ABSTRACT
The accelerated and unmindful industrial development has put tremendous pressure on the earth due to contamination of its environmental components, mainly air, water and soil. Even though the available natural resources are dwindling at a faster rate; the sad reality is that petroleum and its products have become an indispensable part of the modern world. Their ever increasing demand has led to a huge quantum of crude oil being transported and processed annually. Simultaneously, the problem of spillage and accidents during transportation as well as disposal of generated waste after extraction; are major areas of concern. Bioremediation has come up as a promising approach as compared to conventional methods of cleaning up such contamination sites. It has also been explored with various added amendments in order to achieve optimum degradation, especially when it comes to petroleum pollution. However, biosurfactants have proven to be a boon in this direction of cleaning up petroleum contaminated sites due to many favourable reasons. In this chapter, a sincere effort would be made to explain the role of biosurfactants along with bioremediation particularly with reference to petroleum pollutants. The mechanism of action of a biosurfactant molecule with the hydrophobic component of petroleum hydrocarbons will be explained through illustrations. The suitability and feasibility of using biomolecules in comparison to synthetic surfactants for remediation will be highlighted. Furthermore, various successful examples of using this novel approach will be presented with appropriate explanations. Hopefully, the chapter would be an interesting read, providing a detailed insight into the role of biosurfactants towards enhancing remediation of petroleum contaminated sites, thereby acting as a novel tool in environmental cleanup strategies.
