Postharvest technology for advancing sustainable bioenergy production for food processing and reduction of postharvest losses

Abstract Strategic integration of bioenergy production and postharvest activities is key for making sustainable energy accessible in agricultural communities. The integrated approach has the potential to contribute toward reducing postharvest losses, with multiple gains, food and energy security, sustainable bio-economies, and reduced agricultural waste disposal burdens. Aligning postharvest technologies with bioenergy production creates sustainable feedstock supply chains while reducing pretreatment requirements for bioenergy production. The bioenergy products and coproducts generated when applied within the agricultural system can reduce postharvest losses and add value to the food crops and residues, hence creating a sustainable circular bio-economy. The chapter provides an in-depth multicriteria analysis of the potential for establishing integrated crop residue-based biorefineries in starch crop-based industries such as cassava, maize, and potatoes. The integrated crop residues-based biorefineries have the potential for total plant use (crop and residues), which can increase the benefits of a specific crop to the food value chain. Furthermore, the postharvest processes generate already preconditioned residues for energy conversion, thus enabling generation of energy products in quantities that can sustain modern food processing and preservation methods in agricultural-based communities. Relative to cassava residues, maize, and potato residues have higher potentials for biogas (2324 vs 1656 m3 CH4/ha) and commercial starch (8.24 vs 3.28 t/ha), respectively. However, cassava residues have greater bioethanol potentials than maize residues (1739 vs 1212 L/ha). The estimated biogas could meet energy requirements (electricity+thermal) for processing the corresponding crops to starch and coproducts and generate surplus electricity (397–4973 kWh/ha). Therefore postharvest technologies should be optimized for compatibility with integrated residues-based biorefineries.