Perspective on Lignin Conversion Strategies That Enable Next Generation Biorefineries

Shilva Shrestha; Shubhasish Goswami; Deepanwita Banerjee; Valentina Garcia; Elizabeth Zhou; Charles N Olmsted; Erica L-W Majumder; Deepak Kumar; Deepika Awasthi; Aindrila Mukhopadhyay; Steven W Singer; John M Gladden; Blake A Simmons; Hemant Choudhary

doi:10.1002/cssc.202301460

Perspective on Lignin Conversion Strategies That Enable Next Generation Biorefineries

ChemSusChem. 2024 Apr 26:e202301460. doi: 10.1002/cssc.202301460. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Shilva Shrestha^{1

2

3}, Shubhasish Goswami^{1

2}, Deepanwita Banerjee^{1

2}, Valentina Garcia^{1

4}, Elizabeth Zhou¹, Charles N Olmsted⁵, Erica L-W Majumder⁵, Deepak Kumar⁶, Deepika Awasthi^{1

2}, Aindrila Mukhopadhyay^{1

2}, Steven W Singer^{1

2}, John M Gladden^{1

4}, Blake A Simmons^{1

2}, Hemant Choudhary^{1

7}

Affiliations

¹ Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA 94608, United States.
² Biological Systems and Engineering Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States.
³ Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States.
⁴ Department of Biomanufacturing and Biomaterials, Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA 94550, United States.
⁵ Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, United States.
⁶ Department of Chemical Engineering, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY 13210, United States.
⁷ Department of Bioresource and Environmental Security, Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA 94550, United States.

PMID: 38669480
DOI: 10.1002/cssc.202301460

Abstract

The valorization of lignin, a currently underutilized component of lignocellulosic biomass, has attracted attention to promote a stable and circular bioeconomy. Successful approaches including thermochemical, biological, and catalytic lignin depolymerization have been demonstrated, enabling opportunities for lignino-refineries and lignocellulosic biorefineries. Although significant progress in lignin valorization has been made, this review describes unexplored opportunities in chemical and biological routes for lignin depolymerization and thereby contributes to economically and environmentally sustainable lignin-utilizing biorefineries. This review also highlights the integration of chemical and biological lignin depolymerization and identifies research gaps while also recommending future directions for scaling processes to establish a lignino-chemical industry.

Keywords: Lignin valorization; chemical depolymerization; computational biology; extremophiles; microbial consortia.

Publication types

Review

Abstract

Publication types

Grants and funding