Recent developments in oleaginous yeast feedstock based biorefinery for production and life cycle assessment of biofuels and value-added products

Abstract

Oleaginous yeasts, capable of accumulating a substantial amount of triglycerides, have immense potential to serve as a sustainable feedstock for biodiesel production. However, the techno-economic challenges currently associated with the commercialization of the biodiesel production process prompt for a significant improvement in the cultivation methods of yeasts and the subsequent energy-intensive downstream processing steps. Alternatively, a bio-refinery model targeting for inclusive production of value-added products would be an attractive proposition to bolster the economy of the mainstream biodiesel production process. The current review attempts to bridge the existing knowledge- gap on biodiesel production from oleaginous yeasts by essentially capturing the recent research advancements made for sustainable biodiesel production while emphasizing the possibilities for producing multiple products. It also critically analyses the bioprocess optimization strategies for improving lipid yield from oleaginous yeasts strains and discusses the importance of environmental impact analysis through life cycle assessment in improving the overall environmental footprint of the yeast-based biodiesel production process. However, it can be drawn that the environmental benefits of biodiesel alone will not suffice for its industrial application as long as it is not competitive with petro-diesel in terms of price, and arduous research must be put into to achieve this global priority.