Carbon Sources for Biomass, Food, Fossils, Biofuels and Biotechnology - Review Article

Abstract

Carbon atom Carbon atom is most important and abundant constituent of existing and new generated biological mater and biomass and the basis of all forms of life on earth. It is involved in the composition and construction of organic micro- and macromolecules, cells and living organisms, storage molecules, fossils, fossil fuels, biofuels and energy resources of living and nonliving organic matter. Initially originated from atmospheric carbon dioxide, it is absorbed and incorporated into organic molecules by photosynthetic plants and microorganisms through photosynthetic processes to form glucose and other less or more complex organic molecules, enabling and sustaining life on Earth. A semantic part of CO2 has been captured, trapped and immobilized in various forms of fossils, not participating in biogeochemical carbon cycles for millions of years, or is dissolved in oceans. Carbon sources is also one of most important parameters, strongly influencing microbial growth and the accumulation of cellular metabolites, fermentation technologies, process economics and feasibility of industrial production. Advanced developments in recombinant technologies, such as metabolic and genetic engineering, systems and synthetic biology, as well as in bioengineering, biotechnology, industrial microbiology and fermentation technology will expand the opportunities of literally unseen microbial world.

Historical Developments in Carbon Sources, Biomass, Fossils, Biofuels and Biotechnology Review Article

“…Therefore, the interest in developing and use of alternative, renewable and potentially carbon neutral energy and bioenergy resources has greatly increased for net societal benefits. They are vigorously necessary to replace conventional petroleum transport fuels, including solid, liquid and gaseous fuels (Türe et al, 1997;Hill et al, 2006;Chisti, 2007;Van Vuuren et al, 2009;Brennan and Owende, 2010;Gude et al, 2013;Letcher, 2013;Talebian-Kiakalaieh et al, 2013;Anastassiadis, 2016), which are depleting at an alarming rate (Ghimire et al, 2015).…”

“…The discovery, availability and use of fossil energy resources brought initially technological superiority, prosperity, wealth and wellness, as also strong historical, political and socio-economic conflicts to the world, increasingly causing ecological disasters and climate catastrophes, as well as serious socio-economic, political and ecological emigration and expatriation, semantic conflicts and strong confrontations on global level in historically recent times. Burning fossils and fossil fuels, strongly influenced and disturbed continuity, climate, as well as carbon and oxygen balances (CO2, ozone), which has been harmonically established during the pass of millions of years without any human impact, influence and presence (Anastassiadis, 2016). Since the industrialization, the steadily growing energy requirement has been mainly covered by unrenewable fossils, such as natural gas, oil and coal, which do not regenerate at sustainable rates (Wei et al, 2013;Devarapalli and Atiyeh, 2015).…”

“…Therefore, energy requirement is continuously growing along with the industrial development and increasing population around the world (Demirbas, 2009). Fossils are also used to some extent to produce plastics, inks, bulk chemicals, synthetic fertilizers, and steel (Berndes, 2008;Anastassiadis, 2016). The rising price, insecure supply, and environmental worries about fossil fuels have overshadowed the industries based on oil (Saini et al, 2016).…”

“…Moreover, it is yet a depleting source (e.g. depleting world reserves), strongly contributing to environment's greenhouse gas emissions, mainly CO2, consequently resulting in global warming and dramatic climatic changes (Anastassiadis, 2016). A free from fossils maintainable progress can only be obtained with the changeover to the bio economy, which necessitates the discovery of novel low energy requiring technologies and practices, for sustainably converting biomass into useful products such as biofuels, biochemical, biomaterials, food, and feed, a collective term called bio refinery (Golberg et al, 2016).…”

“…Unprocessed primary biofuels like wood fuel are mainly used for the production of electricity, cooking or heating, while secondary biofuels like biodiesel and bioethanol used in vehicles and industry are categorized into first, second and third generation, depending on feedstock origin. Biofuels refer to liquid, gaseous or solid fuels generated from any organic matter (Méndez-Vilas, 2010;Anastassiadis, 2016). Humans use biomass since very long times, nevertheless, the production of synthetic chemicals and energy often prefers fossils sources, because biomass processing and mostly traditional converting technologies are inefficient in terms of performance and power consumption (Golberg et al, 2016).…”