Abstract
Microbiological conversion of biosphere renewable resources to produce useful products, in particular biofuels, is currently one of the pressing problems of biotechnology. To establish a microbiological production of biobutanol at an industrial scale, strains with high-yield solvent production on plant biomass as a cheap substrate are needed. This paper summarizes the main outcomes of the authors’ original research focused on a) obtaining new butanol-producing strains of Clostridium genus, b) testing different sources of non-food raw material as a substrate for fermentation. A comparison of different methods of biomass pretreatment and their efficiency for the accumulation of butanol in the liquid medium is also reported. In particular, the efficiency of butanol production by C. acetobutylicum strains isolated or mutagenized by the authors on a) ground green rapeseed, switchgrass, sweet sorghum, soybean, wheat biomass; b) components of switchgrass after thermobaric hydrolysis and c) paper mill sludge from the pulp as substrates is reported. This paper also highlights the progress made concerning substrate pre-treatment and optimization of cultivation conditions to increase butanol production. Finally, future directions to optimize the different biotechnological steps leading to butanol production are discussed.
Highlights
Biobutanol is considered one of the most promising renewable biofuels [1]
Biobutanol produced in the process of ABE fermentation of biomass by Clostridia spp. has the same characteristics as the butanol obtained by chemical synthesis
It is this factor and the ability of saccharolytic Clostridia to use various carbohydrates as substrates that have triggered the research for the production of biobutanol from alternative and renewable raw materials [10, 11]
Summary
Biobutanol is considered one of the most promising renewable biofuels [1]. Due to its high calorific value and low hydrophilicity, butanol is more like gasoline than ethanol. Biobutanol produced in the process of ABE fermentation of biomass by Clostridia spp. has the same characteristics as the butanol obtained by chemical synthesis. Over the past two decades, significant progress has been made in the butanol biotechnology, especially in the cultivation process through (1) butanol-titer improvement, (2) by-products isolation or elimination, (3) increased tolerance of bacteria to butanol concentration and (4) utilization of pure sugars, and lignocellulosic biomass hydrolysates as substrates for bacteria. The use of renewable raw materials lignocellulosic biomass - and the possibility of partial or complete replacement of food raw materials with non-food raw materials is important progress on the way to establishing production of biobutanol at an industrial scale [27 - 31]. We review recent advancements on the use of non-food plant raw materials as a substrate for fermentation and compare effectiveness of different methodologies of green biomass pretreatment for the accumulation of butanol in a liquid medium
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