Biomaterials: biological production of fuels and chemicals

Alternative resources such as biomass and waste as feedstocks for the production of bioproducts and subsequently to the production of fuels and chemicals have attracted worldwide attention due to their biodegradability and low environmental impacts. One popular research field has attempted to produce commercial biodiesel that can substitute petrodiesel in transportation, power generation, industrial production and household activities. However, the popularization of biodiesel is still limited due to the lower price of petrodiesel. Most of these studies have lead to a success at lab scale, but researchers are still striving to develop a feasible economic and commercial production plant. Significant effort has been put into investigation of optimal operating parameters for the production of biodiesel from grease trap waste (GTW) but further research needs to be conducted to clarify the effect of process scale-up on the quality and quantity of biodiesel products. It is especially necessary to determine the appropriate techniques and reactor type and to synthesize process flow sheets that can maximize the product quality and product yield at acceptable price.

Biomaterials: biological production of fuels and chemicals, edited by Rafael Luque and Chun-Ping Xu, provides comprehensive, to date research developments in biomaterials science and engineering. Two major topics have been addressed – namely (i) techniques for the utilization of biomass and raw materials for the production of fuels and chemicals from the chemical engineering point of view, and (ii) current industrial applications of alternative processes such as the application and production of chitin and the fermentation of food waste as a hydrogen source.

This book consists of eight chapters. Chapter 1 provides an overview with clear comparison for the production of bioproduct from a range of low cost and large scale unit operations to the high cost and smaller scale unit operations from the varieties of biomass feedstocks. Detailed summaries of up- and downstream bioprocesses that specifically relate to the selection of various equipment in unit operations are given. The use of life cycle analyses is also introduced in this chapter.

Chapters 2–7 review the biological routes including metabolic pathways and catalytic conversions for the production of biofuels and chemicals from a variety of biomass sources.

The importance of nanoparticle materials produced from polysaccharides for drugs and food delivery are discussed in the last chapter (Chapter 8).

In conclusion, the international team of authors of this book have successfully provided an excellent and detailed overview of the following three concepts: (i) state-of-the-art in biomass conversion into valuable fuels, (ii) the challenges as well as the significant industrial applications of renewable biomaterials, and (iii) the potential of recycled biomass and waste into green energy and essential chemicals. The book is very diverse in topics and comprises some cutting-edge topics which are likely not to be accessible in a similar compilation in other books. Thus, the book manages to keep its own profile.

The book is very readable and, overall, the references for all chapters were well cited. The book would be better had the subheadings been consistent. For example, some chapters use conclusions whilst other chapters refer to it as future perspective, outlook and in one chapter there was no conclusion. In addition, readability would be improved with more images. It is helpful that the subtitle of the book Biological production of fuels and chemicals was included, as the main title Biomaterials is commonly used to describe materials that relate to medical purpose such as drugs delivery.

I would recommend this book to researchers as well as higher degree students that work or plan to venture into this field.