Bioconversion of Biowastes for Energy
Applications
Anil M. Palve, Ravi Arukula, and Ram K. Gupta
Abstract
The evolution from fossil energy to bioenergy economy
demands the scientific breakthroughs and advancements
in modern chemical manufacturing. For sustainability, the
generation of chemicals and fuels must be originating
from renewable resources. The white biotechnology, a
technology that uses living cells such as bacteria, yeast,
and fungi to produce degradable products, can deliver the
essential enzymes for bioconversion of wastes into
products that can be used for energy applications.
Biowastes from various sources including industrial
management (pulp, paper industry, and food industry),
fruit and vegetable, animal (slaughterhouse waste), waste
wood, and agriculture could be utilized as sustainable
materials for nutrient-complete feedstock creation and
biorefinery development. This chapter mainly emphasizes
the possibility of utilizing biowastes from the existing
waste management for the creation of chemicals, byproducts, and biofuels through various bioconversion processes. The first portion of the chapter deliberates the
recent prominence and forecasts on feedstock creation of
chemicals and biofuels. In the second part, the various
sources of biowastes from existing waste management
sectors and different bioconversion methods are systematically discussed. The third part presents the applications
of biowastes for value-added products, chemicals, and
biofuels. It is noticeable that the generation of compounds
for chemical industries and biofuels for sustainable future
via bioconversion of biowastes for energy applications is
a significant research area with remarkable prospects for
large-scale industrial production to meet the growing
need for energy sustainably.
1 Introduction
The large-scale generation of biowastes from different
sources is a global challenge for the human race. It is possible to transform this challenge into an opportunity by
converting biomass into value-added products. By converting biowastes into energy, we can minimize our dependency
on fossil fuels, a source of energy that takes several years to
regenerate. The utilization of renewable biomaterials and
biowastes for energy is another way to develop a nation
sustainably without harming the planet. Currently, many
possible alternatives to fossil fuels such as wind, hydro, and
solar are being used. Biowastes generated via various sources have the potential to use for energy applications, however, the majority of biowastes are being used for landfills,
burning in the open atmosphere, dumping on the ground,
and releasing in the marine which causes detrimental effects
to the environment (Mihai and Ingrao 2018). Even in
developed countries, there are very few cities that use systematic disposal mechanisms of sewage and other biowastes.
Since ancient times, it has been observed that biowaste
generation increases as the population grows. With the
development of industrialization and an increase in the
population, the biowastes produced from various sources,
e.g., forest and wood industry, agriculture sector,
agro-industry, municipal waste, animal waste, food processing, paper industry, etc. are increasing every year and
creating challenges for waste management (Wang et al.
2018; Tan et al. 2018; Bhatia et al. 2018). Government,
environment agencies, and scientists are looking for a better
way to handle the wastes. Scientists and researchers are
A. M. Palve
Department of Chemistry, Mahatma Phule ASC College, Panvel,
Navi-Mumbai, 410206, MH, India
R. Arukula
Kansas Polymer Research Center, Pittsburg State University,
Pittsburg, KS 66762, USA
R. K. Gupta (&)
Department of Chemistry, Kansas Polymer Research Center,
Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg, KS 66762, USA
e-mail: ramguptamsu@gmail.com; rgupta@pittstate.edu
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
Inamuddin and A. Khan (eds.), Sustainable Bioconversion of Waste to Value Added Products, Advances in Science,
Technology & Innovation, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61837-7_1
1
Applications
Anil M. Palve, Ravi Arukula, and Ram K. Gupta
Abstract
The evolution from fossil energy to bioenergy economy
demands the scientific breakthroughs and advancements
in modern chemical manufacturing. For sustainability, the
generation of chemicals and fuels must be originating
from renewable resources. The white biotechnology, a
technology that uses living cells such as bacteria, yeast,
and fungi to produce degradable products, can deliver the
essential enzymes for bioconversion of wastes into
products that can be used for energy applications.
Biowastes from various sources including industrial
management (pulp, paper industry, and food industry),
fruit and vegetable, animal (slaughterhouse waste), waste
wood, and agriculture could be utilized as sustainable
materials for nutrient-complete feedstock creation and
biorefinery development. This chapter mainly emphasizes
the possibility of utilizing biowastes from the existing
waste management for the creation of chemicals, byproducts, and biofuels through various bioconversion processes. The first portion of the chapter deliberates the
recent prominence and forecasts on feedstock creation of
chemicals and biofuels. In the second part, the various
sources of biowastes from existing waste management
sectors and different bioconversion methods are systematically discussed. The third part presents the applications
of biowastes for value-added products, chemicals, and
biofuels. It is noticeable that the generation of compounds
for chemical industries and biofuels for sustainable future
via bioconversion of biowastes for energy applications is
a significant research area with remarkable prospects for
large-scale industrial production to meet the growing
need for energy sustainably.
1 Introduction
The large-scale generation of biowastes from different
sources is a global challenge for the human race. It is possible to transform this challenge into an opportunity by
converting biomass into value-added products. By converting biowastes into energy, we can minimize our dependency
on fossil fuels, a source of energy that takes several years to
regenerate. The utilization of renewable biomaterials and
biowastes for energy is another way to develop a nation
sustainably without harming the planet. Currently, many
possible alternatives to fossil fuels such as wind, hydro, and
solar are being used. Biowastes generated via various sources have the potential to use for energy applications, however, the majority of biowastes are being used for landfills,
burning in the open atmosphere, dumping on the ground,
and releasing in the marine which causes detrimental effects
to the environment (Mihai and Ingrao 2018). Even in
developed countries, there are very few cities that use systematic disposal mechanisms of sewage and other biowastes.
Since ancient times, it has been observed that biowaste
generation increases as the population grows. With the
development of industrialization and an increase in the
population, the biowastes produced from various sources,
e.g., forest and wood industry, agriculture sector,
agro-industry, municipal waste, animal waste, food processing, paper industry, etc. are increasing every year and
creating challenges for waste management (Wang et al.
2018; Tan et al. 2018; Bhatia et al. 2018). Government,
environment agencies, and scientists are looking for a better
way to handle the wastes. Scientists and researchers are
A. M. Palve
Department of Chemistry, Mahatma Phule ASC College, Panvel,
Navi-Mumbai, 410206, MH, India
R. Arukula
Kansas Polymer Research Center, Pittsburg State University,
Pittsburg, KS 66762, USA
R. K. Gupta (&)
Department of Chemistry, Kansas Polymer Research Center,
Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg, KS 66762, USA
e-mail: ramguptamsu@gmail.com; rgupta@pittstate.edu
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
Inamuddin and A. Khan (eds.), Sustainable Bioconversion of Waste to Value Added Products, Advances in Science,
Technology & Innovation, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61837-7_1
1