Biorefinery Production of Fuels and Platform Chemicals

4Production of Biomethane and Its Perspective Conversion: An Overview

Rajesh K. Srivastava¹* and Prakash Kumar Sarangi²

¹Department of Biotechnology, GIT, GITAM (Deemed to be University), Visakhapatnam, A. P. India

²College of Agriculture, Central Agricultural University, Imphal, India

Abstract

There is great concern about the generation of renewable sources so as to mitigate the excessive use of conventional fossil fuels. The latter not only create environmental impacts, but will also diminish in the coming future. Biomethane can be generated by anaerobic digestion methods from various waste biomass. Microbial processes are employed for generation of biomethane from a wide range of waste biomass. Biomethane can also be converted into biomethanol by microbial action. Biomethanol can also be produced from waste biomass by other modes, such as thermochemical. This chapter gives an overview of production of biomethane and subsequent biomethanol.

Keywords: Biomethanol, biomethane, waste biomass, fossil fuels

4.1 Introduction

There are many sources, such as production and transport coal, natural gas, and deep petroleum oil sources that are found to emit methane gas in the environment. Further, methane can be emitted from livestock and agricultural practices, land use, and by decay of organic wastes in municipal solid waste landfills. Release of methane into the environment is reported from cows and bogs. It was found that most human activity that can drive up the levels of destructive ...