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Latest Progress in Lignocellulosic Bioethanol Production

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (16 November 2021) | Viewed by 15468

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Elia Tomás Pejó

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Guest Editor

Unit of Biotechnological Processes, IMDEA Energy Institute, 28935 Móstoles, Spain
Interests: bioethanol; fermentation technology; biorefinery; biofuels; nonconventional yeast; bioproducts; lignocellulose; pretreatment technologies; laccase enzymes; yeast improvement; yeast robustness

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Bioethanol is presently one of the most important renewable fuels, and it has the potential to partly replace petroleum-derived liquid fuels. The traditional technology for converting starch- and sugar-based materials into bioethanol is relatively simple. However, advanced biofuels, such as lignocellulosic bioethanol, offer more opportunities for achieving climate mitigation targets. Apart from its environmental benefits, lignocellulose is proposed as a key feedstock for bioethanol due to its wide distribution, low cost, huge availability, and noncompetition with food crops.

Because of the high recalcitrant structure of lignocellulose, biomass processing is a major limiting step. Furthermore, the development of robust microbial strains tolerant to inhibitory compounds and capable of fermenting sugar mixtures is also required for the cost-effectiveness of the process. In this sense, some challenges both in biomass processing and microbial conversion processes still have to be addressed to ensure a competitive lignocellulosic bioethanol industry. In this context, efforts at establishing efficient technologies for lignocellulosic ethanol production are ongoing, and substantial investments in the development this technology are being carried out.

This Special Issue will focus on recent advances in Lignocellulosic Bioethanol Production from new processing or pretreatment technologies to novel system/synthetic biology tools to improve yeast performance. Papers related with all steps of the bioethanol production process (i.e., pretreatment, hydrolysis, fermentation) including technoeconomic analysis are welcome.

Topics of interest for publication include but are not limited to the following:

Novel lignocellulosic feedstock;
New pretreatment technologies for lignocellulose;
Lignocellulosic degradation compounds;
Detoxification, hydrolytic and accessory enzymes for bioethanol production;
Different process strategies;
Fermentation of sugar mixtures;
Fermenting microorganisms;
Yeast improvement.

Dr. Elia Tomás Pejó
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.

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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

Bioethanol
Lignocellulosic biomass
Pretreatment
Detoxification
Delignification
Enzymatic hydrolysis
Fermentation technology
Fermentable sugars
Yeast robustness

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 1420 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Cardoon Hydrolysate Detoxification by Activated Carbon or Membranes System for Bioethanol Production

by Ana P. M. Tavares, Matthew J. A. Gonçalves, Teresa Brás, Gaetano R. Pesce, Ana M. R. B. Xavier and Maria C. Fernandes

Energies 2022, 15(6), 1993; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15061993 - 09 Mar 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1812

Abstract

Advanced biofuels incorporation into the transportation sector, particularly cellulosic bioethanol, is crucial for attaining carbon neutrality by 2050, contributing to climate changes mitigation and wastes minimization. The world needs biofuel to be commercially available to tackle the socioeconomic challenges coming from the continued use of fossil fuels. Cynara cardunculus (cardoon) is a cheap lignocellulosic raw biomass that easily grows in Mediterraneous soils and is a potential renewable resource for a biorefinery. This work aimed to study the bioethanol production from cardoon hemicellulosic hydrolysates, which originated from dilute sulfuric acid hydrolysis pretreatment. A detoxification step to remove released microbial fermentative inhibitors was evaluated by using both activated carbon adsorption and a nanofiltration membrane system. The Scheffersomyces stipitis CBS5773 yeast and the modified Escherichia coli MS04 fermentation performances at different experimental conditions were compared. The promising results with E. coli, using detoxified cardoon by membrane nanofiltration, led to a bioethanol volumetric productivity of 0.30 g·L⁻¹·h⁻¹, with a conversion efficiency of 94.5%. Regarding the S. stipitis, in similar fermentation conditions, volumetric productivity of 0.091 g·L⁻¹·h⁻¹ with a conversion efficiency of 64.9% was obtained. Concluding, the production of bioethanol through detoxification of hemicellulosic cardoon hydrolysate presents a suitable alternative for the production of second-generation bioethanol, especially using the modified E. coli. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Latest Progress in Lignocellulosic Bioethanol Production)

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21 pages, 1799 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Obtaining Fermentable Sugars from a Highly Productive Elm Clone Using Different Pretreatments

by David Ibarra, Raquel Martín-Sampedro, Laura Jiménez-López, Juan A. Martín, Manuel J. Díaz and María E. Eugenio

Energies 2021, 14(9), 2415; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14092415 - 23 Apr 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1514

Abstract

The interest of supplying lignocellulosic materials for producing fermentable sugars has recently emerged in order to diminish the negative environmental effects of fossil fuels. In this study, the Ulmus minor clone Ademuz, characterized for its tolerance to Dutch elm disease and its rapid growth, was evaluated as a source of fermentable sugars. For that, different pretreatments, comprising autohydrolysis, dilute acid hydrolysis, acid catalyzed organosolv, and alkaline extraction, were evaluated at two levels of severity (pretreatment temperatures at 160 °C and 180 °C, except for alkaline extraction at 80 °C and 160 °C); and the resulting pretreated materials were enzymatically hydrolyzed for fermentable sugars production. The major extraction of lignin and hemicellulose was achieved during organosolv (48.9%, lignin; 77.9%, hemicellulose) and acid hydrolysis (39.2%, lignin; 95.0%, hemicellulose) at 180 °C, resulting in the major enzymatic digestibility (67.7%, organosolv; 53.5% acid hydrolysis). Contrarily, under the most favorable conditions for autohydrolysis (180 °C) and alkaline extraction (160 °C), lower extraction of lignin and hemicellulose was produced (4.8%, lignin; 67.2%, hemicellulose, autohydrolysis; 22.6%, lignin; 33.1%, hemicellulose, alkaline extraction), leading to lower enzymatic digestibility (32.1%, autohydrolysis; 39.2%, alkaline extraction). Taking into account the sugars produced during enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated materials and the solubilized sugars from pretreatment liquors, the highest sugars (glucose and xylose) yield production (28.1%) per gram of biomass from U. minor clone Ademuz was achieved with acid catalyzed organosolv at 180 °C. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Latest Progress in Lignocellulosic Bioethanol Production)

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18 pages, 2425 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Cellulosic Bioethanol from Industrial Eucalyptus globulus Bark Residues Using Kraft Pulping as a Pretreatment

by Mariana S. T. Amândio, Jorge M. S. Rocha, Luísa S. Serafim and Ana M. R. B. Xavier

Energies 2021, 14(8), 2185; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14082185 - 14 Apr 2021

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2087

Abstract

The pulp and paper industry faces an emerging challenge for valorising wastes and side-streams generated according to the biorefinery concept. Eucalyptus globulus bark, an abundant industrial residue in the Portuguese pulp and paper sector, has a high potential to be converted into biobased products instead of being burned. This work aimed to evaluate the ethanol production from E. globulus bark previously submitted to kraft pulping through separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF) configuration. Fed-batch enzymatic hydrolysis provided a concentrated hydrolysate with 161.6 g·L⁻¹ of cellulosic sugars. S. cerevisiae and Ethanol Red^® strains demonstrated a very good fermentation performance, despite a negligible xylose consumption. S. passalidarum, a yeast known for its capability to consume pentoses, was studied in a simultaneous co-culture with Ethanol Red^®. However, bioethanol production was not improved. The best fermentation performance was achieved by Ethanol Red^®, which provided a maximum ethanol concentration near 50 g·L⁻¹ and fermentation efficiency of 80%. Concluding, kraft pulp from E. globulus bark showed a high potential to be converted into cellulosic bioethanol, being susceptible to implementing an integrated biorefinery on the pulp and paper industrial plants. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Latest Progress in Lignocellulosic Bioethanol Production)

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13 pages, 3608 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Candida intermedia CBS 141442: A Novel Glucose/Xylose Co-Fermenting Isolate for Lignocellulosic Bioethanol Production

by Antonio D. Moreno, Elia Tomás-Pejó, Lisbeth Olsson and Cecilia Geijer

Energies 2020, 13(20), 5363; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13205363 - 15 Oct 2020

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2151

Abstract

The present study describes the isolation of the novel strain Candida intermedia CBS 141442 and investigates the potential of this microorganism for the conversion of lignocellulosic streams. Different C. intermedia clones were isolated during an adaptive laboratory evolution experiment under the selection pressure of lignocellulosic hydrolysate and in strong competition with industrial, xylose-fermenting Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells. Isolates showed different but stable colony and cell morphologies when growing in a solid agar medium (smooth, intermediate and complex morphology) and liquid medium (unicellular, aggregates and pseudohyphal morphology). Clones of the same morphology showed similar fermentation patterns, and the C. intermedia clone I5 (CBS 141442) was selected for further testing due to its superior capacity for xylose consumption (90% of the initial xylose concentration within 72 h) and the highest ethanol yields (0.25 ± 0.02 g ethanol/g sugars consumed). Compared to the well-known yeast Scheffersomyces stipitis, the selected strain showed slightly higher tolerance to the lignocellulosic-derived inhibitors when fermenting a wheat straw hydrolysate. Furthermore, its higher glucose consumption rates (compared to S. stipitis) and its capacity for glucose and xylose co-fermentation makes C. intermedia CBS 141442 an attractive microorganism for the conversion of lignocellulosic substrates, as demonstrated in simultaneous saccharification and fermentation processes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Latest Progress in Lignocellulosic Bioethanol Production)

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14 pages, 2262 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sugars Production from Municipal Forestry and Greening Wastes Pretreated by an Integrated Steam Explosion-Based Process

by Maria José Negro, Cristina Álvarez, Pablo Doménech, Raquel Iglesias and Ignacio Ballesteros

Energies 2020, 13(17), 4432; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13174432 - 27 Aug 2020

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 2302

Abstract

Increasing awareness of resource sustainability and waste management has led to the search for solutions while promoting circular economy principles. Among all kinds of lignocellulosic biomass available, one with growing interest is municipal forestry and greening waste (MFGW). MFGW makes up an important part of waste streams of municipal solid waste and is a potential feedstock for biological conversion in a lignocellulosic biorefinery. This work studied the fermentable sugars production from MFGW after steam explosion (SE) pretreatment combined with other pretreatments such as dilute acid, organosolv, and metal salts. A range of pretreatment conditions was evaluated according to different parameters: sugars recovery, degradation product generation, and enzymatic hydrolysis yield. At selected pretreatment conditions (diluted acid plus SE, 195 °C, 10 min, and 60 mg H₂SO₄/g MFGW), 77% of potential sugars content in MFGW was obtained. The effect of solids loading and enzyme dose on glucose release and glucose yield on enzymatic hydrolysis were also determined. Up to 70% of the main sugars in the MFGW were recovered for the coupled pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis (45 FPU/g glucan enzyme loading and 20% dry matter solid consistency), resulting in 80 g/L glucose that could be further utilized for ethanol production. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Latest Progress in Lignocellulosic Bioethanol Production)

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Review

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14 pages, 614 KiB

Open AccessReview

Life Cycle Analysis of the Bioethanol Production from Food Waste—A Review

by Aikaterini Konti, Dimitris Kekos and Diomi Mamma

Energies 2020, 13(19), 5206; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13195206 - 06 Oct 2020

Cited by 20 | Viewed by 4499

Abstract

Food Waste (FW) because of its composition is considered as an ideal feedstock for the production of biofuels and in particular bioethanol. The production of bioethanol from lignocellulosic materials has been studied over a long time. The process consists of the stages of pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis, fermentation and product recovery. However, the legal framework regarding biofuels has established specific environmental criteria for their production which are regularly updated. The most common tool for the assessment of the environmental performance of a process or product is the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA). In the present review, the results of LCA studies on the production of bioethanol from food waste are presented. Significant differences are observed among the studies in terms of the methodological choices made. Despite the high heterogeneity observed which does not allow a direct comparison among them, there is strong evidence that the production of bioethanol from food waste is an eco-friendly process which can substantially contribute to Green House Gas (GHG) emissions savings. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Latest Progress in Lignocellulosic Bioethanol Production)

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