6th World Congress on Biofuels and Bioenergy Sep 5-6, 2017 London, UK

Biography:

Dr. Frank Rosillo-Calle is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow in Biomass Energy, Imperial Centre for Environmental Policy, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Imperial College London. He has been conducting research in biomass energy for more than 35 years.  His areas of interests are: biomass resource assessment, biomass energy (production, conversion and use), liquid biofuels, agriculture, and food security implications. He has extensive international research experience and has published extensively in this field. He has taught biomass energy-related subjects to PhD and MSc level at various universities, and has published various books on biomass energy.
 

Abstract:

Dealing with food and fuel can be very emotive, because for many people, the use of land to produce fuel instead of food is ethically wrong, particularly when so many people go hungry or are undernourished; there is a large body of literature to testify this. Misinformation, misconceptions, and vested interests, have accompanied the development of the biofuel industry since almost it insertion. There are, however, multiple reasons to challenge this misrepresented view of reality. The underlaying reasons of why this situation have arisen are multiple. Also, the narrowness of the debate e.g. the focus in just a few feedstocks (maize, sugarcane, cereals), and the geographical dimension [although biofuels are global, just a few countries (Brazil, and USA and to a lesser extent the EU)], are the key players. This has been further compounded by the emphasis of many studies on the negative implications of biofuels without taking fully into account their intertwin nature e.g.  agriculture sector, environmental and social implications. More recently the geographical diversity is being enriched by a greater diversification of the feedstock and better understanding of the implications. For far too long the emphasis has been on the potential conflicts rather than to the complementarity of food and fuel production. The development of biofuels is limited by many factors, but not necessarily by these so strongly emphasized throughout history such as direct land use competition with food production or ethical considerations. The aim of this presentation is to outline the latest developments on food and fuel and the extent to which the debate is overcoming old prejudices.  Scientific facts, greater pragmaticism and holism should be the main pillar. Also, it should be recognized that much will also depend on factors indirectly linked to biofuels such as eating habits. Innovation in the agricultural sector, environmental, social and policy considerations, will also play a key role.

Biography:

Wolfgang Bauer is a University Distinguished Professor at Michigan State University (MSU). He received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Giessen in Germany in 1987. After a one-year postdoctoral appointment at the California Institute of Technology, he joined the faculty at MSU in 1988. From 2001 to 2013 he served as chairperson of the Department of Physics of Astronomy, and in 2009 he became the Founding Director of the Institute for Cyber-Enabled Research. He has consulted on energy issues for hedge funds and oil companies, and he is co-owner of several companies in the renewable energy sector.

Abstract:

Liquid and gaseous biofuels can have a significant impact on the reduction of fossil transportation fuels and thus make a large contribution to reducing global CO₂ emissions. Examples for these biofuels include ethanol produced from sugarcane, sweet sorghum, corn, switchgrass, and other energy crops, but also biogas/methane produced from the same energy crops or algae cultures.  However, it is of fundamental importance to consider all fossil fuel based inputs into the biofuel production in a life-cycle analysis. In addition, we need to optimize the total yield of biofuels per area of energy crops in order to minimize the conflict of fuel versus food, we need to reduce the use of artificial fertilizers as much as possible, and we need to minimize the net emissions of greenhouse gases in the biofuel production process. In this presentation I will evaluate different biofuels and compare them to each other, taking all of the above considerations into account.

Recent Publications:

1. Bauer W (2013), Net Energy Ratio and Greenhouse Gas Analysis of a Biogas Power Plant, Journal of Energy and Power Engineering 7, 1656-1661.
2. Bauer W and Westfall GD (2013) University Physics (2^nd ed., McGraw-Hill).
3. Bauer W (2015), Biogas Beats Bioethanol, Asia Pacific Biotech News 19 (8) (Biofuels), 16-17.
4. Bauer W, et al. (2017), Integration of Research, Teaching, and Practice in the Implementation of the Michigan State University Energy Transition Plan, in ‘Handbook of Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development in Higher Education (Volume 4)’, Leal W, Kuznetsova O, de Sousa L, Kemp S (eds), (Springer, in print).
5. Bauer W, Kirk D, Pueppke S (2017), Biofuels (World Scientific, in preparation)

Biography:

Dr. Handan Erturk got her B.S. and M.S. degrees from Food engineering of Middle East Technical University in Turkey. Later she went to U.S.A. for graduate study. She earned her pH.D. at Penn State Unıversity,  Agricultural & Biological Engineering Department. Her expertise and publications were mainly on plant tissue culture, aseptic growth, modelling of biological systems, micropropagation. After she got back to Turkey, she has been researching and teaching on plant biotechnology, e.g. cell cultures. She has worked with the industry and now she is an assistant professor at the University in Konya, Turkey. She has been working on algae culture growth and long term maintenance at the laboratory. Her most recent research has been on production of biodiesel and biofertilizers from algae cultures grown at the laboratory.

Abstract:

Microalga are known to have higher lipid contents and biodiesel efficiency than most plant oil sources e.g. palm oil. We conduct algae research at our laboratory in Konya, Turkey. We studied the growth of Chlorella vulgaris at the photobioreactor in our laboratory first. We aimed to use this photobioreactor of lab. scale as feed stream to an open pond larger scale bioreactor for future work. Photobioreactor had three compartments which had separate controls for light and air circulation. Temperature was kept at 22 C - 26 C. The circulation rate was 180 L/hr. The light intensity was set at 16 hours on and 8 hrs off. The nutrient powder was dissolved in sterile water and the pH of the solution was 6.5-6.7. Inoculation of culture was performed aseptically. The algae culture was an original strain of Chlorella vulgaris, supplied from the U.S.A. This specific culture was proposed for use as bioenergy and bio fertiliser due to high lipid content.  The continuous growth was achieved at the bioreactor without contamination for more than 9 months. Slurry was dried and algae biomass was obtained. Extraction of lipids of the dried algae was performed by Bligh and Dyer method (Onay et.al. 2014). Extracted lipid was subject to transesterification reaction for production of fatty acid methylesters (FAMES).The lipid contents of sample was analysed by GC. The results for the lipid contents were: Palmitic acid: 33%, Linoleic acid: 25%, Oleic acid: 11%, Palmitoleic acid: 8%, stearic acid, arachidic acid, myristic acid traces. The fatty acid profile was as expected from the literature except the lipid composition showed some changes due to photobioreactor configuration (Frumento D., 2013). We achieved successful growth of algae at the photobioreactor and extraction of lipids for biodiesel production. Future research for optimization of the conditions of the bioreactor should be performed.

Fig: A picture of the photobioreactor with the algae grown for nine weeks

Recent publications:

1. Erturk H., H.A. Öktem. 2015. Long term maintenance and use of microalgae cultures for R&D purposes. Biotechnology Congress, Konya, Turkey
2. Eligül H., M. Sudagidan, F.B. Bezirci, H. Erturk, H.A. Öktem. 2015.  Investigation of effects of CO₂, on microalgae cultures.  Biotechnology Congress, Konya
3. Erturk H. ve P.N. Walker, (2003). Effect of Atrazine On Algal Contamination And Sugarcane Shoots During Photoautotrophic Micropropagation, Transactions of the ASAE, 46, 189-191
4. Erturk H. ve P.N. Walker, (2000). Effects of Rooting Period, Clump Size And Growth Medium On Sugarcane Plantlets In Micropropagation During And After Transformation To Photoautotrophy," Transactions of the ASAE, 43, 499-504
5. Erturk H. ve P.N. Walker, (2000). Effects of Light, Carbondioxide And Hormone Levels On Transformation To Photoautotrophy Of Sugarcane Shoots In Micropropagation," Transactions of the ASAE, 43, 147-151 (2000).

Biography:

Dr.Xiaojing Lv is a postdoctoral researcher in School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. The main research direction is advanced power cycle system based on high temperature fuel cell and gas turbine, and the scientific utilization of low calorific value gas. She has authored more than 15 papers in both international and national journals.

Abstract:

This work elaborates the load performance and safe characteristic of an intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cell (IT-SOFC) and a gas turbine (GT) hybrid system using gasified biomass fuel under different operating modes. Three operating modes are adopted to investigate the off-design performance. And some malfunction restrictions of components (such as fuel cell thermal crack, compressor surge, reformer carbon deposition) are also considered for the effect of operating mode. Results show that the hybrid system has a high efficiency 60.78% at the design point using wood chip gas, which is an interesting reference for distributed power stations. The system output load changes almost from 46% to 120% when it is operating with Modes A and C, however, the compressor surge is occurred easily with Mode A. When with Mode B, the system has a rather wider load range than that of above two operation situations, but its performance variation is very complicated. The system performance will be affect by the too low turbine inlet temperature and carbon deposition phenomenon occurred in the reformer when in low load operation. The system can’t operate safely because the turbine is damaged easily by the too high inlet temperature when in high load operation. The results further illustrate that, the designer or the user should pay attention to the matching relationship between too much flow rate and flow characteristics for turbine and compressor, when the high load output is required

Recent Publications:

1. Xiaojing Lv, Chenghong Gu, Xing Liu, Yiwu Weng. Effect of gasified biomass fuel on load characteristics of an intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cell and gas turbine hybrid system [J]. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2016, 44:9563–9576.
2. Xiaojing Lv, Xing Liu, Chenghong Gu, Yiwu Weng. Determination of safe operation zone for an intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cell and gas turbine hybrid system [J]. Energy, 2016, 99: 91-102.
3. Xiaojing Lv, Chaohao Lu, Yuzhang Wang, Yiwu Weng. Effect of operating parameters on a hybrid system of intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cell and gas turbine [J]. Energy, 2015, 91: 10-19.
4. Xiaojing Lv, Chaohao Lu，Xinjian Zhu，Yiwu Weng. Safety Analysis of a SOFC/GT Hybrid System Fuelled with Gasified Biomass [J]. Journal of Fuel Cell Science Technology, 2015, 12:011008-1-011008-6.
5. Xiaojing Lv, Chaohao Lu, Xinjian Zhu, Yiwu Weng. Effect of Steam on the Performance of an IT-SOFC/GT Hybrid System [C]. Proceeding of the ASME 2015 Power Conference. Power Energy2015-49076.

Biography:

Junior Te’o employed at Queensland University of Technology has extensive experience in microbial biotechnological bioprocess applications such as bioremediation, and biofuel production from different feedstocks such as lignocellulosics, coal and shale, under controlled fermentation conditions.  He also has experience in microbial strain improvement, enzyme production and fermentation bioprocess method development and optimization from laboratory scale (1-20L) to industry scale,  above 1000L.

Abstract:

Background and Research Problem: Coal is an abundant and economical feedstock for the production of energy globally. In Australia, coal is mined primarily in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. The predominant use for coal is to generate electricity, with the 430.9 million tonnes of coal mined 2013/14; 375.1 million tonnes was exported to Asia (Australian Office of the Chief Economist, 2015).  In 2013, Australia was the world's fifth-largest coal producer, after China, the United States, India, and Indonesia (WCA, 2014). Victoria hosts 430 billion tonnes of brown coal, representing a significant proportion of the world’s brown coal resource. Burning coal for fuel is economically important worldwide, but decades of production and emission of Green House Gases such as CO₂ and CH₄ have contributed to Climate change. The research at QUT focuses on cleaner alternative methods for the conversion of feedstocks such as lignocellulosics and coal to energy. Emphasis for this research is on understanding the complex bioreactions during microbial hydrolysis of coal, in order to design more cost-effective bioconversion processes for different coal types from different parts of Australia. Methodology: Different coal types (eg. Brown, Black and Shale) were treated with microbial consortia using Batch and Fed Batch controlled conditions, with gas samples removed and analyzed using gas chromatography. Different samples of microbial consortia were tested, for their contribution during the bioconversion reactions. Findings: So far, up to 30 % CH₄ and 60% CO₂ have been generated over a period of 5-7 days, with a mass reduction of around 35% (Figure). Identifications of different microbial consortia have been achieved, with the genus Bacillus and Lisinibacillus found important during the production of CH₄. Conclusion & Significance: Microbial bioconversion of coal to bioproducts such as biogases offer a cleaner alternative for energy production, but importantly, more cost effective bioprocess designs are needed that relies on a critical fundamental understanding and subsequent application of the microbial activities.

Figure :  Methane production and mass reduction

Recent Publications:

1. Australia Office of the Chief Economist, (2015). Resources and Energy Quarterly (PDF). Australia Office of the Chief Economist. September 2015. pp. 44, 56, retrieved 3 October 2016.
2. Jones, Elizabeth JP, Mary A Voytek, Margo D Corum and William H Orem. (2010). Stimulation of methane generation from nonproductive coal by addition of nutrients or a microbial consortium. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 76 (21): 7013-7022.
3. Farah B. Ahmad, Zhanying Zhang, William O.S. Doherty, Valentino S.J. Te'o, and Ian M. O'Hara (2017). Improved microbial oil production from oil palm empty fruit bunch by Mucor plumbeus. Fuel. 194:180-187
4. Levendis, Y. A., Joshi, K., Khatami, R., & Sarofim, A. F. (2011). Combustion behavior in air of single particles from three different coal ranks and from sugarcane bagasse. Combustion and Flame, 158(3), 452-465.
5. Scott, C. D., Strandberg, G. W., & Lewis, S. N. (1986). Microbial solubilization of coal. Biotechnology progress, 2(3), 131-139.
6. WCA, September 2014, Coal Statistics, Today in Energy, World Coal Association, retrieved 3 May 2016.

Biography:

Naeema Ibrahim Al Darmaki has joined UAE University as first female faculty member in Chemical and Petroleum engineering. She received her PhD in Chemical Engineering from Birmingham University, UK, in 2012 in the area of Supercritical Fluids Technology where carbon dioxide is used as solvent media for the separation and extraction of high valued lipid compounds. Her research interests are mainly in Supercritical Fluids Technology, Extraction and Purification Processes from biomass, Phase Equilibrium Studies and Mathematical Modeling. She has worked as visiting researcher in Tohoku University (June-July 2013), Japan, in the area of Gas Hydrates and its application in the area of hydrogen storage. Naeema received The UNESCO-L'ORÉAL Award 2013, Pan Arab Regional fellowship.

Abstract:

Economy of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) depends mainly on fossil fuels. Crude oil, And natural gas drive the wheel of industry, providing energy for heat and manufacture, and the raw materials for production, while distillates from the petroleum industry have reformed the face of modern life. Fossil fuels are finite in amount and their combustion makes gaseous products. The increase in atmospheric greenhouse gases (GHGs) has led to a major climate changes. Combining the need to renewable energy resources and the need of cleaner energy with less impact on environment have led the change towards a low-carbon bio-economy and renewable energy, which are products of bio-based industry. It is very important for the UAE to avoid the depletion of the oil and to reduce the greenhouse emission (GHGs). Futuristic studies are essential to understand, predict and therefore make the suitable decisions. In this study a UniSim simulation was built for the biodiesel production from the oil extracted from date pits in a continues-stirred reactor (conventional method) to study the effect of different variables on the total yield of biodiesel. A comparison on economic analysis using varies biomass oil as a feedstock was also conducted.

Figure : UniSim design of biodiesel Production using CSTR, with the results obtained of Yiled% as a function of Methanol to oil molar ratio.

Recent Publications:

1. Sweidan H, Aldarmaki N, Almarzouqi A (2017) Use of Supercritical Carbon Dioxide For Recovery of Oil From Date Pits And Preparation of Low Cost Adsorbent. 16th European Meeting on Supercritical Fluids (EMSF), Lisbon.
2. Haliemeh Sweidan, Naeema Al Darmaki, Yaser Greish, Ali Al Marzouqi (2017) Effect of supercritical fluid extraction on the adsorption of date pits powder for lead removal: 9th Annual International Workshop on Advanced Materials (IWAM), UAE
3. N. Al-Darmaki, B. Al-Duri, T. Lu, R.C. D. Santos, J.B. Harris, T.L.F Favre and K. Bhaggan (2012) Isothermal and Temperature Gradient Supercritical Fluid Extraction and Fractionation of Squalene from Palm Fatty Acid Distillate Using Compressed Carbon Dioxide: The Journal of Supercritical fluids , 61 108-114.
4. N. Al-Darmaki, B. Al-Duri, T. Lu, R.C. D. Santos, J.B. Harris, T.L.F Favre and K. Bhaggan, (2011) Solubility Measurements and Analysis of Binary, Ternary and Quaternary Systems of Palm Olein, Squalene and Oleic Acid in Supercritical Carbon Dioxide: Separation & Purification Technology, 83 189-195..
5. N. Al-Darmaki, B. Al-Duri, T. Lu, R.C. D. Santos, J.B. Harris, T.L.F Favre and K. Bhaggan, (2009) Phase Equilibria of Squalene, Oleic Acid and Palm Olein in Supercritical Carbon Dioxide: Chemical Engineering Congress, Montreal Canada

Biography:

Bassam AlJohny has completed his Ph.D. at the age of 37 years from Sheffield University, England and has trained molecular techniques from Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Sheffield University. Presently he has been working as associate professor in Molecular Microbiology, Department of Biology. He has precise energetic and enthusiastic Microbiologist and has 7 years’ experience in both teaching and research activity. He has participated in several International, National conference, symposia, workshops and presented his research papers in several countries and recently he presented his novel research in Paris. He has published more than 9 papers in reputed national, international and ISI journals and serving as an editorial board member of reputed journal and also has lifetime membership of microbiology associations in worldwide.

Abstract:

This study presents a modification of the antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST), which is a rapid means of determining the response of planktonic bacteria to different antimicrobial agents, for application to biofilms.  Colony  biofilm  was  first  developed  on  a  cellulose  filter/membrane  disc,  over  which  an antibiotic disc was imposed. Zone of inhibition was measured after incubation on nutrient agar. Biofilms were not as susceptible to the test antibiotics as compared to the planktonic cultures. The results point to  the  possibility  of  this  method  as  a  rapid  means  for  antibiotics  for  treating  biofilm  infections. Limitations and potential application for biofilm AST are discussed.

Keywords: Biofilm, antibiotic susceptibility testing, Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA01 and   Staphylococcus aureus SH1000

Biography:

Henry Bedoya moved from the interpreter and translation field into food production at greenhouse conditions with a master degree in plant sciences at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. This travel started with the EU project under the Research for SME program titled, “Operation SWAT” under contract n: 286840 and comprehended cost-effective microalgae biomass production in two processes: upscaling (upstream) and harvesting (downstream). The misconception that microalgae cells´ physiology requires highest irradiation input only available at the tropic and subtropical latitudes has been the biggest hinder to overcome. Innovation and further implementation of the data registered in his experiments and further investigation on his own is leading to a start-up enterprise in near future.

Abstract:

Statement of the Problem: The feasibility of upscaling of microalgae biomass at Norwegian latitudes in greenhouse without artificial illumination nor extra heating as a future sustainable energy source.

Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: Two marine(m) and three freshwater(f) algae were cultivated in duplicate, from inoculum batch to upscale in polypropylene open Tray PhotoBioReactor (TPBR, 25 L). Chlorella vulgaris(f), Dunaliella salina(m), Nannochloropsis oculata(m), cultivated for 63 days (20.06.12-23.08.12), and Scenedesmus sp(f), Chlorella wild mix Årungen(f), cultivated for 42 days (20.07.12-23.08.12), at semi-continuous operation system, enriched CO₂ air (3%) and prepared in situ, trifold nitrogen nutrition media (3N-BBM+Vit) and tap water, with volumes replenished when need. Effects investigated: 1- Irradiance and temperature on specific growth rate and daily growth. At 23°C Scenedesmus sp grew faster at 0,05h^-1 and fivefold when doubling the irradiation energy input, meanwhile Dunaliella salina, reported 0,024h^-1 and 71,4% growth increase. 2- Outside weather condition in conjugation with irradiation and temperature on oxygen evolution (dissolved, DO) showed that cloudy days generated 31% more DO with 2,64 times less PAR irradiation than sunny days. 3- Optimized Dilution(D) and Mixing(M) regimes on biomass productivity(P) of marine algae increased by 60%. 4-  Irradiance(I) on Photosynthetic Efficiency(PE), for marine strains 61% lower irradiance gave 4 times higher PE, and for freshwater strains, a four times lower irradiance gave 4,6 times higher PE. 5- Irradiance on areal CO₂ fixation rate, the mean CO₂ fixation rate was 55,44gCO₂m^-2d^-1, which is 2,6 times higher values than found by Hulatt (2011). 6- Outdoors weather conditions on TPBRs energetic efficiency found the overall Irradiation Utilization Efficiency(IUE) provided by the TPBR. Nannochloropsis oculata, performed best with 1,37gMJ^-1, and optical pathway 0,09m.

Conclusion & Significance: A cost-efficient greenhouse microalgae biomass production at northern latitudes shows great potential as sustainable energy supplier e.g. raw ingredients for nutraceutical and animal feed industries.

Recent Publications:

1. Sahu AK, Bedoya H, Wesche T, Gislerød HR, Rusten B. (2015 unpublished) Commercial primary Wastewater Treatment Fine Mesh Sieve Technology for Microalgae Harvesting. Aquateam-COWI AS, Oslo and NMBU Ås Norway.
2. Sahu AK, Bedoya H, Rusten B. (2012) Report on algae size analysis, supplement to Deliverable 1.2. Operation SWAT. Aquateam report, 12-034
3. Salsnes Filter (2014) Salsnes Filter brochure. www.salsnes-filter.no
4. Sahu AK, Bedoya H, Rusten B. (2013, Conference Paper) Recovering Microalgae Using a Salsnes Filter, Aquateam-COWI AS, Oslo and NMBU Ås Norway.
5. Sahu AK, Bedoya H, (2013, Conference Poster) Sahu&Bedoya_microalgae_harvesting_technology_2012-2013.pdf 

Biography:

Youssef NAIMI has his expertise in the fields of Renewables energies, and particularly in biomass, fuel Cells, and Environment. He is Full Professor at Sciences Faculty of Ben M’sik, the University of Hassan II of Casablanca. He is a vice-president of association The Moroccan Society for Advancement of Renewable Energy (SMADER), Coordinator of the course "Chemistry of the Environment" License Materials Science Chemistry (SMC), responsible for the Specialized Master "Renewable Energy and material".

Abstract:

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was signed in 1992 at the Rio Summit. The Conference of the Parties shall, as the supreme body, regularly review the implementation of the Convention and any other related legal instruments that it may adopt and take, within its mandate, Effective implementation of the Convention. The Conference of the Parties (COP) is the supreme body of the UNFCCC and meets annually to take stock of progress in combating climate change in order to negotiate and monitor the implementation of the Convention. It ratified the Kyoto Protocol on 16 February 2005. The twenty-second meeting will take place in Marrakech, Morocco, from 7 to 18 November 2016. The reduction and valorization of household waste is one of the main objectives of the COP22 in Marrakech. Waste recovery is conceivable through the construction of controlled landfills The work presented in this article represents a study of modeling the operation of the controlled dump of Fez thanks to several calculation techniques. The controlled landfill in Fez is the first controlled landfill built at national level, and even in Africa, for modern solid waste management. It allows to control all the effluents, while preserving the environment of the city. This study presents an inventory of the production of electrical energy and heat energy by cogeneration. We will show that the quantity of electrical energy estimated by the mechanization of household waste from the Fes landfill is 65.5 GWh, and the amount of thermal energy estimated by the cogeneration of the electrical systems is 142.174 GWh, then these quantities are currently available at the Fes landfill. This alternative allows a reduction in the tonnage of accumulated waste. Thus, it avoids its negative impact on the environment.

Biography:

Dr. Pankaj Bharali, Ph. D. in Botany has his expertise in plant taxonomy and the phytochemical investigation and bioactivity evaluation of the selected medicinal plants from North East India. Presently he is working as DBT-RA in the field of Phytochemistry of some rare and endangered medicinal plants from Arunachal Pradesh India.  Dr. Bharali is also recorded a numbers of species as new to India and two as new discovery to science from the alpine areas of Arunachal Pradesh, India.

Abstract:

North East region referred to as “Paradise of the Botanist” exhibits a plethora of trees, shrubs, herbs, epiphytes, ferns, cryptogams and houses numerous rare, endangered, and endemic species. Bio-resources in north east India have been exposed to many challenges in recent years. 80% people are farmers relying heavily on agriculture. Weeds are the major problems in the agricultural fields. The cell walls of the Weeds are rich in the lignocelluloses contents which are a good source of sugar. Lignocellulosic materials consist mainly of three polymers: cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. These Lignocellulosic feedstocks may liberate sugars for fermentation after aggressive pretreatment to yield a substrate easily by hydrolyzing with commercial cellulolytic enzymes, or by enzyme producing microorganisms. For the collection of organic biomass, weed biomass is one of the easily available sources as compare to other plant products.  Due to the favorable climatic condition there is a huge diversity of weed in the agricultural field of North east India which leads to the production of large weed biomass. Among the 60 recorded weeds of this region Ipomea carnea, Eichhornia crassipes, Mikania micrantha, Cassia occidentalis, Cassia occidentalis, Mimosa invisa, Mimosa pudica, Lantana camara, Leucaena leucocephala Chromalaena odorata, Ageraum conyzoides, Marsilea minuta, Saccharum spontaneum, Cyperus imbricatus Chloris barbata, Chromolaena odorata, Cleome viscose, Aeschynomene indica, Amaranthus spinosus etc are the lignocellulosic rich weeds of North East India. The lignin content in various weeds were recorded a minimum of 4.6±0.4%in Cyperus imbricatus to a maximum of 17.46±0.48% in Aeschynomene indica. Cellulose contents were found to be more than the fiber of Jute plant in Leucaena leucocephala 57.36 ±1.8% which is a credible source of biofuels. Hemicellulose was recorded highest in the whole plants of Amaranthus spinosus 35.23±.23% and lowest in Cleome viscose 3.9±.32%. Due to the huge amount of Lignin, Cellulose and Hemicellulose in the weeds of the North East region, there is a tremendous scope of production of Biofuels which can solve the scarcity of the fossil fuels and also the agricultural problems.

Recent Publications:

1. Bharali, P., Paul, A., Dutta P., Gogoi, G., Das, A.K., & Baruah, A.M. (2014). Ethnopharmacognosy of Stemona tuberosa Lour., A potential medicinal plant species of Arunachal Pradesh. World Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Vol. 3(4), 1072-1081.
2. Bharali, P., Das, A.K., Tag, H., Kakati, D.K. & Baruah, A.M. (2015). Ethnopharmacognosy and Nutritional Composition of  Stemona tuberosa Lour. : a Potential Medicinal Plant from Arunachal Pradesh. Journal of Bioresources, Vol. 2(1):21-32.
3. Bharali, P., Gamo, Y., Das, A.K., Tag, H., Baruah, A.M. and Kakati, D.K., (2016). Phytochemical investigation of four legume plants with detergent properties from Eastern Himalayan regions of India, Pharmacognosy Journal (Accepted).
4. Phukan, S., Bharali, P., Das, A.K., and Rashid, H. (2016). Phytochemical Assisted Synthesis of Size and Shape Tunable Gold Nanoparticles and Assessment of Their Catalytic Activities. RSC Advances, RSC Adv., 2016, 6, 49307–49316 | 49307.
5. Liden M. & Bharali P. (2014). Notes on Utricularia sect. Phyllaria (Kurz) Kamienski (Lentibulariaceae) in Arunachal Pradesh, India. Pleione 8(2): 267-270.

Biography:

Jyoti Singh has her expertise in biochemical and molecular aspects of algae to enhance the lipid production in algae that will further lead to increased biofuel production. She has been working in this area for more than 4 years. She has worked on ‘omics’ based approaches (transcriptomics and lipidomics) applied to defining whole cell metabolic and regulatory pathways in algae that will further help in increase in biofuel production from algae. Moreover, optimize the productive capabilities of algae as a potential biofuels production host. Her demonstrated creativity, adaptability, and abundant enthusiasm explore new and potential molecular targets in algae, which are regulating the increased lipid production in algae to enhance the biofuel production. She has skilled in many biochemical and molecular techniques.

Abstract:

Microalgal strains can accumulate greatly enhanced levels of lipids under nitrogen-deficient condition, making these as one of the most promising sustainable sources for biofuel production. High-grade biofuel production from microalgal biomass could be facilitated by analysing the lipid content of the microalgae and enumerating its dynamics under varying nutrient conditions. In the present study, a detailed investigation of changes in lipid composition in Chlorella species and Scenedesmus abundans in response to nitrogen limited condition was performed to provide novel mechanistic insights into the lipidome during stress conditions. The mass spectroscopic approaches mainly LC-MS and GC-MS were employed for lipidomic profiling in both the microalgal strains. The analyses of lipid profiling using LC-MS revealed distinct forms of lipids mainly phospho- and glycolipids, including betaine lipids, and various other forms of lipids in both the microalgal strains. As detected, an overall decrease in polar lipids was observed. However, GC-MS analyses had revealed that the synthesis of the storage lipid i.e. triacylglycerol (TAG) was substantially stimulated in both the strains under nitrogen limited conditions. The changes observed in the overall fatty acid profile were primarily due to the decrease in proportion of polar lipids to TAGs. This study had enabled in analysing a detailed and orchestrated form of lipidomes in two different microalgal strains having potential for biodiesel production.

Recent Publications:

1. Mondal P., Kumari P., Singh J., Verma S., Chaurasia A. and Singh R. P. (2017).“Oil from Algae” in Sustainable utilization of natural resources (Mondal P. and Dalai A. K., eds.), CRC press 2017, 213-253.
2. Agarwal P., Singh J., Singh R.P. (2016). Molecular cloning and characteristic features of a Novel Extracellular Tyrosinase from Aspergillus niger PA2. Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology.
3. Dubey S., Sharma R. K., Agarwal P., Singh J., Sinha N. and Singh R. P. (2017). From rotten grapes to industrial exploitation: Komagataeibacter europaeus SGP37, a micro-factory for macroscale production of bacterial nanocellulose. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 96, 52–60.
4. Agarwal P., Pareek N., Dubey S., Singh J. and Singh R. P. (2016). Aspergillus niger PA2: A Novel Strain for Extracellular Biotransformation of L-Tyrosine into L-DOPA. Amino Acids, 48 (5), 1253-1262