Lignocellulosic biorefinery as a model for sustainable development of biofuels and value added products

• Published in: Bioresource technology Vol. 247; pp. 1144 - 1154
• Main Authors: De Bhowmick, Goldy, Sarmah, Ajit K., Sen, Ramkrishna
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.01.2018
• Subjects: Biochar; Biofuels; Biomass; biorefining; carbon dioxide; coculture; Conservation of Natural Resources; energy; feedstocks; fermentation; greenhouse gases; lignocellulose; Lignocellulosic biorefinery; Microalgae; petroleum; Plant Oils; Polyphenols; Series concept; sustainable development; Series concept; Microalgae; Lignocellulosic biorefinery; Biofuels; Biochar
• ISSN: 0960-8524; 1873-2976; 1873-2976
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2017.09.163

•Biomass composition with suitable pre-treatment is vital for successful biorefinery.•A technique that has high yield, low COD and low CO2 is ideal.•Integrated conversion technique with process integration is a suitable approach.•Combining microalgae with intermittent dark/photo fermentation in series is suggested. A constant shift of society's dependence from petroleum-based energy resources towards renewable biomass-based has been the key to tackle the greenhouse gas emissions. Effective use of biomass feedstock, particularly lignocellulosic, has gained worldwide attention lately. Lignocellulosic biomass as a potent bioresource, however, cannot be a sustainable alternative if the production cost is too high and/ or the availability is limited. Recycling the lignocellulosic biomass from various sources into value added products such as bio-oil, biochar or other biobased chemicals in a bio-refinery model is a sensible idea. Combination of integrated conversion techniques along with process integration is suggested as a sustainable approach. Introducing ‘series concept’ accompanying intermittent dark/photo fermentation with co-cultivation of microalgae is conceptualised. While the cost of downstream processing for a single type of feedstock would be high, combining different feedstocks and integrating them in a bio-refinery model would lessen the production cost and reduce CO2 emission.