LAPSE:2023.6615
Published Article
LAPSE:2023.6615
Bamboo as a Cost-Effective Source of Renewable Carbon for Sustainable Economic Development in Low- and Middle-Income Economies
February 24, 2023
Low- and middle-income countries have tremendous potential for renewable energy production, including production of renewable carbon from locally prolific crops. In this work, bamboo endemic to West Africa (Bambusa vulgaris) was studied as a feedstock for the production of renewable sugars as the gateway to the local production of biofuels and bio-based chemical products. The effectiveness of delignification and amorphization pretreatments was evaluated, with the observation that quantitative (97 ± 4%) sugar yields could be obtained with a rapid initial hydrolysis rate (82 ± 4 mg g−1 h−1) but only when amorphization was performed following delignification. Experimental measurements and further characterization using 13C solid state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) helped establish the importance of amorphization and delignification and explained why the order of these treatments determined their effectiveness. The economics of the bamboo-based process were compared with those projected for corn stover, selected as a well-studied benchmark crop. Because of the higher bamboo growth rate compared with corn stover and the effectiveness of the pretreatment, the projected net present value (NPV) of the bamboo biorefinery was positive ($190 MM, U.S.), whereas the corn biorefinery projected to negative NPV (−$430 MM, U.S.). A socially sustainable framework for deployment of a bamboo biorefinery in a low- or middle-income economy was then proposed, guided by the principle of local ownership and stakeholder buy-in. The findings presented here motivate further investment in development of bamboo cultivation and conversion to sugars as a rapid route to decarbonization of low- and middle-income economies.
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Keywords
bamboo, Biofuels, cellulosic sugars, development engineering, Technoeconomic Analysis
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Suggested Citation
Ekwe NB, Tyufekchiev MV, Salifu AA, Schmidt-Rohr K, Zheng Z, Maag AR, Tompsett GA, Cai CM, Onche EO, Ates A, Soboyejo WO, Krueger R, Timko MT. Bamboo as a Cost-Effective Source of Renewable Carbon for Sustainable Economic Development in Low- and Middle-Income Economies. (2023). LAPSE:2023.6615
Author Affiliations
Ekwe NB: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, African University of Science and Technology (AUST), Abuja 900107, Nigeria; Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Abuja, Abuja 900105, Nigeria
Tyufekchiev MV: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA [ORCID]
Salifu AA: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, African University of Science and Technology (AUST), Abuja 900107, Nigeria; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609, USA; Department of
Schmidt-Rohr K: Department of Chemistry, Brandeis University, 415 South Street, Waltham, MA 02453, USA [ORCID]
Zheng Z: Department of Chemistry, Brandeis University, 415 South Street, Waltham, MA 02453, USA
Maag AR: Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Science and Technology for Development, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609, USA
Tompsett GA: Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Science and Technology for Development, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609, USA
Cai CM: Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT), Bourns College of Engineering, University of California, Riverside,1084 California Ave, Riverside, CA 92507, USA
Onche EO: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, African University of Science and Technology (AUST), Abuja 900107, Nigeria
Ates A: Department of Chemical Engineering, Engineering Faculty, Sivas Cumhuriyet University, 58140 Sivas, Turkey
Soboyejo WO: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, African University of Science and Technology (AUST), Abuja 900107, Nigeria; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609, USA; Department of
Krueger R: Department of Social Science and Policy Studies, Institute of Science and Technology for Development, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609, USA [ORCID]
Timko MT: Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Science and Technology for Development, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609, USA [ORCID]
Tyufekchiev MV: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA [ORCID]
Salifu AA: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, African University of Science and Technology (AUST), Abuja 900107, Nigeria; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609, USA; Department of
Schmidt-Rohr K: Department of Chemistry, Brandeis University, 415 South Street, Waltham, MA 02453, USA [ORCID]
Zheng Z: Department of Chemistry, Brandeis University, 415 South Street, Waltham, MA 02453, USA
Maag AR: Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Science and Technology for Development, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609, USA
Tompsett GA: Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Science and Technology for Development, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609, USA
Cai CM: Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT), Bourns College of Engineering, University of California, Riverside,1084 California Ave, Riverside, CA 92507, USA
Onche EO: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, African University of Science and Technology (AUST), Abuja 900107, Nigeria
Ates A: Department of Chemical Engineering, Engineering Faculty, Sivas Cumhuriyet University, 58140 Sivas, Turkey
Soboyejo WO: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, African University of Science and Technology (AUST), Abuja 900107, Nigeria; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609, USA; Department of
Krueger R: Department of Social Science and Policy Studies, Institute of Science and Technology for Development, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609, USA [ORCID]
Timko MT: Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Science and Technology for Development, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609, USA [ORCID]
Journal Name
Energies
Volume
16
Issue
1
First Page
331
Year
2022
Publication Date
2022-12-28
Published Version
ISSN
1996-1073
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PII: en16010331, Publication Type: Journal Article
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LAPSE:2023.6615
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doi:10.3390/en16010331
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Feb 24, 2023
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