounts by ethanol distilleries. This effluent is particularly rich in organic matter, and may be considered as a potential resource for the production of fungal lipids. The present study aimed at evaluating the potential of vinasse from a distillery located in Reunion Island for yeast and fungal growth, lipid production, and suitability for biodiesel requirements. Among the 28 different strains tested, we found that Aspergillus niger grown on pure vinasse allowed biomass production of up to 24.05 g/L (dry weight), whereas Aspergillus awamori produced the maximum amount of lipid, at 2.27 g/L. Nutrient removal and vinasse remediation were found to be the best for A. niger and Cryptococcus curvatus, reaching a maximum of 50% for nitrogen, and A. awamori showed 50% carbon removal. Lipids produced were principally composed of C16:0, C18:1 (n-9), and C18:2 (n-6), thus resembling the vegetal oil used in the biodiesel production. This work has shown that vinasse can support production of biomass and lipids from fungi and yeast suitable for energetic use and that its polluting charge can be significantly reduced through this process.

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Biorenewable chemicals: Feedstocks, technologies and the conflict with food production

Cited by 104 publications

References 149 publications

Environmental hotspots of lactic acid production systems

Environmental hotspots of lactic acid production systems

Process development and techno‐economic analysis of bio‐based succinic acid derived from pentoses integrated to a sugarcane biorefinery

Sugarcane Distillery Spent Wash, a New Resource for Third-Generation Biodiesel Production

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