Meet the editor

Venko Beschkov was born in 1946 in Sofia, Bulgaria. He graduated in chemistry from the Sofia University, St. Clement Ohridski, Bulgaria (1969). He received his PhD in 1978 and his DSc degree in 1996. His present interests are chemical and biochemical processes for environment protection and utilization of renewable energy sources. He participated in 36 scientific projects, as well as in 20 applied projects. He has published over 200 scientific

papers, 2 monographs, and 7 chapters in selected issues (encyclopedia, books). Over 1500 citations of his papers have been noted. He was Head of the Institute of Chemical Engineering at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences for 21 years (1993/2014) and Deputy-minister of Environment in the Bulgarian Government (1991/92).

Contents

**Section 1**

**Section 2**

**Preface XI**

General **1**

**Chapter 1 3**

Energy and Chemicals **15**

**Chapter 2 17**

**Chapter 3 31**

**Chapter 4 47**

**Chapter 5 71**

**Chapter 6 93**

Biorefinery Safety: A Case Study Focused on Bioethanol Production

*by Roberto Lauri and Biancamaria Pietrangeli*

Biogas as a Source of Energy and Chemicals *by Sonia Damyanova and Venko Beschkov*

*by Fernando Luiz Pellegrini Pessoa, Hugo Villardi,* 

*Ewerton Emmanuel da Silva Calixto, Erika Durão Vieira,* 

*Ana Lucia Barbosa de Souza and Bruna Aparecida Souza Machado*

Integrating Whole Cell Biotransformation of Aroma Compounds

*by Roland Hirschmann, Waldemar Reule, Thomas Oppenländer,* 

Lignin Hydrothermal Liquefaction into Bifunctional Chemicals:

Biodiesel Production as a Renewable Resource for the Potential

*by Yahaya Alhassan, Ursel Hornung and Idris M. Bugaje*

Integrated Soybean Biorefinery

into a Novel Biorefinery Concept

*Frank Baganz and Volker C. Hass*

Displacement of the Petroleum Diesel

A Concise Review

*by Ifeanyichukwu Edeh*

## Contents


Preface

The interest in biofuel production and application is governed by two main factors: the possible depletion of fossil fuel resources on a global scale and the more threatening pollution of the atmosphere because of the extensive emissions of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane that the present global vegetation cannot cope with. This trend became more threatening with the increased use of fossil fuels such as oil, coal, and natural gas because the atmosphere was shock-loaded by carbon emissions collected underground for millions of years. A remedy against the last problem is the use of biomass presently grown as a source for biofuel. Hence the carbon dioxide emissions in air can be processed by the present vegetation, thus closing the current carbon cycle. Such biofuels are biogas, bioethanol, biodiesel, etc.

On the other hand, fossils have been extensively used in the 20th century by mankind as feedstock for various chemical manufacturing, starting with nitrogen-containing fertilizers and ending with production of organic products such as plastics, synthetic rubber, dyestuffs, pharmaceuticals, etc. In this direction biofuels can be further utilized as substrates for organic syntheses for bulk chemical products, such as alcohols, biodegradable polymers, organic acids, etc.

These two options reveal different prospects for development of new biomassbased industries, although currently on a modest scale. This approach is known as the biorefinery concept as an analogue to the oil-based refineries producing fuels

Although attractive, the biorefinery approach must be evaluated by its secondary effects on economy, on the competitive use of vegetation and animal feedstocks for other purposes, on the unexpected impacts to the environment and biodiversity, etc. For example, biodiesel production leads to an inevitable release of large amounts of waste glycerol with limited demand, thus opening a new challenge for its treatment and removal. It has even been mentioned that it will be a "glycerol-based economy"!

On the other hand, the inevitable release of carbon dioxide when biofuels are used could be remediated after its conversion into chemicals (e.g. synthetics gas, methanol, formic acid) and to fuel, such as methane by chemical, electrochemical, or biotechnological processes. There are many efforts to recycle carbon dioxide in flue gases by lipid-containing algae. These lipids are further converted into biodiesel and so forth.

The present book offers some examples and new ideas for the broader applications of biofuels and the resulting raw materials for energy and chemical production as

**Venko Beschkov**

Sofia, Bulgaria

Institute of Chemical Engineering, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences,

and chemical commodities.

alternatives to the traditional fossil fuels.
