Biofuels: Alternative Feedstocks and Conversion Processes (Biomass, Biofuels, Biochemicals)

Global concern for energy security and environmental protection has put great emphasis on the search for alternative energy sources, particularly for the transport sector. Biofuels have emerged as a highly promising source of alternative energy, and have drawn global R&D for their production using biomass.

With the increasing worldwide demand of energy along with the depletion of conventional fossil fuel reserves, there has been growing global interest in developing alternative sources of energy. There has also been concern in growing economies regarding energy security. Biofuels offer much promise on these frontiers. In addition to the above, they also have a reduced environmental impact in comparison to fossil fuels. Biofuels provides state-of-the-art information on the status of biofuel production and related aspects.

• Detailed overview of the alternative energy field and the role of biofuels as new energy sources
• Gives a detailed account of the production of biodiesel from non conventional bio-feedstocks such as algae and vegetable oils
• Includes production of biohydrogen: the fourth generation biofuel

Professor Ashok Pandey is currently Distinguished Scientist at CSIR-Indian Institute for Toxicology Research, Lucknow, India and Honorary Executive Director at the Centre for Energy and Environmental Sustainability- India; he was the former Deputy Director for CSIR's National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology at Trivandrum, where he head the Centre for Biofuels and Biotechnology Division. Professor Pandey's research interests are on bio-based economy for the production of fuels and chemicals. He has over 1000 publications and communications, which include 14 patents and design copyright, 34 books, 99 book chapters, and 391 original and review papers. Professor Pandey is the recipient of many national and international awards and fellowships, including Fellow of International Society for Energy, Environment and Sustainability, National Academy of Science (India), Biotech Research Society, India, and the International Organization of Biotechnology and Bioengineering. He was Chairman of the International Society of Food, Agriculture and Environment, Finland (Food & Health) from 2003-2004. He is Founder President of the Biotech Research Society, India (www.brsi.in); International Coordinator and General Secretary of International Forum on Industrial Bioprocesses, France (www.ifibiop.org), and Vice-President of the International Society for Energy, Environment & Sustainability (www.isees.org) and All India Biotech Association (www.aibaonline.com). Professor Pandey is Editor-in-chief of Bioresource Technology, Honorary Executive Advisors of Journal of Water Sustainability and Journal of Energy and Environmental Sustainability and editorial board member of several international and Indian journals. Prof. Pandey was also recently honoured as the Most Cited Author as per the Shanghai Ranking's Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2016.

Professor Christian Larroche is graduate in Biochemical Engineering from INSA, Toulouse, (1979), Docteur-Ingénieur in Organic Chemistry from Paul Sabatier Toulouse 3 University (1982), and Docteur ès Sciences (Ph D) in Biochemical Engineering from Blaise Pascal University (1990). He has strong research interest in the area of applied microbiology and biochemical engineering. His skills are related to the study and development of special processes for the use of microorganisms. This includes fungal spores production by solid state cultivation and their use as protein (enzyme) reservoir in biotransformations. A special interest in phase transfer phenomena coupled to metabolic engineering has to be noticed. It is applied to the design and optimisation of biotransformations involving hydrophobic compounds and carried out in biphasic liquid-liquid media. These processes are related both to the food and environment (bioremediation) areas. His interests have recently be extended to bioenergy, and he is presently co-ordinator of two French research programs on biohydrogen production by anaerobic microorganisms grown on complex media.

He is author of about 150 documents including 70 research papers, two patents and 12 book chapters. He has supervised 10 PhD students and 20 MSc lab works. He is member of SFGP (French Society for Process Engineering) and Chief International Coordinator of ICBF Forum, an international network entitled "Food Bioprocessing - A global approach for advancing sustainable production of value added food". He is head of the department of "Study and Development of Processes involving Microorganisms" of the platform for technological development Biotechnology - Material Engineering of Blaise Pascal University and has in charge the team "Solid state fermentations - Biotransformations" of the Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Laboratory in the same university. He has been head of the Biological Engineering department of Polytech Clermont-Ferrand, a School of Engineering of Blaise Pascal University, from 2001 to 2011. He is director of Polytech since January 2012 and, since 2008, vice-president of the university in charge of research valorization and technology transfer.

Dr. Ricke received his B.S. degree in Animal Science (1979) an M.S. degree in Ruminant Nutrition (1982) from the Univ. of Illinois and his Ph.D. degree (1989) from the Univ. of Wisconsin with a co-major in Animal Science and Bacteriology. From 1989 to 1992 Dr. Ricke was a USDA-ARS postdoctorate in the Microbiology Department at North Carolina State Univ. He was at Texas A&M Univ. for 13 years and was a professor in the Poultry Science Dept. with joint appointments on the Food Science and Technology, Molecular and Environmental Plant Sciences, and Nutrition Faculties and the Veterinary Pathobiology Dept. He has been honored in 2002 as a Texas Agricultural Experiment Station Faculty Fellow. In 2005, he became the first holder of the new Wray Endowed Chair in Food Safety and Director of the Center for Food Safety at the University of Arkansas. He is also a faculty member of the Dept. of Food Science and the Cellular and Molecular Graduate program.

Edgard GNANSOUNOU is Professor of modelling and planning of Energy Systems at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) where he is Director of the Bioenergy and Energy Planning Research Group. His current research works comprise techno-economic and environmental assessment of bio-refinery schemes based on conversion of agricultural residues. He is leading research projects in that field in several countries including Brazil, Colombia and South Africa. Edgard Gnansounou is credited with numerous papers in high impact scientific journals. He is member of the editorial board of Bioresource Technology. He graduated with a M.S. in Civil Engineering and Ph.D. in Energy Systems at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne. He was a visiting researcher at the Thayer College, Dartmouth School of Engineering with Professor Charles Wyman (USA), at Polytech of Clermont-Ferrand, University Blaise Pascal (France) and at the Center of Biofuels, the National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, Trivandrum (India). He was also a visiting Professor of the African University of Science of Technology (Abuja, Nigeria). He is a citizen of Benin (Africa) and Switzerland. Professor Ashok Pandey is Deputy Director at CSIR's National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology at Trivandrum and heading the Centre for Biofuels and Biotechnology Division there. Professor Pandey's research interests are on bio-based economy development (biomass-based biorefinery) for the production of fuels and chemicals. He has >1000 publications/communications, which include 14 patents & design copyright, 34 books, 100 book chapters, 380 original and review papers, etc with h index of 62 and >16,800 citation (Goggle scholar).