A consolidated road map for economically gainful efficient utilization of agro‐wastes for eco‐friendly products

Abstract

The replacement of fossil carbon with biomass is currently crucial for ecological, environmental, and economic reasons. Although the use of biomass-derived eco-friendly products is appealing to the public and to industry, research is slow to meet the demand for it. This may be due to lack of awareness and cooperation among different sectors of science and stakeholders. This paper takes a holistic perspective. It discusses the importance of agro-waste as a biomass resource and provides suggestions for its effective utilization to make economical and eco-friendly products. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, it discusses the opportunities for direct, economical, and environmentally friendly research fields such as the modification of plant structure, increasing biomass yield, and conversion of agro-waste to materials and chemicals. It suggests how these various fields can benefit industry and the public, and also discusses the importance of dialogue between the different stakeholders to accelerate growth in innovation, implementation, and development.

More sustainable biomass production and biorefining to boost the bioeconomy

“…The bioeconomy differs in many ways from the fossil carbon‐based industry and other primary sectors, and it has many advantages 7,13,29 . In particular, it has advantages over the fossil carbon‐based economy, as summarized in Table 1.…”

“…Biotechnology is progressing toward increasing biomass yield, changing biomass structural and chemical morphologies, increasing capture efficiency of CO 2 and light, developing plants to grow faster and larger with available resources and conditions, and enabling them to grow in barren lands 29 . Biotechnology is also working on the next phases such as storage, pre‐treatment, and conversion.…”

“…Biomass contains various components such as cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, starch, fatty acids / glycerides, peptides, and terpenes 50 . Biomass can be treated to varying degrees, including as raw material, modified biomass, biopolymers, modified polymers, monomers, modified monomers, and chemicals 29,53–56 . Multiple transformation methods can be used – for example mechanical, mechanochemical, biochemical, chemical, thermochemical, or thermal 7,29,30,56–58 .…”

“…Biomass can be treated to varying degrees, including as raw material, modified biomass, biopolymers, modified polymers, monomers, modified monomers, and chemicals 29,53–56 . Multiple transformation methods can be used – for example mechanical, mechanochemical, biochemical, chemical, thermochemical, or thermal 7,29,30,56–58 . From a technological perspective, various steps are being developed such as pre‐treatment, dissolution, chemical modification, depolymerization, chemical conversion, and fractionation / separation 59,60 .…”

“…For longer bioproduct shelf‐life, modifications are underway to add bacterial, fungal, and termite resistance properties. To reduce the dependence on biomass production, models for utilizing agro‐industrial and municipal organic wastes are being developed with the aim of achieving a sustainable circular bioeconomy 29,63,64 …”