Abstract
Energy security, environmental concerns, and the increasing demand of a growing population present opportunities for adopting alternative pathways for energy and chemicals. Microbial biotechnologies have been making progress in the context of renewable energy production towards creating more sustainable societies. While the state-of-the-art production of bio-based energy, chemicals, and materials promises competitive functionality and quality, evaluation of their sustainability is crucial, particularly for emerging biotechnologies. Analytical methods such as techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life cycle assessment (LCA) are standardized techniques that are used to quantify economic viability and environmental sustainability of processes and products and offer decision-making information on their research, development, and deployment. However, challenges still exist for TEA and LCA studies to support biotechnology transition to a more sustainable future. Examples of such challenges include data availability and accessibility considering technology readiness levels in TEA studies, broadening the impact assessment to categories other than a single impact indicator (e.g., global warming potential), and estimating full life cycle performance in LCA studies. To address these challenges and to promote a sustainable bio-based economy, this chapter provides a systematic overview of the status of renewable bioenergy and biochemicals commercialization, markets, and policies. Additionally, the chapter discusses possible knowledge-based process design approaches, identifying the interrelations between the challenges and development regarding resource efficiency and waste minimization, and bridging the gap between research and commercialization. Case studies of biobutanol production pathways are also discussed for learning and optimization potential for sustainability gains. Finally, the chapter emphasizes the engagement of multiplayers for interdisciplinary work to bring renewable energy into reality.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by funding from (1) North Dakota State University, Department of Coatings and Polymeric Materials and Center for Sustainable Materials Science (CSMS), and (2) the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Bioenergy Technologies Office and sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy’s International Affairs under award number, DEPI0000031.
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Wu, N., Yang, S., Pullammanappallil, P., Pourhashem, G. (2022). Techno-economic and Life Cycle Assessments of Microbial Process in Renewable Energy Production. In: Saini, J.K., Sani, R.K. (eds) Microbial Biotechnology for Renewable and Sustainable Energy. Clean Energy Production Technologies. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3852-7_14
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