Analysis and evaluation of the development of bioenergy molecules and renewable fuels from organic municipal solid waste and wastewater using synthetic biology

Abstract

This review covers the progress and application of microbial biofuels, assessing the advancement of genetic engineering undertakings and their marketability, and lignocellulosic biomass pre-treatment issues. Due to having a high content of lignocellulosic fibre, municipal solid waste (MSW) is an encouraging sustainable biofuel feedstock. In this research, for the purpose of scrutinising the production procedures of fatty alcohols, alkanes, and n-butanol from residual biogenic waste, the environmental/economic parameters were compared with conventional biofuel using a lifecycle assessment. This was grounded in process modelling by means of Simapro® 8.2.2 and experimental secondary data in the literature. The capability exists for genetically engineered fermentation pathways within micro-organisms for the production of long-chain alcohols, isoprenoids, long-chain fatty acids, and esters, along with alkanes that can substitute for fuels derived from petroleum. Biotechnological developments have endeavoured to fix problems with ethanol, such as lesser energy density compared to gasoline and high corrosive and hygroscopic qualities that restrict its application in the present infrastructure. Results indicate that the developed biofuels generated from organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) caused less environmental impact compared with traditional fuel production, in addition to lower expenditure. Unfortunately, advanced biofuels had low production rates, which hinders commercial scaling up efforts.