Economic Aspects and Sustainability of Ethanol Production—A Systematic Literature Review

Preparation of Microsponge Drug Delivery System (MSDDS) Followed by a Scale-Up Approach

In 1987, Won invented the solid-phase porous microsphere (MS), which stores bioactive compounds in many interconnected voids. Spherical particles (5-300 μm), MS, may form clusters of smaller spheres, resulting in many benefits. The current investigation focussed on gel-encased formulation, which can be suitable for dermal usage. First, quasi-emulsion (w/o/w) solvent evaporation was used to prepare 5-fluorouracil (5 FU) MS particles. The final product was characterized (SEM shows porous structure, FTIR and DSC showed drug compatibility with excipients, and gel formulation is shear-thinning) and further scaled up using the 8-fold method. Furthermore, CCD (Central Composite Design) was implemented to obtain the optimized results. After optimizing the conditions, including the polymer (600 mg, ethyl cellulose (EC), eudragit RS 100 (ERS)), stirring speed (1197 rpm), and surfactant concentration (2% w/v), we achieved the following results: optimal yield (63%), mean particle size (152 µm), drug entrapment efficiency (76%), and cumulative drug release (74.24% within 8 h). These findings are promising for industrial applications and align with the objectives outlined in UN Sustainable Development Goals 3, 9, and 17, as well as the goals of the G20 initiative.

Enhancing xylose-fermentation capacity of engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae by multistep evolutionary engineering in inhibitor-rich lignocellulose hydrolysate

Major progress in developing Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains that utilize the pentose sugar xylose has been achieved. However, the high inhibitor content of lignocellulose hydrolysates still hinders efficient xylose fermentation, which remains a major obstacle for commercially viable second-generation bioethanol production. Further improvement of xylose utilization in inhibitor-rich lignocellulose hydrolysates remains highly challenging. In this work, we have developed a robust industrial S. cerevisiae strain able to efficiently ferment xylose in concentrated undetoxified lignocellulose hydrolysates. This was accomplished with novel multistep evolutionary engineering. First, a tetraploid strain was generated and evolved in xylose-enriched pretreated spruce biomass. The best evolved strain was sporulated to obtain a genetically diverse diploid population. The diploid strains were then screened in industrially relevant conditions. The best performing strain, MDS130, showed superior fermentation performance in three different lignocellulose hydrolysates. In concentrated corncob hydrolysate, with initial cell density of 1 g DW/l, at 35°C, MDS130 completely coconsumed glucose and xylose, producing ± 7% v/v ethanol with a yield of 91% of the maximum theoretical value and an overall productivity of 1.22 g/l/h. MDS130 has been developed from previous industrial yeast strains without applying external mutagenesis, minimizing the risk of negative side-effects on other commercially important properties and maximizing its potential for industrial application.

Biomass Potential and Utilization in Worldwide Research Trends—A Bibliometric Analysis

Biomass, as a part of renewables, is a resource found in large quantities and is a basis for many different industries. This paper presents the most important trends and characteristics of research in biomass potential and biomass utilization on a world scale. The main objective of this work is to analyze the state of research and trends in biomass potential and biomass utilization from 1974 to 2021, including 7117 relevant documents. The methodology part comprised two main stages: obtaining data from Scopus and then exporting the data into Excel. The VOSviewer bibliometric tool was used to analyze clusters of countries and groups of keywords. Research on this topic experienced significant development after 2000; moreover, the global trend of publications marked a significant increase after 2012. China and India have shown exponential growth, followed by USA, Germany, and UK. An important trend globally is that energy topics are gaining more importance and percentage annually, especially in photovoltaics and new generations of biofuels in terms of keywords. The paper aims to provide a tool for the scientific community by introducing the current state and potential tendencies in this special field, including the various sides of biomass use.