Nanobiocatalysis for biofuel production

Faisal Khan; Nazim Hussain; Hafiz M.N. Iqbal; Jesús Fernández-Lucas; Jakub Zdarta; Teofil Jesionowski; Muhammad Bilal

doi:10.1016/b978-0-323-91760-5.00021-x

Nanobiocatalysis for biofuel production

Abstract

The human race is relied on the use of conventional and non-renewable energy resources like fossil fuels for centuries. With the rising environmental issues linked with the use of these conventional energy resources, the trend soon shifted towards more robust and sustainable energy resources. In this regard, the different generations of biofuels have revolutionized the industrial sector by ensuring an eco-friendly and more economical way of producing energy. The second-generation feedstock has widely been exploited in the industries to generate vital biofuels like biodiesel and bioethanol. The conventional methods utilized for biofuel production had some major drawbacks like greenhouse gases emission, lower conversion yield, high enzyme cost, and the energy requirement for pretreatment processes. These complications led scientists and researchers around the globe to find ways to not only enhance the pre-existing methods but also to introduce novel methods for biofuel production. In this regard, nanobiocatalysis emerged as a novel system where the advances in nanotechnology and biotechnology unraveled novel methods for efficient biofuels production. The application of nanobiocatalysis has thus greatly enhanced the biocatalytic properties of enzymes in the production of biofuels such as biodiesel, bioethanol, and biogas. This chapter provides a general overview of the different generations of biofuels and feed stocks. Moreover, it highlights the recent trends in nanobiocatalysis for biofuel production and summarizes the various immobilization methods of enzymes by exploiting nanoparticles developed recently.