Chapter 2 - Biomass—a resource for environmental bioremediation and bioenergy

Abstract

The conservation and management of resources are essential strategic directions meant to encourage sustainability. As a natural renewable resource, the biomass feedstock is a central part of the smart economy, to produce food, energy, chemicals, and protect the environment. This chapter discusses some basic aspects and recent advances in biomass usage, processing and analysis from two perspectives. The first addresses the application of biomass in environmental remediation (phytoremediation, biosorption and bioaccumulation, and carbon dioxide sequestration), and the management of exhausted loaded biomass, after environmental cleaning up. The second entails the biorefinery, as an emerging opportunity for sustainable economy, which stands at the forefront of a perspective in which fossil fuels are replaced with biorenewables. The integrated production of bio-based products and energy are considered possible through the development of robust technologies for processing biogenic raw materials for the production of intermediate and final products in integrated and circular platforms. Large-scale applications are seen as evolving from innovative research aimed at the development and implementation of biorefineries, in multistep, multiproduct facilities designed for the eco-efficient production of specific biosourced feedstocks. This integrated approach which encompasses economic progress and environmental impacts is a prerequisite for decision making in related economic and industrial branches.