Sustainability analysis of the whole value chain of bio-syngas production and its potential as chemical platform for syngas fermentation

摘要

As the world’s energy demand is growing and fossil fuels are depleting, concerns are raising on how this demand can be continuously supplied. Solar and wind energy are renewable resources that may contribute to replace fossil energy, However, they cannot provide the carbon needed to produce fuels and chemicals. This fact, coupled to uncertain oil prices and need of lowering the atmospheric CO2, have led the attention towards biomass and other short-cycled carbon raw materials, such as CO, CO2 and CH4. These feedstocks can yield fuels and chemicals with improved environmental performance (compared to fossil-based products), while preventing the impacts over food security that are argued against first generation feedstocks.