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

A solar-bio-powered refining concept has been developed to establish sustainable lignocellulosic biodiesel production. The refining concept applies a newly developed combined hydrolysis process without liquid/solid separation and 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 and recycle waste water. Results demonstrate that aerobic fungal lipid fermentation is the most energy-demanding unit operation, accounting for nearly 72% of the total energy input. Integration of solar-bio-power generation and fungal lipid accumulation is shown to be an effective approach for creating 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 52.30 MJ/kg biodiesel produced, and a net energy ratio (NER) of 1.14.