Bioenergy production side-streams availability assessment as decision making driver for sustainable valorisation technologies development. Case study: Bioethanol and biodiesel industries

Recently, biorefineries have emerged globally as an attractive alternative to conventional fuel production, but costs still need to be competitive. Latest policy actions such as the Green Deal or the Circular Economy Action Plan encourage maximising the biomass-to-products value chain through the use of all valuable compounds available in side-streams to the full extent. Side-streams from corn and rapeseed-based biofuels industries represent excellent sources of bioactive compounds and proteins, mainly under-utilised as animal feed without uncovering their full potential at industrial sectors such as food supplement, speciality chemicals, cosmetics, and household products. The main objective of the research conducted is to pave the way for side-streams valorisation technologies upgrading and market penetration by assessing current availability and future production rates of corn oil, thin stillage, rapeseed meal and other biodiesel and bioethanol production side-streams. Through a bibliographic analysis of peer-reviewed articles and grey literature, key information and valuable data are presented. It is possible to conclude that trends in biofuel markets (supported by regional regulations) lead to increased biofuel production, as well as increased availability of the specified side-streams. Corn oil is produced at a rate of 60 million L/year on average in Europe, a total of 1.6 billion L of thin stillage is produced each year, and rapeseed meal is generated at a global rate of 68 million tons per year. Future research to trigger further developments and investments could dive into the types and regional availability of relevant active compounds found in the selected side-streams. (c) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

Biorefineries have gained global attention as an alternative to conventional fuel production, but cost competitiveness remains a challenge. Policy actions, such as the Green Deal and the Circular Economy Action Plan, promote the maximization of the biomass-to-products value chain by utilizing valuable compounds in side-streams. Side-streams from corn and rapeseed-based biofuels industries contain bioactive compounds and proteins that are currently underutilized as animal feed, limiting their potential in industries such as food supplements, specialty chemicals, cosmetics, and household products. This research aims to assess the availability and future production rates of side-streams, such as corn oil, thin stillage, rapeseed meal, and other biodiesel and bioethanol production by-products, to facilitate their market penetration and technology upgrading. The findings suggest increasing availability of specified side-streams due to growing biofuel production and regional regulations. Further research could explore the types and regional availability of active compounds in these side-streams to stimulate further developments and investments.