Solid-State Fermentation (SSF) versus Submerged Fermentation (SmF) for the Recovery of Cellulases from Coffee Husks: A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Based Comparison

Eva Catalán and Antoni Sánchez
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Eva Catalán: Composting Research Group, Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, Escola d’Enginyeria, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Cerdanyola del Vallès, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
Antoni Sánchez: Composting Research Group, Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, Escola d’Enginyeria, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Cerdanyola del Vallès, 08193 Barcelona, Spain

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 11, 1-20

Abstract: This article studies the environmental impacts of cellulase production by using a comparative attributional life cycle assessment (LCA) of two different scenarios of production. The first one is the commonly used submerged fermentation (SmF) using a pure substrate (cellulose powder) and a specific microorganism ( Trichoderma reesei ). The second scenario considers a novel system to produce enzymes and simultaneously treat a waste using the solid-state fermentation (SSF) process of coffee husk (CH) used as substrate. Experimental data were used in this scenario. The complete production process was studied for these two technologies including the fermentation phase and the complete downstream of cellulase. Life cycle inventory (LCI) data were collected from the database EcoInvent v3 (SimaPro 8.5) modified by data from literature and pilot scale experiments. The environmental impacts of both production systems revealed that those of SmF were higher than those of SSF. A sensitivity analysis showed that the results are highly conditioned by the energy use in the form of electricity during lyophilization, which is needed in both technologies. The results point to a possible alternative to produce the cellulase enzyme while reducing environmental impacts.

Keywords: life cycle assessment (LCA); solid-state fermentation (SSF); submerged fermentation (SmF); cellulase; coffee husk; waste (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: 2020
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