Renewable Biomass Utilization: A Way Forward to Establish Sustainable Chemical and Processing Industries

Abstract

Lignocellulosic biomass feedstocks are promising alternatives to fossil fuels for meeting raw material needs of processing industries and helping transit from a linear to a circular economy and thereby meet the global sustainability criteria. The sugar platform route in the biochemical conversion process is one of the promising and extensively studied methods, which consists of four major conversion steps: pretreatment, hydrolysis, fermentation, and product purification. Each of these conversion steps has multiple challenges. Among them, the challenges associated with the pretreatment are the most significant for the overall process because this is the most expensive step in the sugar platform route and it significantly affects the efficiency of all subsequent steps on the sustainable valorization of each biomass component. However, the development of a universal pretreatment method to cater to all types of feedstock is nearly impossible due to the substantial variations in compositions and structures of biopolymers among these feedstocks. In this review, we have discussed some promising pretreatment methods, their processing and chemicals requirements, and the effect of biomass composition on deconstruction efficiencies. In addition, the global biomass resources availability and process intensification ideas for the lignocellulosic-based chemical industry have been discussed from a circularity and sustainability standpoint.

Biocatalyst and continuous microfluidic reactor for an intensified production of n-butyl levulinate: Kinetic model assessment

“…Lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) is seen as the best alternative to fossil raw materials to make the chemical and fuel industries sustainable [1][2][3]. Compared to first-generation biomass, LCB is not competing with the food sector, avoiding the fuel versus food dilemma.…”

Production of Biochar from Biomass Pyrolysis for Removal of PFAS from Wastewater and Biosolids: A Critical Review

“…Synthesis of biochar using biomass pyrolysis for adsorption of PFAS have been investigated with various feedstocks such as switchgrass, water oak leaves and have been experimented to adsorb PFAS compounds. Experimental investigations have shown that biosolid biochar is recommended for PFOA adsorption compared to biomass feedstocks such as switchgrass or water oak leaves due to higher O (26 -36 wt.%), S (1 -3.8 wt.%) and heavy metal content such as Ca, Cu, and Fe [4,5,7,8]. Addition of additive materials such as carbon nanotube significantly enhanced the overall surface area as well as increased porosity [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20].…”

Microorganisms Capable of Producing Polysaccharides from D-Xylose

“…Thus, many attempts have been made to utilize plant cell walls to produce useful substances such as fine chemicals, food materials, fibers, feeds, fertilizers, and fuels in order to become independent from the fossil fuel oil and to curb greenhouse gas emissions. 1) The plant cell wall is composed of cellulose, lignin, and hemicellulose. The production of biofuels from cellulose has been well-studied for over 70 years.…”