Valorization of Vegetable Waste to Generate Bioenergy and Their Potential Applications

Bioenergy is a versatile resource to overcome fossil fuel scarcity and energy crises. It can be feasibly derived from organic materials that are known as biomass. Although the sole utilization of biomass to obtain bioenergy is unreasonable; organic waste can be effectively up-scaled to generate biofuels that have potential applications. Due to the enormous population growth, vegetable waste from households, food supply chains, and packaging industries has drastically increased in recent years. Recycling this waste into green energy reduces greenhouse gas emissions and the limitations of finite fuels. Since they are non-edible waste materials with significant amounts of carbohydrates and lipids, they can be effectively degraded using biological approaches to generate biofuels such as bio-methane, bio-ethanol, and bio-diesels. The present book chapter deals with the classification of food waste, its characterization, and methods to convert them into bioenergy. It will also focus on the various applications of these valorized products and their efficacy. This chapter will give a thorough insight into the valuable features of bioenergy for developing a sustainable environment.