Sustainable Approaches for Biofuels from Waste Materials

Topic Information

Dear Colleagues,

The global concerns for energy security have increased immensely due to the rapid depletion of fossil fuel-based energy sources, rapid population growth, and urbanization. Worldwide, sustainable development goals are being achieved for global warming and climate change mitigation with minimizing greenhouse gas emissions. These consequences have led to the sustainable utilization of waste materials for biofuel production. The utilization of waste materials as a biofuel feedstock is an innovative approach towards resolving various global issues related to sustainable waste management, greenhouse gas emissions, and dependency on fossil fuel energy. Biofuel refers to various renewable fuels, including biomethane, biohydrogen, bioethanol, biobutanol, biodiesel, bio-lubricants, and bio-jet fuels. Over the years, biofuels have been produced from different waste materials, including municipal waste, sewage sludge, livestock waste, discarded animal fats, waste cooking oil, lignocellulosic biomass, animal manure, food waste, and agricultural waste residue. However, sustainable approaches to biofuel production from waste materials necessitates state-of-the-art technologies and legislative policies for waste collection and storage. To ensure the environmental and economic viability of biofuels from waste materials, it is crucial to understand the spatial and temporal availability of waste materials, waste characteristics, waste valorization methods, and available technologies. This Topic invites manuscripts focusing on biofuel production from waste materials. The editorial team welcomes researchers, academics, industry leaders, and stakeholders to submit their original research articles, review articles, and case studies dealing with (but not limited to) the following research topics:

1. State-of-the-art technologies for biofuel production from waste materials.
2. Waste material collection, segregation, and transportation strategies for biofuel production.
3. Waste material characteristics and pre-treatment technologies in biofuel production.
4. Potentials and differences of waste materials for biofuel production.
5. Integrated sustainable waste management scenarios for biofuel production.

Life cycle assessment, environmental impact assessment, and economic viability analyses geared towards biofuel production from waste materials. 

Dr. Md Sohrab Hossain
Dr. Venugopal Balakrishnan
Topic Editors

Keywords

Participating Journals

Journal Name	Impact Factor	CiteScore	Launched Year	First Decision (median)	APC
Applied Biosciences applbiosci	-	-	2022	19.1 Days	CHF 1000
Bioengineering bioengineering	3.8	4.0	2014	16.4 Days	CHF 2700
Energies energies	3.0	6.2	2008	16.8 Days	CHF 2600
Pollutants pollutants	-	-	2021	25.3 Days	CHF 1000
Molecules molecules	4.2	7.4	1996	15.1 Days	CHF 2700

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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23 pages, 1882 KiB  

Open AccessReview

Survey on Antioxidants Used as Additives to Improve Biodiesel’s Stability to Degradation through Oxidation

by Elena David and Janez Kopac

Molecules 2023, 28(23), 7765; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28237765 - 24 Nov 2023

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2624

Abstract

A major problem that limits the use of biodiesel is maintaining the fuel at the specified standards for a longer period. Biodiesel oxidizes much more easily than diesel, and the final oxidation products change its physical and chemical properties and cause the formation [...] Read more.

A major problem that limits the use of biodiesel is maintaining the fuel at the specified standards for a longer period. Biodiesel oxidizes much more easily than diesel, and the final oxidation products change its physical and chemical properties and cause the formation of insoluble gums that can block fuel filters and the supply pipes. This instability of biodiesel is a major problem and has not yet been satisfactorily resolved. Recently, the use of biodiesel has increased quite a lot, but the problem related to oxidation could become a significant impediment. A promising and cost-effective approach to improving biodiesel’s stability is to add appropriate antioxidants. Antioxidants work better or less effectively in different biodiesel fuels, and there is no one-size-fits-all inhibitor for every type of biodiesel fuel. To establish a suitable antioxidant for a certain type of biodiesel, it is necessary to know the chemistry of the antioxidants and factors that influence their effectiveness against biodiesel oxidation. Most studies on the use of antioxidants to improve the oxidative stability of biodiesel have been conducted independently. This study presents an analysis of these studies and mentions factors that must be taken into account for the choice of antioxidants so that the storage stability of biodiesel fuels can be improved. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Sustainable Approaches for Biofuels from Waste Materials)

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23 pages, 21930 KiB  

Open AccessReview

Hydrogenase and Nitrogenase: Key Catalysts in Biohydrogen Production

by Jinsong Xuan, Lingling He, Wen Wen and Yingang Feng

Molecules 2023, 28(3), 1392; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28031392 - 1 Feb 2023

Cited by 41 | Viewed by 6676

Abstract

Hydrogen with high energy content is considered to be a promising alternative clean energy source. Biohydrogen production through microbes provides a renewable and immense hydrogen supply by utilizing raw materials such as inexhaustible natural sunlight, water, and even organic waste, which is supposed [...] Read more.

Hydrogen with high energy content is considered to be a promising alternative clean energy source. Biohydrogen production through microbes provides a renewable and immense hydrogen supply by utilizing raw materials such as inexhaustible natural sunlight, water, and even organic waste, which is supposed to solve the two problems of “energy supply and environment protection” at the same time. Hydrogenases and nitrogenases are two classes of key enzymes involved in biohydrogen production and can be applied under different biological conditions. Both the research on enzymatic catalytic mechanisms and the innovations of enzymatic techniques are important and necessary for the application of biohydrogen production. In this review, we introduce the enzymatic structures related to biohydrogen production, summarize recent enzymatic and genetic engineering works to enhance hydrogen production, and describe the chemical efforts of novel synthetic artificial enzymes inspired by the two biocatalysts. Continual studies on the two types of enzymes in the future will further improve the efficiency of biohydrogen production and contribute to the economic feasibility of biohydrogen as an energy source. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Sustainable Approaches for Biofuels from Waste Materials)
(This article belongs to the Section Green Chemistry)

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16 pages, 2472 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Cellulosic Ethanol Production Using Waste Wheat Stillage after Microwave-Assisted Hydrotropic Pretreatment

by Grzegorz Kłosowski, Dawid Mikulski, Prashant Bhagwat and Santhosh Pillai

Molecules 2022, 27(18), 6097; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27186097 - 18 Sep 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2347

Abstract

One of the key elements influencing the efficiency of cellulosic ethanol production is the effective pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of microwave-assisted pretreatment of wheat stillage in the presence of sodium cumene sulphonate (NaCS) [...] Read more.

One of the key elements influencing the efficiency of cellulosic ethanol production is the effective pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of microwave-assisted pretreatment of wheat stillage in the presence of sodium cumene sulphonate (NaCS) hydrotrope used for the production of second-generation bioethanol. As a result of microwave pretreatment, the composition of the wheat stillage biomass changed significantly when compared with the raw material used, before treatment. Microwave-assisted pretreatment with NaCS effectively reduced the lignin content and hemicellulose, making cellulose the dominant component of biomass, which accounted for 42.91 ± 0.10%. In post pretreatment, changes in biomass composition were also visible on FTIR spectra. The peaks of functional groups and bonds characteristic of lignins (C–O vibration in the syringyl ring, asymmetric bending in CH₃, and aromatic skeleton C–C stretching) decreased. The pretreatment of the analyzed lignocellulosic raw material with NaCS resulted in the complete conversion of glucose to ethanol after 48 h of the process, with yield (in relation to the theoretical one) of above 91%. The highest observed concentration of ethanol, 23.57 ± 0.10 g/L, indicated the high effectiveness of the method used for the pretreatment of wheat stillage that did not require additional nutrient supplementation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Sustainable Approaches for Biofuels from Waste Materials)
(This article belongs to the Section Green Chemistry)

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