Research Projects

India has made significant efforts to promote the production and utilization of biofuels, with the government aiming to achieve 20% ethanol blending with petrol by 2025 and increasing pan-India ethanol production capacity from 700 to 1500 crore litres. The National Biofuel Policy, introduced in 2018, aims to promote advanced biofuels and establish a market for their production. However, the production and utilization of biofuels in India are still in the early stages, with challenges such as inadequate infrastructure, limited feedstock availability, and high production costs. The proposal aims to explore the abundantly available untapped agricultural waste, Jackfruit peel (JFP), and easily cultivated algae, scenedesmus obliquus, as feedstocks for bioethanol production. Jackfruit trees are drought and pest-resistant, and their peels contain cellulose and hemicellulose, but are not suitable for animal feed due to pectin and extractives. scenedesmus obliquus, cultivated as part of wastewater treatment and biodiesel production, can be used as feedstock for bioethanol production. The proposal aims to fix these bottlenecks and target zero chemical usage/discharge by adopting efficient, scalable, chemical-free, and rapid hydrothermal processing for pretreatment, using an efficient enzyme cocktail from thermotolerant green fungi, and employing a hybrid hydrolysis and fermentation technique. The reinvention of fermentation residues as fertilizers contributes to net zero carbon emissions. Techno-economic evaluation of the developed process will provide deeper insights into the economic performance at the industrial scale.