%0 Journal Article
%A Yan Wang
%A Nawa Raj Baral
%A Minliang Yang
%A Corinne D Scown
%B Environmental Science & Technology
%D 2023
%G eng
%R 10.1021/acs.est.2c06674
%T Co-Processing Agricultural Residues and Wet Organic Waste Can Produce Lower-Cost Carbon-Negative Fuels and Bioplastics
%U https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.2c06674
%8 02/2023
%! Environ. Sci. Technol.
%X <p>Scalable, low-cost biofuel and biochemical production can accelerate progress on the path to a more circular carbon economy and reduced dependence on crude oil. Rather than producing a single fuel product, lignocellulosic biorefineries have the potential to serve as hubs for the production of fuels, production of petrochemical replacements, and treatment of high-moisture organic waste. A detailed techno-economic analysis and life-cycle greenhouse gas assessment are developed to explore the cost and emission impacts of integrated corn stover-to-ethanol biorefineries that incorporate both codigestion of organic wastes and different strategies for utilizing biogas, including onsite energy generation, upgrading to bio-compressed natural gas (bioCNG), conversion to poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) bioplastic, and conversion to single-cell protein (SCP). We find that codigesting manure or a combination of manure and food waste alongside process wastewater can reduce the biorefinery’s total costs per metric ton of CO2&nbsp;equivalent mitigated by half or more. Upgrading biogas to bioCNG is the most cost-effective climate mitigation strategy, while upgrading biogas to PHB or SCP is competitive with combusting biogas onsite.</p>