Current states and prospects of organic waste utilization for biorefineries

Abstract

Energy demand is continuously increasing, due to rapid growth accompanying the development of population and industrialization. Because of the fossil sources are not keeping pace with the spiraling consumption, the over exploitation of nature resource results more environmental deterioration, which is not only in developing countries, but in some of the developed countries. Biomass, with its economic and environmentally-friendly properties, has been widely employed in biorefineries to recuperate from the scarcity of fossil fuels. Moreover, with the development of technology, recent research has upgraded the acceleration of biomass utilization. To date, the fourth generation of biomass, organic waste, has been widely applied, and multiple target products of biomass conversion are available. The present review article aims to highlight the various biochemical processes for the conversion of organic wastes into valuable products. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.