IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v16y2023i9p3786-d1135632.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sustainability of Biorefineries: Challenges and Perspectives

Author

Listed:
  • Juan Camilo Solarte-Toro

    (Instituto de Biotecnología y Agroindustria, Departamento de Ingeniería Química, Universidad Nacional de Colombia Sede Manizales, Manizales 170003, Colombia)

  • Carlos Ariel Cardona Alzate

    (Instituto de Biotecnología y Agroindustria, Departamento de Ingeniería Química, Universidad Nacional de Colombia Sede Manizales, Manizales 170003, Colombia)

Abstract

Biorefineries have been defined as complex systems where biomass is integrally processed to obtain value-added products and energy vectors, involving recent research advances, technological trends, and sustainable practices. These facilities are evolving since new pathways and challenges for biomass upgrading appear constantly aimed at increasing process sustainability. Nevertheless, few literature papers summarize how these new trends can improve biorefinery sustainability and boost the transition to renewable resources. This paper reviews several challenges and future perspectives before biorefinery implementation at the industrial level. Challenges related to waste stream valorization, multifeedstock use, biorefinery energy matrix diversification, and new products based on new biomass conversion pathways are reviewed. Thus, this paper provides an overview of the most recent trends and perspectives for improving biorefinery sustainability based on waste stream minimization, integral use of raw materials, and high-value bio-based compound production. A case study is discussed to show how integral biomass upgrading can improve the economic and environmental performance of existing processing facilities. Carbon dioxide capture, storage, and conversion, as well as energy matrix diversification, have been identified as the most important aspects of improving the environmental performance of biorefineries (decarbonization). Moreover, multifeedstock biorefineries are profiled as promising options for upgrading several biomass sources in small-scale and modular systems to produce value-added products for boosting rural bioeconomies. Finally, new ways to produce more bio-based products must be proposed to replace existing oil-based ones.

Suggested Citation

  • Juan Camilo Solarte-Toro & Carlos Ariel Cardona Alzate, 2023. "Sustainability of Biorefineries: Challenges and Perspectives," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-24, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:9:p:3786-:d:1135632
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/9/3786/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/9/3786/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Li, Guoxuan & Wang, Shuai & Zhao, Jiangang & Qi, Huaqing & Ma, Zhaoyuan & Cui, Peizhe & Zhu, Zhaoyou & Gao, Jun & Wang, Yinglong, 2020. "Life cycle assessment and techno-economic analysis of biomass-to-hydrogen production with methane tri-reforming," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    2. Magdalena Zielińska & Katarzyna Bułkowska & Wioleta Mikucka, 2021. "Valorization of Distillery Stillage for Bioenergy Production: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-17, November.
    3. Bhoi, P.R. & Ouedraogo, A.S. & Soloiu, V. & Quirino, R., 2020. "Recent advances on catalysts for improving hydrocarbon compounds in bio-oil of biomass catalytic pyrolysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    4. Jones, R.E. & Speight, R.E. & Blinco, J.L. & O'Hara, I.M., 2022. "Biorefining within food loss and waste frameworks: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    5. Poveda-Giraldo, Jhonny Alejandro & Solarte-Toro, Juan Camilo & Cardona Alzate, Carlos Ariel, 2021. "The potential use of lignin as a platform product in biorefineries: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    6. Udemba, Edmund Ntom & Tosun, Merve, 2022. "Energy transition and diversification: A pathway to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs) in Brazil," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PC).
    7. Appiah-Nkansah, Nana Baah & Li, Jun & Rooney, William & Wang, Donghai, 2019. "A review of sweet sorghum as a viable renewable bioenergy crop and its techno-economic analysis," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 1121-1132.
    8. Zoppi, Giulia & Tito, Edoardo & Bianco, Isabella & Pipitone, Giuseppe & Pirone, Raffaele & Bensaid, Samir, 2023. "Life cycle assessment of the biofuel production from lignocellulosic biomass in a hydrothermal liquefaction – aqueous phase reforming integrated biorefinery," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 375-385.
    9. Asadikia, Atie & Rajabifard, Abbas & Kalantari, Mohsen, 2021. "Systematic prioritisation of SDGs: Machine learning approach," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    10. Mario Martín-Gamboa & Paula Quinteiro & Ana Cláudia Dias & Diego Iribarren, 2021. "Comparative Social Life Cycle Assessment of Two Biomass-to-Electricity Systems," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-15, May.
    11. Li, Bao-Hong & Zhang, Nan & Smith, Robin, 2016. "Simulation and analysis of CO2 capture process with aqueous monoethanolamine solution," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 707-717.
    12. Wioleta Mikucka & Magdalena Zielinska, 2022. "Individual Phenolic Acids in Distillery Stillage Inhibit Its Biomethanization," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-18, July.
    13. Pietzcker, Robert C. & Osorio, Sebastian & Rodrigues, Renato, 2021. "Tightening EU ETS targets in line with the European Green Deal: Impacts on the decarbonization of the EU power sector," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 293(C).
    14. Heimann, Tobias, 2019. "Bioeconomy and SDGs: Does the Bioeconomy Support the Achievement of the SDGs?," Open Access Publications from Kiel Institute for the World Economy 225998, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    15. Pietzcker, Robert & Osorio, Sebastian & Rodrigues, Renato, 2021. "Tightening EU ETS targets in line with the European Green Deal: Impacts on the decarbonization of the EU power sector," EconStor Preprints 222579, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, revised 2021.
    16. Fonseca, G.C. & Costa, C.B.B. & Cruz, A.J.G., 2020. "Economic analysis of a second-generation ethanol and electricity biorefinery using superstructural optimization," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 204(C).
    17. Aberilla, Jhud Mikhail & Gallego-Schmid, Alejandro & Azapagic, Adisa, 2019. "Environmental sustainability of small-scale biomass power technologies for agricultural communities in developing countries," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 493-506.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Eduardo Andrés Aguilar-Vasquez & Tamy Carolina Herrera-Rodriguez & Ángel Darío González-Delgado, 2024. "Comprehensive Utilization of Avocado in Biorefinery: A Bibliometric and Co-Occurrence Approach 2003–2023," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(21), pages 1-29, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zhong, Meirui & Zhang, Rui & Ren, Xiaohang, 2023. "The time-varying effects of liquidity and market efficiency of the European Union carbon market: Evidence from the TVP-SVAR-SV approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    2. Tan, Xiujie & Sun, Qian & Wang, Meiji & Se Cheong, Tsun & Yan Shum, Wai & Huang, Jinpeng, 2022. "Assessing the effects of emissions trading systems on energy consumption and energy mix," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 310(C).
    3. Martina Ricci & Marcello Benvenuto & Stefano Gino Mosele & Roberto Pacciani & Michele Marconcini, 2022. "Predicting the Impact of Compressor Flexibility Improvements on Heavy-Duty Gas Turbines for Minimum and Base Load Conditions," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-14, October.
    4. Dong, Kangyin & Yang, Senmiao & Wang, Jianda & Nepal, Rabindra & Jamasb, Tooraj, 2024. "Does Geopolitical Risk Accelerate Climate Vulnerability? New Evidence from the European Green Deal," Working Papers 15-2024, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Economics.
    5. Qu, Chunzi & Bang, Rasmus Noss, 2024. "European Grid Development Modeling and Analysis: Established Frameworks, Research Trends, and Future Opportunities," Discussion Papers 2024/11, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Business and Management Science.
    6. Hänsel, Martin C. & Franks, Max & Kalkuhl, Matthias & Edenhofer, Ottmar, 2022. "Optimal carbon taxation and horizontal equity: A welfare-theoretic approach with application to German household data," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    7. Pashchenko, Dmitry & Mustafin, Ravil & Karpilov, Igor, 2022. "Ammonia-fired chemically recuperated gas turbine: Thermodynamic analysis of cycle and recuperation system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 252(C).
    8. Jan-Philipp Sasse & Evelina Trutnevyte, 2023. "A low-carbon electricity sector in Europe risks sustaining regional inequalities in benefits and vulnerabilities," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-15, December.
    9. Sasse, Jan-Philipp & Trutnevyte, Evelina, 2023. "Cost-effective options and regional interdependencies of reaching a low-carbon European electricity system in 2035," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    10. Brown, T. & Reichenberg, L., 2021. "Decreasing market value of variable renewables can be avoided by policy action," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    11. Ning Ren & Xiufan Zhang & Decheng Fan, 2022. "Influencing Factors and Realization Path of Power Decarbonization—Based on Panel Data Analysis of 30 Provinces in China from 2011 to 2019," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-24, November.
    12. Mariusz Pyra, 2023. "Simulation of the Progress of the Decarbonization Process in Poland’s Road Transport Sector," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-21, June.
    13. Luo, Shihua & Hu, Weihao & Liu, Wen & Zhang, Zhenyuan & Bai, Chunguang & Huang, Qi & Chen, Zhe, 2022. "Study on the decarbonization in China's power sector under the background of carbon neutrality by 2060," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    14. Finke, Jonas & Bertsch, Valentin, 2022. "Implementing a highly adaptable method for the multi-objective optimisation of energy systems," MPRA Paper 115504, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Che, Shuai & Wang, Jun & Chen, Honghang, 2023. "Can China's decentralized energy governance reduce carbon emissions? Evidence from new energy demonstration cities," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 284(C).
    16. Buberger, Johannes & Kersten, Anton & Kuder, Manuel & Eckerle, Richard & Weyh, Thomas & Thiringer, Torbjörn, 2022. "Total CO2-equivalent life-cycle emissions from commercially available passenger cars," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    17. Shirley Thompson, 2023. "Strategic Analysis of the Renewable Electricity Transition: Power to the World without Carbon Emissions?," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-34, August.
    18. Kamila Pronińska & Krzysztof Księżopolski, 2021. "Baltic Offshore Wind Energy Development—Poland’s Public Policy Tools Analysis and the Geostrategic Implications," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-17, August.
    19. Andrew Chapman & Hidemichi Fujii, 2022. "The Potential Role of Flying Vehicles in Progressing the Energy Transition," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-11, October.
    20. Piotr Raźniak & Sławomir Dorocki & Tomasz Rachwał & Anna Winiarczyk-Raźniak, 2021. "The Role of the Energy Sector in the Command and Control Function of Cities in Conditions of Sustainability Transitions," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-14, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:9:p:3786-:d:1135632. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.