Handbook of Biofuels Production

Part One. Key issues and assessment of biofuels production

1. Introduction: An overview of biofuels and production technologies

• 1.1. Introduction
• 1.2. Development of (bio)chemical conversion technologies
• 1.3. Development of biological conversion technologies
• 1.4. Thermochemical conversion technologies
• 1.5. Process integration and biorefinery
• 1.6. Future trends

2. Multiple objectives policies for biofuels production: Environmental, socio-economic, and regulatory issues

• 2.1. Introduction
• 2.2. Energy security and supply
• 2.3. Emission reductions, land use, and other environmental impacts
• 2.4. Food safety and development of rural areas
• 2.5. Biofuels support policies
• 2.6. Conclusions

3. Life cycle sustainability assessment of biofuels

• 3.1. Introduction
• 3.2. Main challenges for biofuel sustainability
• 3.3. Life cycle sustainability assessment methodology
• 3.4. LCA considerations of biomass to biofuel conversion routes
• 3.5. Overview of major findings of selected LCA studies in biofuel production
• 3.6. Conclusions

4. Biofuels: Technology, economics, and policy issues

• 4.1. Introduction
• 4.2. Moving from fossil fuel to biofuels: insights from socio-technical transition theory
• 4.3. Assessing first- and next-generation biofuels
• 4.4. Economic, environmental, and social issues
• 4.5. Policy actions and the regulatory framework
• 4.6. Conclusions

5. Feedstocks and challenges to biofuel development

• 5.1. Introduction
• 5.2. Edible vegetable raw materials for biodiesel production
• 5.3. Nonedible/low-cost raw materials for diesel engine biofuel production
• 5.4. Raw materials for bioethanol production

Part Two. Biofuels from chemical and biochemical conversion processes and technologies

6. Production of biodiesel via catalytic upgrading and refining of sustainable oleagineous feedstocks

• 6.1. Introduction
• 6.2. General background to biodiesel
• 6.3. Recent robust technology in biodiesel catalysis
• 6.4. Concluding remarks

7. Biochemical catalytic production of biodiesel

• 7.1. Introduction
• 7.2. Lipases
• 7.3. Enzymatic production of biodiesel
• 7.4. New tendencies in enzymatic production of biodiesel
• 7.5. Biofuels similar to biodiesel produced using several acyl acceptors, different to methanol
• 7.6. Industrial biodiesel production using enzymes
• 7.7. Conclusions

8. Production of fuels from microbial oil using oleaginous microorganisms

• 8.1. Introduction
• 8.2. Oleaginous yeasts and raw materials used for microbial oil production
• 8.3. The biochemistry of lipid accumulation in the oleaginous microorganisms
• 8.4. Microbial oil production in fed-batch cultures
• 8.5. Biodiesel production from microbial oil
• 8.6. Techno-economic evaluation of biodiesel production from microbial oil
• 8.7. Perspective of biofuel production from microbial oil

9. Biochemical production of bioalcohols

• 9.1. Introduction
• 9.2. Types of biomass for bioalcohol production
• 9.3. Bioalcohols
• 9.4. New technologies for bioethanol production

10. Production of biogas via anaerobic digestion

• 10.1. Introduction
• 10.2. Factors affecting the anaerobic digestion process
• 10.3. Advantages and limitations
• 10.4. Reactor configurations
• 10.5. Methods for enhancing the efficiency of anaerobic digestion
• 10.6. Process modeling
• 10.7. Process monitoring and control
• 10.8. Biogas utilization
• 10.9. Existing biogas installations
• 10.10. Conclusions and future trends

11. Biological and fermentative production of hydrogen

• 11.1. Introduction
• 11.2. Fundamentals of biohydrogen production
• 11.3. Biological hydrogen production strategies
• 11.4. Enhancing hydrogen production through metabolic engineering
• 11.5. Hydrogen production by cell-free enzymatic systems
• 11.6. Comparison of biohydrogen production techniques
• 11.7. Conclusions and outlook

12. Biological and fermentative conversion of syngas

• 12.1. Introduction
• 12.2. Fundamentals of syngas fermentation
• 12.3. Bacteria for syngas conversion
• 12.4. Effects of process parameters
• 12.5. Reactors for fermentative conversion of syngas
• 12.6. Product recovery
• 12.7. Examples of commercial and semicommercial processes
• 12.8. Conclusions for biological fermentation of syngas

13. Chemical routes for the conversion of cellulosic platform molecules into high-energy-density biofuels

• 13.1. Introduction
• 13.2. Oxygenated fuels via 5-HMF: furanic compounds
• 13.3. Levulinic acid as platform molecule to oxygenated fuels: alkyl levulinates and valeric biofuels
• 13.4. Oxygenated fuels via furfural: furan derivatives
• 13.5. Blending effect of oxygenated biofuels with conventional fuels
• 13.6. Catalytic conversion of γ-valerolactone to liquid hydrocarbon fuels
• 13.7. Furan derivatives as platform molecules for liquid hydrocarbon fuels
• 13.8. Sugars to hydrocarbon fuels: aqueous phase reforming process
• 13.9. Final remarks and future outlook

Part Three. Biofuels from thermal and thermo-chemical conversion processes and technologies

14. Catalytic fast pyrolysis for improved liquid quality

• 14.1. Introduction
• 14.2. Pyrolysis background
• 14.3. Catalytic pyrolysis
• 14.4. Catalytic pyrolysis: catalysts used
• 14.5. Catalytic pyrolysis: reactor setup
• 14.6. Conclusion and future opportunities

15. Production of bio-syngas and bio-hydrogen via gasification

• 15.1. Introduction
• 15.2. Biomass feedstock for gasification
• 15.3. Biomass gasification process
• 15.4. Gasification technology
• 15.5. Syngas technology: composition, conditioning and upgrading to valuable products
• 15.6. Current status in commercial gasification of biomass
• 15.7. Challenges and opportunities

16. Production of bioalcohols via gasification

• 16.1. Introduction
• 16.2. Gasification routes for alcohol production
• 16.3. Technical and economical analysis of the oxidative coupling of methane process
• 16.4. Conclusions and future perspectives

17. Production of biofuels via hydrothermal conversion

• 17.1. Introduction
• 17.2. Process chemistry
• 17.3. Process layout
• 17.4. Feedstock considerations
• 17.5. Product distribution and properties
• 17.6. Development of technology and current research
• 17.7. Lifecycle and techno-economic assessment
• 17.8. Conclusions

18. Production of biofuels via Fischer–Tropsch synthesis: Biomass-to-liquids

• 18.1. Introduction
• 18.2. Biomass-to-liquids process steps and technologies
• 18.3. Biomass-to-liquids final fuel products
• 18.4. Environmental and economic considerations of the BTL process
• 18.5. Commercial status of the biomass-to-liquids processes
• 18.6. Future prospects and challenges

19. Production of biofuels via bio-oil upgrading and refining

• 19.1. Introduction
• 19.2. Upgrading of biomass liquefaction products
• 19.3. Liquid fuel products from biomass through direct liquefaction and hydroprocessing
• 19.4. Conclusions

Part Four. Integrated production and application of biofuels

20. Biofuel production from food wastes

• 20.1. Introduction
• 20.2. Characteristics of food waste
• 20.3. Common food waste managements
• 20.4. Biofuels production
• 20.5. Conclusions and future trends
• List of abbreviations

21. Biochar in thermal and thermochemical biorefineries—production of biochar as a coproduct

• 21.1. Introduction
• 21.2. Biochar as a coproduct in biofuels and bioenergy production
• 21.3. Biochar from biorefinery residues

22. Algae for biofuels: An emerging feedstock

• 22.1. Introduction
• 22.2. Microalgal biomass and oil
• 22.3. Oil biosynthesis in microalgae
• 22.4. Mass cultivation
• 22.5. Biomass harvesting and dewatering
• 22.6. Oil extraction and transesterification
• 22.7. Conclusions and future directions

23. Utilization of biofuels in diesel engines

• 23.1. Introduction
• 23.2. Utilization of vegetable pure plant oil and crude oil in diesel engines
• 23.3. Utilization of biodiesel-based palm oil, jatropha oil, coconut oil, and kapok nut oil in diesel engines
• 23.4. Utilization of biodiesel B5-based cat-fish fat in diesel engines
• 23.5. The concept of using biofuel on engines (prime mover)
• 23.6. Conclusion and remarks