Tobacco as a promising crop for low-carbon biorefinery

Energy crops play a vital role in meeting future energy and chemical demands while addressing climate change. However, the idealization of low-carbon workflows and careful consideration of cost-benefit equations are crucial for their more sustainable implementation. Here, we propose tobacco as a promising energy crop because of its exceptional water solubility, mainly attributed to a high proportion of water-soluble carbohydrates and nitrogen, less lignocellulose, and the presence of acids. We then designed a strategy that maximizes biomass conversion into bio-based products while minimizing energy and material inputs. By autoclaving tobacco leaves in water, we obtained a nutrient-rich medium capable of supporting the growth of microorganisms and the production of bioproducts without the need for extensive pretreatment, hydrolysis, or additional supplements. Additionally, cultivating tobacco on barren lands can generate sufficient biomass to produce approximately 573 billion gallons of ethanol per year. This approach also leads to a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 76% compared to traditional corn stover during biorefinery processes. Therefore, our study presents a novel and direct strategy that could significantly contribute to the goal of reducing carbon emissions and global sustainable development compared to traditional methods.

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Publication Details

Journal
The Innovation
Published
2024-08-23
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xinn.2024.100687
Citations
27
Primary Topic
Biofuel production and bioconversion
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
4.98
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article

Tobacco as a promising crop for low-carbon biorefinery

Haobao Liu, Chunxiang Fu, Weihong Liao, Xiao Shuang Men et al.
27 citations
The Innovation
Biofuel production and bioconversion
4.98
article

Tobacco as a promising crop for low-carbon biorefinery

Haobao Liu, Chunxiang Fu, Weihong Liao, Xiao Shuang Men, Xiaona Chen, Xinglin Jiang, Lijuan Liu, Yuchen Liu, Qian Wang, Lei Wang, Yao Zhang, Sang Yup Lee, Sujuan Shi, Ge Zhang, Yongming Jin, Guoqiang Chen, Haibo Zhang, Manzoor Ahmad, Fan Wang
article en
27 citations

Abstract

Energy crops play a vital role in meeting future energy and chemical demands while addressing climate change. However, the idealization of low-carbon workflows and careful consideration of cost-benefit equations are crucial for their more sustainable implementation. Here, we propose tobacco as a promising energy crop because of its exceptional water solubility, mainly attributed to a high proportion of water-soluble carbohydrates and nitrogen, less lignocellulose, and the presence of acids. We then designed a strategy that maximizes biomass conversion into bio-based products while minimizing energy and material inputs. By autoclaving tobacco leaves in water, we obtained a nutrient-rich medium capable of supporting the growth of microorganisms and the production of bioproducts without the need for extensive pretreatment, hydrolysis, or additional supplements. Additionally, cultivating tobacco on barren lands can generate sufficient biomass to produce approximately 573 billion gallons of ethanol per year. This approach also leads to a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 76% compared to traditional corn stover during biorefinery processes. Therefore, our study presents a novel and direct strategy that could significantly contribute to the goal of reducing carbon emissions and global sustainable development compared to traditional methods.

The InnovationVol. 5(5)
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KR), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Lanzhou University of Technology (CN), Novo Nordisk Foundation (DK), Tobacco Research Institute (CN), Qinghai New Energy (China) (CN), Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CN), Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology (CN), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Technical University of Denmark (DK)
Zero hunger
Openalex Percentile: Top 4%
Biofuel production and bioconversion
4.98
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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