A sustainable lignocellulosic biodiesel production integrating solar- and bio-power generation

Abstract

A solar-bio-powered refining concept has been developed to establish sustainable lignocellulosic biodiesel production. The refining concept applies a combined hydrolysis process without detoxification to release sugars from corn stover, uses aerobic oleaginous fungal fermentation to accumulate lipids on the hydrolysate for biodiesel production, and implements solar-bio-power generation to satisfy the energy demand. The results demonstrate that system integration of solar-bio-power generation and fungal lipid accumulation is an effective approach to create a sustainable lignocellulosic biodiesel production. Compared to concentrated solar power (CSP) units, photovoltaics (PV) are a more suitable solar technology to satisfy the energy needs of the lignocellulosic biodiesel production. The PV-bio-powered lignocellulosic biodiesel production has a net energy output of 28.70 MJ kg−1 biodiesel produced, and a net energy ratio (NER) of 1.08.