Conversion of food waste into biofuel and biocarbon

Abstract Food waste, as a kind of municipal waste, is a concern for environmental issues and biomass sources in worldwide. In China, food waste is usually classified as urban garbage. The food waste consists of nutrition compounds such as sugar, fiber, proteins, oil, salt, etc., which can be converted into energy material or some chemicals. Up to now, the resource utilization of food waste has gradually become the mainstream disposal method. In this chapter, we discuss the situation of food waste problems, theories, and technologies in conversion of food waste into biofuel and biocarbon. This chapter also reviews conversion of food waste components by biotransformation, hydrothermal process, and lipid exchange reaction into, respectively, methane, biodiesel, and biocarbon.