Yeast cell factories for sustainable whey-to-ethanol valorisation towards a circular economy

Cheese whey is the major by-product of the dairy industry, and its disposal constitutes an environmental concern. The production of cheese whey has been increasing, with 190 million tonnes per year being produced nowadays. Therefore, it is emergent to consider different routes for cheese whey utilization. The great nutritional value of cheese whey turns it into an attractive substrate for biotechnological applications. Currently, cheese whey processing includes a protein fractionating step that originates the permeate, a lactose-reach stream further used for valorisation. In the last decades, yeast fermentation has brought several advances to the search for biorefinery alternatives. From the plethora of value-added products that can be obtained from cheese whey, ethanol is the most extensively explored since it is the alternative biofuel most used worldwide. Thus, this review focuses on the different strategies for ethanol production from cheese whey using yeasts as promising biological systems, including its integration in lignocellulosic biorefineries. These valorisation routes encompass the improvement of the fermentation process as well as metabolic engineering techniques for the introduction of heterologous pathways, resorting mainly to Kluyveromyces sp. and Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains. The solutions and challenges of the several strategies will be unveiled and explored in this review.

A review on the effects of ethanol/gasoline fuel blends on NOX emissions in spark-ignition engines

Ethanol can be used as an alternative fuel for spark-ignition (SI) engines to increase the octane number and oxygen content of ethanol/gasoline blends, thereby reducing dependence on fossil fuels and the exhaust emissions of incomplete combustion products. Although it is widely agreed that ethanol can reduce CO and HC exhaust emissions, the literature on ethanol and NOX emissions is far from conclusive; hence there is a need for an in-depth, updated review of ethanol/gasoline blends in SI engines and the relative production of NOX emissions. In light of that, the present work aims to provide a comprehensive literature review on the current state of ethanol combustion in SI engines to shed definitive light on the potential changes in NOX emissions under various operating conditions. The first part of this paper discusses the feasibility of ethanol as an alternative transportation fuel, including world production and ethanol production processes. The physicochemical properties of ethanol and gasoline are then compared to analyze their effects on combustion efficiency and exhaust emissions. Then, the pathways of NOX formation inside the cylinder of SI engines are discussed in depth. Finally, we review and critically discuss the effects of ethanol concentration in blends and different engine parameters on NOX formation.

Modeling of thermochemical conversion of waste biomass – a comprehensive review

Thermochemical processes, which include pyrolysis, torrefaction, gasification, combustion, and hydrothermal conversions, are perceived to be more efficient in converting waste biomass to energy and value-added products than biochemical processes. From the chemical point of view, thermochemical processes are highly complex and sensitive to numerous physicochemical properties, thus making reactor and process modeling more challenging. Nevertheless, the successful commercialization of these processes is contingent upon optimized reactor and process designs, which can be effectively achieved via modeling and simulation. Models of various scales with numerous simplifying assumptions have been developed for specific applications of thermochemical conversion of waste biomass. However, there is a research gap that needs to be explored to elaborate the scale of applicability, limitations, accuracy, validity, and special features of each model. This review study investigates all above mentioned important aspects and features of the existing models for all established industrial thermochemical conversion processes with emphasis on waste biomass, thus addressing the research gap mentioned above and presenting commercial-scale applicability in terms of reactor designing, process control and optimization, and potential ways to upgrade existing models for higher accuracy.

Coupling hydrothermal carbonization with anaerobic digestion: an evaluation based on energy recovery and hydrochar utilization

This work evaluates the effect of hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) as a pretreatment and post-treatment technique to anaerobic digestion (AD) of dairy sludge. HTC's effect on AD was evaluated based on energy recovery, nutrient transformation, and hydrochar utilization. The first approach was executed by performing HTC under a range of temperatures before mesophilic AD. HTC optimal pretreatment temperature was 210 °C for 30 min residence time. HTC pretreatment significantly increased the methane yield potential by 192%, the chemical oxygen demand removal by 18%, and the sludge biodegradability during AD by 30%. On the other hand, the application of HTC after AD (post-treatment) increased the total energy production, i.e., in addition to methane, a hydrochar with a caloric value of 10.2 MJ/kg was also obtained. Moreover, HTC post-treatment improved the steam gasification performance of the AD digestate. From the fertilizer quality point of view, HTC implementation generally boosted the concentrations of macro, micro, and secondary nutrients, suggesting its suitability for use as a liquid fertilizer. Overall, the findings of the present study indicate that if bioenergy production were the main target, HTC post-treatment following AD would lead to the most promising outcomes.

Distillery decarbonisation and anaerobic digestion: balancing benefits and drawbacks using a compromise programming approach

The anaerobic digestion (AD) of distillery by-products presents benefits such as greenhouse gas (GHG) emission savings and electricity savings, as well as drawbacks such as reduced animal feed and protein production and the potential import of animal feeds. This work balances these benefits and drawbacks using compromise programming (CP). The best combination of byproducts (from 9,261 scenarios) to use in AD was selected based on criteria chosen by management of a large distillery. The use of all by-products maximises benefits and drawbacks; the contrary also applies. When benefits and drawbacks are equally important, CP recommends using 50% of available draff, 50% of available thick stillage, and 55% of available thin stillage. The best combination when accounting for criteria weights chosen by distillery management is the use of 100% of available draff and 100% of available thick stillage. This could replace 48% of natural gas consumption at the distillery, reduce Scope 1 emissions by 45%, achieve a Scope 3 emissions savings of 22% of current Scope 1 emissions, and reduce electricity consumption in the feeds recovery plant of the distillery by 63%. Protein loss of 9,618 t could require the import of 19.59 kilo-tonne wet weight of material (ktwwt) of distillers grains and 9.15 ktwwt of soybean meal. If different criteria or criteria weights were used, a different result would be recommended. The methodology developed herein can aid in decarbonising the food and beverage industry by allowing decision-makers to balance the benefits and drawbacks of AD while accounting for subjective preferences.

Combining pieces: a thorough analysis of light activation boosting power and co-substrate preferences for the catalytic efficiency of lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase MtLPMO9A

Cost-efficient plant biomass conversion using biochemical and/or chemical routes is essential for transitioning to sustainable chemical technologies and renewable biofuels. Lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs) are copper-dependent enzymes that make part of modern hydrolytic cocktails destined for plant biomass degradation. Here, we characterized MtLPMO9A from Thermothelomyces thermophilus M77 (formerly Myceliophthora thermophila) and demonstrated that it could be efficiently driven by chlorophyllin excited by light in the presence of a reductant agent. However, in the absence of chemical reductant, chlorophyllin and light alone do not lead to a significant release of the reaction products by the LPMO, indicating a low capacity of MtLPMO9A reduction (either via direct electron transfer or via superoxide ion, O2•-). We showed that photocatalysis could significantly increase the LPMO activity against highly crystalline and recalcitrant cellulosic substrates, which are poorly degraded in the absence of chlorophyllin and light. We also evaluated the use of co-substrates by MtLPMO9A, revealing that the enzyme can use both hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and molecular oxygen (O2) as co-substrates for cellulose catalytic oxidation.

Enhancing waste degradation and biogas production by pre-digestion with a hyperthermophilic anaerobic bacterium

The hyperthermophilic anaerobic bacterium, Caldicellulosiruptor bescii, is effective in degrading and solubilizing lignocellulosic materials. Laboratory studies have characterized the chemistry of the process for crystalline cellulose and switchgrass, but the data are insufficient for engineering commercial plants to use C. bescii for pre-digestion of waste streams. The purpose of this study is three-fold: 1) to identify any potential toxicities in C. bescii pre-digestion and biogas production from several wastes; 2) to determine the potential enhancement of biogas production by anaerobic digestion of pre-digested dairy manure and waste activated sludge; and 3) to identify variables that must be quantified and controlled for engineering commercial, continuous-flow systems for waste disposal and biogas production incorporating C. bescii pre-digestion. Tests were run at lab-, bench- and pilot plant-scale with C.bescii pre-digestion and controls run at 75°C and pH 7-8 followed by mesophilic anaerobic digestion at 37-41°C. The lab- and bench-scale tests demonstrate that C. bescii is capable of growing on several organic wastes and pre-digestion with C. bescii increases conversion of waste into biogas, typically by a factor of 2 or more. Incorporation of C. bescii pre-digestion in an optimized commercial system is predicted to provide 75-85% volatile solids conversion to biogas with 75% methane when digesting dairy manure and sewage sludge. Achieving these results at a commercial scale requires further work to quantify C. bescii growth and enzyme production rates, as well as rates of base- and enzyme-catalyzed hydrolysis of the polymeric materials, e.g., lignocellulose, in the waste in order to optimize retention times.