Critical Insights in Biotechnology

Emerging Biotechnological approaches to Waste Valorisation

The abundance of biomass, particularly in the form of agricultural residues, lignocellulosic materials, and organic waste  make it an attractive feedstock for the sustainable production of biofuels, biochemicals, and biomaterials.

The field of bioengineering for biomass waste valorisation and bioremediation faces several technical and systemic challenges, including the heterogeneity of biomass feedstocks, low process efficiencies, and the limited robustness of engineered microbial strains under industrial conditions. Pretreatment methods and tailored enzymatic or microbial systems are therefore critical to unlocking its full potential.

This is a rapidly advancing interdisciplinary field that leverages synthetic biology, metabolic engineering, and process optimisation to address the growing needs of the field.

Topics of interest include (but are not limited to):

• Bioethanol, biodiesel, and biogas production from lignocellulosic and agricultural residues
• Microbial and enzymatic conversion of biomass into high-value chemicals
• Pretreatment technologies (e.g., hydrothermal, microwave, ball milling)
• Catalytic processes using nano-materials, MOFs, and biomass-derived catalysts
• Design of microbial cell factories for waste degradation and product synthesis
• Omics-driven approaches for strain improvement
• Integration of bioprocesses into circular bioeconomy models