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Biohythane: a Potential Biofuel of the Future

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Abstract

Today, the world is becoming more dependent on fossil fuels. The major drawbacks of these non-renewable energy resources include an extreme environmental pollution and an extinction threat. Several technologies including microalgal biodiesel production, biomass gasification, and bioethanol production have been explored for the generation of renewable energy especially, biofuels. One such promising research has been carried out in the generation of biohythane which has the potential to become an alternative fuel to the existing non-renewable ones. It has been reported that biohydrogen can be produced from organic wastes or agricultural feedstocks with the help of acidogens. Dark fermentation can be carried out by acidogens to produce biohydrogen under anaerobic conditions by utilizing lignocellulosic biomass or sugarcane feedstocks in the absence of light. The spent medium contains volatile short-chain fatty acids like acetate, butyrate, and propionate that can serve as substrates for acetogenesis followed by methane biosynthesis by methanogens. Therefore, the sequential two-stage anaerobic digestion (AD) involves a production of biohydrogen followed by the biosynthesis of methane. This combined process is termed as a single eponym “Biohythane” (hydrogen + methane). Several studies have demonstrated about the effectiveness of biofuel, and it is believed to have a greater energy recovery, environmental friendliness, and shorter fermentation time. Biohythane can serve as an alternative future green biofuel and solve the present energy crisis in India as well as the entire world.

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All the information is taken from several research papers and review papers on Biohythane for our review work.

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  1. Department of Biotechnology, Heritage Institute of Technology, Kolkata, India

    Subhrojyoti Ghosh

  2. Department of Biotechnology, Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences, Bangalore, India

    Debasish Kar

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Ghosh, S., Kar, D. Biohythane: a Potential Biofuel of the Future. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 196, 2957–2975 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-022-04291-y

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