Advances in Lignocellulosic Biofuel Production Systems

Preshanthan Moodley is a Senior Researcher in environmental engineering at The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) in Durban South Africa. He has an extensive publication list in high impact international Elsevier journals including Bioresource Technology, Energy Conversion and Management, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy and Industrial Crops and Products. He has a strong background in biotechnology, microbiology, bioprocess engineering and chemical engineering. He has edited a book titled “Recent Advances in Lignocellulosic Biofuel Production Systems” for Elsevier, as well as written and published 15 book chapters and peer-reviewed papers. Dr. Ramesh C. Ray is a former Principal Scientist (Microbiology) and Head of the ICAR- Central Tuber Crops Research Institute (Regional Centre), Bhubaneswar, India. He has 35 years of research experiences in agriculture and food microbiology, published 140 research and review papers in international journals, 63 books chapters, edited 14 books and authored 3 books and received more than 4400 citations. He has more than 40 research papers, book chapters and review articles concerning lactic fermentation of roots and tuber crops (please see the CV). He is a distinguished fellow of the prestigious National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, New Delhi, India and 10 other scientific societies. Currently, he is Director of Centre for Food Biology & Environmental Studies, a non-government organization at Bhubaneswar, India. Professor Gueguim Kana is a Senior Professor in Bioprocess Technology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. His research focuses on microbial process technology with interest in biorefinery of agricultural and industrial wastes for biofuels and bioproducts; application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in bioprocess development; bioreactor design and nanobiotechnology. He has attracted and trained various national and international postgraduate students in the field of bioprocess technology. Professor Kana has produced approximately 100 publications in national and international peer-review journals and book contributions. His current Google Scholar h-index is 31 and he has been cited more than 2400 times. He has received the award of a top published researcher of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Professor Gueguim Kana is also the recipient of the Distinguished Teacher Award of the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Section I: Introduction 1. Current status of biofuel production systems

Section II: Feedstock & Processing 2. Lignocellulosic biomass: a feedstock to support the circular economy 3. Advances in pretreatment technologies for lignocellulosic biomass refineries 4. Application of microwave energy in bioprocessing of lignocellulosic biomass 5. Genetically engineered lignocellulosic feedstocks for enhanced yields 6. Cellulosic-based enzymes for enhanced saccharification 7. Lignocellulosic biomass as a treatment agent for acid mine drainage and the subsequent generation of fermentable sugars

Section III: Recent Trends in Bioprocessing 8. Metabolic Engineering of Microorganisms in Advancing Biofuel Production 9. Kinetic assessment: insight into microbial factories 10. Bioreactor design and configuration for enhanced biofuel processes 11. Cell immobilization strategies to enhance yield of liquid biofuels

Section IV: Advances in Modeling and Development 12. Artificial intelligence as a tool for yield prediction 13. Life Cycle Assessment for Sustainable Biofuel Production 14. Integrated Biorefineries: The Path Forward 15. Nanotechnology Applications in Biofuel Production

Section V: Public Policy and Circular economy 16. Impacts of public policies and stakeholders in the transition from the biofuel value chain to a circular bioeconomy