2024-03-29T15:16:16Z
https://www.biofueljournal.com/?_action=export&rf=summon&issue=2950
Biofuel Research Journal
BRJ
2016
3
2
Editorial Board
2016
06
01
https://www.biofueljournal.com/article_15281_ac810b35b67a33b145fbc97d6d2d8065.pdf
Biofuel Research Journal
BRJ
2016
3
2
Biodiesel: hopes and dreads
Mortaza
Aghbashlo
Ayhan
Demirbas
2016
06
01
379
379
https://www.biofueljournal.com/article_15282_d92b43f40dc17067764efc5f041e45fd.pdf
Biofuel Research Journal
BRJ
2016
3
2
Key issues in estimating energy and greenhouse gas savings of biofuels: challenges and perspectives
Dheeraj
Rathore
Abdul-Sattar
Nizami
Anoop
Singh
Deepak
Pant
The increasing demand for biofuels has encouraged the researchers and policy makers worldwide to find sustainable biofuel production systems in accordance with the regional conditions and needs. The sustainability of a biofuel production system includes energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) saving along with environmental and social acceptability. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is an internationally recognized tool for determining the sustainability of biofuels. LCA includes goal and scope, life cycle inventory, life cycle impact assessment, and interpretation as major steps. LCA results vary significantly, if there are any variations in performing these steps. For instance, biofuel producing feedstocks have different environmental values that lead to different GHG emission savings and energy balances. Similarly, land-use and land-use changes may overestimate biofuel sustainability. This study aims to examine various biofuel production systems for their GHG savings and energy balances, relative to conventional fossil fuels with an ambition to address the challenges and to offer future directions for LCA based biofuel studies. Environmental and social acceptability of biofuel production is the key factor in developing biofuel support policies. Higher GHG emission saving and energy balance of biofuel can be achieved, if biomass yield is high, and ecologically sustainable biomass or non-food biomass is converted into biofuel and used efficiently.
Energy balance
Greenhouse gas (GHG) balance
Biofuels
Sustainability
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
2016
06
01
380
393
https://www.biofueljournal.com/article_15102_929c55b4c5f7dfe03b290623e0ab08af.pdf
Biofuel Research Journal
BRJ
2016
3
2
Recent updates on biogas production - a review
Ilona
Sárvári Horváth
Meisam
Tabatabaei
Keikhosro
Karimi
Rajeev
Kumar
One of the greatest challenges facing the societies now and in the future is the reduction of green house gas emissions and thus preventing the climate change. It is therefore important to replace fossil fuels with renewable sources, such as biogas. Biogas can be produced from various organic waste streams or as a byproduct from industrial processes. Beside energy production, the degradation of organic waste through anaerobic digestion offers other advantages, such as the prevention of odor release and the decrease of pathogens. Moreover, the nutrient rich digested residues can be utilized as fertilizer for recycling the nutrients back to the fields. However, the amount of organic materials currently available for biogas production is limited and new substrates as well as new effective technologies are therefore needed to facilitate the growth of the biogas industry all over the world. Hence, major developments have been made during the last decades regarding the utilization of lignocellulosic biomass, the development of high rate systems, and the application of membrane technologies within the anaerobic digestion process in order to overcome the shortcomings encountered. The degradation of organic material requires a synchronized action of different groups of microorganisms with different metabolic capacities. Recent developments in molecular biology techniques have provided the research community with a valuable tool for improved understanding of this complex microbiological system, which in turn could help optimize and control the process in an effective way in the future.
Biogas plants
Anaerobic digestion (AD)
Anaerobic membrane reactor
Microbial community analysis
Metagenomics
2016
06
01
394
402
https://www.biofueljournal.com/article_15103_5132e943ec2822ce3b66441b9414fa6c.pdf
Biofuel Research Journal
BRJ
2016
3
2
Lipase immobilized on polydopamine-coated magnetite nanoparticles for biodiesel production from soybean oil
Marcos F. C.
Andrade
Andre L. A.
Parussulo
Caterina G. C. M.
Netto
Leandro H.
Andrade
Henrique E.
Toma
Lipase from Pseudomonas cepacia was covalently attached to magnetite nanoparticles coated with a thin polydopamine film, and employed in the enzymatic conversion of soybean oil into biodiesel, in the presence of methanol. The proposed strategy explored the direct immobilization of the enzyme via Michael addition and aldolic condensation reactions at the catechol rings, with no need of using specific coupling agents. In addition, a larger amount of enzymes could be bound to the magnetic nanoparticles, allowing their efficient recycling with the use of an external magnet. In the biodiesel conversion, the transesterification reaction was carried out directly in soybean oil by the stepwise addition of methanol, in order to circumvent its inactivation effect on the enzyme. A better yield was obtained in relation to the free enzyme, achieving 90% yield at 37 oC. However, the catalysis became gradually less effective after the third cycle, due to its prolonged exposition to the denaturating methanol medium.
Biodiesel
Soybean oil
Lipase
Immobilization
Magnetic nanoparticles
polydopamine
2016
06
01
403
409
https://www.biofueljournal.com/article_13519_8d8fd0bf91d3d544b4ac4d105772b9a7.pdf
Biofuel Research Journal
BRJ
2016
3
2
Improved lipid and biomass productivities in Chlorella vulgaris by differing the inoculation medium from the production medium
Shahrbanoo
Hamedi
Mahmood A.
Mahdavi
Reza
Gheshlaghi
Improvement of biomass and lipid productivities is now one of the main concerns in commercialization of microalgae cultivation as a feedstock for algal biofuel production. Conventional photoautotrophic processes using well-studied and rich in oil strain of Chlorella vulgaris are not able to meet such demands. A new strategy of inoculating algae production medium with cells grown in a different medium from the production medium was proposed herein. More specifically, when SH4 was used as production medium and N8 was used as inoculation medium, biomass and lipid productivities increased by 2.33 folds and 1.44 fold, respectively, compared with when the production and inoculation media were the same, such as SH4. The findings of the present investigation showed that this cultivation scheme resulted in 52% increase in cell number and 54% increase in dry weight leading to improved productivities. Although by even considering this improvement, photoautotrophic cultivation of algae can hardly compete with the heterotrophic cultivation, the high cost of hydrocarbon supply required in large-scale heterotrophic processes marks the technique proposed in the present study as a promising approach for commercialization of algal biofuel production.
Microalgae
Biomass productivity
Lipid productivity
Production medium
Inoculation medium
Chlorella Vulgaris
2016
06
01
410
416
https://www.biofueljournal.com/article_15100_da16e9262ad8e9f155667316a8adef23.pdf
Biofuel Research Journal
BRJ
2016
3
2
Maximising high solid loading enzymatic saccharification yield from acid-catalysed hydrothermally-pretreated brewers spent grain
Stuart
Wilkinson
Katherine A.
Smart
Sue
James
David J.
Cook
Enzyme saccharification of pretreated brewers spent grains (BSG) was investigated, aiming at maximising glucose production. Factors investigated were; variation of the solids loadings at different cellulolytic enzyme doses, reaction time, higher energy mixing methods, supplementation of the cellulolytic enzymes with additional enzymes (and cofactors) and use of fed-batch methods. Improved slurry agitation through aerated high-torque mixing offered small but significant enhancements in glucose yields (to 53 ± 2.9 g/L and 45% of theoretical yield) compared to only 41 ± 4.0 g/L and 39% of theoretical yield for standard shaking methods (at 15% w/v solids loading). Supplementation of the cellulolytic enzymes with additional enzymes (acetyl xylan esterases, ferulic acid esterases and α-L- arabinofuranosidases) also boosted achieved glucose yields to 58 – 69 ± 0.8 - 6.2 g/L which equated to 52 - 58% of theoretical yield. Fed-batch methods also enhanced glucose yields (to 58 ± 2.2 g/L and 35% of theoretical yield at 25% w/v solids loading) compared to non-fed-batch methods. From these investigations a novel enzymatic saccharification method was developed (using enhanced mixing, a fed-batch approach and additional carbohydrate degrading enzymes) which further increased glucose yields to 78 ± 4.1 g/L and 43% of theoretical yield when operating at high solids loading (25% w/v).
Brewers Spent Grains
Bioethanol
Enzymatic saccharification
High solids loading
2016
06
01
417
429
https://www.biofueljournal.com/article_15101_f7f2e8ff5a52f4d939e420a6884d6111.pdf