Biofuel Technologies

Vijai Kumar Gupta • Maria G. TuohyEditors

Biofuel Technologies

Recent Developments

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EditorsVijai Kumar GuptaMolecular Glycobiotechnology GroupDepartment of BiochemistrySchool of Natural SciencesNational University of Ireland GalwayGalwayIreland

and

Department of ScienceFaculty of Arts, Science and CommerceMITS UniversityLakshmangarhRajasthanIndia

Maria G. TuohyMolecular Glycobiotechnology GroupDepartment of BiochemistrySchool of Natural SciencesNational University of Ireland GalwayGalwayIreland

ISBN 978-3-642-34518-0 ISBN 978-3-642-34519-7 (eBook)DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-34519-7Springer Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012956162

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About the Editors

Dr. V. K. Gupta is the Assistant Professor ofBiotechnology at MITS University, Rajasthan, India.Currently, he is working as a PDF Scientist, at NationalUniversity of Ireland Galway, Ireland. He has com-pleted his Ph.D. in Microbiology from Dr. R. M. L.Avadh University, Faizabad, UP, India in 2009. He hasbeen honored with several awards in his careerincluding the prestigious Indian ICAR Senior ResearchFellowship, Young Scientist Award-2009 and 2011,and Gold Medal Award-2009. Dr. Gupta is a fellow of

International Society of Contemporary Biologist, Society of Applied Biotechnol-ogy, and Hind Agri-Horticultural Society, India. He has submitted 29 fungalnucleotide sequences to NCBI, USA, and deposited 147 fungal strains in differentInternational/National fungal agencies/Institution viz. CABI, UK; NBAIM,Mau, India; IMTECH, Chandigarh, India, and ARI, Pune, India. Also, his groupin NUI Galway is under process to submit 02 inventions for European patent. He isthe editor and member of 9 International and 2 National journals with 38International/National research publications and 23 book chapters in bookspublished from highly recognized International/National publishers in his hand. Heis the editor/author/internal editorial board member of books/book series fromreputed publishers of International fame viz. Elsevier, The Netherlands; SciencePublisher, New Hampshire, USA; Taylor and Francis, USA; Springer, USA andLambert Academic Publishing (LAP), Germany.

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Dr. Maria G. Tuohy is the Head of the MolecularGlycobiotechnology Research Group, Department ofBiochemistry, School of Natural Sciences, NUIGalway which has developed a strong track record inGlycobiotechnology and Enzyme Biotechnology. Shehas more than 20 years’ experience in molecularbiochemistry, genetics, and biotechnology of fungi,with a special interest in thermophilic ascomycetes andthe characterization of these fungi as cell factories forprotein production, including novel thermostableenzymes/enzyme systems. Dr. Tuohy and her group

have developed patented enzyme-based technologies for key bioenergy andbiorefinery applications from terrestrial and marine biomass and wastes, includingthird generation feedstocks. The group also investigates the use of enzymes for therecovery and selective modification of high-value biochemicals and plantcarbohydrate-derived bioactives (‘Glycobioengineering’). Dr. Tuohy is a PI inthe Energy Research Centre, NUI, Galway and the recently funded NationalBioenergy and Biorefinery Competence Centre, is a member of the EU FP7Biofuels Platform and National Research PhytoNetwork. Dr. Tuohy has been avisiting researcher in RUGhent, Belgium and BSH Institut fur Holzchemie,Hamburg. Dr. Tuohy is author of about 132 research publications, includingrefereed publications, book chapters, conference papers, and poster/short com-munications. She is also a reviewer for international journals and funding agenciesand several books as co-editor—Elsevier, The Netherlands, Springer SciencePublisher, USA; CRC Press, Taylor and Francis, USA; Lambert, Germany; NovaScience Publisher, USA, and Elsevier Press, USA (under Progress) with Dr. V. K.Gupta.

vi About the Editors

Foreword by M. A. Mazutti

Biomass was the world’s dominant source of energy and its consumption grewfrom approximately 50 million tons of oil equivalent in the beginning of theChristian era to 1,000 tons of oil equivalent today (a 20-fold increase). Presently,biomass accounts for about 10 % of the world’s primary energy consumption. Theother 90 % is made up of nonrenewable fossil fuels (80 %), hydroelectricity (2 %),nuclear energy (6 %), and renewable solar energies (2 %). Worldwide, there is agreat interest from researchers and industries to increase the percent of biofuel useon the total energy consumption. The production of bioethanol from biomass iswell-reported, but, more recently, the production of biobutanol and biohydrogen,which are more energetic than bioethanol, have aroused interest. However, toobtain biofuel from biomass requires a proper pretreatment to enable efficientsaccharification of cellulose and hemicellulose components to their constituentsugars due to the complex structure of biomass. Breakthrough technologies areneeded to overcome barriers to develop cost-effective processes for convertingbiomass into biofuel, and the knowledge of the molecular mechanisms of theenzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic feedstocks is one of the important parts ofthis process. Although the production and use of biofuels is an eminent technol-ogy, there are little references compiling the recent developments and trends on thefield. By this reason, the book ‘‘Biofuel Technologies: Recent Developments’’ willbring the readers with the tendency and developments concerning the use ofbiomass to obtain traditional biofuel as ethanol and biodiesel as well as modernand more efficient biofuels namely butanol and hydrogen.

Brazil, 14 September 2012 Marcio Antonio MazuttiFederal University of Santa Maria—UFSM

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Foreword by R. C. Kuhad

Because of the limitations that first generation biofuels produced from food cropshave caused, greater emphasis is to be placed on second generation biofuelsproduced from secondary agriculture feedstocks. Large-scale production of crop-based (first generation) biofuels may not be feasible without adversely affectingglobal food supply or encroaching on other important land uses. Because alter-natives to liquid fossil fuels are important to develop in order to address green-house gas mitigation and other energy policy objectives, the potential for increaseduse of advanced (noncrop, second generation) biofuel production technologies hassignificant policy relevance.

Biofuel technology is a lignocellulose-based technology that converts wood andnonwood wastes into biofuels. For a longer term, one should look to expand thebiofuel feedstock base through the use of new second generation technologiesalong with refining technology to biomass to extract energy, high value bio-chemicals, and fibers. Biofuels can be produced using various feedstocks andbioconversion technologies. Bioethanol can be produced from lignocellulosicmaterials and biodiesel from animal fats and microorganisms, such as microalgae.Emerging biofuel technologies include cellulosic ethanol and microorganism-based biodiesel as advanced biofuel technologies.

Research is necessary to improve the efficiencies in these areas and exploredeveloping new technologies to convert lignocelluloses into ethanol. Similarly, themajor challenge for microalgal biodiesel production is the high cost of producingmicroalgal biomass. The major issues to be solved are cost-effective algal har-vesting and protection of the high-oil microalgae from contamination with wildalgae. Another important issue for both lignocellulosic ethanol and microalgalbiodiesel processes is by-products development. Both processes utilize only aportion of the raw materials for biofuel generation; only cellulose and hemicel-luloses are used in ethanol production, while lipids are the only materials used forbiodiesel production. There are sufficient residual by-products generated and theresidues need to be processed for by-products through refinery to improve theeconomics of the whole process. The logistics to providing a competitive, all-year-round, supply of biomass feedstock to a commercial-scale plant is challenging, as

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is improving the performance of the conversion process to reduce costs. Thebiochemical route, being less mature, probably has a greater cost reductionpotential than the thermochemical route. The rapid expansion of biofuels in manycountries poses significant challenges for policymaking. The issues surroundingthe expansion of biofuels production and utilization are complex and highlydependent on crop type, local circumstances, and production management systems.

Therefore, advanced biofuel production technologies including lignocellulosicethanol and microalgae have a good technical potential to substantially replacefossil fuels in the near future. Lignocellulosic materials such as agricultural resi-dues, woods, and grasses are abundant in most land areas of the world and theirutilization does not necessarily compete for arable land against food and feedproduction. Microalgae can produce a huge amount of oil on a small footprint,hundreds or thousands of times higher yield than most oil plants, if managed to beproduced in larger quantity. It is technically possible to produce a high volume ofbiodiesel that is equivalent to or higher than the current level of diesel con-sumption using microalgae as feedstock that are grown on a small portion of landareas. Full commercialization of either biochemical or thermochemical conversionroutes for producing second generation biofuels are still under progress. So, thereis no doubt that good progress with bioethanol production has been made duringthe past decades following increasing investments in R&D. Successful outcomesinclude the development of improved microorganisms and the evaluation ofinnovative conversion technologies with improved performance and efficiencies.There is also a better understanding by the industry of the overall feedstock supplychain (whether from crop and forest residues or from purpose-grown crops),necessary to provide consistent quality feedstock delivered all-year-round to theconversion plant gate. There have also been successful developments relating tothe construction of pilot-scale biorefineries to produce a range of coproducts.

It is considered that second generation technologies to produce liquid transportbiofuels will be a long-term view for the potential of biofuels, but still more effortsare required to bring these technologies closer to the market. International coop-eration is paramount and collaboration through international organizations shouldbe enhanced with various sectors playing active roles to develop and sustain thesecond generation biofuels technologies for the long term. This edited bookentitled ‘‘Biofuel Technologies: Recent Developments’’ reviews the current statusof several advanced biofuel technologies. The book will be of interest to teachers,scientists, and researchers, whether in academia or industry.

14 September 2012 R. C. KuhadLignocellulose Biotechnology Laboratory

Department of MicrobiologyUniversity of Delhi

New DelhiIndia

x Foreword by R. C. Kuhad

Preface

Bioresources represent an important part of the available renewable resources. Oneof the key challenges facing sustainable industrial development is the transitionfrom fossil-based feedstocks to renewable alternatives to meet the growingdemand for energy, fuel, and chemicals. The sustainable use of biofeedstocks inenergy/biofuels and chemical/material production is currently receiving muchinternational attention, with significant efforts being made to translate scientificadvances into commercial reality. The term biofuel is used here to mean any liquidfuels made from plant materials, residues, and wastes that can be used as a sub-stitute for petroleum-derived fuels. Biofuels are increasingly attracting renewedattention worldwide as substitutes for petroleum-derived transportation fuels tohelp address resource limitations, security of supply and global warming concernsassociated with liquid fossil fuels. Second generation biofuels include those madeby biological processing and those made by thermochemical processing, whichrepresent two fundamentally different approaches. Success in the commercialdevelopment of second generation biofuel technologies requires significant pro-gress in feedstock selection and optimization through genetic and crop breedingstrategies, as well as in crop husbandry and production practices. Technologyimprovements are essential for biofuel production in biomass conversion pro-cesses, either by the biochemical route (e.g. feedstock pretreatment, low-costbiocatalysts, or enzymes with improved efficiency, better microbial strains forbiofuel production) and thermochemical route. Thermochemical processing hasthe important advantage of greater feedstock flexibility than biological processing,but the scale required to achieve an economically process may be larger than forbiological processing. Many efforts are ongoing worldwide to commercializesecond generation biofuels derived from both routes.

The technologies described in this publication reflect a number of the issues andchallenges relevant to the development of the biofuels industry. Some research anddevelopment breakthroughs, followed by commercial-scale demonstrations, areneeded to prove the viability of unsubsidized cellulosic ethanol. In contrast,because thermochemical biofuels are identical to some fuels that are already beingmade from fossil fuels, little or no fundamental research and development

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breakthroughs are needed, but commercial-scale demonstrations are still required.Recovery and utilization of valuable coproducts generated during the productionof second generation biofuels offers the potential to increase the overall revenuefrom biomass to biofuel processes. Optimization of the conversion process tomaximize the value and yield of coproducts (heat, electricity, various chemicals,etc.) needs to be pursued for different feedstocks and conversion pathways. Thedevelopment of improved microorganisms and the evaluation of innovative, moreefficient conversion technologies are required. To support sustainable develop-ment, greater understanding of the overall feedstock supply chain, whether fromcrop and forest residues or from purpose-grown crops, is of paramount importanceto provide consistent high-quality feedstock that can be delivered all-year-round toconversion plants. Sustainability is critical to the successful development of bio-fuels. Therefore, in the context of global trade, sustainability certification may bepivotal to ensure that global biofuel production is accompanied by the achieve-ment of social and environmental goals. The overall chain of biomass production,conversion to biofuels, and end use is complex and requires integrated collabo-ration of many diverse stakeholder groups; farmers, crop producers and managers,engineers, scientists, chemical companies, fuel distributors, engine designers, andvehicle manufacturers. In order to address and reflect this complexity andunderstand the flow of activities involved, contributions to this publication havebeen collated under three main technical areas/heading: biomass production,conversion processes, and product end-use.

This publication provides valuable information to help understand technology-related implications of biofuels development. The chapters presented in the bookcater for the needs of postgraduate researchers and scientists across diverse dis-ciplines and industrial sectors where biofuel technologies and related research andexperimentation are undertaken. Moreover, this book describes recent updates onbiofuel feedstocks, biofuel types, and associated co-/by products and their appli-cations. Therefore, this publication will be very useful not only to experiencedresearchers, but also to those new to the area.

Galway, Ireland, 14 September 2012 Vijai Kumar GuptaMaria G. Tuohy

xii Preface

Acknowledgments

The Editors of this book are grateful for research funding from Enterprise Irelandand the Industrial Development Authority, through the Technology Centre forBiorefining and Bioenergy (TCBB), as part of the Competence Centre programmeunder the National Development Plan 2007–2013. The support of Mr. B. Bonsall,Technology Leader (TCBB) and Prof. V. O’Flaherty, Chair of Microbiology,School of Natural Sciences & Deputy Director of the Ryan Institute for Envi-ronmental, Marine and Energy Research at NUI Galway, Ireland, is gratefullyacknowledged during the compilation of this project. The editors also expressgratitude to their colleagues in the Molecular Glycobiotechnology Group, Disci-pline of Biochemistry, School of Natural Sciences, NUI Galway and MITS Uni-versity, Rajasthan, India for their co-operation.

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Contents

Part I Sustainability and Technical Challenges

1 Fermentable Sugars from Lignocellulosic Biomass:Technical Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Ravichandra Potumarthi, Rama Raju Baadheand Sankar Bhattacharya

2 Sustainability Assessment of Palm Biodiesel Productionin Thailand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Thapat Silalertruksa and Shabbir H. Gheewala

Part II Pretreatment Technologies

3 Progress in Physical and Chemical Pretreatmentof Lignocellulosic Biomass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53Keikhosor Karimi, Marzieh Shafiei and Rajeev Kumar

4 Acid Pre-treatment Technologies and SEM Analysisof Treated Grass Biomass in Biofuel Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97Anthonia O’Donovan, Vijai K. Gupta, Jessica M. Coyneand Maria G. Tuohy

Part III Conversion Technologies

5 The Role of Fungal Enzymes in Global BiofuelProduction Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121Jessica M. Coyne, Vijai K. Gupta, Anthonia O’Donovanand Maria G. Tuohy

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6 Progress on Enzymatic Saccharification Technologiesfor Biofuels Production. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145Pablo Alvira, Mercedes Ballesteros and María José Negro

7 Microbial Glycoside Hydrolases for Biomass Utilizationin Biofuels Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171Gashaw Mamo, Reza Faryar and Eva Nordberg Karlsson

8 Developing Cellulolytic Organisms for ConsolidatedBioprocessing of Lignocellulosics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189Willem H. van Zyl, Riaan den Haan and Daniel C. la Grange

Part IV Biofuel Resources

9 Potential Bioresources as Future Sources of BiofuelsProduction: An Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223Veeranjaneya Reddy Lebaka (L)

10 Second Generation Bio-Ethanol and RenewableChemicals from Lignocellulosics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259Sudip Kumar Rakshit

Part V Biofuels, Co-products and Associated Technologies

11 Fermentative Biohydrogen Production UsingMicrobial Consortia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273Radhika Singh

12 Biohydrogen as Biofuel: Future Prospects and Avenuesfor Improvements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301Jahangir Imam, Puneet Kumar Singh and Pratyoosh Shukla

13 Biohydrogen Production from Microalgae . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317Dheeraj Rathore and Anoop Singh

14 Microbial Fuel Cells for Sustainable Bioenergy Generation:Principles and Perspective Applications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335S. Venkata Mohan, S. Srikanth, G. Velvizhi and M. Lenin Babu

15 Biomethanation Potential of Biological and Other Wastes . . . . . . 369J. C. Costa, D. Z. Sousa, M. A. Pereira,A. J. M. Stams and M. M. Alves

xvi Contents

16 Production of Bioethanol from Biomass: An Overview. . . . . . . . . 397Óscar J. Sánchez and Sandra Montoya

17 Biobutanol Production from Biomass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443Johanna Niemistö, Paula Saavalainen, Ritva Isomäki,Tanja Kolli, Mika Huuhtanen and Riitta L. Keiski

18 Life-Cycle Environmental Impacts of Biofuelsand Co-products. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 471Gregory Zaimes, Matthew Borkowski and Vikas Khanna

19 The Principle and Applications of Bioelectrochemical Systems . . . 501Zhiyong (Jason) Ren

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529

Contents xvii