REVIEW: Bioconversion of Renewable Plant Biomass. Second-Generation Biofuels: Raw Materials, Biomass Pretreatment, Enzymes, Processes, and Cost Analysis

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Arkadij P. Sinitsyn^1,2,a* and Olga A. Sinitsyna²

¹Bakh Institute of Biochemistry, Federal Research Centre “Fundamentals of Biotechnology”, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119071 Moscow, Russia

²Faculty of Chemistry, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119991 Moscow, Russia

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received August 12, 2020; Revised August 12, 2020; Accepted August 26, 2020

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The review discusses various aspects of renewable plant biomass conversion and production of the second-generation biofuels, including the types of plant biomass, its composition and reaction ability in the enzymatic hydrolysis, and various pretreatment methods for increasing the biomass reactivity. Conversion of plant biomass into sugars requires the use of a complex of enzymes, the composition of which should be adapted to the biomass type and the pretreatment method. The efficiency of enzymatic hydrolysis can be increased by optimizing the composition of the enzymatic complex and by increasing the catalytic activity and operational stability of its constituent enzymes. The availability of active enzyme producers also plays an important role. Examples of practical implementation and scaling of processes for the production of second-generation biofuels are presented together with the cost analysis of bioethanol production.

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KEY WORDS: renewable biomass, biorefinery, pretreatment, cellulases, biofuel

DOI: 10.1134/S0006297921140121

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