Fiaz Ahmad, Daochen Zhu, Jianzhong Sun

Environmental Sciences Europe • 2021

Abstract Tetracycline pollution is a growing global threat to aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity due to its unprecedented use in aquaculture, livestock, and human disease prevention. The influx of tetracycline may annihilate the microbial ecology structure in the environment and pose a severe threat to humans by disturbing the food chain. Although significant research data are available in the literature on various aspects of tetracycline, including detection techniques, degradation mechanisms, degradation products, and policy statements to curtail the issue, there is a scarcity of a report to compile the recent data in the literature for better analysis and comparison by the policymakers. To achieve this paucity in knowledge, the current study aims at collecting data on the available degradation strategies, mechanisms involved in biodegradable and non-biodegradable routes, the main factor affecting degradation strategies, compile novel detection techniques of tetracycline antibiotics in the environment, discuss antibiotic resistance genes and their potential role in degradation. Finally, limitations in the current bioremediation techniques and the future prospects are discussed with pointers for the decision-makers for a safer environment.

Peng Xu, Kangjian Qiao, Woo Suk Ahn et al.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences • 2016

Harnessing lipogenic pathways and rewiring acyl-CoA and acyl-ACP (acyl carrier protein) metabolism in Yarrowia lipolytica hold great potential for cost-efficient production of diesel, gasoline-like fuels, and oleochemicals. Here we assessed various pathway engineering strategies in Y. lipolytica toward developing a yeast biorefinery platform for sustainable production of fuel-like molecules and oleochemicals. Specifically, acyl-CoA/acyl-ACP processing enzymes were targeted to the cytoplasm, peroxisome, or endoplasmic reticulum to generate fatty acid ethyl esters and fatty alkanes with tailored chain length. Activation of endogenous free fatty acids and the subsequent reduction of fatty acyl-CoAs enabled the efficient synthesis of fatty alcohols. Engineering a hybrid fatty acid synthase shifted the free fatty acids to a medium chain-length scale. Manipulation of alternative cytosolic acetyl-CoA pathways partially decoupled lipogenesis from nitrogen starvation and unleashed the lipogenic potential of Y. lipolytica Taken together, the strategies reported here represent promising steps to develop a yeast biorefinery platform that potentially upgrades low-value carbons to high-value fuels and oleochemicals in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner.

Cao‐Thang Dinh, Ankit Jain, F. Pelayo Garcı́a de Arquer et al.

Nature Energy • 2018

Antonio Castellano‐Hinojosa, Manuel J. Gallardo-Altamirano, Clementina Pozo et al.

Journal of Environmental Management • 2025

There is growing interest in developing effective treatment technologies to mitigate the environmental impact of saline wastewater while also potentially recovering valuable resources from it. However, it remains largely unknown how different salinity levels impact treatment performance, energy generation, and the diversity and composition of electroactive microorganisms in MFCs treating real effluents such as urban wastewater. This study explores the impact of three salinity levels (3.5, 7, and 15 g/L NaCl) on current production, organic removal rates, and bacterial community dynamics in a continuous-flow microbial fuel cell (MFC) fed with urban wastewater. Using metagenomics and metatranscriptomics, we explored variations in the abundance and expression of extracellular electron transfer (EET) genes and those involved in other general metabolisms. We found that low salinity (3.5 g/L NaCl) enhanced both current production and organic removal efficiency compared to higher salinity levels. This improvement was linked to an increased abundance and activity of electroactive microorganisms, particularly taxa within the Ignavibacteria class, which possess genes coding for outer membrane cytochromes and porin cytochromes. Additionally, salinity influenced general metabolic genes and microbial community composition, with higher salinity levels limiting bacterial growth and diversity. This research provides valuable insights into the interplay between salinity stress and microbial adaptation, contributing to the optimization of MFC technologies for enhanced environmental and bioengineering applications.

Tean-Peng Teoh, Chong-Jing Koo, Li‐Ngee Ho et al.

Environmental Science and Pollution Research • 2023

Seyedehhoma Ghavam, Maria Vahdati, Grant Wilson et al.

Frontiers in Energy Research • 2021

Due to the important role of ammonia as a fertilizer in the agricultural industry and its promising prospects as an energy carrier, many studies have recently attempted to find the most environmentally benign, energy efficient, and economically viable production process for ammonia synthesis. The most commonly utilized ammonia production method is the Haber-Bosch process. The downside to this technology is the high greenhouse gas emissions, surpassing 2.16 kgCO 2 -eq/kg NH 3 and high amounts of energy usage of over 30 GJ/tonne NH3 mainly due to the strict operational conditions at high temperature and pressure. The most widely adopted technology for sustainable hydrogen production used for ammonia synthesis is water electrolysis coupled with renewable technologies such as wind and solar. In general, a water electrolyzer requires a continuous supply of pretreated water with high purity levels for its operation. Moreover, for production of 1 tonne of hydrogen, 9 tonnes of water is required. Based on this data, for the production of the same amount of ammonia through water electrolysis, 233.6 million tonnes/yr of water is required. In this paper, a critical review of different sustainable hydrogen production processes and emerging technologies for sustainable ammonia synthesis along with a comparative life cycle assessment of various ammonia production methods has been carried out. We find that through the review of each of the studied technologies, either large amounts of GHG emissions are produced or high volumes of pretreated water is required or a combination of both these factors occur.

Posy E. Busby, Chinmay Soman, Maggie R. Wagner et al.

PLoS Biology • 2017

Feeding a growing world population amidst climate change requires optimizing the reliability, resource use, and environmental impacts of food production. One way to assist in achieving these goals is to integrate beneficial plant microbiomes-i.e., those enhancing plant growth, nutrient use efficiency, abiotic stress tolerance, and disease resistance-into agricultural production. This integration will require a large-scale effort among academic researchers, industry researchers, and farmers to understand and manage plant-microbiome interactions in the context of modern agricultural systems. Here, we identify priorities for research in this area: (1) develop model host-microbiome systems for crop plants and non-crop plants with associated microbial culture collections and reference genomes, (2) define core microbiomes and metagenomes in these model systems, (3) elucidate the rules of synthetic, functionally programmable microbiome assembly, (4) determine functional mechanisms of plant-microbiome interactions, and (5) characterize and refine plant genotype-by-environment-by-microbiome-by-management interactions. Meeting these goals should accelerate our ability to design and implement effective agricultural microbiome manipulations and management strategies, which, in turn, will pay dividends for both the consumers and producers of the world food supply.

Baitao Li, LI Qun, Xiujun Wang

Environmental Research • 2023

Eckehard G. Brockerhoff, Luc Barbaro, Bastien Castagneyrol et al.

Biodiversity and Conservation • 2017

Claude E. Boyd, Louis R. D’Abramo, Brent D. Glencross et al.

Journal of the World Aquaculture Society • 2020

Abstract Important operational changes that have gradually been assimilated and new approaches that are developing as part of the movement toward sustainable intensive aquaculture production systems are presented via historical, current, and future perspectives. Improved environmental and economic sustainability based on increased efficiency of production continues to be realized. As a result, aquaculture continues to reduce its carbon footprint through reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Reduced use of freshwater and land resources per unit of production, improved feed management practices as well as increased knowledge of nutrient requirements, effective feed ingredients and additives, domestication of species, and new farming practices are now being applied or evaluated. Successful expansion into culture of marine species, both off and on shore, offers the potential of substantial increases in sustainable intensive aquaculture production combined with integrative efforts to increase efficiency will principally contribute to satisfying the increasing global demand for protein and food security needs.

Robert Olson, Rida Assaf, Thomas Brettin et al.

Nucleic Acids Research • 2022

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) established the Bioinformatics Resource Center (BRC) program to assist researchers with analyzing the growing body of genome sequence and other omics-related data. In this report, we describe the merger of the PAThosystems Resource Integration Center (PATRIC), the Influenza Research Database (IRD) and the Virus Pathogen Database and Analysis Resource (ViPR) BRCs to form the Bacterial and Viral Bioinformatics Resource Center (BV-BRC) https://www.bv-brc.org/. The combined BV-BRC leverages the functionality of the bacterial and viral resources to provide a unified data model, enhanced web-based visualization and analysis tools, bioinformatics services, and a powerful suite of command line tools that benefit the bacterial and viral research communities.

Yiwen Yang, Ming-Jia Li, Wen‐Quan Tao et al.

Applied Thermal Engineering • 2021

Mohammed Al-Sahari, Adel Al‐Gheethi, Radin Maya Saphira Radin Mohamed et al.

Chemosphere • 2022

Jiaqi Lv, Qingliang Zhao, Junqiu Jiang et al.

The Science of The Total Environment • 2024

Oluwaseun Adekoya Adelaja, Oluwatosin Daramola

European Journal of Advanced Chemistry Research • 2022

Proper incorporation of natural polymers such as chitosan, starch, or cellulose in the matrix of non-degradable polymers has been proposed to bring about a possible lasting solution to the menace caused by non-degradable plastics in the environment. Biodegradable composite films of low-density polyethylene-chitosan nanoparticles (LDPE/CHNP) has been prepared by solvent casting method. The physiochemical, thermal, biodegradability and microbial inhibition test of the biocomposite have also been investigated to optimize the prepared composite. Physiochemical, thermal, and microbial inhibition rate has been found to increase with increase in chitosan nanoparticles (CHNP) loading in the prepared matrix. The mechanical studies showed that the tensile strength and elastic modulus increased with increasing loading of chitosan nanoparticles. The improvement in the mechanical properties have been attributed to the compatibility of the composite. The prepared LDPE/CHNP biocomposite film with 15% chitosan nanoparticles showed maximum elastic modulus of 23.10 and tensile strength of 3.52, as well as the best dispersion of particles as revealed by the morphological studies of the composite films. The result of the biodegradation study showed that the degradation efficiency and rate increased in CHNP loading with 20% CHNP loading having the maximum degradation efficiency of 50% and rate 0.12 g/d after 21days. The biocomposite film prepared has proved to be degradable, having antimicrobial properties, thereby it could act as an eco-friendly alternative to conventional non-degradable plastics and could be applied in food packaging, fuel cell and wastewater treatment.

Marielle Saunois, Philippe Bousquet, Benjamin Poulter et al.

Earth system science data • 2016

Abstract. The global methane (CH4) budget is becoming an increasingly important component for managing realistic pathways to mitigate climate change. This relevance, due to a shorter atmospheric lifetime and a stronger warming potential than carbon dioxide, is challenged by the still unexplained changes of atmospheric CH4 over the past decade. Emissions and concentrations of CH4 are continuing to increase, making CH4 the second most important human-induced greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide. Two major difficulties in reducing uncertainties come from the large variety of diffusive CH4 sources that overlap geographically, and from the destruction of CH4 by the very short-lived hydroxyl radical (OH). To address these difficulties, we have established a consortium of multi-disciplinary scientists under the umbrella of the Global Carbon Project to synthesize and stimulate research on the methane cycle, and producing regular (∼ biennial) updates of the global methane budget. This consortium includes atmospheric physicists and chemists, biogeochemists of surface and marine emissions, and socio-economists who study anthropogenic emissions. Following Kirschke et al. (2013), we propose here the first version of a living review paper that integrates results of top-down studies (exploiting atmospheric observations within an atmospheric inverse-modelling framework) and bottom-up models, inventories and data-driven approaches (including process-based models for estimating land surface emissions and atmospheric chemistry, and inventories for anthropogenic emissions, data-driven extrapolations). For the 2003–2012 decade, global methane emissions are estimated by top-down inversions at 558 Tg CH4 yr−1, range 540–568. About 60 % of global emissions are anthropogenic (range 50–65 %). Since 2010, the bottom-up global emission inventories have been closer to methane emissions in the most carbon-intensive Representative Concentrations Pathway (RCP8.5) and higher than all other RCP scenarios. Bottom-up approaches suggest larger global emissions (736 Tg CH4 yr−1, range 596–884) mostly because of larger natural emissions from individual sources such as inland waters, natural wetlands and geological sources. Considering the atmospheric constraints on the top-down budget, it is likely that some of the individual emissions reported by the bottom-up approaches are overestimated, leading to too large global emissions. Latitudinal data from top-down emissions indicate a predominance of tropical emissions (∼ 64 % of the global budget, < 30° N) as compared to mid (∼ 32 %, 30–60° N) and high northern latitudes (∼ 4 %, 60–90° N). Top-down inversions consistently infer lower emissions in China (∼ 58 Tg CH4 yr−1, range 51–72, −14 %) and higher emissions in Africa (86 Tg CH4 yr−1, range 73–108, +19 %) than bottom-up values used as prior estimates. Overall, uncertainties for anthropogenic emissions appear smaller than those from natural sources, and the uncertainties on source categories appear larger for top-down inversions than for bottom-up inventories and models. The most important source of uncertainty on the methane budget is attributable to emissions from wetland and other inland waters. We show that the wetland extent could contribute 30–40 % on the estimated range for wetland emissions. Other priorities for improving the methane budget include the following: (i) the development of process-based models for inland-water emissions, (ii) the intensification of methane observations at local scale (flux measurements) to constrain bottom-up land surface models, and at regional scale (surface networks and satellites) to constrain top-down inversions, (iii) improvements in the estimation of atmospheric loss by OH, and (iv) improvements of the transport models integrated in top-down inversions. The data presented here can be downloaded from the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (http://doi.org/10.3334/CDIAC/GLOBAL_METHANE_BUDGET_2016_V1.1) and the Globa

Monali Priyadarshini, Indrasis Das, Makarand M. Ghangrekar

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) • 2020

School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur-721 302, West Bengal, India E-mail : ghangrekar@civil.iitkgp.ac.in Manuscript received online 12 December 2019, accepted 01 March 2020 Metal-organic frameworks (MOF) are strategically designed porous material with a very high surface area. Metal ions surrounded by organic linkers form a three-dimensional MOF structure with special abilities like high adsorbing capacity, excellent catalyzing behavior and photo-activity. Presently, MOFs are widely investigated as an adsorbent to remove heavy metals and xenobiotic compounds from wastewater. Several purposefully designed MOFs based on Zn, Zr, Cr and Fe are able to achieve very high (≥ 90%) dye removal efficiencies by adsorption. Because of photo-sensitive nature, MOFs act as an excellent photocatalyst for the degradation of emerging pollutants. These MOFs can also be used as sensors for the detection of antibiotics and heavy metals present in wastewater. Sulfonamide and ceftriaxone sodium antibiotics, heavy metal like Cr6+ can be successfully detected by MOF based sensors with minimum detection limit of 4 ppb. Another important application of MOF is as an ORR catalyst in the cathode chamber of microbial fuel cell (MFC), which was also noticed in the recent time and significant improvement in power recovery and wastewater treatment efficiency of MFC was reported. However, very less number of articles are available in this context and considerable future scope for investigation is present. This articles provides review of literature on application of MOF in wastewater treatment.

Feng‐He Li, Di Min, Zhou‐Hua Cheng et al.

Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments • 2021

Qudsia Aftab, Xiaoyang Wang, Jun-Feng Lu et al.

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews • 2025

Marc A. Rosen, Seama Koohi‐Fayegh

Energy Ecology and Environment • 2016

Gamachis Korsa, Gessesse Kebede Bekele, Abera Beyene et al.

Green Energy and Environmental Technology • 2025

As of 2023, coal, oil, and natural gas, which are non-renewable fossil fuels, account for about 80% of the world’s energy consumption. This underscores the pressing necessity for alternative energy sources in light of the worsening climate crisis. Apart from the problems, this review evaluates the potential of microbial fuel cells for biofuel production, which contributes to just 10–20% of the total energy consumption due to its relatively low environmental impact. The aim of this systematic review is to elucidate microbial fuel cells and their role in producing a range of bio-based fuels, including biogas, biodiesel, bioethanol, and biobutanol. The findings are categorized into ten main areas: biomass conversion techniques, substrates and microbial strains, design components of microbial fuel cells, strain improvement through metabolic engineering, enhancements of nanomaterials for biofuel production, advantages and disadvantages of biofuels, integration in biorefineries, potential applications, the challenges and limitations, and future trends in microbial fuel cell technology. This review also underscores the promise of microbial fuel cells as a sustainable and eco-friendly option for bioenergy production, emphasizing the need for advancements in design and efficiency to compete with conventional fossil fuels. Harnessing innovative strategies pertaining to the technology of microbial fuel cells (MFCs) can potentially transform energy generation into a more sustainable and commercially viable practice, positively impacting environmental conservation and public health.

Christopher E. Lawson, Sha Wu, Ananda S. Bhattacharjee et al.

Nature Communications • 2017

Microbial communities mediating anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) represent one of the most energy-efficient environmental biotechnologies for nitrogen removal from wastewater. However, little is known about the functional role heterotrophic bacteria play in anammox granules. Here, we use genome-centric metagenomics to recover 17 draft genomes of anammox and heterotrophic bacteria from a laboratory-scale anammox bioreactor. We combine metabolic network reconstruction with metatranscriptomics to examine the gene expression of anammox and heterotrophic bacteria and to identify their potential interactions. We find that Chlorobi-affiliated bacteria may be highly active protein degraders, catabolizing extracellular peptides while recycling nitrate to nitrite. Other heterotrophs may also contribute to scavenging of detritus and peptides produced by anammox bacteria, and potentially use alternative electron donors, such as H 2 , acetate and formate. Our findings improve the understanding of metabolic activities and interactions between anammox and heterotrophic bacteria and offer the first transcriptional insights on ecosystem function in anammox granules.

Xueli Zhang, Zhiyuan Lin, Wei Su et al.

Applied Surface Science • 2022

Aya Samir, Fatma H. Ashour, A. A. Abdel Hakim et al.

npj Materials Degradation • 2022

Abstract The interest in producing biodegradable polymers by chemical treatment, microorganisms and enzymes has increased to make it easier to dispose after the end of its use without harming the environment. Biodegradable polymers reported a set of issues on their way to becoming effective materials. In this article, biodegradable polymers, treatment, composites, blending and modeling are studied. Environmental fate and assessment of biodegradable polymers are discussed in detail. The forensic engineering of biodegradable polymers and understanding of the relationships between their structure, properties, and behavior before, during, and after practical applications are investigated.

Naif Alshammari, Mostafa Mohamed Okasha, Fuad A. M. Al‐Yarimi et al.

Journal of Radiation Research and Applied Sciences • 2025

This article presents a brief analysis of the effect of thermal radiation and local thermal non-equilibrium effects on gyrotactic and Oxytactic microbes in bioconvection flow of hybrid nanofluid using classical and modified Hamilton-Crosser models. In a variety of systems, such as enzyme biosensors, bacterial-powered micromixers, microbial fuel cells, chip-shaped microdevices like micro-volumes and bio-microsystems like microfluidic devices, the incorporation of oxytactic and gyrotactic microbes into nanoparticles increases their thermal efficiency. By enhancing wastewater treatment processes and encouraging microbes to more effectively break down pollutants, this technique can help environmental engineering. By encouraging the improvement of more efficient photobioreactors, it increases the production of biofuel in the field of renewable energy. Materials scientists could use this concept to develop controlled nanostructured materials with predictable thermal and compositional characteristics. With the use of suitable similarity variables, the MATLAB solver bvp4c program can be used to numerically solve the system of ODEs (ordinary differential equations) that are produced using the leading PDEs (partial differential equations). As the inter-phase heat transfer characteristic increases, the liquid and solid phases' respective thermal profiles increase and decrease.

Chi‐Wen Lin, You-Cheng Jhan, Ting‐Jun Zhu et al.

Journal of Water Process Engineering • 2023

Harris A. Lewin, Gene E. Robinson, W. John Kress et al.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences • 2018

Increasing our understanding of Earth's biodiversity and responsibly stewarding its resources are among the most crucial scientific and social challenges of the new millennium. These challenges require fundamental new knowledge of the organization, evolution, functions, and interactions among millions of the planet's organisms. Herein, we present a perspective on the Earth BioGenome Project (EBP), a moonshot for biology that aims to sequence, catalog, and characterize the genomes of all of Earth's eukaryotic biodiversity over a period of 10 years. The outcomes of the EBP will inform a broad range of major issues facing humanity, such as the impact of climate change on biodiversity, the conservation of endangered species and ecosystems, and the preservation and enhancement of ecosystem services. We describe hurdles that the project faces, including data-sharing policies that ensure a permanent, freely available resource for future scientific discovery while respecting access and benefit sharing guidelines of the Nagoya Protocol. We also describe scientific and organizational challenges in executing such an ambitious project, and the structure proposed to achieve the project's goals. The far-reaching potential benefits of creating an open digital repository of genomic information for life on Earth can be realized only by a coordinated international effort.

Muhammad Wakil Shahzad, Muhammad Burhan, Ang Li et al.

Desalination • 2017

Ruisong Lan, Lihua Liu, Feng Han et al.

Bioresource Technology • 2024

Heming Wang, Jidong Liu, Cheng Gui et al.

Environmental Research • 2022

Shuting Huang, Jie Xia, Dongyun Chen et al.

Applied Surface Science • 2022

Jordan Chapman, Ahmed E. Ismail, Cerasela Zoica Dinu

Catalysts • 2018

Enzymes as industrial biocatalysts offer numerous advantages over traditional chemical processes with respect to sustainability and process efficiency. Enzyme catalysis has been scaled up for commercial processes in the pharmaceutical, food and beverage industries, although further enhancements in stability and biocatalyst functionality are required for optimal biocatalytic processes in the energy sector for biofuel production and in natural gas conversion. The technical barriers associated with the implementation of immobilized enzymes suggest that a multidisciplinary approach is necessary for the development of immobilized biocatalysts applicable in such industrial-scale processes. Specifically, the overlap of technical expertise in enzyme immobilization, protein and process engineering will define the next generation of immobilized biocatalysts and the successful scale-up of their induced processes. This review discusses how biocatalysis has been successfully deployed, how enzyme immobilization can improve industrial processes, as well as focuses on the analysis tools critical for the multi-scale implementation of enzyme immobilization for increased product yield at maximum market profitability and minimum logistical burden on the environment and user.

Xiuwen Qian, Juan Huang, Chong Cao et al.

Journal of Hazardous Materials • 2024

Wataru Nagahashi, Naoko Yoshida

The Journal of General and Applied Microbiology • 2021

In this study, two fibrous carbon anodes (namely, pleated non-woven graphite (PNWG) and carbon brush (CB) made from artificial carbon) and bamboo charcoal (BC) were evaluated for current recovery from sewage wastewater. When these anodes were polarized at 0.2 V vs. Ag/AgCl in sewage wastewater, CB produced a maximum current of 2.9 A/m 2 . This exceeded that produced by PNWG (1.5 A/m 2 ) and BC (1.4 A/m 2 ). The accumulative charge recovery achieved with CB was superior to those achieved with the other two (1.6- and 2.2-fold higher than that with PNWG and BC, respectively). During the cyclic voltammetry analysis, CB demonstrated the highest catalytic current with maximum potential in the range of -0.6 to 0.4 V vs. Ag/AgCl and the smallest anode resistance (0.20 Ωm 2 ). Direct cell counting revealed that the fibrous anodes (CB and PNWG) attached most of the cells in the anodes (80%), whereas BC did not. In contrast, the proportion of Geobacter species, a representative electrogenic microorganism in the total bacteria, was observed to be similar among the three anodes (4.4-5.8%). The tubular microbial fuel cell (ø 5.0 cm) equipped with an air-chamber core wrapped with an anion exchange membrane (AEM) and the CB delivered a current of 1.8 A/m 2 . This is higher than those reported in the existing literature for the same microbial fuel cell (MFC) configuration. This indicates that the alteration of the anode from planar to brush can contribute toward improving the current recovery through the air-cathode-AEM-MFC. The BC needs improvement to have more specific surface area, whereas it showed superiority in cost efficiency considering material and processing.

Niklas Heinemann, Juan Alcalde, Johannes Miocic et al.

Energy & Environmental Science • 2021

This article identifies and discusses the scientific challenges of hydrogen storage in porous media for safe and efficient large-scale energy storage to enable a global hydrogen economy.

Kumar Sonu, Monika Sogani, Zainab Syed et al.

Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery • 2022

Hassan Zarenezhad, Sina Mahini, Ali Rezaei et al.

Chemical Engineering Journal • 2024

Julie Baruah, B.K. Nath, Ritika Sharma et al.

Frontiers in Energy Research • 2018

Lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) is the most abundantly available bioresource amounting to about a global yield of up to 1.3 billion tons per year. The hydrolysis of LCB results in the release of various reducing sugars which are highly valued in the production of biofuels such as bioethanol and biogas, various organic acids, phenols, and aldehydes. The majority of LCB is composed of biological polymers such as cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, which are strongly associated with each other by covalent and hydrogen bonds thus forming a highly recalcitrant structure. The presence of lignin renders the bio-polymeric structure highly resistant to solubilization thereby inhibiting the hydrolysis of cellulose and hemicellulose which presents a significant challenge for the isolation of the respective bio-polymeric components. This has led to extensive research in the development of various pretreatment techniques utilizing various physical, chemical, physicochemical and biological approaches which are specifically tailored towards the source biomaterial and its application. The objective of this review is to discuss the various pretreatment strategies currently in use and provide an overview of their utilization for the isolation of high-value bio-polymeric components. The article further discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the various pretreatment methodologies as well as addresses the role of various key factors that are likely to have a significant impact on the pretreatment and digestibility of LCB.

Carlo Santoro, Catia Arbizzani, Benjamin Erable et al.

Journal of Power Sources • 2017

Solomon Evro, I.P. Jain

International Journal of Hydrogen Energy • 2025