ABSTRACT
A circular economy is a systematic approach to economic development designed to benefit businesses, society, and environment. It is a system where both the materials and products are used in a loop, or the materials are used so effectively that promote multiple uses to generate value in many different forms. The increasing energy demand and less availability of fossil fuels grab attention towards the serious need for an alternative and sustainable energy source. However, in recent times, the world is looking at the valorisation of renewable bioresources as a solution to the exponential increase of waste generation, resource wastage, climate change, and the need for a clean energy source simultaneously. Agricultural waste, agro-industrial residues, wood, grasses, municipal solid wastes, lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) can be used for the valorisation on a large scale. There are several conversion methods for the valorisation of biowaste into biochar, biofuels, and other value-added products. Hence, the potential of LCB for the production of sustainable bioenergy leads a pathway into bioeconomy. Biochar is a carbonaceous material with a very high surface area, rich in macro-nutrients and minute micro-nutrients, has high metal accumulating capacity and acts as a suitable carrier for the immobilization of microbes. Biochar can be produced from LCB by pyrolysis. However, hydrolysis of cellulose and hemicellulose in the biomass gives way to the production of bioethanol. So, this chapter gives an insight into the combined production of biochar and bioethanol from LCB in a single circular economy system. It presents the challenges and opportunities associated with it and finally, the future research perspectives are also discussed.
