scholarly journals β-Glucosidases from the FungusTrichoderma: An Efficient Cellulase Machinery in Biotechnological Applications

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pragya Tiwari ◽  
B. N. Misra ◽  
Neelam S. Sangwan

β-glucosidases catalyze the selective cleavage of glucosidic linkages and are an important class of enzymes having significant prospects in industrial biotechnology. These are classified in family 1 and family 3 of glycosyl hydrolase family.β-glucosidases, particularly from the fungusTrichoderma,are widely recognized and used for the saccharification of cellulosic biomass for biofuel production. With the rising trends in energy crisis and depletion of fossil fuels, alternative strategies for renewable energy sources need to be developed. However, the major limitation accounts for low production ofβ-glucosidases by the hyper secretory strains ofTrichoderma. In accordance with the increasing significance ofβ-glucosidases in commercial applications, the present review provides a detailed insight of the enzyme family, their classification, structural parameters, properties, and studies at the genomics and proteomics levels. Furthermore, the paper discusses the enhancement strategies employed for their utilization in biofuel generation. Therefore,β-glucosidases are prospective toolbox in bioethanol production, and in the near future, it might be successful in meeting the requirements of alternative renewable sources of energy.

Author(s):  
Mahmure Övül Arıoğlu Akan ◽  
Ayşe Ayçim Selam ◽  
Seniye Ümit Oktay Fırat

Sustainability concerns resulting from the consumption of natural resources, life-threatening levels of pollution, global warming, climate change and the ever-increasing worldwide energy use have brought renewable energy sources to forefront. Given the possibility of depletion of fossil fuels in the near future, the utilization of clean and renewable energy sources have become inevitable. Consequently, governments and global organizations adopted respective regulations to ensure the production and use of renewable energy and promote the respective new investments. In the light of these developments, the aim of this study is to conduct a detailed review and evaluation on the current literature and global energy statistics. The respective projects, binding regulations, incentives, and pricing mechanisms have also been studied to analyze and compare the renewable energy policies adopted worldwide. Ultimately, the goal is to make certain suggestions and lay out possible solutions regarding global energy problems.


Biomolecules ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neha Srivastava ◽  
Rishabh Rathour ◽  
Sonam Jha ◽  
Karan Pandey ◽  
Manish Srivastava ◽  
...  

The biomass to biofuels production process is green, sustainable, and an advanced technique to resolve the current environmental issues generated from fossil fuels. The production of biofuels from biomass is an enzyme mediated process, wherein β-glucosidase (BGL) enzymes play a key role in biomass hydrolysis by producing monomeric sugars from cellulose-based oligosaccharides. However, the production and availability of these enzymes realize their major role to increase the overall production cost of biomass to biofuels production technology. Therefore, the present review is focused on evaluating the production and efficiency of β-glucosidase enzymes in the bioconversion of cellulosic biomass for biofuel production at an industrial scale, providing its mechanism and classification. The application of BGL enzymes in the biomass conversion process has been discussed along with the recent developments and existing issues. Moreover, the production and development of microbial BGL enzymes have been explained in detail, along with the recent advancements made in the field. Finally, current hurdles and future suggestions have been provided for the future developments. This review is likely to set a benchmark in the area of cost effective BGL enzyme production, specifically in the biorefinery area.


2007 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 02
Author(s):  
J. V. C. Vargas

Fossil fuels are currently recognized as unsustainable because of depleting supplies and the contribution of these fuels to the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the environment. Therefore, renewable, carbon neutral, alternative fuels are necessary for environmental and economic sustainability. Several countries have been considering the use of alternative fuels derived from agriculture. In that context, ethanol derived from sugar-cane and/or corn crops, and biodiesel derived from oil crops are potential renewable and carbon neutral alternatives to fossil fuels. Unfortunately, fuel from crops, waste and animal fat cannot realistically satisfy even a small fraction of the existing global demand for fuels. In Brazil, the government has been subsiding ethanol from sugar-cane crops for more than 30 years, and together with research investment on oil off-shore exploration, the initiative made possible for the country, at least for the moment, to become energy self sufficient, but due to oil supplies depletion, that scenery will change in the near future. Another limiting factor is cost. For example, the economic aspect of biodiesel production limits its development and large-scale use. Biodiesel usually costs almost twice the price per liter of conventional diesel fuel, currently in the US.Apart from economic aspects, it is clear that biofuel production technology needs to be improved to meet global fuel demand rate. One possible direction is the use of microalgae, that appear to be the only source of renewable biodiesel that is capable of meeting the diesel fuel global demand. Like plants, microalgae use sunlight to produce oils but they do so more efficiently than crop plants. Oil productivity of many microalgae greatly exceeds the oil productivity of the best producing oil crops.Approaches for making microalgal biodiesel economically competitive therefore need to be developed.The mission of Engenharia Térmica is to document the scientific progress in areas related to energy, particularly oil and renewables. We are confident we will continue to receive articles’ submissions that help enable sustainable energy solutions in the near future.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Koussa ◽  
Amphun Chaiboonchoe ◽  
Kourosh Salehi-Ashtiani

The increased demand and consumption of fossil fuels have raised interest in finding renewable energy sources throughout the globe. Much focus has been placed on optimizing microorganisms and primarily microalgae, to efficiently produce compounds that can substitute for fossil fuels. However, the path to achieving economic feasibility is likely to require strain optimization through using available tools and technologies in the fields of systems and synthetic biology. Such approaches invoke a deep understanding of the metabolic networks of the organisms and their genomic and proteomic profiles. The advent of next generation sequencing and other high throughput methods has led to a major increase in availability of biological data. Integration of such disparate data can help define the emergent metabolic system properties, which is of crucial importance in addressing biofuel production optimization. Herein, we review major computational tools and approaches developed and used in order to potentially identify target genes, pathways, and reactions of particular interest to biofuel production in algae. As the use of these tools and approaches has not been fully implemented in algal biofuel research, the aim of this review is to highlight the potential utility of these resources toward their future implementation in algal research.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroshi Sakuragi ◽  
Kouichi Kuroda ◽  
Mitsuyoshi Ueda

Large amounts of fossil fuels are consumed every day in spite of increasing environmental problems. To preserve the environment and construct a sustainable society, the use of biofuels derived from different kinds of biomass is being practiced worldwide. Although bioethanol has been largely produced, it commonly requires food crops such as corn and sugar cane as substrates. To develop a sustainable energy supply, cellulosic biomass should be used for bioethanol production instead of grain biomass. For this purpose, cell surface engineering technology is a very promising method. In biobutanol and biodiesel production, engineered host fermentation has attracted much attention; however, this method has many limitations such as low productivity and low solvent tolerance of microorganisms. Despite these problems, biofuels such as bioethanol, biobutanol, and biodiesel are potential energy sources that can help establish a sustainable society.


2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 374-383 ◽  

Global warming is one of the most serious challenges facing humankind as it has the potential to dramatically modify the living conditions of future generations. In order to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, most countries are implementing regulations aimed at reducing their dependence on fossil fuels, promoting energy efficiency practices and favoring the deployment of low carbon energy technologies, including renewable energy sources. In line with the international commitments assumed as a member of the European Union (EU) and also as a signatory of the Kyoto Protocol, Spain developed a National Plan for Renewable Energies (PER 2005-2010) that forms the basis of the national strategy in this field. Spain has often been cited as an example for the rapid growth in the use of low carbon energy technologies. However, despite significant progress in the last decade, Spain is far from meeting the national objectives set in PER primarily due to slow growth in the demand for biofuels and the limited success of biomass fired power plants. The evolution in other energy technologies has been faster, situating Spain as world a leader in solar and wind energy. However, the contribution of these technologies to the national consumption is very marginal. In the midst of intense regulatory, commercial and R&D activity, this paper analyses the current situation with respect to the production of renewable energies in Spain, focusing primarily on the use of biomass resources. The paper offers a general view of policy and regulatory background, illustrates current progress towards meeting national objectives and provides a brief description of representative projects and market activity in biofuel production and biomass valorization.


2017 ◽  
pp. 537-567
Author(s):  
Mahmure Övül Arıoğlu Akan ◽  
Ayşe Ayçim Selam ◽  
Seniye Ümit Oktay Fırat

Sustainability concerns resulting from the consumption of natural resources, life-threatening levels of pollution, global warming, climate change and the ever-increasing worldwide energy use have brought renewable energy sources to forefront. Given the possibility of depletion of fossil fuels in the near future, the utilization of clean and renewable energy sources have become inevitable. Consequently, governments and global organizations adopted respective regulations to ensure the production and use of renewable energy and promote the respective new investments. In the light of these developments, the aim of this study is to conduct a detailed review and evaluation on the current literature and global energy statistics. The respective projects, binding regulations, incentives, and pricing mechanisms have also been studied to analyze and compare the renewable energy policies adopted worldwide. Ultimately, the goal is to make certain suggestions and lay out possible solutions regarding global energy problems.


Catalysts ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergio Díaz-Abad ◽  
María Millán ◽  
Manuel A. Rodrigo ◽  
Justo Lobato

In the near future, primary energy from fossil fuels should be gradually replaced with renewable and clean energy sources. To succeed in this goal, hydrogen has proven to be a very suitable energy carrier, because it can be easily produced by water electrolysis using renewable energy sources. After storage, it can be fed to a fuel cell, again producing electricity. There are many ways to improve the efficiency of this process, some of them based on the combination of the electrolytic process with other non-electrochemical processes. One of the most promising is the thermochemical hybrid sulphur cycle (also known as Westinghouse cycle). This cycle combines a thermochemical step (H2SO4 decomposition) with an electrochemical one, where the hydrogen is produced from the oxidation of SO2 and H2O (SO2 depolarization electrolysis, carried out at a considerably lower cell voltage compared to conventional electrolysis). This review summarizes the different catalysts that have been tested for the oxidation of SO2 in the anode of the electrolysis cell. Their advantages and disadvantages, the effect of platinum (Pt) loading, and new tendencies in their use are presented. This is expected to shed light on future development of new catalysts for this interesting process.


2014 ◽  
Vol 619 ◽  
pp. 376-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Md. Hasanuzzaman ◽  
Md. Farhad Hossain ◽  
N.A. Rahim

Empty fruit bunches (EFB) is a good lingo-cellulosic biomass to produce bio-ethanol, to generate electricity by using chemical or thermo-chemical conversion processes respectively. It is one of the potential renewable energy sources to reduce the dependency on fossil fuels and environment pollution. It is found that about 6% of diesel fuel can be saved by using palm oil EFB based converted bio-ethanol. By using thermo-chemical conversion of palm oil EFB, about 5% electrical energy demands can be fulfilled.


Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 1289
Author(s):  
M. Anwar H. Khan ◽  
Sophia Bonifacio ◽  
Joanna Clowes ◽  
Amy Foulds ◽  
Rayne Holland ◽  
...  

An accelerating global energy demand, paired with the harmful environmental effects of fossil fuels, has triggered the search for alternative, renewable energy sources. Biofuels are arguably a potential renewable energy source in the transportation industry as they can be used within current infrastructures and require less technological advances than other renewable alternatives, such as electric vehicles and nuclear power. The literature suggests biofuels can negatively impact food security and production; however, this is dependent on the type of feedstock used in biofuel production. Advanced biofuels, derived from inedible biomass, are heavily favoured but require further research and development to reach their full commercial potential. Replacing fossil fuels by biofuels can substantially reduce particulate matter (PM), carbon monoxide (CO) emissions, but simultaneously increase emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx), acetaldehyde (CH3CHO) and peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN), resulting in debates concerning the way biofuels should be implemented. The potential biofuel blends (FT-SPK, HEFA-SPK, ATJ-SPK and HFS-SIP) and their use as an alternative to kerosene-type fuels in the aviation industry have also been assessed. Although these fuels are currently more costly than conventional aviation fuels, possible reduction in production costs has been reported as a potential solution. A preliminary study shows that i-butanol emissions (1.8 Tg/year) as a biofuel can increase ozone levels by up to 6% in the upper troposphere, highlighting a potential climate impact. However, a larger number of studies will be needed to assess the practicalities and associated cost of using the biofuel in existing vehicles, particularly in terms of identifying any modifications to existing engine infrastructure, the impact of biofuel emissions, and their chemistry on the climate and human health, to fully determine their suitability as a potential renewable energy source.


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