Feasibility of triacylglycerol production for biodiesel, utilizing Rhodococcus opacus as a biocatalyst and fishery waste as feedstock Jacob D. Palmer, Christopher J. Brigham n Department of Bioengineering, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, 285 Old Westport Road, North Dartmouth, MA 02747, USA article info Article history: Received 27 July 2015 Received in revised form 10 November 2015 Accepted 7 December 2015 Keywords: Biofuel Biodiesel Triacylglycerol Rhodococcus opacus PD630 Fishery waste Chitin Microbial abstract Triacylglycerols (TAGs) can be produced via bacterial fermentation by the oleaginous Gram-positive microorganism Rhodococcus opacus strain PD630 in regulated, nutrient-deprived conditions with suffi- cient carbon supply. Microbially produced TAGs may be further refined via transesterification into bio- diesel and glycerol, with 3 mole of biodiesel and 1 mole of glycerol produced from every 1 mole of TAG by chemical conversion. Large-scale industrial production of biodiesel has been conducted for over a decade, yet microbially derived biodiesel has been, up to this point, absent from the biodiesel market. The use of a novel feedstock, chitin, from New England fishery waste may present a viable, cost-effective, unexplored carbon feedstock source for local biodiesel development. Availability and implementation of chitin as a feedstock, along with analysis of potential fuel characteristics, yield promising results for future industrial development of biodiesel production from R. opacus PD630 TAGs in regional locations with large lobster, shrimp, and crab harvesting operations around the world. With declining resources of fossil fuels and increased societal awareness of carbon emissions and climate change, an analytical review of this nature is critically relevant. & 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Contents 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................ 922 2. Feedstock and fermentation ........................................................................................... 923 2.1. Global and regional availability................................................................................... 923 2.2. Demineralization, deproteination, and isolation ..................................................................... 923 2.3. Microbial fermentation of N-acetylglucosamine and D-glucosamine ..................................................... 923 3. Transesterification process: ............................................................................................ 924 4. Utilization assessment: ............................................................................................... 924 4.1. Plant oil/animal fat biodiesel and conventional diesel................................................................. 924 4.2. Microbial biodiesel ............................................................................................ 925 4.2.1. Predictive fuel properties and alternative fuel source comparisons ............................................... 925 4.3. Pilot and industrial scale work ................................................................................... 927 5. Closing remarks: .................................................................................................... 927 Acknowledgments ....................................................................................................... 928 References ............................................................................................................. 928 1. Introduction With increased social awareness regarding climate issues and carbon emissions, the volatility in price of fossil-derived fuels, and large percentages of fossil fuel-derived energy imported from international sources, it is imperative for the United States to develop alternative sources of domestically-derived fuels with Contents lists available at ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/rser Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2015.12.002 1364-0321/& 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. n Corresponding author. Tel.: þ1 508 999 9149. E-mail addresses: jpalmer4@umassd.edu (J.D. Palmer), cbrigham@umassd.edu (C.J. Brigham). Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 56 (2016) 922–928