Valorisation of Agricultural and Food Waste Biomass for Production of Bioenergy

Abstract

Energy crisis and waste management are the two critical issues in the modern world. Extraction and consumption of traditional fuels have been known to take an enormous toll on the environment and economy. Similar is the situation with waste disposal. Both processes lead to ecological problems like land degradation, pollution of resources, emissions of greenhouse gases, and global warming. Their whole disposal process is extremely costly. Among all forms of waste, organic biomass produced from agricultural and food waste (AFW) has shown potential to be used in medicine, cosmetics, and energy sector post-processing. Currently, the concept of circular economy and legislation on waste management has emphasised more on creating wealth out of these wastes. Valorisation of AFW biomass for creating sources of bioenergy like biofuel, bioethanol, biodiesel, biochar, biocrude, biofertilisers, biogas, bioplastic, etc. is being practised actively. The commonly used valorisation processes are mechanical (Pelletization), thermo-chemical (combustion, gasification, pyrolysis, hydrothermal liquefaction), and biochemical processes (anaerobic digestion, fermentation, transesterification). This review chapter discusses the processes of valorisation of AFW biomass for bioenergy production. It also discusses the future benefits of these bioenergy sources for long-term sustainable development. Through this study, it was found that bioenergy sources can counter the current global energy crisis, waste disposal, and natural resource pollution while promoting a sustainable circular economy.