Themed collection Biofuels and biomass for a clean environment

An ever-increasing energy demand and environmental problems associated with exhaustible fossil fuels have led to the search for an alternative energy. In this context, biodiesel has attracted attention worldwide as an alternative to fossil fuel.

5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) is a very important versatile platform compound derived from renewable biomass.

The review focuses on the valorisation of two major greenhouse gases (methane and carbon dioxide) utilising different hybrid plasma reactors where valuable chemicals such as higher hydrocarbons, alcohols, aldehydes, carboxylic acids, etc. are produced.

The application of biochars as versatile catalysts and/or catalyst supports for biomass upgrading is systematically overviewed.

Biodiesel catalyzed by enzyme is affected by many factors. This review will critically discuss the three major components of enzymatic production of biodiesel and the methods used to improve the reaction.

Lignocellulose biomass can be utilized in many sectors of industry such as energy, chemical, and transportation. However, pretreatment is needed to break down the intricate bonding before converting it into wanted product.

Biogas is a renewable energy source like solar and wind energies and mostly produced from anaerobic digestion (AD).

This review summarizes the recent progress in methanation catalysts for SNG production, which will provide insights for future catalysts design.

Catalytic biomass pyrolysis vapor upgrading presently seems to be a techno-economical process toward production of fuel-like components. However, selection of stable and productive catalyst(s) to yield desirable chemicals with low coke formation is a great challenge.

This critical review provides an investigation elaborated by recent references on conversion of low-lipid microalgae into bio-oil via pyrolysis and hydrothermal liquefaction, and the catalytic upgrading of algal-derived bio-oil was examined.

The transformation of lignocellulosic biomass into biofuels represents an interesting and sustainable alternative to fossil fuel for the near future.

Wood to chemicals is the subject of this short critical review, that outlines the chemical and economic aspects of several short-term and long-term perspectives for the valorisation of lignin to aromatics, polymers and materials.

Butanol, being a potential biofuel, can either completely replace the petroleum derived fuels or be blended with petroleum fuels, without modifying the vehicle engines, to overcome the limitations of ethanol.

Lignocellulosic biomass is renewable and cheap, and it has the potential to displace fossil fuels for the production of fuels and chemicals.

Bioelectrochemical systems enable production of energy from wastewater and biowaste, and find application in wastewater treatment, bioremediation and microbial electrosynthesis.

After microwave pretreatment, the physicochemical properties of corn straw changed significantly. The lateral order index reduced and the crystallinity index and crystallite size increased with microwave temperature.

Cellulose nanofiber-based biofuel cell with flexible, biodegradable, eco-friendly.

In the present study, heterogeneous acid catalysts for fatty acid esterification reactions were synthesized using agro-industrial waste from murumuru kernel shells.

Replacement of a novel candidate ethanol fermentation-associated regulatory gene, PHO4, from a fast-growing strain through a novel strategy (SHPERM-bCGHR), is hypothesised to shorten fermentation time and enhance ethanol yield from sugarcane molasses.

The effective KOH pretreatment with the production of lignin-based fertilizer could well match the enzymatic hydrolysis at high solid loading.

A waste snail shell (Pila spp.) derived catalyst was used to produce biodiesel from soybean oil at room temperature for the first time.

Waste printing paper is used as a carbon precursor for the preparation of high performance carbon materials in supercapacitor applications.

Synergetic effect and electronic transfer were investigated for the hydrogenation of HMF to DMF on Ru–MoO_x/C catalyst.

Co-interaction lead to dissolution of lignin in ILs: H-bonds and π–π stacking.

To delineate structural changes of lignin after SCEP, enzymatic hydrolysis lignin (EHL) in poplar chips, lignin in pretreated residues (SCEP-RL), lignin in liquors (SCEP-DL) were isolated and analyzed by GPC, ¹³C-, ³¹P-, 2D-HSQC-NMR and TGA.

The continuous fast pyrolysis of pine wood sawdust has been studied in a conical spouted bed reactor (CSBR) followed by in-line steam reforming of the pyrolysis vapours in a fluidised bed reactor on a Ni commercial catalyst.

Commercial carbon nanotubes (CNT), oxidized CNT (CNTox) and activated carbon (AC) were used as supports to prepare Ni/C catalysts with a nominal loading of 15 wt%.

Bean dregs, an abundant, low-cost and heteroatom-enriched biowaste, can be converted into a superior carbon material for high-performance supercapacitors.