Cellulosic pine needles-based biorefinery for a circular bioeconomy

Pine needles (PNs) are one of the largest bio-polymer produced worldwide. Its waste, i.e., fallen PNs, is mostly responsible for forest fires and is a major challenge. In present article, we have reviewed differenteffortsmadeto tackle this situation. PNs have been used in various fields such asin composite, water purification industries, electronic devices, etc. Gasification is one of the appealing processes for turning PNs into bio-energy; pyrolysis technique has been employed to create various carbon-based water purification materials; saccharification combined with fermentation produced good yields of bio-ethanol; Pd or Ni/PNs biocatalyst showed good cata-lytic properties in variousreactionsand pyrolysis with or without catalyst is an alluring technique to prepare bio-fuel. Nano cellulose extracted from PNs showed appealing thermal and mechanical strength. The air quality of nearbyenvironment was examinedby studying the magnetic properties of PNs. Packing materials made of PNs showed exceptional ethylene scavenging abilities.

Automated summary

This article reviews various efforts made to tackle the issue of pine needle waste. Pine needles have been utilized in composite materials, water purification, electronic devices, etc. Gasification, pyrolysis, saccharification combined with fermentation, and catalyst-assisted pyrolysis are promising techniques for converting pine needles into bio-energy and water purification materials. Nano cellulose extracted from pine needles exhibits appealing thermal and mechanical strength. Studying the magnetic properties of pine needles provides insights into air quality in the surrounding environment, and packaging materials made from pine needles have exceptional ethylene scavenging abilities.