Integration of Waste to Bioenergy Conversion Systems: A Critical Review

Richard Ochieng, Alemayehu Gebremedhin and Shiplu Sarker
Additional contact information
Richard Ochieng: Department of Manufacturing and Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 2815 Gjøvik, Norway
Alemayehu Gebremedhin: Department of Manufacturing and Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 2815 Gjøvik, Norway
Shiplu Sarker: Department of Manufacturing and Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 2815 Gjøvik, Norway

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 7, 1-22

Abstract: Sustainable biofuel production is the most effective way to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions associated with fossil fuels while preserving food security and land use. In addition to producing bioenergy, waste biorefineries can be incorporated into the waste management system to solve the future challenges of waste disposal. Biomass waste, on the other hand, is regarded as a low-quality biorefinery feedstock with a wide range of compositions and seasonal variability. In light of these factors, biomass waste presents limitations on the conversion technologies available for value addition, and therefore more research is needed to enhance the profitability of waste biorefineries. Perhaps, to keep waste biorefineries economically and environmentally sustainable, bioprocesses need to be integrated to process a wide range of biomass resources and yield a diverse range of bioenergy products. To achieve optimal integration, the classification of biomass wastes to match the available bioprocesses is vital, as it minimizes unnecessary processes that may increase the production costs of the biorefinery. Based on biomass classification, this study discusses the suitability of the commonly used waste-to-energy conversion methods and the creation of integrated biorefineries. In this study, the integration of waste biorefineries is discussed through the integration of feedstocks, processes, platforms, and the symbiosis of wastes and byproducts. This review seeks to conceptualize a framework for identifying and integrating waste-to-energy technologies for the varioussets of biomass wastes.

Keywords: lignocellulosic waste; organic waste; waste-to-energy; biorefinery integration; industrial symbiosis (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 (5)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/7/2697/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/7/2697/ (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:7:p:2697-:d:788093

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 ().