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Cellulose is an organic compound with the formula (C
6H
10O
5)
n,a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to many thousands of β(1→4) linked D-glucose units. Cellulose is an important structural component of the primary cell wall of green plants,many forms of algae and the oomycetes. Some species of bacteria secrete it to form biofilms. Cellulose is the most abundant organic polymer on Earth. The cellulose content of cotton fiber is 90%,that of wood is 40–50%,and that of dried hemp is approximately 57%.
Photosynthesis is a system of biological processes by which photosynthetic organisms,such as most plants,algae,and cyanobacteria,convert light energy,typically from sunlight,into the chemical energy necessary to fuel their metabolism. Photosynthesis usually refers to oxygenic photosynthesis,a process that produces oxygen.
Photosynthetic organisms store the chemical energy so produced within intracellular organic compounds like sugars,glycogen,cellulose and starches. To use this stored chemical energy,an organism's cells metabolize the organic compounds through cellular respiration. Photosynthesis plays a critical role in producing and maintaining the oxygen content of the Earth's atmosphere,and it supplies most of the biological energy necessary for complex life on Earth.
Biofuel is a fuel that is produced over a short time span from biomass,rather than by the very slow natural processes involved in the formation of fossil fuels such as oil. Biofuel can be produced from plants or from agricultural,domestic or industrial biowaste. Biofuels are mostly used for transportation,but can also be used for heating and electricity. Biofuels are regarded as a renewable energy source. The use of biofuel has been subject to criticism regarding the "food vs fuel" debate,varied assessments of their sustainability,and possible deforestation and biodiversity loss as a result of biofuel production.
A renewable resource is a natural resource which will replenish to replace the portion depleted by usage and consumption,either through natural reproduction or other recurring processes in a finite amount of time in a human time scale. When the recovery rate of resources is unlikely to ever exceed a human time scale,these are called perpetual resources. Renewable resources are a part of Earth's natural environment and the largest components of its ecosphere. A positive life-cycle assessment is a key indicator of a resource's sustainability.
Artificial photosynthesis is a chemical process that biomimics the natural process of photosynthesis. The term artificial photosynthesis is used loosely,referring to any scheme for capturing and then storing energy from sunlight by producing a fuel,specifically a solar fuel. An advantage of artificial photosynthesis would be that the solar energy could converted and stored. By contrast,using photovoltaic cells,sunlight is converted into electricity and then converted again into chemical energy for storage,with some necessary losses of energy associated with the second conversion. The byproducts of these reactions are environmentally friendly. Artificially photosynthesized fuel would be a carbon-neutral source of energy,but it has never been demonstrated in any practical sense. The economics of artificial photosynthesis are noncompetitive.
A biorefinery is a refinery that converts biomass to energy and other beneficial byproducts. The International Energy Agency Bioenergy Task 42 defined biorefining as "the sustainable processing of biomass into a spectrum of bio-based products and bioenergy ". As refineries,biorefineries can provide multiple chemicals by fractioning an initial raw material (biomass) into multiple intermediates that can be further converted into value-added products. Each refining phase is also referred to as a "cascading phase". The use of biomass as feedstock can provide a benefit by reducing the impacts on the environment,as lower pollutants emissions and reduction in the emissions of hazard products. In addition,biorefineries are intended to achieve the following goals:
- Supply the current fuels and chemical building blocks
- Supply new building blocks for the production of novel materials with disruptive characteristics
- Creation of new jobs,including rural areas
- Valorization of waste
- Achieve the ultimate goal of reducing GHG emissions
Bioplastics are plastic materials produced from renewable biomass sources,such as vegetable fats and oils,corn starch,straw,woodchips,sawdust,recycled food waste,etc. Some bioplastics are obtained by processing directly from natural biopolymers including polysaccharides and proteins,while others are chemically synthesised from sugar derivatives and lipids from either plants or animals,or biologically generated by fermentation of sugars or lipids. In contrast,common plastics,such as fossil-fuel plastics are derived from petroleum or natural gas.
The photosynthetic efficiency is the fraction of light energy converted into chemical energy during photosynthesis in green plants and algae. Photosynthesis can be described by the simplified chemical reaction
Biodegradable plastics are plastics that can be decomposed by the action of living organisms,usually microbes,into water,carbon dioxide,and biomass. Biodegradable plastics are commonly produced with renewable raw materials,micro-organisms,petrochemicals,or combinations of all three.
Renewable fuels are fuels produced from renewable resources. Examples include:biofuels,Hydrogen fuel,and fully synthetic fuel produced from ambient carbon dioxide and water. This is in contrast to non-renewable fuels such as natural gas,LPG (propane),petroleum and other fossil fuels and nuclear energy. Renewable fuels can include fuels that are synthesized from renewable energy sources,such as wind and solar. Renewable fuels have gained in popularity due to their sustainability,low contributions to the carbon cycle,and in some cases lower amounts of greenhouse gases. The geo-political ramifications of these fuels are also of interest,particularly to industrialized economies which desire independence from Middle Eastern oil.
Biobased economy,bioeconomy or biotechonomy is economic activity involving the use of biotechnology and biomass in the production of goods,services,or energy. The terms are widely used by regional development agencies,national and international organizations,and biotechnology companies. They are closely linked to the evolution of the biotechnology industry and the capacity to study,understand,and manipulate genetic material that has been possible due to scientific research and technological development. This includes the application of scientific and technological developments to agriculture,health,chemical,and energy industries.
An aviation biofuel is a biofuel used to power aircraft and is a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The International Air Transport Association (IATA) considers it a key element in reducing the environmental impact of aviation. Aviation biofuel is used to decarbonize medium and long-haul air travel. These types of travel generate the most emissions,and could extend the life of older aircraft types by lowering their carbon footprint. Synthetic paraffinic kerosene (SPK) refers to any non-petroleum-based fuel designed to replace kerosene jet fuel,which is often,but not always,made from biomass.
Bioproducts or bio-based products are materials,chemicals and energy derived from renewable biological material.
An autotroph is an organism that can convert abiotic sources of energy into energy stored in organic compounds,which can be used by other organisms. Autotrophs produce complex organic compounds using carbon from simple substances such as carbon dioxide,generally using energy from light or inorganic chemical reactions. Autotrophs do not need a living source of carbon or energy and are the producers in a food chain,such as plants on land or algae in water. Autotrophs can reduce carbon dioxide to make organic compounds for biosynthesis and as stored chemical fuel. Most autotrophs use water as the reducing agent,but some can use other hydrogen compounds such as hydrogen sulfide.
Carbon-neutral fuel is fuel which produces no net-greenhouse gas emissions or carbon footprint. In practice,this usually means fuels that are made using carbon dioxide (CO2) as a feedstock. Proposed carbon-neutral fuels can broadly be grouped into synthetic fuels,which are made by chemically hydrogenating carbon dioxide,and biofuels,which are produced using natural CO2-consuming processes like photosynthesis.
James C. Liao is the Parsons Foundation Professor and Chair of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of California,Los Angeles and is the co-founder and lead scientific advisor of Easel Biotechnologies,LLC.
E-diesel is a synthetic diesel fuel for use in automobiles. Currently,e-diesel is created at two sites:by an Audi research facility Germany in partnership with a company named Sunfire,and in Texas. The fuel is created from carbon dioxide,water,and electricity with a process powered by renewable energy sources to create a liquid energy carrier called blue crude which is then refined to generate e-diesel. E-diesel is considered to be a carbon-neutral fuel as it does not extract new carbon and the energy sources to drive the process are from carbon-neutral sources.
Transparent wood composites are novel wood materials which have up to 90% transparency. Some have better mechanical properties than wood itself. They were made for the first time in 1992. These materials are significantly more biodegradable than glass and plastics. Transparent wood is also shatterproof,making it suitable for applications like cell phone screens.
Florence Gschwend is a Swiss chemical engineer and Royal Academy of Engineering Enterprise Fellow at Imperial College London. She is the founder and CEO of Lixea,a spin-out company that commercialises wood fractionation to enable a circular bioeconomy.
Amar K. Mohanty is a material scientist and biobased material engineer,academic and author. He is a Professor and Distinguished Research Chair in Sustainable Biomaterials at the Ontario Agriculture College and is the Director of the Bioproducts Discovery and Development Centre at the University of Guelph.
References
- ↑ "Yuan appointed Chair of Synthetic Biology and Renewable Products, and directs the Synthetic and Systems Biology Innovation Hub at Texas A&M". Texas A&M University. October 9, 2018. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
- 1 2 "Joshua S. Yuan". Washington University in St. Louis. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
- ↑ Yuan, Joshua S.; Reed, Ann; Chen, Feng; Stewart, C Neal (February 20, 2006). "Statistical analysis of real-time PCR data". BMC Bioinformatics. 7. Biomedical Central: 85. doi: 10.1186/1471-2105-7-85 . PMC 1395339 . PMID 16504059.
- ↑ Phillips, Kathleen (May 23, 2017). "Researchers Use Waste Lignin to Make Carbon Fiber". Biomass Magazine. p. 3. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
- ↑ "Fuel from Tobacco and Arundo donax". The U.S. Department of Energy. September 26, 2011. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
- ↑ "NC Farmers Hope to Save Sharks With Tobacco". WBTV. July 29, 2015. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
- ↑ Wang, Xin; Liu, Wei; Xin, Changpeng; Zheng, Yi; Cheng, Yanbing; Sun, Su; Li, Runze; Zhu, Xin-Guang; Dai, Susie Y.; Rentzepis, Peter M.; Yuan, Joshua S. (November 3, 2016). "Enhanced limonene production in cyanobacteria reveals photosynthesis limitations". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 113 (50). Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences U.S.A.: 14225–14230. Bibcode:2016PNAS..11314225W. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1613340113 . PMC 5167140 . PMID 27911807.
- ↑ "Artificial intelligence predicts algae potential as alternative energy source". Science Daily. March 4, 2022. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
- ↑ "Department of Energy Invests $8 Million for Projects to Develop Algae-Based Technologies to Capture Carbon Dioxide for Use in Products". Science Daily. June 23, 2021. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
- ↑ "System to create bioplastics". Science Daily. September 9, 2022. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
- ↑ "Modified lignin creates improved carbon fiber". Materials Today. August 30, 2022. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
- ↑ "Texas A&M AgriLife Research gets grant to crack biofuel production waste issue". Texas A&M University. January 10, 2013. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
- ↑ Fannin, Blair (February 25, 2019). "Research uncovers potential sustainable refining method for lignin". Texas A&M University. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
- ↑ Fannin, Blair (June 29, 2021). "'Plugging In' To Produce Environmentally Friendly Bioplastics". Texas A&M University. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
- ↑ "Mountains of waste could lead to new US manufacturing, jobs". Science Daily. March 15, 2017. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
- ↑ "By Design From Waste to next generation carbon fiber". The Source Washington University in St. Louis. August 18, 2022. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
- ↑ "Two Texas A&M Faculty-Members Receive Innovation Awards". Texas A&M University. May 5, 2017. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
- ↑ Miller, Beth (March 23, 2022). "Yuan named chair of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering". Washington University in St. Louis. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
- ↑ "Texas A&M AgriLife develops new bioremediation material to clean up 'forever chemicals'". Texas A&M University. July 28, 2022. Retrieved January 26, 2023.