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Review
. 2022 Mar 17:1-37.
doi: 10.1007/s13399-022-02561-7. Online ahead of print.

Advancement of biorefinery-derived platform chemicals from macroalgae: a perspective for bioethanol and lactic acid

Kevin Tian Xiang Tong  1 , Inn Shi Tan  1 , Henry Chee Yew Foo  1 , Man Kee Lam  2   3 , Steven Lim  4   5 , Keat Teong Lee  6
Affiliations
Review

Advancement of biorefinery-derived platform chemicals from macroalgae: a perspective for bioethanol and lactic acid

Kevin Tian Xiang Tong et al. Biomass Convers Biorefin. .

Abstract

The extensive growth of energy and plastic demand has raised concerns over the depletion of fossil fuels. Moreover, the environmental conundrums worldwide integrated with global warming and improper plastic waste management have led to the development of sustainable and environmentally friendly biofuel (bioethanol) and biopolymer (lactic acid, LA) derived from biomass for fossil fuels replacement and biodegradable plastic production, respectively. However, the high production cost of bioethanol and LA had limited its industrial-scale production. This paper has comprehensively reviewed the potential and development of third-generation feedstock for bioethanol and LA production, including significant technological barriers to be overcome for potential commercialization purposes. Then, an insight into the state-of-the-art hydrolysis and fermentation technologies using macroalgae as feedstock is also deliberated in detail. Lastly, the sustainability aspect and perspective of macroalgae biomass are evaluated economically and environmentally using a developed cascading system associated with techno-economic analysis and life cycle assessment, which represent the highlights of this review paper. Furthermore, this review provides a conceivable picture of macroalgae-based bioethanol and lactic acid biorefinery and future research directions that can be served as an important guideline for scientists, policymakers, and industrial players.

Keywords: Bioethanol; Fermentation; High value-added bioproducts; Hydrolysis; Seaweed; Third generation.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interestsThe authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Global production capacities of bioethanol and bioplastic 2010–2020. Adjusted from [8, 15]
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
World production of farmed macroalgae from 2008 to 2017. Adjusted from Adjusted from [44]
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Flow chart of macroalgal bioethanol and lactic acid production process
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Decision-making algorithm for macroalgae application in a biorefinery approach from the perspective of macroalgae composition
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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