Development of Low-Carbon-Driven Bio-product Technology Using Lignocellulosic Substrates from Agriculture: Challenges and Perspectives

Green biotechnology related to biomass conversion for production of bio-based chemicals has drawn considerable attention because of the increasing costs of fossil fuels and their adverse effects on climate change, environmental pollution, and human health. In this study, the recent promises and issues of low-carbon-driven bio-product technology development using lignocellulosic substrates from agriculture were critically reviewed. First, the challenges in bio-based chemical production were addressed from the aspect of technology. After that, the lignocellulose feedstock and their building-block chemicals used in the literature were summarized. In addition, novel pretreatment, bio-conversion, and separations technologies for cleaner production of bio-based products were comprehensively reviewed. It suggests that the main challenge to deploying bio-based chemical technologies into commercialization is the high cost of product recovery from the bioreactor due to the relatively low product titers caused by the product inhibition and/or pH in conventional fermentation.