Bioprocesses biofuels

Cellulose is the most widespread biologic material on Earth. It has been realistically estimated that 3.3 x 1011 tons of C02/yr is fixed on the world s surface and that approx 6.6% of this (e.g., 22,000 million t/yr will be cellulose (almost 41 per person per year) (1). Pure cellulose canbehydro-lyzed by chemical or enzymatic methods to soluble sugars, which in turn may be used as the raw material for many different bioprocesses. Therefore, cellulose from both agriculture and forestry sources has the potential to become a major source of feedstock for the production of chemicals, single cell protein, and biofuels such as ethanol (1). 

Nicolaou S, Gaida S, Papoutsakis E. (2010) A comparative view of metabolite and substrate stress and tolerance in microbial bioprocessing from biofuels and chemicals, to biocatalysis and bioremediation. Metab Eng, 12, 307-331. 

Bioprocess engineering plays a major role in many mulfibiUion-dollar industries, including biotechnological, microbiological, food, chemical, and biofuel industries. Because bioprocess engineering is part of several industries, it is difficult to estimate its worldwide revenues. However, global revenues from enzyme production are more than 3 billion, and biofuel industry annual revenues are 46.5 billion. 

Industry and Business Sectors. Scientists employed by industry traditionally perform most of the research in bioprocess engineering. A significant proportion of the research in industry has been directed to health care or medical products (such as vaccines) and biofuels. 

Bioresource Technology. 1979- Amsterdam Elsevier (0960-8524). Online ScienceDirect. Topics include biofuels production, modeling and economics bioprocesses and bioproducts biocatalysis and fermentations biomass and feedstocks utilization and thermal conversion of biomass combustion, pyrolysis, gasification, catalysis. 

A major part of today s biofuel generation consists of the production of bioethanol through fermentation of sugars with yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This is perhaps the oldest bioprocess utilised by humans. 

Industrial processes cmivert low-value carbon into high value-added products. To be economically viable, the cost of the overall bioprocess must be significantly less than the selling price of the product. Many variables contribute to bioprocess costs, but for bulk biochemicals such as biofuels and industrial chemicals (which many isoprenoids are used for), the price of the feedstock is the primary cost driver (Rude and Schirmer 2009 WUlke and Vorlop 2008). Currently, carbohydrates from plant biomass are the most important carbon feedstock for fermentation. Plants accumulate simple sugars, cellulose or lipids, which bacteria can convert into energy, biomass and products. Popular model organisms exploited in industry (such as... 

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