Waste Biorefinery Research Articles

Unlocking integrated waste biorefinery approach by predicting calorific value of waste biomass

The current study analyzed the high heating values (HHVs) of various waste biomass materials intending to the effective management and more sustainable consumption of waste as clean energy source. Various biomass waste samples including date leaves, date branches, coconut leaves, grass, cooked macaroni, salad, fruit and vegetable peels, vegetable scraps, cooked food waste, paper waste, tea waste, and cardboard were characterized for proximate analysis. The results revealed that all the waste biomass were rich in organic matter (OM). The total OM for all waste biomass ranged from 79.39% to 98.17%. Likewise, the results showed that all the waste biomass resulted in lower ash content and high fixed carbon content associated with high fuel quality. Based on proximate analysis, various empirical equations (HHV=28.296-0.2887(A)-656.2/VM, HHV=18.297-0.4128(A)+35.8/FC and HHV=22.3418-0.1136(FC)-0.3983(A)) have been tested to predict HHVs. It was observed that the heterogeneous nature of various biomass waste considerably affects the HHVs and hence has different fuel characteristics. Similarly, the HHVs of waste biomass were also determined experimentally using the bomb calorimeter, and it was observed that among all the selected waste biomass, the highest HHVs (21.19 MJ kg−1) resulted in cooked food waste followed by cooked macaroni (20.25 MJ kg−1). The comparison revealed that experimental HHVs for the selected waste biomass were slightly deviated from the predicted HHVs. Based on HHVs, various thermochemical and biochemical technologies were critically overviewed to assess the suitability of waste biomass to energy products. It has been emphasized that valorizing waste-to-energy technologies provides the dual benefits of sustainable management and production of cleaner energy to reduce fossil fuels dependency. However, the key bottleneck in commercializing waste-to-energy systems requires proper waste collection, sorting, and continuous feedstock supply. Moreover, related stakeholders should be involved in designing and executing the decision-making process to facilitate the global recognition of waste biorefinery concept.

Wine Lees as Alternative Substrate for Microalgae Cultivation: New Opportunity in Winery Waste Biorefinery Application

The winery sector represents one of the most important agricultural industries in Mediterranean country. Wine production processes generate a large amount of wastes and wastewaters that must be treated before their release in the environment. Among these wastes, wine lees, defined as the viscous material that settles on the bottom of fermenters, represent about 13% of the total wine production. The wine lees do not have applications within a circular economy approach, due to their low value; ethanol and tartaric acid are the only compounds recovered, while the rest is usually not valorized. The aim of this study is to explore the possible cultivation of microalgae on a liquid fraction of wine lees in a batch test at different substrate/inoculum dilutions. The results highlighted that Chlorella vulgaris can grow on wine lees at 1:10 and 1:5 dilutions, but a spontaneous yeast-microalgae consortium is observed (biomass production of 2 g l−1). A high lipid and protein storage was detected in the yeast-microalgae consortium (34.56 ± 13.70% and 39.73 ± 4.49%, respectively), associated with a high sCOD and polyphenols removal (99.95 ± 0.01% and 92.31 ± 0.02%, respectively), encouraging biological wine lees treatment.

Sustainability Assessment of Food Waste Biorefineries as the Base of the Entrepreneurship in Rural Zones of Colombia

The sustainability of food value chains is affected by the large amounts of waste produced with a high environmental impact. Food waste valorization applying the biorefinery concept has emerged as an alternative to reduce the generation of greenhouse gases and to promote the socio-economic development of value chains at local, regional, and national levels. This paper analyzes the sustainability of food waste biorefineries designed for boosting rural economic development in Colombia. These biorefineries were designed following a strategy based on a portfolio of bioprocesses involving fractions based on the composition of the raw materials. The valorization of six food residues produced in three representative rural areas of Colombia (i.e., Chocó, Caldas, and Sucre) was analyzed. Acai, annatto, sugarcane bagasse, rejected plantain and avocado, and organic kitchen food waste (OKFW) were selected as food wastes for upgrading. The biorefinery design strategy comprised five steps for filtering the most promising bioprocesses to be implemented. The OKFW was analyzed in detail, applying the design strategy to provide a step-by-step guide involving a portfolio of bioproducts, the technological maturity index, and the socio-economic context. This strategy implementation for OKFW valorization resulted in a scenario where biorefineries with levulinic acid production were the most feasible and sustainable, with high techno-economic performances and low environmental impacts. For the valorization of the other food residues, the processes with the greatest feasibility of being implemented in rural areas were bioactive compounds, oil, flour, and biogas production.

Constructing Marine Bacterial Metabolic Chassis for Potential Biorefinery of Red Algal Biomass and Agaropectin Wastes.

Marine red algal biomass is a promising feedstock for sustainable production of value-added chemicals. However, the major constituents of red algal biomass, such as agar and carrageenan, are not easily assimilated by most industrial metabolic chassis developed to date. Synthetic biology offers a solution by utilizing nonmodel organisms as metabolic chassis for consolidated biological processes. In this study, the marine heterotrophic bacterium Pseudoalteromonas atlantica T6c was harnessed as a metabolic chassis to produce value-added chemicals from the affordable red algal galactans or agaropectin, a byproduct of industrial agarose production. To construct a heterologous gene expression device in P. atlantica T6c, promoters related to agar metabolism were screened from the differentially expressed genes using RNA-Seq analysis. The expression device was built and tested with selected promoters fused to a reporter gene and tuned by incorporation of a cognate repressor predicted from the agar-specific polysaccharide utilization locus. The feasibility of the marine bacterial metabolic chassis was examined by introducing the biosynthetic gene clusters of β-carotene and violacein. Our results demonstrate that the metabolic chassis platform enables direct conversion of low-cost red algal galactans or industrial waste agaropectin into valuable bioactive pigments without any pretreatment of biomass. The developed marine bacterial chassis could potentially be used in a biorefinery framework to produce value-added chemicals from marine algal galactans.

Undefined xylose media extracted from biorefinery waste for enhanced and eco‐friendly production of cephalosporin C by Acremonium chrysogenumM35

AbstractXylose‐rich undefined broth, extracted from the dilute acid pretreatment wastes of barley straw, serves as resourceful media for Acremonium chrysogenum M35 culture and production of cephalosporin C (CPC). Concentrating the extract with proper reprocessing enables to prepare various concentrations of xylose broth (2%–8%). The undefined xylose media were prepared for CPC production from A. chrysogenum M35 by the addition of other nutrients. Cell growth and CPC production were the most effective at 6% xylose and additional 2% glycerol, with maximum CPC production of 9.07 g/L after 6 days, which is higher production than that in defined media prepared with laboratory‐level nutrients and reagents. Investigation of autotrophic and reverse trans‐sulfuration pathways for cysteine synthesis, a limited element of three precursors for CPC synthesis, supports the enhanced CPC production in undefined media. Abundance of xylose ensures a maintained NADPH concentration required for sulfate reduction and synthesis of amino sulfide such as cysteine. Cystathionine‐γ‐lyase activity profiling indicated more efficient biosynthesis in undefined media than in other cultures use glycerol and glucose, and the biosynthesis pathway of CPC production by the cephalosporin gene cluster (i.e. pcbC and cefG genes) was investigated. The process using undefined xylose media was designed, and process simulation program confirmed our results.

Microwave-assisted cassava pulp hydrolysis as food waste biorefinery for biodegradable polyhydroxybutyrate production.

Cassava pulp is one of the most abundant agricultural residues that can cause serious disposal problems. This study aimed to apply a biorefinery approach by examining the feasibility of microwave-assisted cassava pulp hydrolysis to attain sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources. Four factors, namely, the liquid-to-solid ratio (20mL/g, 10mL/g, 7.5mL/g, and 5mL/g), types of acids (H2SO4 and H3PO4), watt power (600W, 700W, and 800W) and time (3, 5 and 8min), were carefully investigated. The highest fermentable sugar content of 88.1g/L ± 0.7g/L (0.88g fermentable sugars/g dry cassava pulp) was achieved when 20mL/g cassava pulp was hydrolyzed with 2.5% (v/v) H2SO4 under microwave irradiation at 800W for 8min. Glucose was a major product (82.0g/L ± 5.2g/L). The inhibitor concentration was 5.17g/L ± 0.01g/L, and the levulinic acid concentration was 5.15g/L ± 0.01g/L. The results indicated that the liquid-to-solid ratio, diluted acid concentration, irradiation watt power and time were important factors in producing fermentable sugars from acid hydrolysis under microwave irradiation. The crude hydrolysate was used for PHB production by Cupriavidus necator strain A-04. The hydrolysate to nutrients ratio of 30:70 (v/v) yielded a cell dry weight of 7.5g/L ± 0.1g/L containing PHB content of 66.8% ± 0.3% (w/w), resulting in a yield (g-PHB/g- ) of 0.35g/g. This study demonstrated that the microwave-assisted cassava pulp hydrolysate developed in this study provided a high amount of glucose (88.1% conversion) and resulted in a low concentration of inhibitors without xylose; this was successfully achieved without pregelatinization, alkaline pretreatment or detoxification.

Food Waste Utilization for Reducing Carbon Footprints towards Sustainable and Cleaner Environment: A Review.

There is world-wide generation of food waste daily in significant amounts, leading to depletion of natural resources and deteriorating air quality. One-third of global food produced is wasted laterally with the food value chain. Carbon footprint is an efficient way of communicating the issues related to climate change and the necessity of changing behavior. Valorization or utilization of food wastes helps in resolving issues related to environment pollution. Reduction in the carbon footprint throughout the chain of food supply makes the whole process eco-friendly. Prevailing food waste disposal systems focus on their economic and environmental viability and are putting efforts into using food waste as a resource input to agriculture. Effective and advanced waste management systems are adopted to deal with massive waste production so as to fill the gap between the production and management of waste disposal. Food waste biorefineries are a sustainable, eco-friendly, and cost-effective approach for the production of platform chemicals, biofuels, and other bio-based materials. These materials not only provide sustainable resources for producing various chemicals and materials but have the potential to reduce this huge environmental burden significantly. In this regard, technological advancement has occurred in past few years that has proven suitable for tackling this problem.

Moving towards the Application of Biocatalysis in Food Waste Biorefinery

Waste valorization is an important strategy to reduce environmental pollution and dependency on petroleum-based fuels. In this regard, utilization of food waste as a versatile and low-cost resource is important. Several advanced catalytic methods for the valorization of food waste have been widely investigated for the production of liquid biofuels. Along this line, chemical catalysts have been explored for the synthesis of liquid biofuels. Chemo-catalysis is mainly metal based, which requires harsh process conditions. Alternatively, biocatalysts are currently being investigated as a result of several advantages such as mild reaction conditions, recyclability, selectivity and biodegradability. In this work, recent biocatalytic technologies for the preparation of liquid biofuels through food waste valorization are discussed thoroughly. Lipases are employed for the synthesis of biodiesel and the upgradation of bio-oil, whereas methane mono-oxygenases could be explored for the production of methanol via the oxidation of methane generated from food wastes. Industrial production of ethanol from food waste using bioconversion technologies is a success story. To date, there has been no specific report on the use of food waste for propanol preparation using enzymes. The ABE process (Acetone–Butanol–Ethanol) (using suitable microorganisms) is used for butanol preparation, where the vacuum stripping system is integrated to remove butanol from the broth and circumvent inhibition. The synthesis of hydrocarbon fuels from fatty acids and triglycerides can be carried out using enzymes, such as carboxylic acid reductase and fatty acid photodecarboxylase (an algal photoenzyme). Both carboxylic acid reductase and fatty acid photodecarboxylase have not yet been applied in the direct valorization of food wastes. Furthermore, limitations of the reported methods, societal and economic aspects and a fresh perspective on the subject, along with important examples, are described.

Process Design for Value-Added Products in a Biorefinery Platform from Agro and Forest Industrial Byproducts

Agroforestry wastes are industrial byproducts available locally such as eucalyptus sawdust (EUC) and sugarcane bagasse (SCB). These byproducts can be used as lignocellulosic raw materials to produce high-value products. This study is a techno-economic analysis of four potential scenarios to produce polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) and levulinic acid (LA) from hemicellulosic sugars by a fermentative pathway in a biomass waste biorefinery. Mass and energy balances were developed, and technical and economic assessments were carried out to obtain gas, char, and tar from residual solids from autohydrolysis treatment. It was determined that microbial culture could be an attractive option for added-value product production. More than 1500 t/year of PHB and 2600 t/year of LA could be obtained by the proposed pathways. Microbial and enzymatic conversion of LA from sugars could significantly improve energy consumption on the conversion strategy. The products from solid residual valorization (char and tar) are the most important for economic performance. Finally, a variation in specific variables could mean substantial improvements in the final indicators of the processes, reaching a higher NPV than USD 17 million.

Valorization of granadilla waste (Passiflora ligularis, Juss.) by sequential green extraction processes based on pressurized fluids to obtain bioactive compounds

The development of food waste biorefineries based on clean technologies applied to recover value-added bioactive compounds has been triggered by the need to reduce food waste to mitigate its effects on climate change. This work aimed to develop a sequential extraction process from granadilla seeds in two stages, following the biorefinery approach, using supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) to recover an oil rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in a first stage; and phenolic compounds-rich extract from the defatted seeds in a second stage using pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) and ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE). In the first stage, the optimized SFE at 20 MPa and 40 °C yielded 24.84% of a PUFA-rich oil. In the second stage, by comparing PLE with UAE, the results demonstrated that PLE performed at 70 °C and 10 MPa with the 75% EtOH was more efficient than UAE to recover phenolic compounds from granadilla seeds.

Wastewater System Integration: A Biogenic Waste Biorefinery Eco-Industrial Park

In recent years, great interest has been shown in the utilization of biogenic wastes in biorefineries as part of the concept of a circular bioeconomy. However, various challenges arise including the availability, cost and characteristics of the biogenic wastes in ensuring consistent biorefinery production processes. This work presents an optimization-based approach of a biogenic waste biorefinery eco-industrial park (BWB EIP). An indirect integration scheme is presented with a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) acting as a centralized utility hub to treat the biogenic wastes generated from the participating plants and to supply volatile fatty acid (VFA) demanded by the participating plants through the WWTP interceptors. The objective of minimizing the VFA demanded by the participating plants from external sources is achieved. To further assess the influence of a future increase in VFA demand for one of the participating plants which is the polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) plant on the integration network, a sensitivity analysis is conducted. The results indicated that two WWTP interceptors are required with a 32.8% and 27.4% reduction in fresh VFA from external sources achieved through the integration network before and after sensitivity analysis. This work provides an insight into developing the framework for other BWB processes.

Orange peel waste biorefinery in multi-component cascade approach: Polyphenolic compounds and nanocellulose for food packaging

This study proposed an efficient valorization of orange peel waste (OPW) thorugh a multi-product cascade biorefinery approach. In a first step, polyphenolic-rich bioactive extract was obtained using 100% ethanol after a suitability study of different solvent systems. Its use in ultrasound-assisted extraction at 80 °C also allowed obtaining bioactive extracts with higher characteristics and reducing the extraction time (30 min) compared to conventional extraction (5 h). The extractives free-OPW was then used to obtain nanocellulose with high yield (>70%), solely by subjecting the fiber to a high-pressure homogenization treatment without the need for additional pretreatments, highlighting the efficiency of the process. The different components obtained were used separately and together on poly(vinyl alcohol)-based (PVA) films to study the isolated and synergistic effect they contributed to the properties of the films. The optimum cellulose nanofibers (CNF) content was found to be 5%, at higher contents a tendency to clustering of the nanofibers in the matrix was observed. The addition of polyphenol-rich extracts conferred interesting bioactive properties of special interest for food packaging. The antioxidant properties of the films increased as the extract content in the formulation increased, reaching almost 100% for an extract content of 30%. Also, UV-light blocking capacity was increased reaching values of 100% for extract contents above 20%. The synergistic effect of the joint addition of CNF and polyphenols resulted in bioactive films with high UV-blocking capacity that maintained the structural and mechanical properties of pure PVA films. Regarding the antioxidant capacity, a more controlled release action is observed. These results evidenced that the synergistic effect between bioactive extracts and CNF could be an excellent enhancer of the active packaging.

Synthesis of Integrated Flower Waste Biorefinery: Multi-Objective Optimisation with Economic and Environmental Consideration

The improper disposal of flower waste from cultural activities is one of the main challenges in certain countries such as India. If the flower waste is not managed properly, it causes a number of environmental issues. Therefore, various technologies have been developed to transform flower waste into value-added products. To integrate multiple technologies holistically to maximise the energy and material recovery, an integrated flower-waste biorefinery is required. Since there are a wide range of technologies available that can convert the waste into multiple products, there is a need to develop a systematic approach to evaluate all the technologies. This research proposes a systematic approach to synthesise an integrated flower-waste biorefinery based on different optimisation objectives, e.g., maximum economic performance and minimum environmental impact. Due to the conflicting nature between the two objectives, a fuzzy optimisation approach has been adapted to synthesise a sustainable integrated flower-waste biorefinery that satisfies both objectives at once. The efficacy of the proposed approach is demonstrated through a case study in India based on the optimised results with fuzzy optimisation—a synthesised flower-waste integrated biorefinery with economy performance of $400,932 and carbon emission of 46,209 kg CO2/h.

Biorefinery-oriented full utilization of food waste and sewage sludge by integrating anaerobic digestion and combustion: Synergistic enhancement and energy evaluation

Biorefinery-oriented full utilization of organic wastes by integrating anaerobic digestion and combustion is a promising approach. The objectives of this study were to investigate the effect of the co-treatment of food waste and sewage sludge on the performance of the combined system in terms of methane production, combustion characteristics and total energy output. The anaerobic co-digestion of food waste with sewage sludge showed a clear synergistic enhancement at the optimal food waste/sewage sludge ratio of 2:2, where the methane yield increased by 99 mL/g VSadded compared with the theoretical value. The analysis of aqueous products suggested that the synergistic effect was attributed to reduced volatile fatty acids accumulation and ammonia inhibition. Furthermore, the digestate at a ratio of 2:2 showed the best combustion characteristics with the highest comprehensive combustion index and combustion stability index of 4.87 × 10−7%2 min−2 °C−3 and 4.80 × 103%2 min−2 °C−3, respectively, which could be resulted from the more stable organic components and the catalytic effects of inorganic minerals. Finally, the energy evaluation showed that the co-treatment would increase the daily energy output and specific energy output of 100 t/d full-scale plant by 14.3 GJ/day-33.7 GJ/day and 0.3 GJ/t-0.6 GJ/t, respectively. These findings could provide some valuable information for anaerobic digestion-combustion-based biorefinery of organic wastes.

Integrating the composition of food waste into the techno-economic analysis of waste biorefineries for biodiesel production

Waste biorefinery could facilitate the transition from a fossil-based linear economy to sustainable circular bioeconomy. Nevertheless, scaling it up from laboratory to industry is not feasible in the absence of a comprehensive techno-economic assessment. A methodology aimed at providing such assessment was developed in this study by integrating the quantity and composition of waste obtained from a support vector machine model into the techno-economic calculation. This proposed method was applied to evaluate different food waste biorefineries for biodiesel production under different scenarios. According to the results, profitability of a biorefinery is affected by market price, food waste processing capacity, waste composition, and the valorization pathway. Only when the market price is high and the food waste processing capacity reaches >1.19 million tonnes per year, the biorefinery using one-step transesterification can be profitable, suggesting the significance of developing integrated waste biorefineries.

Synthesis of Integrated Flower Waste Biorefinery: Optimisation with Economic Consideration

Disposal of flower waste is a major environmental issue especially in India. Improper disposal of flower waste from heritage and cultural activities has resulted in an imbalance natural ecosystem causing water, soil, and air pollution. Hence, it is critical to minimise the amount of flower waste produced on daily basis by converting the flower waste into value-added products. These value-added products can be formed in an integrated flower waste biorefinery. Hence in this work, a systematic optimisation model for the synthesise of an integrated flower waste biorefinery with maximum economic performance is presented.

Hybrid electrosynthesis as non-genetic approach for regulating microbial metabolism towards waste valorization in circular framework.

Biogenic waste (solid/liquid/gaseous) utilization in biological processes has disruptive potential of inclining towards carbon neutrality, while producing diverse products output. Anaerobic fermentation (methanogenesis and acidogenesis) routes are crucial bioprocesses for production of various renewable chemicals (carboxylate platform/organic acids, short/medium chain alcohols, aldehydes, biopolymers) and fuels (methane, hydrogen, hythane, biodiesel and electricity), while individual operations posing process limitations on their conversion efficiency. Advantageous benefit of using the individual bioprocess technicalities is of utmost importance in the context of sustainability to conceptualize and executeintegrated waste biorefinery. The opinion article intends to document/familiarize the waste-fed biorefinery potential with application of hybrid advancements towards multiple product/energy/renewable chemical spectrum leading to carbon neutrality bioprocesses. Unique and notable challenges with diverse process integrations along with electrochemical/interspecies-redox metabolites-materials synergy/enzymatic interventions are specifically emphasized on application-oriented waste feedstock potential towards achieving sustainability.

Developing food waste biorefinery: using optimized inclined thin layer pond to overcome constraints of microalgal biomass production on food waste digestate

Diversion of food waste from landfill through anaerobic digestion is a sustainable form of energy production (biogas) and the waste effluent (digestate) can be utilised as nutrient supply for microalgae cultivation. However, digestate has very high nutrient concentrations and is highly turbid, making it difficult to utilize as a nutrient source with conventional microalgae cultivation systems. Here we compared the efficiencies of a conventional open raceway pond (ORWP) and an improved inclined thin layer photobioreactor (ITLP) for the utilization and treatment of food waste derived digestate by Chlorella sp. The ITLP improved on volumetric and areal productivities by 17 and 3 times over the ORWP, with values of 0.563 and 31.916 g m −2 day −1 respectively. Areal nutrient removal via microalgae biomass were 2359.759 ± 64.75 and 260.815 ± 7.16 mg m −2 day −1 for nitrogen and phosphorous respectively in the ITLP, which are 2.8 times higher than obtained in the ORWP. The ITLP’s superiority stems from its ability to support a much higher average biomass yield of 6.807 g L −1, which was 7 times higher than in the ORWP. Mean irradiance in-situ was higher in the ITLP, irradiance distribution and utilization by the culture in the ITLP was 44% more efficient than in the ORWP. Our results indicate that the ITLP is a far more productive system than conventional raceway ponds. This demonstrates that integration of ITLP microalgae cultivation using digestate has the potential to make digestate management yield net benefit in food waste biorefinery settings.

Circular closed-loop waste biorefineries: Organic waste as an innovative feedstock for the production of bioplastic in South Africa

The impact of landfills on the environment has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years due to the confounding effects of climate change and water scarcity. There is an urgent need to reduce from landfills the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change, and to provide effective treatment solutions for waste, thereby diverting it from landfills. With an estimated 80 million tonnes of plastic waste entering the world’s oceans annually, the accumulation of marine plastic has become a global crisis. Plastic pollution threatens food safety and quality, human health and coastal tourism, and contributes to climate change. For these reasons, there is an urgent need to explore a bioplastic biorefinery process. This review paper examines the potential of organic waste as an alternative carbon source in the efficient and feasible microbial production of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) and polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), which are precursors for bioplastic. More specifically, this paper presents a concept for a bioplastic biorefinery from a technological perspective, based on data from previous studies. Biofuel production processes are also assessed with the aim of integrating these processes to construct a bioplastic waste biorefinery. Garden refuse and food waste have been shown to be feasible feedstocks for the production of PHA and PHB in singular processes. Diverting these wastes away from landfills will significantly ease the environmental impacts currently associated with their disposal.Significance: A bioplastic biorefinery is a viable alternative to treat municipal organic waste. Several biofuel production processes can be integrated into a bioplastic biorefinery system. Organic waste is poorly managed in South Africa, resulting in greenhouse gas emissions. Several barriers and considerations must be overcome before implementing the technology at full scale.

Evaluation of bio-oil/biodiesel production from co-pyrolysis of corn straw and natural hair: A new insight towards energy recovery and waste biorefinery

The present study evaluated the total energy output and economic feasibility of biodiesel production coupled with value-added nitrogen-containing compounds (NCCs) through co-pyrolysis of low- and high-protein biowaste. Corn straw (CS) and human hair waste (HW) were used at different blend ratios of 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%, w/w. Individual pyrolysis of HW showed 20.7% higher bio-oil yield than CS due to higher volatiles in HW, while co-pyrolysis resulted in synergistic action which enhanced both bio-oil yield with higher fatty acids/esters proportion. The highest recorded bio-oil yield was 46.3% using 75% HW blend ratio, which showed insignificant difference with that of HW. In addition, co-pyrolysis resulted in reduction of NCCs by 13.7% comparing to HW, with simultaneous enhancement of fatty acids and esters contents by 67.8% and 13.2%, respectively. Therefore, transesterification of co-pyrolyzed bio-oil showed the highest biodiesel proportion of 20.7%, representing 4.7-times and 61.7% higher than CS and HW, respectively. In addition, transesterified co-pyrolyzed bio-oil showed 27.0% NCCs, which was 8.2-times higher than that of CS. Due to the higher calorific value of biodiesel compared to bio-oil, biodiesel of the co-pyrolyzed bio-oil showed the highest total energy output in the biorefinery route (3753 MJ/ton biomass), which was higher than the total energy output from the conventional route of bio-oil production from CS (3738 MJ/ton biomass). However, additional revenue of 39,860 US$/ton biomass was estimated in the biorefinery route due to NCCs fraction, which provides a new insight towards future industrial applications.