Valorization of Waste Residues from Agriculture, Forestry and Biogenic Resources to Biofuels and Bioproducts
Dr. Sonil Nanda
Director of Research & Development
Titan Clean Energy Projects
Biofuels are gaining attention as renewable energy sources to address the rising energy demands, fluctuating crude oil prices and greenhouse emissions from fossil fuels. Biofuels can be produced from a wide variety of renewable feedstocks and biogenic wastes through thermochemical, biological and hybrid conversion technologies. This presentation will highlight the candidacy of a wide variety of waste feedstocks such as lignocellulosic biomass (e.g., agricultural crop residues and woody biomass), energy crops, municipal solid waste, food waste and biogenic wastes to produce carbon-neutral fuels and carbon-negative materials. The potential and performance of integrated clean technologies, especially gasification, pyrolysis and fermentation will be discussed in this presentation. The current progress, challenges and knowledge gaps in the R&D of biorefining technologies to produce clean hydrocarbon biofuels, biochemicals and bioproducts from agricultural and forestry residues as well as their opportunities for Canadian and global bio-based economies will be discussed in this presentation.
Dr. Sonil Nanda is the Director of Research & Development at Titan Clean Energy Projects in Craik, Saskatchewan. He received his Ph.D. degree in Biology from York University, Toronto, M.Sc. degree from VIT University in Tamil Nadu, India, and B.Sc. degree from the Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology in Odisha, India. Dr. Nanda has more than seven years of postdoctoral research experience working at York University, the University of Western Ontario and the University of Saskatchewan. His research areas are in bioenergy, biorefining technologies, supercritical fluids, green catalysis, biochar functionalization, bioremediation and carbon sequestration. He has ongoing collaborations with NASA’s Glean Research Center in Ohio on the application of hydrothermal flames for waste remediation and bioenergy conversion in space. Dr. Nanda is the editor and author of 14 books on advanced biofuels, biochemicals, biomaterials and circular economy published by Elsevier, American Chemical Society, Springer Nature, CRC Press, Routledge and Apple Academic Press. He also serves as the Assistant Subject Editor of the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy by Elsevier and the Associate Editor of Environmental Chemistry Letters and Applied Nanoscience by Springer Nature.