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Energies
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The Significance of Agro-Waste in Second-Generation Biofuels towards Circular Bioeconomy
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The Significance of Agro-Waste in Second-Generation Biofuels towards Circular Bioeconomy

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "A4: Bio-Energy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (12 February 2025) | Viewed by 3504

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Parveen Fatemeh Rupani

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agrifood and Environment, Cranfield University, Cranfield MK43 0AL, UK
Interests: biomass and waste; energy and the environment; renewable rnergy; waste management and resource efficiency
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The conversion of biomass into biofuel holds great promise regarding its technological ability to meet the ever-growing demand for clean energy resources while minimizing our reliance on fossil fuels. With regard to the economy, the rise of biofuels signifies the beginning of an agricultural renaissance, as there is currently a surge in demand for agricultural crops for energy production. Among the most promising feedstocks for biofuel production are agro-wastes with complex lignocellulose structures; these face limitations regarding the long-term sustainable profitability of the industries. However, these materials offer immense potential for the development of future biofuels, known as second-generation biofuels, and will address the limitations associated with biofuel production from food or feed crops.

Several strategies are being explored to enhance the biofuel production capacity of agro-wastes. One such approach involves pretreating the lignocellulosic biomass before fermentation in order to overcome its inherent recalcitrant nature. This pretreatment technique has been studied and implemented for nearly two centuries. In recent years, there has been considerable interest in the application of novel techniques such as microbial pretreatments, including enzymatic delignification, to optimize the process further. Ongoing research in this field aims to develop environmentally friendly, economically viable, and technically sound methods with which to maximize biofuel yields.

This Special Issue of the journal Energies seeks to publish comprehensive and original papers, as well as extensive reviews, that delve into recent advances, developments, and future prospects in the application of such biofuel production technologies. The Editorial Board is committed to facilitating a rapid and efficient peer-review process in order to effectively disseminate the latest findings in this field among the scientific community.

Dr. Parveen Fatemeh Rupani
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • lignocellulosic biomass
  • biological degradation
  • anaerobic digestion
  • fermentation
  • microbial pretreatment
  • biofuel production
  • biomass and bioenergy

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 7755 KiB  
Article
Process Modelling of Integrated Bioethanol and Biogas Production from Organic Municipal Waste
by Brankica Gegić, Damjan Vučurović, Siniša Dodić and Bojana Bajić
Energies 2024, 17(17), 4286; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17174286 - 27 Aug 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1541
Abstract
One of the key guidelines in the European waste management policy is the diversion of waste from landfills, preventing harmful effects on human health and the environment and ensuring that economically valuable waste materials are efficiently recycled and reused through proper management. The [...] Read more.
One of the key guidelines in the European waste management policy is the diversion of waste from landfills, preventing harmful effects on human health and the environment and ensuring that economically valuable waste materials are efficiently recycled and reused through proper management. The organic fraction of municipal waste is abundant and contains biodegradable ingredients such lignocellulose, starch, lipids, pectin, and proteins, making it suitable for biotechnological production. Taking into account that a large amount of organic waste is disposed of in landfills, within this work, the amount of organic waste disposed of in the landfill in Banja Luka was considered. Four simulation model scenarios of the integrated production of bioethanol and biogas are generated, and their process and economic aspects are discussed. In the first two modelled scenarios, the pretreatment conditions (1% sulfuric acid and a different neutralization agent) were varied, while in the other two, the share of the amount of raw material used for the production of bioethanol, i.e., biogas, was varied (split factor: 10–90%). The modelled plant, with a designed capacity of 6 tons/h of organic waste, is a significant bioethanol producer, generating 5,000,000 L/year. The profitability indicators, when examined, revealed that dedicating a portion of the organic municipal waste input exclusively to biogas production leads to decreased process efficiency. Based on the modeled process parameters, ethanol’s minimum feasible selling price is $0.6616 per liter, while regarding the composition of organic municipal waste, carbohydrates have the most significant impact on the viability of the process. The developed model represents an excellent basis for further development of this integrated bioprocess in such a way that it can be modified with new process parameters or economic or ecological indicators and used at all levels of bioprocess design. Additionally, the obtained sustainable integrated bioethanol and biogas production plant models could support forthcoming steps in municipal waste management by providing reliable data on the conditions under which the integrated process of bioethanol and biogas production would take place, as well as the technical feasibility and economic profitability of such organic municipal waste utilization. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Significance of Agro-Waste in Second-Generation Biofuels towards Circular Bioeconomy)
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12 pages, 3601 KiB  
Article
Biohydrogen Production and Quantitative Determination of Monosaccharide Production Using Hyperthermophilic Anaerobic Fermentation of Corn Stover
by Parveen Fatemeh Rupani, Ruben Sakrabani, Beenish Sadaqat and Weilan Shao
Energies 2024, 17(7), 1734; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17071734 - 4 Apr 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1443
Abstract
Second-generation biofuels from lignocellulosic biomass remain critical and require several challenges due to lignin compounds’ inefficient degradation and recalcitrate characteristics. In this regard, this study focuses on enzymatic technology as a promising treatment that is beneficial in breaking down the biomass’s hemicellulose and [...] Read more.
Second-generation biofuels from lignocellulosic biomass remain critical and require several challenges due to lignin compounds’ inefficient degradation and recalcitrate characteristics. In this regard, this study focuses on enzymatic technology as a promising treatment that is beneficial in breaking down the biomass’s hemicellulose and cellulosic parts. Thermostable bacterial species owe thermostable enzymes that are able to degrade complex carbohydrate compounds and produce efficient hydrogen production. The present study investigates the direct utilization of ligninolytic enzymes such as cellulase and xylanase derived from the hyperthermophilic bacteria Thermotoga maritima (ATCC 43589 strain). The results show that xylanase and cellulase enzymes extracted from Thermotoga maritima could depolymerize the lignin bonds of corn stover substrate and release monomers such as Galactose in the media. In conclusion, this study can open a new advanced research window on directly applying a hyperthermophilic consortium of enzymes capable of hydrolyzing lignocellulose material toward hydrogen production. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Significance of Agro-Waste in Second-Generation Biofuels towards Circular Bioeconomy)
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