Switchgrass as an alternative biomass for ethanol production in a biorefinery: Perspectives on technology, economics and environmental sustainability

Valeria Larnaudie, Mario Daniel Ferrari and Claudia Lareo

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2022, vol. 158, issue C

Abstract: The production of biofuels from lignocellulosic biomass is not economically viable unless it is co-produced with other marketable high value bio-based compounds using a biorefinery strategy. Advanced cellulosic biofuels derived from agricultural and forestry residues, non-food/feed energy crops or organic waste, could overcome concerns associated with conventional biofuels (impact on food prices, use of land for agricultural and forest products) and achieve large greenhouse gases emissions savings. The main obstacles to the use of advanced biofuels are availability and price of feedstocks, efficiency in conversion, reliability of the technology involved, stability of national polices, level of subsidy and mixing requirements. Switchgrass is a dedicated lignocellulosic energy crop that has great potential for bioethanol production due to its ease of adaptation to the soil in different geographical regions (use of marginal soils), its high yields, poor soil erosion, low incidence of pests and diseases, and low water and nutrient requirements. This review discusses several switchgrass-to-ethanol conversion pathways, considering different aspects of the feedstock, research on the cultivar, yield, and characteristics that have driven research to develop the perennial crop for biofuel. A comprehensive gathering of literature on alternative pretreatment methods, fermentation processes and microorganisms, co-products synthesized when fractionating multiple sugars, and biorefinery economics are presented. Meta-data about pretreatment and fermentation experimental work and how these studies have informed techno-economic analysis of bio-ethanol conversion are reported. Environmental life cycle assessment studies and to a lesser extent, socio-economic and social aspects of biofuels and dedicated energy crops like switchgrass are also reviewed.

Keywords: Switchgrass; Ethanol; Biorefinery; Sustainability; Techno-economic analysis; Life cycle assessment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032122000442
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

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:eee:rensus:v:158:y:2022:i:c:s1364032122000442

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/bibliographic
http://www.elsevier. ... 600126/bibliographic

DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2022.112115

Access Statistics for this article

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews is currently edited by L. Kazmerski

More articles in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().