Second Generation Biofuel Technology Research Articles

Development of a Zn-Based Single-Atom Nanozyme for Efficient Hydrolysis of Glycosidic Bonds.

Hydrolytic enzymes are essential components in second-generation biofuel technology and food fermentation processes. Nanozymes show promise for large-scale industrial applications as replacements for natural enzymes due to their distinct advantages. However, there remains a research gap concerning glycosidase nanozymes. In this study, a Zn-based single-atom nanozyme (ZnN4-900) is developed for efficient glycosidic bond hydrolysis in an aqueous solution. The planar structure of the class-porphyrin N4 material approximatively mimicked the catalytic centers of natural enzymes, facilitating oxidase-like (OXD-like)activity and promoting glycosidic bond cleavage. Theoretical calculations show that the Zn site can act as Lewis acids, attacking the C─O bond in glycosidic bonds. Additionally, ZnN4-900 has the ability to degrade starch and produce reducing sugars that increased yeast cell biomass by 32.86% and ethanol production by 14.56%. This catalyst held promising potential for enhancing processes in ethanol brewing and starch degradation industries.

Learning through interdisciplinary dialogue: Methodological approaches for bridging epistemological divides

Scientific innovations for sustainable development often make huge promises about overcoming climate change, or promote technological innovations that have potential development implications. However, the social outcomes of such interventions are often considered superficially; thus potentially reinforcing injustices or producing unforeseen, undesirable outcomes. Increasingly, projects claim to have an interdisciplinary dimension, but processes of interdisciplinary dialogue can be difficult to maintain. This means that researchers have to be prepared to engage in potentially extensive, transformative dialogue and be willing to learn from the disciplinary knowledge of the other. This can be methodologically challenging both for natural and social scientists. This paper reports meta-research exploring the methodological processes and learning experiences of academics involved in research on the implementation of second-generation biofuel technology. Through interdisciplinary meetings, workshops, reflections and interviews we built up sustainable relationships and bridged epistemological divides. Our approach to interdisciplinary dialogue offers insights into the methodological challenges of interdisciplinary work. We used the framework of transformative learning theory to identify key aspects of the interdisciplinary process and reflected on the need for sustained and open opportunities for dialogue in order to find genuine ways to communicate across disciplines. We explicitly revealed and considered our taken-for-granted assumptions to identify what we understood by key terms and processes, including ‘sustainable’, ‘development’, ‘methodology’, ‘truth’, ‘marginal land’ and ‘outputs’. We found these encounters created opportunities to influence the trajectory of each other’s research and thinking, with the ideal of social and environmental justice prominent in all our discussions. It was through ongoing learning and dialogue that we found that the multifaceted challenges of sustainable development research can become more open, more critical and more able to reveal appropriate solutions and promote relevant ongoing scientific research. This interplay between disciplines is an innovative way to influence decision-making directly.

Economic and technical feasibility studies: technologies for second generation biofuels

Purpose In 2008, a number of Southern African countries cultivated about 900,000 ha of Jatropha, with a number of biodiesel plants ready for production; however, none of the projects succeeded. In 2014, KiOR advanced biofuel Energy Company in the USA announced bankruptcy due to incompetent technology. Studies disclose that the reasons for biofuel plants failure are not only due to lack of incentives and unclear policies but also due to lack of economic feasibility and low production yields. This paper aims to review the techno-economy assessment of second-generation biofuel technologies. The purpose of this paper is to summarize specific techno-economic indicators such as production cost, technology efficiency and process life cycle analysis for advanced biofuel technology and to narrate and illustrate a clear view of what requires assessment to deploy a feasible advanced biofuel technology. This study also reviews assessment of biomass supply chain, feedstock availability and site selection criteria. The review also elaborates on the use of different processes, forecasting and simulation-modeling tools used in different techno-economic analysis studies. The review provides guidance for conducting a technical and economic feasibility study for the advanced biofuels energy business. Design/methodology/approach The aim of this review is, therefore, to evaluate the techno-economic feasibility studies for the establishment of viable industrial scale production of second-generation biofuels. It does so by grouping studies based on technology selection, feedstock availability and suitability, process simulation and economies as well as technology environmental impact assessment. Findings In conclusion, techno-economic analysis tools offer researchers insight in terms of where their research and development should focus, to attain the most significant enhancement for the economics of a technology. The study patterns within the scope of techno-economics of advanced biofuel reveal that there is no generic answer as to which technology would be feasible at a commercial scale. It is therefore important to keep in mind that models can only simplify and give a simulation of reality to a certain extent. Nevertheless, reviewed studies do not reach the same results, but some results are logically similar. Originality/value The originality of this article specifically illustrates important technical and economic indicators that should be considered when conducting feasibility studies for advance biofuels.

Opportunities from second-generation biofuel technologies for upgrading lignocellulosic biomass for livestock feed.

Abstract Lignocellulosic biomass comprises the most abundant biopolymers on earth, cellulose, hemicelluloses, pectin and lignin. The total annual production of lignocellulosic biomass is estimated at about 10-50 billion metric tonnes of which approximately 4 billion tonnes consist of annual crop residues, the by-product of crop production. While the basic constituents of cellulose and hemicelluloses, the hexose and pentose sugars, are key nutrients in human and animal nutrition, they are locked up in a plant lignohemicellulose-cellulose matrix that is largely resistant to hydrolysis by mammalian enzymes. Mammals can partially utilize lignocellulosic biomass through microorganisms hosted in their fore-stomach (ruminants) or hindgut (monogastrics) that secrete enzymes that degrade cellulose, pectin and hemicelluloses, thereby releasing fermentable sugars. Since the early twentieth century, the abundance of lignocellulosic biomass and the potential nutritive quality of its basic sugar constituents has attracted animal nutritionists who searched for physical and chemical treatments to make those sugars more accessible. The work on second-generation biofuels (biofuels derived from lignocellulosic biomass) was motivated by reasons very similar to those of the early animal nutritionists: the abundance of lignocellulosic biomass and its content of polymerized sugars. This work has attracted US dollar multi-billion investment during the last two decades. It may be feasible to utilize spin-offs from second-generation biofuel technologies to upgrade lignocellulosic biomass for animal feeding, particularly combinations of pretreatment approaches that render the hemicellulose, pectins and celluloses more accessible to enzymes, and enzymes applications. There are numerous mechanical and chemical approaches that have been applied in second-generation biofuel technologies. Among these, fibre expansion approaches using moderate temperature and pressure in an alkaline environment (ammonia) that generate only solid substrates are promising. One such pretreatment, the Ammonia Fiber Expansion (AFEX TM ; AFEX TM is a trademark of MBI, International, Lansing, Michigan, USA.) pretreatment increased mean cell wall digestibilities by rumen microorganisms on average by 80%. Steam explosion is another promising pretreatment potentially effective without pH interventions if partially hydrolysed hemicelluloses are recovered. Applications of tailor-made enzyme mixes resulted in pentose and hexose recovery from lignocellulosic biomass of more than 90%. In other words almost all sugars in cellulose and hemicelluloses can potentially be made directly accessible for mammalian digestion and absorption. However, more research is needed to understand optimal combinations of pretreatments and enzymatic digestions and to determine the economical viability of such approaches for accessing sugars in lignocellulosic biomass for ruminant and monogastric livestock and even building blocks for new food ingredients for direct human consumption. The paper draws from reviews, revisiting and recalculating published data sets and use of as yet unpublished data material.

De-Oiled Rice Bran as a Source of Bioethanol

Bioethanol is regarded as one of the most promising biofuel from renewable sources. The development of ethanol production from lignocellulosic material is thus considered as the second-generation biofuel technology. Lignocelluloses account for the majority of the total biomass present in the world. To initiate the production of industrially important products from cellulosic biomass, bioconversion of the cellulosic components into fermentable sugars is necessary. A variety of microorganisms including bacteria and fungi may have the ability to degrade the cellulosic biomass to glucose monomers. The main aim of this work is the production of bioethanol from Deoiled Rice Bran by using Pichia kudriavzevii RCEF4907 and to optimize various parameters affecting the production of bioethanol. The production of bioethanol from Deoiled Rice Bran can be estimated by specific gravity method. In this study, various physical and biological methods carried out for the production of bioethanol and analysed optimum parameters such as incubation period, temperature, pH, nutrient supplements and biological pretreatment. Thus under the optimum conditions of temperature 25 °C, pH 6.5, and on 3rd day of fermentation, P. kudriavzevii RCEF4907 produced maximum bioethanol 10.5% while in biological pretreatment 10.8% bioethanol produced and in case of nutrient analysis, 1ml of 1% Urea solution maximum production of bioethanol 11.4% was obtained.

Progress in the production of bioethanol on starch-based feedstocks

Bioethanol produced from renewable biomass, such as sugar, starch, or lignocellulosic materials, is one of the alternative energy resources, which is both renewable and environmentally friendly. Although, the priority in global future ethanol production is put on lignocellulosic processing, which is considered as one of the most promising second-generation biofuel technologies, the utilization of lignocellulosic material for fuel ethanol is still under improvement. Sugar-based (molasses, sugar cane, sugar beet) and starch-based (corn, wheat, triticale, potato, rice, etc.) feedstock are still currently predominant at the industrial level and they are, so far, economically favorable compared to lingocelluloses. Currently, approx. 80 % of total world ethanol production is obtained from the fermentation of simple sugars by yeast. In Serbia, one of the most suitable and available agricultural raw material for the industrial ethanol production are cereals such as corn, wheat and triticale. In addition, surpluses of this feedstock are being produced in our country constantly. In this paper, a brief review of the state of the art in bioethanol production and biomass availability is given, pointing out the progress possibilities on starch-based production. The progress possibilities are discussed in the domain of feedstock choice and pretreatment, optimization of fermentation, process integration and utilization of the process byproducts.