The Role of Anaerobic Biorefinery in the Development of a Sustainable Economy

A bioeconomy is considered a better way of reducing environmental impacts, particularly greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions caused by using the fossil fuels. The replacement of these fuels by using biobased products and bioenergy would be beneficial to the environment, as well as to the local economy. Biorefinery is an ideal concept, where a variety of products are produced from organic feedstock, including chemicals, fuels, polymers, etc. Among the various biorefineries, the anaerobic biorefinery concept is becoming popular, which follows anaerobic digestion (AD) as the ultimate step to dispose of any biodegradable waste. Different entities involved in the anaerobic biorefineries are evaluated in this chapter, with emphasis on feedstocks, energy usage, and sustainable applications of by-products and products generated. The factors affecting upstream and downstream processes are discussed. This chapter also presents the present and upcoming applications and market sizes of AD-based products and their by-products, including biofuels, biochemicals, biofertilisers, etc. By incorporating AD technology into biorefineries, sustainable development goals can be achieved more rapidly in areas such as water quality, sanitation, and energy efficiency. The final section discusses future directives that show how anaerobic biorefineries could contribute to the sustainable development of the bioeconomy in future.