On the production cost of lignocellulose-degrading enzymes

Author(s)

Ferreira, Rafael G. ^[1] ; Azzoni, Adriano R. ^[1] ; Freitas, Sindelia ^{[2, 3]}

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Dept Engn Quim, Escola Politecn, Ave Prof Luciano Gualberto, Travessa Politecn 380, BR-05508010 Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Estadual Campinas, Fac Engn Quim, Ave Albert Einstein 500, BR-13083852 Campinas, SP - Brazil

^[3] Univ Estadual Campinas UNICAMP, Fac Engn Alimentos, Programa Integrad Posgrad Bioenergia, Campinas - Brazil

• Document type: Review article
• Source: BIOFUELS BIOPRODUCTS & BIOREFINING-BIOFPR; v. 15, n. 1, p. 85-99, JAN 2021.
• Web of Science Citations: 12

Abstract

Lignocellulose is the most abundant renewable material on Earth and the primary component of agricultural wastes such as sugarcane bagasse and wheat straw. It consists of a composite material made of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. Cellulose and hemicellulose can be broken down into monomers by a set of appropriate enzymes, and the resulting monomers may be used to produce a variety of fuels or chemicals through either biological or chemical routes. However, the high production cost of these lignocellulose-degrading enzymes remains a major challenge for the use of lignocellulosic biomass as raw material. In this context, this article reviews techno-economic analyses concerning the production of cellulases and other lignocellulose-degrading enzymes published over the last two decades. The major characteristics of each enzyme production process are described, underscoring the similarities and differences across the various process designs. Moreover, the enzyme production costs derived from these process designs and their composition in terms of raw materials, capital-related factors, utilities, labor costs, etc., are compared. First, this analysis reveals that most techno-economic evaluations in the literature address either cellulase production by submerged culture withTrichoderma reeseior enzyme production by solid-state culture with filamentous fungi. Second, this analysis shows wide cost variations across process designs but it indicates that raw materials and capital-related costs are generally the main drivers of the enzyme production cost. Furthermore, this assessment corroborates the importance of process parameters, such as product yield, production titer, and volumetric productivity, in the process economics of enzyme production. (c) 2020 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley \& Sons, Ltd (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 14/13974-6 - Development and in silico evaluation of an expression platform based in E. coli for the production of enzymes involved in lignocellulosic biomass degradation
• Grantee: Rafael da Gama Ferreira
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate (Direct)