About Book

With the increasing worldwide demand of energy along with the depletion of conventional fossil fuel reserves, there has been growing global interest in developing alternative sources of energy. Biofuels offer much promise on these frontiers. Biofuels are fuels derived from biomass any matter derived from plants or animals. Biomass has traditionally been used as fuel for energy production in the form of wood, charcoal or animal waste. A basic distinction is made between unprocessed primary biofuels, such as fuel wood, and processed secondary biofuels. Ethanol and biodiesel are the most widely used liquid biofuels. From a sustainability perspective, biofuels offer both advantages (energy security, GHG reductions, reduced air pollution) and risks (intensive use of resources, monocultures, reduced biodiversity, and even higher GHGs through land use change); and measuring biofuel sustainability requires approaching economic, environmental and social sustainability in an integrated way to maximize benefits and minimize risks. This book does an excellent job of filtering through data, providing a historical perspective on which to anchor the information, and outlining the strengths and constraints of the different biofuels. The book brings together the fundamental principles of crops and manure as sources of biofuels, from the economic and ecological opportunities and challenges of sustainable biofuel crop production to the unique characteristics of particular crops which make them ideal for biofuel applications. It also deals with agricultural residues in sustainable biofuel, biomass valorization, multipurpose biorefineries, biofuel supply chains and methodology to evaluate biofuel. From theories to research to practical applications, case studies related to all contemporary topics of relevance to this field have been included in this book. It is a vital tool for all researching and studying this field.

Preface............................................................................................................v

Chapter 1 Significance of Agricultural Residues in Sustainable Biofuel Development................................................................................................1

Abstract ..................................................................................................1

1. Introduction............................................................................................2

2. Agricultural residues............................................................................4

3. Bioenergy potentials.............................................................................6

4. Global biofuel and bioenergy scenarios.........................................12

5. Future prospects..................................................................................14

6. Conclusion............................................................................................16

Acknowledgements.............................................................................16

Conflict of interest..............................................................................16

Chapter 2 Pretreatment of Crop Residues by Application of Microwave Heating and Alkaline Solution for Biofuel Processing:

A Review.....................................................................................................23

Abstract.................................................................................................23

1. Introduction..........................................................................................24

2. Microwave heating effects.................................................................26

3. Summary...............................................................................................36

Acknowledgements.............................................................................36

Conflict of interest..............................................................................37

Chapter 3 Biomass Valorization: Agricultural Waste in Environmental Protection, Phytomedicine and Biofuel Production.........................48

Abstract.................................................................................................48

1. Introduction..........................................................................................49

Chapter 4 Coproducts of Biofuel Industries in Value-Added Biomaterials

Uses: A Move Towards a Sustainable Bioeconomy.........................86

1. Introduction..........................................................................................86

2. Current status of coproducts from biofuel industries.................90

3. Value-added biomaterials from biofuel coproducts...................103

4. Conclusions........................................................................................122

Acknowledgements...........................................................................124

Chapter 5 Sustainable Multipurpose Biorefineries for Third-Generation

Biofuels and Value-Added Co-Products...........................................148

1. Introduction........................................................................................148

2. Biomass production and supply logistics....................................150

3. Third-generation biofuels................................................................152

4. Biomass conversion technologies...................................................153

5. Platform integration..........................................................................162

6. Conclusion..........................................................................................168

Chapter 6 The Need for Integrated Life Cycle Sustainability Analysis of

Biofuel Supply Chains..........................................................................176

1. Introduction........................................................................................176

2. Status...................................................................................................179

3. Conclusions and discussion............................................................191

Acknowledgement.............................................................................193

Chapter 7 Land Use Change Impacts of Biofuels: A Methodology to Evaluate

Biofuel Sustainability............................................................................200

1. Introduction........................................................................................200

2. Sustainable profile of biofuels........................................................202

3. Soil quality and agronomic management practices in biofuels

production..........................................................................................209

4. Biofuels sustainability evaluation: An overview on land use

impact assessment.............................................................................216

5. SUSBIOFUEL project: A case-study..............................................222

6. Conclusion..........................................................................................233

Acknowledgements...........................................................................234

Chapter 8 Potentials of Selected Tropical Crops and Manure as Sources

of Biofuels................................................................................................240

1. Introduction ......................................................................................240

2. Contemporary focus on renewable energy..................................240

3. History of anaerobic biodigestion..................................................242

4. Overview of biogas production.....................................................243

5. Biofuels for the production of energy .........................................245

6. Conditions for anaerobic biodigestion..........................................248

7. Cassava (Manihot species) as a biofuel .......................................255

8. Cocoyam (Colocasia and Xanthosoma species) as a biofuel ......259

9. Barbados nut (Jatropha curcas) as a biofuel ................................262

10. Common grasses as biofuels .........................................................267

11. Manure as a biofuel ........................................................................270

12. Conclusions and recommendations on the use of tropical crops

as biofuels...........................................................................................273

Citation......................................................................................................287

Index...........................................................................................................289

About Author

Bob Tanimizu obtained his M.Sc. in Biofuels Process Engineering from the Public State University, Nova Scotia. He is a Research Associate at Technical Institute, Oaxaca. His interest areas of academic research include biodiesel and bioethanol. He is on the editorial board of several renowned biofuel and bioenergy journals; and has edited over 250 technical papers and eight reference books. He has also won an “Excellence in Higher Education” award for his outstanding contribution towards the researcher community.