A Review of Thermochemical Conversion of Waste Biomass to Biofuels

Shivangi Jha, Sonil Nanda, Bishnu Acharya and Ajay K. Dalai ()
Additional contact information
Shivangi Jha: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, Canada
Sonil Nanda: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, Canada
Bishnu Acharya: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, Canada
Ajay K. Dalai: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, Canada

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 17, 1-23

Abstract: Biofuels are sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels because of their renewable and low-cost raw materials, environmentally friendly conversion technologies and low emissions upon combustion. In addition, biofuels can also be upgraded to enhance their fuel properties for wide applicability in power infrastructures. Biofuels can be produced from a wide variety of biomasses through thermochemical and biological conversion processes. This article provides insights into the fundamental and applied concepts of thermochemical conversion methods such as torrefaction, pyrolysis, liquefaction, gasification and transesterification. It is important to understand the physicochemical attributes of biomass resources to ascertain their potential for biofuel production. Hence, the composition and properties of different biomass resources such as lignocellulosic feedstocks, oilseed crops, municipal solid waste, food waste and animal manure have been discussed. The properties of different biofuels such as biochar, bio-oil, bio-crude oil, syngas and biodiesel have been described. The article concludes with an analysis of the strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the thermochemical conversion technologies to understand their scale-up applications and commercialization.

Keywords: biofuels; pyrolysis; torrefaction; liquefaction; gasification; transesterification (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/17/6352/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/17/6352/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:15:y:2022:i:17:p:6352-:d:902829

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().