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Sustainable Environment
An international journal of environmental health and sustainability
Volume 10, 2024 - Issue 1
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Waste Management

Sargassum-to-energy: A review of bioethanol production and its significance in Ghana

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Article: 2299541 | Received 30 Sep 2023, Accepted 19 Dec 2023, Published online: 30 Jan 2024
 

ABSTRACT

Macroalgal biomass (seaweed) is one of the most abundant and valuable renewable resources globally. Lately, the conversion of this into biofuels has gained considerable attention as an alternative to fossil fuels. In addition, the success in exploiting this feedstock hinges on its distinctive characteristics and the method employed to isolate its specific active components. Within the framework of a circular economy, invasive Sargassum species present themselves as promising candidates for bioethanol production. Ghana’s bioethanol production feedstocks are mostly from edible crops in competition for human consumption or lignocellulosic biomass with high lignin content. This suggests utilisation of this invasive and valuable bioresource is still not recognised in the country. The present communication reviews Sargassum invasiveness (availability), chemical composition, processes and opportunities in bioethanol production in a potential country, Ghana. This aligns with the clean and sustainable energy fulfillment as outlined in Ghana’s energy transition framework policy and SDG 7.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

No underlying data was collected or produced in this study.

Author contributions

Winnie A. Owusu: conceptualisation, writing-original draft and editing. Solomon A. Marfo: conceptualisation and writing-review. Harrison Osei: conceptualisation and writing-review.

Additional information

Funding

This research received no external funding.