Underutilized Lignocellulosic Waste as Sources of Feedstock for Biofuel Production in Developing Countries

Abstract

The need for a reliable and sustainable energy source, stability in energy price and solution to environmental challenges of fossil fuel has led to searching for an alternative energy source to fossil fuel. Several alternative sources have been developed over time, but they are limited in one form or another. However, biofuel such as bioethanol has been identified as a superb alternative with superior properties to fossil fuel. One major challenge with biofuel is the high production cost resulting from feedstock, which may also serve as a food source. In order to address this challenge, research is focused on searching for cheap and sustainable feedstock for biofuel production. Currently, attention is on lignocellulosic waste as feedstock with a keen interest in developing the most appropriate technique for processing it to bioethanol, especially in developing countries, which is the focus of this review. This review involves converting lignocellulosic waste to bioethanol and the pretreatment steps involved as well as its challenges, prospect and economic aspect. Among the pretreatment steps reported, biological treatment remains outstanding but with a few challenges which can be managed. Biofuel has come to stay in developing countries with lots of opportunities that favours its production cost. Although the high cost of enzyme production has been identified as a challenge to the economic viability of lignocellulosic bioethanol, there is hope that developing an efficient bio-system for simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) and consolidated biomass processing may help circumvent the challenge. In conclusion, the effective utilization of lignocellulosic waste in an efficient biocatalyst system can serve as an economically viable means to overcome the challenge posed by fossil fuel.

Fluorescent Carbon Dots from Food Industry By-Products for Cell Imaging

“…Nutshells are a subclass of lignocellulose biomass that mainly contain cellulose (25–30%), hemicellulose (22–28%), and lignin (30–40%), and are, therefore, mostly composed of carbon and oxygen [ 5 , 6 ]. For this reason, nutshells have recently emerged as an alternative and promising feedstock for the production of biofuels and biopolymers, as well as pesticides and fertilizers [ 7 ].…”

Green Downstream Processing Method for Xylooligosaccharide Purification and Assessment of Its Prebiotic Properties

“…The lignocellulosic agro-industry waste is the most abundant and renewable source of sustainable energy for mankind. Lignocellulosic materials which are mainly composed of lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose are promising economical resources for obtaining bioenergy, food additives, and fermentable sugars . The bioactive-rich agro-industry waste utilization for the production of value-added products not only reduces the production cost but also minimizes the pollution load from the environment .…”

“…Lignocellulosic materials which are mainly composed of lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose are promising economical resources for obtaining bioenergy, food additives, and fermentable sugars. 1 The bioactive-rich agro-industry waste utilization for the production of value-added products not only reduces the production cost but also minimizes the pollution load from the environment. 2 This lignocellulosic waste can be valorized by the production of the oligosaccharide and ultimately contribute to cyclic bioeconomics.…”

Emergent Chemical Behavior in Mixed Food and Lignocellulosic Green Waste Hydrothermal Liquefaction

“…Combined food waste and green waste account for an estimated 1.5 billion tons per year, , with real prices that are often negative. , Moreover, they are co-produced in similar urban and dense suburban communities, making their mixtures an attractive feed stream for HTL. Molecularly, food and green wastes are distinct from one another, and these differences are anticipated to affect their ability to be transformed into biocrude as well as the resultant biocrude composition.…”