Rathore Dheeraj, Sevda Surajbhan, Prasad Shiv, Venkatramanan Veluswamy, Chandel Anuj Kumar, Kataki Rupam, Bhadra Sudipa, Channashettar Veeranna, Bora Neelam, Singh Anoop
School of Environment and Sustainable Development, Central University of Gujarat, Gandhinagar 382030, Gujarat, India.
Environmental Bioprocess Laboratory, Department of Biotechnology, National Institute of Technology, Warangal 506004, Telangana, India.
Bioengineering (Basel). 2022 Oct 27;9(11):618. doi: 10.3390/bioengineering9110618.
Biodiesel is an alternative, carbon-neutral fuel compared to fossil-based diesel, which can reduce greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions. Biodiesel is a product of microorganisms, crop plants, and animal-based oil and has the potential to prosper as a sustainable and renewable energy source and tackle growing energy problems. Biodiesel has a similar composition and combustion properties to fossil diesel and thus can be directly used in internal combustion engines as an energy source at the commercial level. Since biodiesel produced using edible/non-edible crops raises concerns about food vs. fuel, high production cost, monocropping crisis, and unintended environmental effects, such as land utilization patterns, it is essential to explore new approaches, feedstock and technologies to advance the production of biodiesel and maintain its sustainability. Adopting bioengineering methods to produce biodiesel from various sources such as crop plants, yeast, algae, and plant-based waste is one of the recent technologies, which could act as a promising alternative for creating genuinely sustainable, technically feasible, and cost-competitive biodiesel. Advancements in genetic engineering have enhanced lipid production in cellulosic crops and it can be used for biodiesel generation. Bioengineering intervention to produce lipids/fat/oil (TGA) and further their chemical or enzymatic transesterification to accelerate biodiesel production has a great future. Additionally, the valorization of waste and adoption of the biorefinery concept for biodiesel production would make it eco-friendly, cost-effective, energy positive, sustainable and fit for commercialization. A life cycle assessment will not only provide a better understanding of the various approaches for biodiesel production and waste valorization in the biorefinery model to identify the best technique for the production of sustainable biodiesel, but also show a path to draw a new policy for the adoption and commercialization of biodiesel.
与化石柴油相比，生物柴油是一种替代的、碳中性燃料，可减少温室气体（GHG）排放。生物柴油是微生物、农作物以及动物油脂的产物，有潜力作为可持续和可再生能源蓬勃发展，并解决日益严重的能源问题。生物柴油的成分和燃烧特性与化石柴油相似，因此在商业层面可直接用作内燃机的能源。由于使用食用/非食用作物生产生物柴油引发了对粮食与燃料之争、高生产成本、单一作物种植危机以及诸如土地利用模式等意外环境影响的担忧，探索新方法、原料和技术以推进生物柴油生产并维持其可持续性至关重要。采用生物工程方法从各种来源如农作物、酵母、藻类和植物基废料生产生物柴油是最新技术之一，这可能成为生产真正可持续、技术上可行且具有成本竞争力的生物柴油的有前景替代方案。基因工程的进展提高了纤维素作物中的脂质产量，可用于生物柴油生产。通过生物工程干预生产脂质/脂肪/油（TGA），并进一步对其进行化学或酶促酯交换以加速生物柴油生产，前景广阔。此外，废料的增值利用以及采用生物炼制概念生产生物柴油将使其环保、具有成本效益、能源正向、可持续且适合商业化。生命周期评估不仅能更好地理解生物炼制模型中生物柴油生产和废料增值利用的各种方法，以确定生产可持续生物柴油的最佳技术，还能为制定生物柴油采用和商业化的新政策指明方向。
