Sustainable development in the Legal Amazon: energy recovery from açaí seeds

Abstract

The Brazilian açaí industry reached national and international prominence in the last few years. Its final product, mainly frozen pulp, became popular worldwide, accounting for a high market share, including exports. Nevertheless, the solid by‐products arising from the processing are not always discarded in an environmentally suitable manner. This review presents a scientometric analysis of açaí research in the last 27 years (1993 to 2019), applying a longitudinal bibliometric study. Through data analysis, it can be observed that Brazil and the USA are the countries that mostly contributed to the development of açaí research. Although Brazil has more publications, the USA presents more articles in partnership with 21 countries. The results also showed that few documents addressed renewable energy recovery with the following technologies: combustion, pyrolysis, supercritical water hydrolysis, and anaerobic digestion. Further analysis of the anaerobic digestion of the totality of açaí seeds generated in Brazil indicated that, theoretically, the electric energy from biogas burning could supply the whole frozen pulp industry requirement with an additional surplus for sales to the grid. Hence, electricity replacement contributes to greenhouse gas mitigation. The assessment of the potential electric energy generation illustrates how technological integration can be an innovative way to rethink the açaí production chain using a circular economy concept. Moreover, the technological advances could stimulate sustainable agro‐industrial intensification in areas such as the Legal Amazon, considered a hotspot for climate change mitigation. © 2021 Society of Industrial Chemistry and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A bibliometric analysis on potential uses of brewer's spent grains in a biorefinery for the circular economy transition of the beer industry

“…Bibliometric tools can be used to perform a complete analysis of scientific publications related to a subject area 13,14 . This systematic method can support the analysis of emerging trends, addressing gaps, and identifying all the collaboration networks of the research area 13 .…”

“…[10][11][12] Bibliometric tools can be used to perform a complete analysis of scientific publications related to a subject area. 13,14 This systematic method can support the analysis of emerging trends, addressing gaps, and identifying all the collaboration networks of the research area. 13 Moreover, the bibliometric analysis identifies the possible knowledge gaps and supports the establishment of future studies to better understand the state of the art of a research field.…”

Sustainable valorization of apple waste in a biorefinery: a bibliometric analysis

“…The global intensification and worldwide demand for processed food products have led to a high generation of solid and liquid wastes by the industrial sectors 1 . Typically, these wastes consist of liquid effluents and solid residues with high chemical oxygen demand and biodegradability 2 . Moreover, the uncontrolled landfill and open‐air destination of organic wastes are associated with environmental problems and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 3,4 .…”

“…Regarding the use of bibliometric analysis, recent studies demonstrated that this approach could be a strategy to evaluate the research trends and gaps in science 1,2,36–38 . In general, bibliometric analysis can be defined as an evaluation of scientific production through studies of observable parameters, such as published journals, books, authors, keywords and citations 37 .…”

“…1 Typically, these wastes consist of liquid effluents and solid residues with high chemical oxygen demand and biodegradability. 2 Moreover, the uncontrolled landfill and open-air destination of organic wastes are associated with environmental problems and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. 3,4 National and international environmental laws have been an important tool to increase the environmental awareness of the food industry, which must adopt innovative technologies for waste management and reduce GHG emissions.…”