Techno-Economic Study and Environmental Assessment of Food Waste Based Biorefinery

Sustainability consists of three major components, namely economic, ecological and social impacts. The most important driver for food waste based biorefinery is whether the proposed design is profitable. The development of highly efficient and cost-effective biorefineries is a prerequisite for such a bio-based economy. There are many factors that influence the overall costs and returns of the food waste based biorefinery process, and affect the overall economic performance as well. In this chapter, the economic and environmental impacts of food waste based biorefinery is evaluated by using Techno-economic Study and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in terms of non-renewable energy use (NREU) and greenhouse gases (GHG) emission. Special focus on the economics of Green Chemistry, and the current status of LCA studies on succinic acid and thermochemical processes for biomass conversion to biofuels are covered.