Abstract
The urgency to reduce resource depletion and waste production is expected to lead to an economy based on renewable resources. Biofuels, for instance, are a great green alternative to fossil fuel, but they are currently derived from edible vegetable oils such as soybean, palm, and sunflower. Concerns have been raised about the social–economic implication and ecological impacts of biodiesel production. Cultivating new lands as biodiesel feedstock rather than food supply, with the consequent increase in food prices, leads to so-called indirect land-use change (ILUC). Establishing bioenergy crops with phytoremediation ability on contaminated soils offers multiple benefits such as improving soil properties and ecosystem services, decreasing soil erosion, and diminishing the dispersion of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) into the environment. Castor bean is an unpalatable, high-biomass plant, and it has been widely demonstrated to possess phytoremediation capability for several PTEs. Castor bean can grow on marginal lands not suitable for food crops, has multiple uses as a raw material, and is already used in biodiesel production. These characteristics make it perfect for sustainable biodiesel production. Linking biofuel production with environmental remediation can be considered a win–win strategy.
Highlights
Increasing industrialization, which follows the “take–make–dispose” plan, has led to the depletion of nonrenewable resources, producing waste and causing environmental impacts due to air, soil, and water contamination [1]
Its use as an energy source does not compete with food production, and, unlike other industrial plants, castor bean (CB) can grow on marginal and potentially toxic elements (PTEs)-polluted lands not suitable for food crops
Castor bean’s fast growth and high biomass production can reduce the time required for phytoremediation programs, which is considered the real weakness of phytoextraction/phytostabilization
Summary
Increasing industrialization, which follows the “take–make–dispose” plan, has led to the depletion of nonrenewable resources, producing waste and causing environmental impacts due to air, soil, and water contamination [1]. Fast-growing perennial crops with high tolerance to biotic and abiotic stress are able to lower soil-available PTEs (phytoextraction), thereby reducing their mobility/bioavailability (phytostabilization), being considered the best option for phytoremediation programs [10]. While remediating a contaminated site, the plant biomass can be used for green fine chemistry, bioplastics, and renewable energy, and it can be considered an integral part of a sustainable economy [2]. Uncertainties have been raised about the safe use of contaminated plant biomass for energy conversion. Bearing the above in mind, castor bean (CB) is an unpalatable, fast-growing plant with high biomass production that has been widely demonstrated to have phytoremediation potential for several PTEs (Table 1), as well as a high tolerance to salt and drought stress [16,17,18,19,20]. We evaluated the potential of using castor bean for phytoremediation programs linked to biofuel and byproduct production
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