21Industrial Waste Valorization: Applications to the Case of Liquid Biofuels
Haibo Huangand Qing Jin
Department of Food Science and Technology (DFST), Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
21.1 Introduction
Industrial waste is defined as the waste produced by an industrial activity that is composed of any material that has not been recycled or used during the corresponding manufacturing process. Biofuel production from industrial waste has received wide interest as it is a process with a potentially important impact on the environment, energy, and economics. From an environmental point of view, the disposal of industrial waste can cause severe environmental problems, such as increased green house gas (GHG) emissions, water and soil pollution, and disruption of biogenic cycles due to the presence of toxic contaminants. Recycling industrial waste to biofuels provides an effective way to alleviate the environmental pressure caused by waste disposal while generating a domino effect of savings in other primary raw materials such as food crops that would otherwise be needed to produce the corresponding number of energy units. The world's energy system is still largely based on fossil fuels, an industrial activity that is not sustainable because the burning of fossil fuels leads to an increase ...
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