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Chemicals and Fuels Production from Agro Residues: A Biorefinery Approach

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Book cover Sustainable Approaches for Biofuels Production Technologies

Part of the book series: Biofuel and Biorefinery Technologies ((BBT,volume 7))

Abstract

Alternative fuel production technology in order to combat the present scenario of climate change issues has been in the transition stage of generating high-value low volume chemicals, fuels and low-value high volume bulk products (biofuels). This concept of biorefinery is the future of biomass processing technologies where complete utilization of biomass and zero release of waste can be achieved. The agro residue biorefinery aims in sustainable approach which provides a good solution for sustainable ways of utilizing agricultural residues. Agro residues are by-products of agricultural crop production and processing, which are abundantly available at lower price. Agro residues are one of the major resources of unexploited potential lignocellulosic feedstocks. It includes straws, leaves and plant materials left in the field after harvesting of the crop. Its characteristics would vary with crops, species and environmental conditions. Annual agro residue production potential in India is ca. 550 MT. Currently, most of the residues are underutilized or burnt in situ, creating serious environmental pollutions. In order to utilize and effective disposal of these wastes, several methods are tried for tapping the energy/bioproducts from various crop residues via biochemical or thermochemical conversion routes. Biorefinery technologies can offer a platform for production of high-value chemicals and fuels from these residues, which are value-added products as well as provide more income for agriculturists. This chapter aims in bringing out sources of agro residues, the current state of the art of biomass processing and conversion viable technologies, and recent developments in the biorefinery of agro residues, and finally sheds light on commercialization of agro residue biorefinery.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Horticultural College & Research Institute for Women, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Tiruchirappalli, India

    Desikan Ramesh

  2. Kumaraguru Institute of Agriculture, Sakthinagar, Erode, India

    Iniya Kumar Muniraj

  3. Agricultural Engineering College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, India

    Kiruthika Thangavelu & Subburamu Karthikeyan

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  1. Desikan Ramesh
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  2. Iniya Kumar Muniraj
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  3. Kiruthika Thangavelu
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  4. Subburamu Karthikeyan
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Correspondence to Desikan Ramesh .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Neha Srivastava

  2. Department of Physics and Astrophysics, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India

    Manish Srivastava

  3. Department of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India

    P.K. Mishra

  4. Department of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India

    S.N. Upadhyay

  5. Department of Biological Sciences, Sam Higginbottom Institute of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Pramod W. Ramteke

  6. Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, School of Science, Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn, Estonia

    Vijaj Kumar Gupta

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Ramesh, D., Muniraj, I.K., Thangavelu, K., Karthikeyan, S. (2019). Chemicals and Fuels Production from Agro Residues: A Biorefinery Approach. In: Srivastava, N., Srivastava, M., Mishra, P., Upadhyay, S., Ramteke, P., Gupta, V. (eds) Sustainable Approaches for Biofuels Production Technologies. Biofuel and Biorefinery Technologies, vol 7. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94797-6_3

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