1 s2.0 S0959652624003056 Main

Journal of Cleaner Production 440 (2024) 140858
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Journal of Cleaner Production

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jclepro
Review
Biorefinery development in livestock production systems: Applications,

challenges, and future research directions
Giovanni Ferrari a, Giorgio Provolo b, Stefania Pindozzi c, Francesco Marinello a,
Andrea Pezzuolo a, d, *
a
Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry, University of Padova, Legnaro, 35020, Italy
b
Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Production, Landscape, Agroenergy, University of Milan, Via Celoria 2, Milano, 20133, Italy
c
Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Portici, 80055, Italy
d
Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment, University of Padua, Padua, Legnaro, 35020, Italy
A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T
Handling Editor: Sandra Eksioglu Sustainable development and reducing natural and energy resource consumption are the focus of the policies of
many institutions. In this context, livestock farming is one of the major anthropogenic sources of GHG and
Keywords: acidifying gas emissions and requires comprehensive analysis to minimise its ecological footprint. For this
Livestock manure reason, it is beneficial to analyse the various processes within this production sector to reduce the consumption of
Circular economy
resources, particularly water and soil consumption; reduce energy consumption; and try to valorise the biowaste
Nutrient recovery
produced, especially manure, byproducts and wastewater. Reusing residual bioresource and organic waste offers
Bioproducts
Bioenergy the possibility of valorising a discarded product and, at the same time, reducing the consumption of natural
resources. For this purpose, biorefinery processes allow bioresources to be transformed into bioproducts or
bioenergy. Therefore, this study investigates the application of biorefinery processes to animal-derived waste,
aiming to extract valuable resources while curbing resource consumption. This review analysed 293 scientific
papers on biorefinery processes published in the last 11 years applied to livestock biomass to extract relevant
information to understand the evolution of this topic and formulate hypotheses regarding future research di
rections. The analysis strongly emphasizes energy production and a growing interest in insect cultivation. In the
coming years, one of the most significant challenges will be the successful transfer of technologies and processes
from experimental research to the applied industry. To do this, it will be necessary to reduce costs, exploit
economies of scale, improve process management, and develop synergies between different industrial sectors to
implement smart circular economy systems. Overall, this review aims to clarify the hypothesis driving research in
this area and emphasizes the tangible applications of findings within the broader context of sustainable resource
management.
1. Introduction number of animal units achieved (142 million pigs, 76 million bovine
animals, 60 million sheep and 11 million goats in December 2021)
The social importance of livestock farming goes far beyond job cre (Scarlat et al., 2018b; Eurostat, 2022).
ation: many European cultural landscapes and traditions have devel From a circular bioeconomy perspective, livestock farming has many
oped alongside livestock production (Herrero et al., 2013). It is an other important roles: i) contributing to more efficient agriculture
essential part of the economy and culture of many regions, including through the exploitation and valorisation of byproducts in the food
many marginal areas in rural areas of Arava (Israel), Murcia (Spain), La chain, recycling inedible biomass and deriving new sources of protein
Vallée de la Drôme (France), Salzburg region (Austria) and Tuscany for animals (Farias et al., 2020); regulating ecological cycles, closing
(Italy) (de Roest et al., 2018). The importance of this sector for the nutrient cycles, and increasing soil fertility and carbon sequestration
economy and the environmental, industrial and energy policies of the through recycling and utilisation of manure as a bioresource in combi
European Union (EU) and its member states is evidenced by the high nation with fodder (Chiumenti et al., 2019; Hilimire, 2011); ii)
* Corresponding author. Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry, University of Padova, Legnaro, 35020, Italy.
E-mail address: andrea.pezzuolo@unipd.it (A. Pezzuolo).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.140858
Received 3 August 2023; Received in revised form 28 December 2023; Accepted 19 January 2024
Available online 22 January 2024
0959-6526/© 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-
nc-nd/4.0/).
G. Ferrari et al. Journal of Cleaner Production 440 (2024) 140858
providing feedstock for renewable energy production and thus - Platform. These are the intermediate products between the raw
contributing to the transition to renewable energy and byproduct pro materials and the final bioproducts. The most important are biogas,
duction for the industrial sector (e.g., for animal feed, cosmetics, tex syngas, hydrogen, carbohydrates, lignin, and oils.
tiles, pharmaceutical industry) (Economics and Library, 2010; Ferrari - Bioproducts. These are the final products and can be of two types:
et al., 2022); and iii) providing ecosystem services essential for the vi energy (electricity, heat) or materials (for different types of
tality of territories, rural employment, landscape conservation, biodi industry).
versity, and cultural heritage (Dumont et al., 2019; Rodríguez-Ortega - Raw materials. They can be dedicated biomass (energy crops, forest
et al., 2014). In addition, it is possible to use the effluent produced by products) or waste and byproducts (including livestock manure).
farmed animals to produce biogas, biomethane, and electricity; thus it is - Type of process used. They can be of different types, even in com
possible to turn a waste into an alternative energy source (Scarlat et al., bination: thermal, chemical, mechanical, and biological.
2018a).
However, livestock farming also has negative impacts on the envi In this research, the previous classification was used, indicating
ronment due to the consumption of limited resources (land, water, and “Platform” with “bioproduct produced”, “Bioproducts” with “Destina
energy) (Ferrari et al., 2021b) and the production of flows of nutrients, tion of bioproduct”, and “Raw materials” with “Biomass used”.
greenhouse gases, toxic substances, etc., which can affect biodiversity, Biorefineries contribute to a more sustainable industrial system by
human health, and ultimately the functionality of ecosystems on which preserving resources and reducing greenhouse gas emissions (Rekleitis
communities depend for food production (Peyraud and MacLeod, 2020). et al., 2020). Nevertheless, the production of biomaterials entails other
Livestock farming contributes to climate change by emitting greenhouse types of environmental impacts: land use, water eutrophication, and
gases, both directly (e.g., through enteric fermentation) and indirectly high energy demand (Biswal et al., 2020). To assess these impacts, an
(e.g., through feed production activities and deforestation). According essential tool is life cycle assessment (LCA), which evaluates the envi
to FAO results, livestock activities were responsible for the emission of ronmental impact of a product or process from raw material to
8.1 Gt CO2eq in the world and 0.25 Gt CO2eq in Europe (10% of total end-of-life disposal (Jacquemin et al., 2012). A certain number of LCAs
emissions in EU-28) in 2017 (Peyraud and MacLeod, 2020); these gases have been published to analyse the environmental impact of bio
consist mostly of methane (50%), nitrous oxide (N2O) (24%) and carbon refineries in comparison with traditional production systems; in addi
dioxide (CO2) (26%) (Steinfeld et al., 2007). Analysing by species, cattle tion, many technoeconomic analyses have been published concerning
are the most significant contributors (37.0% beef, 19.8% dairy cattle), the processes and biomasses involved. This large amount of published
followed by pigs (10.1%) and poultry (9.8%) (Peyraud and MacLeod, research has produced numerous results, necessitating the publication of
2020). Moreover, the high numbers of animal units have often been specific review articles on a particular treatment adopted, a specific
associated with soil pollution due to the disposal of nitrogen in sewage biomass used or a certain bioproduct obtained. At this point, it is
(Ferrari et al., 2021a). necessary to understand how the various topics, products and tech
In recent years, the EU and its member states have issued various niques integrate and how the authors decided to deal with them: tech
regulations, directives and laws concerning livestock farming and nical articles, review articles, LCA. For this reason, a systematic review
biomass management (Directive 2001/81/EC, 2001; European Com of the literature on this topic is necessary.
mission, 1991). These regulations were studied by Velthof et al. (2015), This paper proposes a systematic review of articles published over
who reviewed the nitrogen excretion factors applied to a number of the past 11 years concerning biorefineries applied to byproducts and
animal categories in policy reports from different EU member states. waste from livestock farming. A large set of articles has been examined
This work has also been done by other authors over the years, the results in an attempt to extract the essential information on the applied bio
were also very different from each other, this is because of the different refinery processes at different scales (laboratory, pilot and full scale), the
type of breeding and environmental conditions (Bao et al., 2019). most successful pretreatments used, and the possible biorefinery out
Additionally, Wieruszewski and Mydlarz (2022) discussed the infor puts. A special focus was devoted to reviews, LCAs and techno-economic
mation gathered on biomass energy to achieve EU energy targets. The assessments to better define the directions of scientific research, tech
regulatory system for biorefineries in Europe is extensive. In some cases, nical applications, and the environmental consequences of these pro
these are documents specifically dedicated to this topic; more often, they cesses. Through this holistic approach, this research aims to take a
are included in more comprehensive measures concerning sustainable detailed look at the biomass used in refinery processes and, through the
development and energy transition. systematic analysis of these data, interpret the research trend over the
One of the earliest EU acts was the Council Directive 91/676/EEC years, provide key elements for understanding this phenomenon for
concerning the protection of water against pollution caused by nitrates political decision-makers and propose new routes for research.
from agricultural sources: the “Nitrates Directive” (European Commis
sion, 1991). The directive prescribes the determination of water bodies 2. Field of analysis and research methodology
vulnerable to nitrate pollution and their water catchment areas. The
directive states that the amount of nitrogen that may be introduced into The methodology applied in this research consists of three stages.
soils in these areas may not exceed 170 kg/ha/year. The European First is the definition of the analysis field, with the fundamental concepts
legislation requires that alternative solutions for the treatment of live for the search. Second, the search string on Scopus was described, and
stock manure must be adopted to comply with these limits. These so articles were identified. Third, relevant information was extracted from
lutions do not exclude the use of manure as fertiliser but involve more the selected articles and their analysis and discussion.
elaboration that could be facilitated by energy production, as in the case This study analysed research on biorefineries applied to the livestock
of biorefineries. In fact, these processes also allow alternative products, sector, with a particular interest in managing and valorising manure and
such as bioproducts and bioenergy, to be obtained. wastewater. Based on the objectives of the research, two key concepts
The International Energy Agency Bioenergy Task 42 provided the were established and were used to define the search string on the Scopus
definition of biorefinery: “the sustainable processing of biomass into a database (Fig. 1): (i) biorefinery, regarding the way biomass is managed,
spectrum of biobased products (food, feed, chemicals, materials) and and (ii) animal and livestock, regarding the scope of application. The
bioenergy (biofuels, power and/or heat)” (International Energy Agency - two concepts were converted into two sets of search terms for the arti
Bioenergy Task 42, 2019). Using biomass as a raw material can provide a cles. Concerning the first concept, the search focused on the works the
benefit by reducing the environmental impact and greenhouse gas relevant authors considered related to the biorefinery, defined as a series
emissions for producing bioproducts (Bajpai, 2013). Biorefineries can be of organised processes for biomass valorisation. The string used for the
classified according to four characteristics (Cherubini et al., 2009): research was (biorefinery or biorefineries or biorefining or biorefiner*) and
2
Fig. 1. Flowchart of the methodology used in this systematic review.
(fish or aquaculture or insect or goat or sheep or livestock or cattle or pigs or string were randomly present, but the actual topic was different from the
poultry or swine or cow or dairy or beef or manure or slurry). This string was targeted research areas.
applied through the title-abstracts-keywords indexed by the Scopus The search produced 578 articles published between 2012 and 2022.
database, as it collects most scientific publications. This also allows for The articles were analysed individually and filtered to select only those
the search to be refined using a series of filters, particularly articles from relevant to the research. Among the articles that contained search terms,
2012 to the present, in English, and only articles, reviews and confer only those that applied biorefinery processes to livestock biomass or
ence papers were selected. This choice made it possible to include many produced livestock-specific products with such processes, e.g., feed or
articles to establish a more complete framework of the topic. The supplements, were included.
downside of this choice was that on examining the articles individually, The following exclusion criteria were used:
many (almost half) were found to be unrelated to the topic and therefore Articles that mentioned biorefinery only incidentally, without it
not useable; this was because, in the abstract, the words of the research being the subject of the article.
3
Articles that mentioned livestock breeding or certain animal species

incidentally, without them being the subject of the study.
Conference articles with the same author and topic as a scientific
article were included. In this case, the conference article was considered
a duplicate.
The first categorisation of articles was based on the origin of the
biomass (Section 3.1). Articles were categorised according to the pro
duction site: agro-livestock farm, industry, or civil/urban area. Although
the main focus of this article was biomass from livestock farming, the
study was completed with the analysis of articles in which livestock
farming was the destination of biorefinery activities. For biomass from
livestock farming, the animals bred were also detailed to discuss the
most common and important productions. Once the sectors of biomass
production had been determined, the different types of biomass were
described. Biomass was divided into manure, byproducts, main prod
ucts, waste, and other specific types. These categorisations allowed for Fig. 2. Number of papers per origin of bioresources used (animal sector).
analysing the time course of scientific production by discriminating
between the various sectors; it also made it possible to produce a series poultry, both with 56 articles, 19.1%. The contribution of other animals,
of considerations regarding the interactions between the biomass used horses, sheep, etc., is much lower, 4 articles, or 1.4% of studies; this is
and the processes implemented. due to the lower diffusion of these farms and to the smaller amount of
Once the origin and nature of the biomass used had been described, biomass, mainly manure, that can be collected. The importance of cattle,
the analysis focused on the bioproducts obtained (Section 3.2). The first pigs, and poultry is not limited to the livestock sector but also involves
classification made it possible to describe the nature of the byproducts the processing industries. Of these, the most important is undoubtedly
obtained; the main categories identified were biogas, biomethane, bio the dairy industry, which is mentioned as the source of biomass in 25
fuels, bioethanol, bioplastics, microalgae, nutrients (fats, carbohydrates scientific contributions, corresponding to 8.5% of the total. The organic
and proteins), fertilisers, and purified water. In addition to the total content of wastewater and waste from this industry makes these bio
article count, the analysis made it possible to describe the temporal masses particularly suitable for biorefineries. A promising area in the
trends of the bioproducts obtained; this is useful information for next few years will be the breeding and utilisation of insects (Chapter 6).
hypothesising future biorefinery scenarios and trends. The catego These can be used to process waste and other biomass and, above all, as a
risation of the nature of the bioproducts made it possible to define the primary source of protein and other nutrients. These products are used
production sectors for which the biorefinery processes are intended. A to produce food for animals and, in the future, for humans. This analysis
number of key destinations of use were also identified for this catego showed 20 articles, 6.8% of the total, in which insects were bred for
risation: animal feed, energy, fertilisers, pharmaceutical industry, biomass production.
chemical industry, manufacturing, and purified water. The description Among the non-livestock biomasses, the most common in this anal
of the biomass of origin and the final bioproducts preceded the study of ysis were agricultural byproducts (straw, cornstalk, pruning residues),
the processes used. The two pieces of information were then cross- with 100 papers, 34.1% of the total (Fig. 3). This biomass is very often
referenced to determine which processes are most frequently associ used in combination with other biomasses, especially those from animal
ated with each type of biomass/bioproduct. farming. It is mainly used for energy purposes or the production of an
For research purposes, the analysed articles were classified according imal feed. Biomass from industry and settlements is less used: 29 articles
to the biorefinery process used and the production context in which the for food waste, 9.9%; 18 articles for civil and industrial waste, 6.1%; and
process occurred (Section 3.3). The biorefinery processes were grouped 13 papers for wastewater, 4.4%. Due to their characteristics, these
into the following categories: thermal, chemical, mechanical, biological, biomasses often have to be treated differently from byproducts and
and anaerobic digestion. It was also recognised whether these processes
took place in the laboratory, in pilot plants or on a full scale and whether
the production context was agro-livestock farms or other industries.
3. Results
After filtering, the literature search identified 293 studies based on

inclusion and exclusion criteria.
3.1. Sources of biomass
To describe the state of the art of biorefineries, it is essential to

carefully consider the biomass used.
In this review, 214 articles were analysed that utilise biomass from
livestock (cattle, pigs, poultry, other animals), insects, aquaculture, and
processing plants for products derived from these animals. The
remaining articles consider other biomasses, whether agricultural, civil,
or industrial. For a better understanding of the information, in Fig. 2, the
categories are grouped according to the area of origin of the biomass:
“farm” for biomass produced directly in classic agro-livestock farms,
“industry” if the biomass is produced in livestock production trans
formation processes, and “other” for particular livestock production
activities. In scientific research, the most significant biomass contribu
tion is cattle farming, with 86 articles, 29.4% of the total; pigs and Fig. 3. Number of papers per origin of bioresources used (other sectors).
4
manure, so using them in combination is not always possible.

An interesting topic is microalgae; they are either used as biomass
treatment, e.g., for removing nutrients or harmful substances, or culti
vated to produce biomass for protein, oils or carbohydrates. This anal
ysis found 24 articles dealing with this topic, 8.2% of the total number of
articles. A more specific search can verify the increase in research in
terest in this area; the number of articles published on this topic in the
biorefinery field rose from 23 papers in 2012 to 268 papers in 2022.
Once the areas of origin of biomass have been examined, the nature
of the biomass itself can be analysed (Table 1, Fig. 4). In Table 1, in
addition to the type of biomass, the environment of use, i.e., where the
biorefinery process takes place is also shown. The biorefinery can occur
on the agro-livestock farm, usually the same one where the biomass was
produced, or in dedicated industries, where the biomass is transported
and processed.
In this analysis, most articles use animal manure, with 123 articles,
25.8%. However, manure is not the only livestock biomass used: 10
articles used rumen, and 1 used urine. In addition, many articles refer to
poultry litter.
From the agro-forestry sector, 80 articles (16.8%) on agricultural
Fig. 4. Number of articles per type of biomass used (see also Table 1).
byproducts and 95 articles (19.9%) on agricultural and forestry biomass
were identified in this analysis. In the first group, biomasses that do not
constitute the main product of cultivation were included, e.g., straw, analysis is found for wastewater (13 articles), biomass from the food
clippings, and harvest residues. The energy crops fall within the second industry (12 articles) and civil and industrial waste (11 articles), prob
group, namely, woody biomass harvested for the biorefinery and hay ably due to their different origins than manure.
and grass used as fodder.
Digestate was among the products used in 7 articles (1.5%). This 3.2. Biorefinery products
result, although low compared to the others, shows the importance of
this product, not only as a natural byproduct of anaerobic digestion but Once the biomasses were described, information about the bio
also as a primary product for other types of biorefineries. products produced in the biorefinery process was extracted (Fig. 6).
Among the non-agricultural biomasses, the dairy industry’s impor These confirm the analyses carried out earlier concerning the biomasses
tance is demonstrated by the explicit interest in whey as biomass for of origin and the types of treatments used.
biorefinery applications, as demonstrated in 10 articles (2.1%). This Most of the processes are aimed at biogas production (70 articles,
biomass is primarily used for energy production. However, there is no 23.9% of the total); in fact, anaerobic digestion is the most commonly
shortage of other applications, such as the pharmaceutical, animal feed, used process. Closely related to biogas is the production of biomethane,
and manufacturing industries. which is examined in 13 articles, 4.4% of the total. In this analysis, the
The advantages of the combined use of biomass have been confirmed distinction between the two categories is based on what the author of the
in numerous papers. This study analysed biomass matrices that included article identifies as the objective of their paper. Nevertheless, in bio
animal manure to observe which biomasses were most often combined energy, two products have the same number of articles: ethanol and
with it. biodiesel (and biofuels); 22 articles. The first is used as an energy source
The biomass most frequently used combined with manure is agri and an animal feed additive. The topic of biofuels is currently crucial,
cultural waste and biomass, with 44 articles with both biomasses and the increasing research trend confirms the interest of researchers in
(Fig. 5). This combination is also particularly frequent because it is the this topic (Fig. 7). The same applies to ethanol; this trend demonstrates
most typical for anaerobic digestion in agriculture. In agro-livestock the increased interest in this production. Lower values, but still worth
farms, it is common to use the two matrices in combination to supply considering, are reported for biohydrogen in 7 articles and heat in 6
the digester. Another 15 articles combined biomass from livestock farms articles.
with biomass from animal processing industries. In some cases, they are In addition to bioenergy, the other crucial area for byproducts is
techno-economic or LCA articles in which all biomass from a particular nutrients. Data on protein are notably interesting; this production is the
sector, farm animals in this case, is included. A lesser weight in this topic in 54 articles. In many cases, it is the production of animal feed or
supplements made from agricultural products or byproducts; in many
other cases, the origin of the biomass from which the proteins are pro
Table 1
Number of articles per type of biomass used. The total is higher than the number duced is insects, a sector that is overgrowing. In all cases, these articles
of articles because more than one biomass is used in many pieces of research. focus their analysis on the sustainability of the livestock production
chain. Indeed, reducing the energy, water and soil used for food pro
Origin Biomass Number of Farm Industry Other
articles and duction is a growing problem. Volatile fatty acids and carbohydrates
percentage (%) were essential in 40 and 27 articles, respectively.
Agriculture Manure 123 (42.0%) 57 62 17
The production of fertiliser is significant, with 21 articles. This
Agricultural 80 (27.3%) 29 48 15 product is produced by anaerobic digestion in the form of digestate.
byproduct However, in the articles cited in the count above, the reference to fer
Agricultural and 95 (32.4%) 40 41 20 tiliser by the research authors is explicit. This demonstrates the direct
forestry biomass
interest in this product and shows that it is not just a byproduct but
Industry Whey 10 (3.4%) 0 10 0
Industrial or 82 (28.0%) 13 69 6 constitutes the actual target of the study.
urban waste Some products are not considered in the analysis because they are
Microalgae 18 (6.1%) 2 12 3 irrelevant to the overall theme, not sufficiently specified by the authors
Digestate 7 (2.4%) 3 6 0 (e.g., in some papers, generic bioenergy production is mentioned), or
Other 16 (5.5%) 5 11 1
present with insufficient citations. Regarding the total of bioproducts
5
Fig. 5. Biomasses in combination with cattle, pig, and poultry manure (n. of the articles).
Fig. 6. Number of citations by bioproducts produced in the biorefinery process in the articles considered.
Fig. 7. Biogas, biomethane, biodiesel and biofuels and ethanol trends.
Fig. 8. Percentage of articles per economic/industrial sector of byproducts of

obtained, the same consideration applies to the biomass of origin: in
the biorefinery.
many articles, several bioproducts obtained are cited, so the total is
higher than the number of articles considered.
The byproducts of the biorefinery were classified according to their change and renewable energy. Another vital biomass utilisation sector is
intended use. The results confirm that biomass biorefineries are mainly animal feed production, with 84 articles (28.7%). This sector is also
directed towards energy production, with 123 articles (42.0%; Fig. 8). growing, but with a slower trend; considering that much of the research
This condition has also increased in recent years (Fig. 7) and is likely to in this area is techno-economic analysis and LCAs, this trend may be due
continue in the coming years, considering the emphasis on climate to a relative maturity of the technology, which leads researchers and
6
technicians to optimise existing solutions rather than to find new ones. Mechanical treatments include all modifications to the size and
In the agricultural and livestock sector, 17 papers, 5.8% of the total, constitution of the biomass. They include grinding, crushing and
concern fertiliser production. In most of these papers, fertiliser is only filtering. They are mainly applied to solid agricultural biomass intended
one of the bioproducts obtained; this proves the tendency of biorefinery to produce animal feed. Filtration is often used to pre-treat wastewater
research to work from a circular economy perspective, seeking to make from livestock farming and civil and industrial wastewater. This set
the most of all available resources. Biomass produced in the livestock includes 47 articles or 16% of the total.
sector can also be used in various industrial sectors. In this analysis, the Biological treatments included 47 articles, 16% of the total. This
industrial sectors that used byproducts the most were the manufacturing broad category includes fungi, microalgae, and bacteria cultivation.
sector (12 papers), the pharmaceutical industry (8 articles), and the These treatments are particularly suitable for treating liquid biomass,
chemical industry (7 papers). The production of food suitable for human especially wastewater and runoff; they are used as pre-treatments for
consumption concerns a limited number of papers, 7 papers; these are removing metals and other substances. Biological processes are a very
review articles or processes that use agricultural or animal biomass to heterogeneous category; even more varied is how they are used, as in
produce food suitable for both animals and humans. most biorefinery processes in which they are present, they are used in
combination with other treatments.
3.3. Treatments applied, experimental scale and production environment For a better description of the biorefinery processes, it is possible to
cross-reference the data on the type of process used with the scale of
The treatments used in the biorefinery processes of the investigated application of the study. In Fig. 10, it is possible to observe how pro
research papers were analysed (Fig. 9). As expected, many techniques duction processes are developed in the laboratory, in pilot plants and at
use several types of treatment, either sequentially or simultaneously, or full scale. In all cases, laboratory processes are the most common, but
use treatments that can be included in more than one category. with significant differences. Thermal, chemical and biological processes
As noted earlier in the analysis of the review articles, anaerobic are almost exclusively carried out in the laboratory; this suggests that
digestion is the most widely used treatment; 84 articles use it, almost a these technologies and techniques are still in the experimental phase and
third of the total number of articles (28.7%). Anaerobic digestion is will be the subject of future research and development. In contrast,
particularly well suited to treating liquid or semiliquid biomasses such mechanical processes and those using anaerobic digestion are very often
as manure and livestock slurry. The widespread use of this treatment carried out in pilot or full-scale plants; these technologies are more
may be due to many factors: i) it can be applied to different types of mature and are being tested to improve their performance, cost-
biomass, not only manure or agricultural byproducts but also urban and effectiveness or reduce their environmental impact.
industrial waste; ii) it allows biomass to be valorised from an energy In general, biorefinery processes require the installation of major
point of view and as a byproduct produces digestate, which is also a facilities with a relatively advanced technological component. In the
valuable product because it can be used as a fertiliser; iii) it can be scientific literature, however, much research is carried out not in full-
installed even in relatively small farms, agricultural or industrial, due to scale facilities but in the laboratory. Information on the scale of appli
its relatively low costs and safe and regular earnings (biomethane). cation of the research was collected. Most of the articles, 61.9% of the
Chemical treatments were applied in 80 studies, 27.3% of the total. total, i.e., 125 papers, are carried out in the laboratory, i.e., in a very
Many different treatments belong to this category: alteration of pH, different environment from the real one, where the biorefinery will
removal of metals, and composition or decomposition of organic and eventually be applied once the technology is mature. The topics covered
nonorganic compounds. They are mainly used for civil and industrial in these papers are generally the most innovative, experimental ones.
waste, as they often contain substances incompatible with their valor A much smaller proportion of paper, 25 papers, 12.4% of the total, is
isation and must therefore be pre-treated. carried out in pilot plants; these processes are generally situations with a
Thermal treatments are also widespread (70 articles, 23.9%). These more advanced degree of development. However, it is not always easy to
treatments can enhance the biomass directly: combustion and gasifica distinguish between pilot plants and the laboratory; the choice was
tion; or they can serve to prepare the biomass for other combined made primarily based on what the authors of the articles themselves
treatments, for example, they serve to heat it or keep it at a specific stated in the methodology. Finally, 52 articles, 25.7% of the total, were
temperature. Thermal energy valorisation processes are well suited for carried out at full scale. Most of the technoeconomic studies and LCAs
biomass with low water content, such as agricultural residues or certain belong to this group. Another group of papers that were carried out on a
types of industrial waste. Applying these treatments to manure is asso full-scale basis are those that tested new diets for animals with food from
ciated with pretreatments such as drying or desiccation, or they are the waste biomass biorefinery.
applied to composite matrices consisting of manure and other agricul In Fig. 11, the methods used to conduct research in the published
tural byproducts. research are correlated with the biomass processing environment
Fig. 9. Type of treatment used in the biorefining process combined with the Fig. 10. Ways of setting up the research in the selected articles based on the
context of the process. biorefinery process type used.
7
Fig. 11. Ways of setting up the research in the selected articles.
(farming or industrial). The results demonstrate that processes carried increasing yields, improving process efficiency and refining resource
out in the agricultural context have good full-scale application, which management (Kassem et al., 2020). However, anaerobic digestion is not
are less applicable under laboratory and pilot plant conditions; this the only valid process for biomass valorisation; thermochemical valor
proves that the biorefinery is in a more mature condition and there is less isation processes cannot be overlooked among the most widespread and
innovation in this environment. The opposite is true for biorefinery effective systems.
processes conducted in an industrial context; in this condition, there are Combustion is a thermochemical process for the utilisation of
fewer full-scale applications and more at an experimental level, a sign organic waste. This process is particularly suitable for biomass with a
that research is still at an experimental stage, with fewer real applica low moisture content (less than 20%) (Azwar et al., 2022). The hot gases
tions. For some articles, it was impossible to determine whether they obtained from the combustion process mainly comprise CO2 and water
belonged to one of the two categories because they were either review vapour, and the steam generated can be efficiently used to power a
articles or LCAs, or the process was still in the experimental stage, and it steam turbine for energy generation (Bora et al., 2020). The end product
was not possible to determine where it could be developed later. of the combustion process is heat and other gases. This technology is
These concepts will be addressed in Section 8, where future research particularly convenient in areas with a cold climate, where the high
perspectives will be presented. demand for heat makes the plants economically viable. Additionally,
this technology is advantageous in developed countries with high pop
3.4. Bioenergy production treatments ulation density, where the possibility of reducing the volumes and costs
of managing the organic fraction of solid waste is significant (Oda
Based on the articles examined, a description of the treatments used les-Bernal et al., 2021).
for bioenergy production can be provided. Using combustion for livestock manure management is not a typical
Bioenergy production using manure allows for the valorisation of process, as this raw material has a high water content (Cavinato et al.,
waste products and avoids competition with food crops; the benefits of 2017). However, drying, torrefaction and pelletisation processes can be
this practice have been documented in the scientific literature: miti adopted to utilise this matrix efficiently with this process (Khoshnevisan
gating pollution due to their management (Catenacci et al., 2022), et al., 2021a), or manure can be used in combination with other bio
decreasing costs related to the nitrogen disposal process (Femeena et al., masses (Karki et al., 2021). The combustion process produces many
2022), and obtaining digestate valuable as fertiliser (Feiz et al., 2021). gases and ash: carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and acid gases such as
One of the most significant benefits of bioenergy is the possibility of sulfur dioxide. Because of these emissions, phosphorus and potassium
providing different types of energy, depending on the biomass available recovery technologies from livestock manure intended for combustion
and the needs of the energy system: electricity, heat, and fuel or biofuel, have recently become widespread (Awasthi et al., 2019).
through the process of upgrading methane in liquid or gaseous form. Technologies for recovering nutrients from waste and byproducts,
However, it is also necessary to carefully identify the conditions that such as livestock manure, are becoming increasingly common. Manure,
enhance the environmental sustainability of bioenergy production (Li especially the liquid fraction, contains significant amounts of nitrogen
et al., 2022) and to develop innovative technologies to improve anaer and phosphorous (Cavinato et al., 2017). In areas with intensive live
obic digestion. stock activity, this can cause severe problems of oversupply of these
Anaerobic digestion is the process of generating biogas through a nutrients as fertilisers and lead to soil acidification and eutrophication
series of biomass degradation processes (Holl et al., 2022). Biogas can be (Møller et al., 2022). The recovered nutrients can be further exploited by
used to produce electricity, heat and biofuels (Ferrari et al., 2022). The producing biomaterials and bioproducts. Among the most popular re
most widespread technology in Europe allows combined heat and power covery processes are ammonia stripping, chemical precipitation, ion
production in the same plant (Rekleitis et al., 2020). Anaerobic digesters exchange, membrane separation, and thermal treatments.
are connected to a gas engine to produce heat and electricity with an Ammonia stripping takes place in stripping towers; in these facilities,
installed capacity typically ranging from a few tens of kWe to several the nitrogen available in the liquid substrate passes into the gas phase in
MWe (Sganzerla et al., 2022). The heat generated can also be used for the form of NH3. Ammonia stripping is a relatively simple process, but
the needs of the farm facility, as well as, of course, being delivered to attention must be paid to pH control and aeration. Another method of
external users. Biogas can be upgraded to produce biomethane, which nutrient recovery is the precipitation of struvite, which allows the re
can be injected into the natural gas transport grid or used as a vehicle covery of nitrogen and phosphorous. The most significant advantage of
fuel (Hamelin et al., 2021). Anaerobic digestion is an established tech struvite formation is the low energy demand, while the low percentage
nology and has been extensively studied (Rekleitis et al., 2020). Today, of recovered nitrogen is the main drawback (Vaneeckhaute et al., 2019).
work on biogas is focusing on diversifying biomass, experimenting with Membrane technologies, such as reverse osmosis, nanofiltration,
new matrices and new combinations of feedstocks (Karki et al., 2021), membrane distillation, and electrodialysis, have excellent performance
8
in recovering resources from liquid biomass. These technologies can be production for agronomic purposes. They considered manure produced
divided into pressure and non-pressure technologies. Pressure-based by different types of animals, cattle, pigs, and poultry, and concluded
membrane filtration requires an energy of 4–6 kWh/m3 and an oper that livestock manure management could replace 60–75% synthetic
ating cost of 4–13 €/m3 in operational plants (according to a study fertiliser with some extra gain in bioenergy and nutrients. Other authors
conducted on several situations in different countries of the world) have directed the review towards a particular species of animal, e.g.,
(Khoshnevisan et al., 2021b). Filtration and reverse osmosis are classi cattle (Mandavgane and Kulkarni, 2020), pigs (Walowsky, 2021), or
fied among the pressure membrane technologies. Generally, these poultry (Alba Reyes et al., 2021). However, the use of manure is not
technologies are unsuitable for manure treatment, as manure contains a limited to energy production: Zhu and Hiltunen (2016); Zhu et al.
high value of organic matter and total solids (TS). However, they are (2021), summarised the state of the art regarding the cultivation of
well suited to treating digestate or the liquid fraction of animal slurry microalgae with farm manure. The results demonstrated that pretreat
(Khoshnevisan et al., 2021b). The choice between different pre ment of dry matter before conversion is required to obtain a high sugar
treatments for nutrient removal and valorisation systems (bioenergy, yield for microbial fermentation because, in general, dry matter sub
bioproducts) depends on the biomass characteristics and environmental strates have lower carbohydrate content relative to other substrates.
requirements. Different pre-treatments showed their advantages and disadvantages
regarding the efficiency, formation of inhibitors, energy consumption,
4. Review article analysis and process costs.
One of the essential aspects of the research was the integration of
The first analysis focused on review articles. Biorefineries involve livestock manure with other byproducts of agricultural origin. This
numerous topics; for this reason, research has followed various di combination fully meets the need to develop a circular economy: within
rections that are also very different. Consequently, many authors have the same production centre, the agro-livestock farm, various pro
periodically reviewed scientific advances in this multidisciplinary field ductions can be combined to exploit the characteristics of the respective
with numerous review articles. These articles were analysed, and key biomasses produced. In Li et al., 2012), Rekleitis et al. (2020); Mendes
themes and features were derived. et al. (2022), the results of integrating farm waste with agricultural
To include this work within the framework of previous reviews, the byproducts are analysed. In Catenacci et al., 2022) and Nzeteu et al.
most significant review articles in animal livestock were summarised (2022), the analysis is directed at the results of integrating manure with
first (Table 2). The application of biorefinery processes to livestock food waste. With a combination of these biomasses, the integration of
manure has mainly concerned energy production. Among the first au waste management in agricultural and civil/urban areas is realised.
thors to summarise the scientific conclusions, Awasthi et al. (2019) and Moreover, Catenacci et al., 2022 demonstrated the advantages of
Khoshnevisan et al. (2021b) analysed both biogas and digestate combining the digestate as a fertiliser and its energetic valorisation to
Table 2
Analysis of previous review articles.
Topic Year Biomass used Bioproduct(s) Treatment(s) Reference
Valorisation potential of various sustainably sourced 2022 Food waste, grass and Biogas, bioproducts, VFA n.s. Nzeteu et al. (2022)
feedstocks, particularly food wastes and agricultural and manure
animal residues
Anaerobic digestion integration with pyrolysis/HTC, digestate 2022 Food waste, agricultural Biogas n.s. Catenacci et al.
as feedstocks for char production byproducts and manure (2022)
Techno-economic assessment and life cycle assessment of 2022 Cattle, pig, poultry farm Biogas, nutrient recover AD Awasthi et al.
livestock manure management operation in the context of manure (2022)
their economic and environmental sustainability
Bibliographical survey of biomass generated in Brazilian 2022 Agricultural Biogas AD Mendes et al.
agroindustry as a cosubstrate for energy production byproducts, cattle, pig (2022)
and poultry manure
Enrichment strategy of gut microbial community and its 2021 Insects and ruminant Biofuel n.s. Rajeswari et al.
molecular characterisation techniques to understand the manure and waste (2021)
holistic microbial community dynamics.
Review of different types of bioenergy production from dairy 2021 Cattle manure Biogas, bioethanol, AD Zhu et al. (2021)
manure and provided a general overview for bioenergy biohydrogen, microbial
production fuel cell, lactic acid
Sustainable pathways to maximise the PL valorisation process, 2021 Poultry manure Several energy products Thermochemical Odales-Bernal et al.
and showing the advantages of reforming poultry farms into processes and AD (2021)
biorefineries in Cuba
Current leachate processes that could be applied as a previous 2021 Poultry manure Biogas AD Alba Reyes et al.
step during the AD of CM, in addition to deep on the state of (2021)
the art of HRAR using CM leachate as a liquid substrate for
AD
Systems and technological variants of biogas production 2021 Pig manure Biogas AD Walowsky (2021)
Most employed manure management technologies, challenges, 2021 Livestock manure Several products: energy, n.s. Khoshnevisan et al.
sustainability, environmental regulations and incentives, fertiliser (2021b)
improvement strategies perspectives
Biorefinery biomass technology, energy production 2020 Agricultural and Bioenergy n.s. Rekleitis et al.
technology, production of biofuels, and new materials from livestock waste (2020)
waste biomass at the behest of the circular economy and
bioeconomy
Physicochemical composition and valorisation of cow urine 2020 Cattle manure Biogas, digestate AD Mandavgane and
and dung. Kulkarni (2020)
Review of organic manure biorefinery models towards 2019 Livestock manure Biogas, digestate AD Awasthi et al.
sustainable circular bioeconomy (2019)
Microalgal cultivation with livestock waste compost for 2016 Livestock manure n.s. Microalgae Zhu and Hiltunen
continuous production of multiple bioproducts cultivation (2016)
9
produce char. interest of researchers can be observed in the production of biomass

An interesting aspect is the management of animal manure in com destined for cattle farming, particularly for food production. The
bination with insects. A fascinating examination of this area is provided research of Demichelis et al. (2019); Kassem et al. (2020) belongs to the
by Rajeswari et al. (2021), who analysed gut microbial community first group of studies. These authors set the analysis on a large scale,
enrichment strategies and molecular characterisation techniques to calculating the environmental impact of cattle manure uses for large
understand microbial community dynamics of several insects and ru study areas. Demichelis et al. (2019) developed a method for the envi
minants for second generation production of biofuels and chemicals. ronmental and technical quantification of biowaste management in
According to the authors, to strengthen the perspective of the Italy. Through a geolocation system of waste and knowing its charac
second-generation biofuels industry, implementing a centralised market teristics, it is possible to determine the best process for its valorisation.
is required to provide homogenous supply routes and an integrated Interestingly, the same authors (Demichelis et al., 2019) later
bioprocess strategy for the cost competitiveness of these biofuels. extended the analysis to a European level, testing it on a larger scale.
Anaerobic digestion is the most widely used process for the treatment Kassem et al. (2020) implemented a system combining various valor
of biomass. Numerous authors have conducted studies applying this isation processes to quantify the expense and economic return of uti
technique, and multiple review articles have summarised them; interest lising the manure produced by 397,000 cattle in New York State. On the
in this area is still high. For example, Pelaez-Samaniego et al. (2017) and other hand, Joglekar et al. (2020) focused their studies on one particular
Sevillano et al. (2021) summarised the results of anaerobic digestion of process and quantified the sustainability of a biorefinery using cattle
manure, particularly cattle manure, in combination with agricultural manure, applying a sustainability index based on a multicriteria anal
products, showing the advantages of using these biomasses in combi ysis. Another innovative approach was studied by Rhee et al. (2021),
nation on heavy metal accumulation, increased soil salinity, phytotox who combined manure with microalgae for energy production. The
icity, and ecotoxicity. The study by Karki et al. (2021) is on this topic; utilisation of microalgae is also confirmed as a promising area from a
they examined the state of the art of anaerobic digestion, in particular technoeconomic point of view; this supports the idea that extensive
showing the limitations of mono-digestion, compared with the advan applied research will have to be devoted to this area in the future.
tages of systems that use multiple substrates: synergistic interactions via Finally, the use of agricultural biomass for cattle feed production was
balance of nutrients, supplementation of trace elements, dilution of toxic discussed in two papers, both from Brazil and both using sugar cane as a
and inhibitory compounds, and promotion of microbial diversity to crop for nutrient production. Junqueira et al. (2018) used a digital ar
maintain diverse microbial communities during long-term codigestion. chitecture to simulate an ethanol production process for cattle feed.
Over the years, research interest has grown in one particular sector, Additionally, de Souza et al., 2019 used digital simulation models; in
the dairy industry. The increase in research in this area has led to a rise this case, cattle pasture was integrated with sugarcane cultivation, and
in the frequency of publication of review articles: one article in 2018 the possible savings in CO2 emissions using this system were simulated.
(Chandra et al., 2018), two articles in 2020 (Asunis et al., 2020; Of course, cattle are not the only source of manure investigated by
Sebastián-Nicolás et al., 2020) and 2021 (Carvalho et al., 2021; Zandona researchers. Pig manure management can become a significant issue,
et al., 2021) and three articles in 2022 (Gottardo et al., 2022; Kumar especially since this type of livestock farming tends to be concentrated in
Awasthi et al., 2022; Sar et al., 2022). This type of industry produces a specific geographical areas. These analyses were carried out by
significant amount of biomass in liquid form, with enough organic Vaneeckhaute et al. (2019) in Canada and Lee and Tsai (2020) in
matter to generate considerable energy. Taiwan; these authors used data libraries to quantify the volumes of
The growing interest in the circular economy has increased the focus biomass generated by pig farming and the environmental benefits of
on the economic and environmental consequences and costs of products proper management. The agronomic aspect is addressed in the work of
and processes. In response to the need to optimise investments and Tampio et al. (2019), who studied the effects on the phosphorous and
reduce the consumption of resources and the production of pollutants, nitrogen cycle of fodder cultivation in combination with pig farming:
many authors have carried out techno-economic analyses of processes animal feeding, soil fertilisation and anaerobic digestion are the step
and LCAs of products. This scientific production has also covered less s/processes in which the two biomasses are integrated. The high energy
available but essential products. For example, Odales-Bernal et al. value of poultry manure makes this biomass particularly suitable for
(2021) summarised research on poultry litter exploitation to propose thermal processes. Tao and You (2020); Bora et al. (2020), studied this
optimised systems for exploiting this biomass and promoting its use; topic; the first one from a geographical point of view, identifying the
they concluded that the treatment of poultry litter in biorefineries in most advantageous supply chains in New York State; the second one by
Cuba would have a positive impact on the economy through income comparing alternative processes for energy valorisation in nine plants
generation and savings resulting from reductions in imports (i.e., fossil and calculating the respective costs and gains.
fuels and agrochemicals), employment creation, improved living con As previously described, anaerobic digestion is the most widely used
ditions and development in rural communities. Awasthi et al. (2022) process for biomass valorisation. In this area, technoeconomic analyses
summarised the scientific findings regarding the environmental impacts follow three approaches: i) the planning of interventions, with the
of livestock manure management; through the analysis of various life forecasting of costs and economic and environmental gains from the
cycle assessments and technoeconomic assessments, they composed a construction and use of the plants (Bramstoft et al., 2020); ii) the veri
state-of-the-art picture and indicated exciting perspectives for research fication of actions taken, especially of legislative and regulatory initia
and regulations and policies in the field. tives in particular geographical/administrative areas (Curry et al.,
2018); and iii) the review of the literature, with a periodic update of the
5. LCA papers and techno-economic analysis state of the art of the technology (Sevillano et al., 2021).
Studies that did not use biomass from livestock farming but used
Research in biorefineries has not only focused on chemistry or the various biomasses to produce bioproducts for animals, mainly feed,
physics of processes (Li et al., 2022). Often, industries intend to use were analysed. It was illustrated that the use of agricultural byproducts
established technologies but must verify the technical feasibility and for the production of animal feed is widespread; the analysis showed
economic viability of applying specific methods (Rhee et al., 2021). For that in this area, many technoeconomic studies were directed towards
this reason, research has focused on the technical-economic feasibility the evaluation of processes for ethanol production (Turner and Saville,
instead of the experimental-scientific feasibility. 2022; Vaskan et al., 2018; Weinwurm et al., 2013). In other research,
Most of the technical analyses relate to processes involving cattle ethanol production combines agricultural byproducts with livestock
breeding. However, in contrast to other studies, in addition to the in manure. Li et al. (2022); Capaz et al. (2021) evaluated the viability of
terest in products and processes that utilise manure, a considerable processes that use a mix of animal and plant biomasses to produce
10
ethanol for use as biofuel, the first for maritime transport and the second their discussions, the authors attributed this result to the economies of
for air transport. scale present for soya but not for seaweed, the cultivation of which is still
It is interesting to note the work of Guilayn et al. (2020), who studied not widespread on an industrial scale.
the benefits of using digestate as a fertiliser and a thermal energy source. In addition to cattle manure, other livestock biomasses are used. In
The study demonstrated the need to analyse the costs and gains of each Parajuli et al., 2018), cattle manure and pig manure were combined in
step of the biorefinery to set up an efficient circular economy of biomass. different mixes for bioenergy production; the authors found that codi
The large number of processes and technological solutions that gestion is the solution with the lowest emissions. The research of Moretti
research and technology have made available allows a certain freedom et al. (2018), who combined organic solid waste with cattle manure,
of choice in defining the tools available to achieve production goals. For should also be mentioned regarding this topic; the results again
this reason, in addition to scientific experimentation and technical- confirmed that codigestion is the best solution to reduce GHG emissions.
economic characterisation, to choose one process or product over In recent years, the exploitation of insects for energy and biomaterials
another, it is necessary to compare alternatives based on their overall has been gaining ground. Rosa et al. (2020) quantified the emissions
emissions over their entire life cycle (Table 3). Life cycle assessment has from producing biomaterials derived from proteins extracted from black
precisely this objective, and numerous authors have applied this concept soldier fly larvae; the larvae grew on poultry manure. As in the case of
in the biorefinery of products from and for livestock farming. cattle, the authors were interested in assessing the environmental
The importance and spread of the dairy industry and the high vol impact of alternative diets, which allow animals to be fed using waste
umes of wastewater produced, with the associated costs, have led many biomass while limiting land use for dedicated crops for other livestock
authors to evaluate, from an environmental point of view, several al farms, particularly pigs. LCAs of two grass- and grain-based diets were
ternatives for their treatment. Kopperi and Mohan (2022) assessed the proposed by Cong and Termansen (2016) to reduce the environmental
feasibility of a biorefinery process that uses wastewater from the dairy impact of pig farming, which is a significant problem in Denmark. Their
industry to produce microalgae; the microalgae are then used to produce results showed that the protein-based diet from the grass biorefinery
energy. In this way, wastewater, a waste product, is valorised and un reduces the feed cost, produces additional gains for the biorefinery and
dergoes an initial purification treatment. An interesting example of a reduces nitrogen leaching. More recently, Møller et al. (2022) proposed
complete life cycle is that offered by Ivanov et al. (2022), who analysed a similar study on the sustainability of pig production based on a diet
the combined life cycle of the dairy industry, the wastewater supply containing yeast as a protein source. This yeast-based diet is compared
chain from production industries to treatment sites, and biodiesel pro to a classic soy-based diet. The environmental impacts of the two sys
duction from the same. tems were compared using LCA; the results proved that replacing soya
Ethanol production remains of interest and topicality. Indeed, with a yeast-based diet reduces environmental impacts in terms of
numerous researchers have analysed and compared alternative pro biodiversity loss and climate change. This research allowed a compari
cesses to determine the best conditions for production. In Brazil, land son of the different systems also considering land consumption and
consumption for sugarcane ethanol production, cattle breeding and showed that the biorefinery provides significant resource savings,
forest conservation is particularly important given the scale of the uses reducing the impact on natural and forest areas.
mentioned above; the topic was investigated by de Souza et al. (2019),
who studied sugarcane ethanol production in combination with cattle 6. Temporal trends and future challenges of research
breeding to avoid the consumption of forest area. In Europe ethanol
production is linked to sugar beet; in Demichelis et al. (2020), this Research interest in the biorefinery of biomass from livestock has
possibility was compared with the use of cattle manure, agricultural grown in recent years. Fig. 12 shows the biorefinery growth trends for
byproducts and municipal solid waste. Interestingly, while sugar beet is three of the main bioproducts obtained.
the most economically viable biomass, animal manure is environmen The growth of interest is mainly due to biorefineries for bioenergy
tally preferable. The results showed how important it is to define the production. In the category “Energy”, anaerobic digestion and bio
objectives of the processes, as calculations alone are insufficient to ethanol production are the most widely used processes. However, a
determine the absolute best alternative. critical examination of the articles shows that this process is often
Cow manure is the most widely used biomass in animal husbandry, conducted using traditional methods, as this is an established and
which is also demonstrated in LCA analyses. Usually, studies consider widespread technology. In most cases, research focuses on process
this biomass in combination with others to improve its performance. optimisation or evaluating matrices other than traditional matrices,
Among the others, the use of algae is one of the most promising choices: which often use uncommon products. Although the number of articles
the production of biodiesel with different mixes of microalgae and cattle on anaerobic digestion has increased very abruptly over the past four
manure was studied by Maranduba et al. (2015); the results showed the years compared to the previous 7, this research contribution now ap
advantages of this choice, as in scenarios where the two biomasses are pears to have reached a stage of stability. These considerations lead one
used in combination, a reduction in GHG emissions of 53.6% and 63.8% to think that research in biorefineries will have to turn towards other
is achieved, depending on the process used. Manure can also be used in forms of bioenergy, such as biofuels or upgrading systems, areas that
combination with agricultural biomass. For example, in Vega et al. exist but where there is still considerable scope for development.
(2019), manure is used together with grape pomace to produce biogas Nevertheless, in environmental sustainability, many authors have
and biomaterials; the comparison showed that combined directed their efforts towards research dedicated to reducing the envi
bioenergy-biomaterial production is the most cost-effective because it ronmental impact and land consumption of livestock activities; in
makes full use of the available resources. particular, many authors have demonstrated the importance of reducing
Remaining in cattle livestock, several authors have tested the impact the land consumption devoted to crops for animal feed production.
of different animal diets, combining various types of biomasses from Therefore, research into the production of ethanol, protein and other
agricultural and other activities. Patterson et al. (2021) compared the nutrients from agricultural byproducts and waste and from insect
use of hay for cattle feeding with its use to produce certain types of farming has gradually increased over the years. In particular, scientific
materials; in this way, they could estimate the environmental benefit of contributions concerning insect breeding in biorefineries were very
reducing meat consumption and the consequent use of hay for other scarce until 2018 (only two registered articles) and were concentrated in
processes. Even more specific is the topic addressed by Taelman et al. the last four years, from 2019 to 2022 (18 articles).
(2015), who compared the emissions of soya-based animal feed pro The analysis of the articles made it possible to describe the areas of
duction and the same production based on algae. The results indicated development of bioenergy, the objectives, and drivers for the develop
that seaweed has a significantly higher carbon footprint; however, in ment of these processes (Fig. 13A). Many authors recommend the
11
Table 3
Life cycle assessment process for manure management sustainability.
Topic Biomass used Scale Sector Bioproduct(s) Object of LCA Main results Reference
Optimal design of a sustainable Dairy manure Full Agricultural Biodiesel Biodiesel from Total cost of the optimal supply Ivanov et al.
combined supply chain to scale dairy waste chain: 10,593,364 $ (2022)
produce biodiesel
Integration of dairy wastewater Dairy wastewater Pilot Industry Microalgae Microalgae from Total bio-H2 production of 231 Kopperi and
treatment, hydrothermal plant for pharma dairy waste ml/g of TOC with a 63% Mohan
liquefaction of defatted algal and full industry treatment efficiency. (2022)
biomass, and acidogenic scale
process in a semisynthetic
framework
Analysis of the sustainability of Wood Lab n.s Yeast to Yeast to produce Feed production causes: 64% of Møller et al.
pig production based on a diet and produce sugar sugar climate change, 70% of climate (2022)
containing yeast as a protein pilot change and 100% of the land
source plant occupation
Evaluation the utilising grass to Grass Full n.s Protein Feed for cattle A total of 30,000 t of fresh grass Patterson
produce high value products, scale from grass would yield approximately et al. (2021)
specifically PHA biopolymers, 403.65 t of dried biopoly- mer
in a biorefinery approach granules
Technical, economic and Sugarcane, n.s. Agricultural Bioethanol Ethanol from 0.19 kg of bioethanol per kg of Demichelis
environmental assessment of potatoes, rice and industry different cattle manure et al. (2020)
bioethanol production from straw, cattle agricultural and
waste biomass manure and livestock manure
OFMSW
Comparison of the environmental Poultry farm n.s. Industrial Protein Bioproducts from The enzymatic approach resulted Rosa et al.
sustainability assessments of larvae of BSF from for the 31.87% more (2020)
different extraction/ poultry manure environmentally impacting with
fractionation procedures respect to the chemical method.
Examining environmental Cow manure and Full n.s. Biogas and Biogas or 1.59 and 1.40 person-equivalent Vega et al.
impacts arising from grape marc scale PHA biomaterials from of avoided GWP per ton of (2019)
technology-to-region cattle manure treated feedstock per day in
compatibility, the framework is France and Oregon, respectively
applied to two biorefinery
alternatives, treating a mixture
of cow manure and grape marc.
Techno-economic and Sugarcane n.s. n.s. Bioethanol Ethanol from 0.9 kg CO2eq per kg of ethanol; de Souza et al.
environmental feasibility of sugarcane for 0.5 kg CO2eq per kg of sugar and (2019)
sugarcane ethanol and cattle cattle feeding 0.08 kg CO2eq per kWh of
integration electricity produced
Effect of time on bioenergy Cattle manure Full Agricultural Biogas Bioenergy from 28–35 kg CO2/GJ of bioenergy Chowdhury
production from dairy manure scale cattle manure produced et al. (2018)
and associated variation in from different
energy demand and GHG resident time
emission
Evaluate the environmental Cattle and pig Full Agricultural Biomethane Three bioenergy 1 kg of cattle manure and 1 kg of Parajuli et al.
impacts of a combined manure scale production pig manure produce 19.6 kg CO2 (2018)
production of suckler cow systems from eq for carbon footprint
calves and Pigs, calculated in cattle and pig
terms of their live weight manure
LCA of two scenarios for the Organic Full Industrial Biogas AD of two diets 0.17 Mt CO2 eq./yr for Scenario 1 Moretti et al.
biological treatment of local municipal solid scale with OMSW and and 0.16 Mt CO2 eq./yr for (2018)
organic municipal solid waste waste and pig pig manure Scenario 2
and pig manure in the manure
Netherlands
LCA of three cattle manure Cattle manure Full n.s. Biogas AD of two diets The life cycle of biogas Giwa (2017)
biorefineries: first and second scale with macroalgae production from cattle manure is
scenarios, the biogas is used for and cattle manure 2017 mPt
electricity and transportation;
third scenario, the biogas is
recycled back to the systems
Comparison of the economic and Grass Full Agricultural Protein Two pig feed with To produce 1 ton of pork, with Cong and
environmental effects of scale grass and cereals the cereal-based feeding system Termansen
producing the pig feed using roughly 0.61 ton barley and 0.2 (2016)
two feeding systems ton soya are needed
Analysis of the biodiesel Cattle manure n.s. n.s. Biodiesel Five mix of The C1 and C2 scenarios Maranduba
production system via dry- microalgae and presented GHG emissions of 5.10 et al. (2015)
route, based on Chlorella cattle manure for and 4.88 t CO2-eq/t biodiesel,
vulgaris cultivated in biodiesel respectively
raceways, by comparing the production
GHG-footprints of diverse
microalgae-biodiesel scenarios
Sustainability in terms of the Microalgae, Pilot n.s. Protein Microalgae and the most exergetically inefficient Taelman et al.
natural resource demands of soybean plant soybean for pro-cesses are anaerobic (2015)
protein-rich algal meal (versus animal feed digestion (66.47%),
soybean) for livestock feed condensation (56.53% and
applications 63.81%), inoculum production
(54.98%) and drying (44.01%)
12
Fig. 12. Temporal trends of scientific articles.
Fig. 13. (a) Possible areas of study, objectives, stimulating elements and (b) possible obstacles and elements of resistance to the spread of biorefineries.
development of methods and the improvement of technology; these technologies in the real environment; much research is carried out in the
objectives are particularly important regarding insect breeding, a rela laboratory or in pilot plants, which is why it is not easy to estimate the
tively new field. Most scientific contributions recommend focusing on convenience and impact of the same processes in industrial plants. The
economic and management aspects. The transition from laboratory same applies to management practices, which are still insufficient to
processes to full-scale plants requires testing technologies on progres guarantee full process reliability. Some authors see the lack of suitable
sively larger plants. For the complete application of biorefinery pro politics as a possible brake on the spread of biorefining. The population
cesses, it is necessary to undertake cost-cutting paths. Furthermore, still views these technologies with distrust, partly due to the lack of
exploiting the economic benefits derived from integrated resource uti reliable regulations.
lisation approaches is necessary, a vision closely linked to the circular It should be noted that for many authors, some biorefinery processes
economy. Particular attention must be paid to the supply chain; many can also undermine environmental protection. Indeed, local nutrient
authors see the irregularity and seasonality of biomass as a possible accumulation problems arise as a result of biomass exploitation.
point of weakness (and thus improvement) for the sector. Other authors Furthermore, many processes are still significant energy and natural
identify environmental benefits as an essential driver for developing resource consumers.
biorefineries. It is worth emphasising that, for many researchers, polit
ical support and the definition of rules and incentives are positive and, in 7. Conclusion
some cases, necessary to spread these processes.
Alongside the positive and developmental elements, the analysis of This paper proposes an analysis of scientific articles on biorefinery
the articles identified obstacles and aspects of resistance to the spread of processes applied in the livestock sector. Both processes that exploit
biorefineries (Fig. 13b). Biorefinery processes are still seen as very biomass from livestock farming and processes that exploit biomass to
expensive, which hinders their spread on an industrial scale. This diffi produce livestock products were considered. A total of 293 articles
culty leads to a lack of reliable data on the application of these published between 2012 and 2022 were analysed. Most articles use
13
manure as biomass, 123 articles, while the most considered product is Acknowledgement
bioenergy production, 123 articles. Finally, review articles, LCAs and
technoeconomic articles were analysed to provide a comprehensive This study was carried out within the Agritech National Research
global view of the topic. Based on the achieved results, three key ele Center and received funding from the European Union Next-
ments can be summarised: GenerationEU (PIANO NAZIONALE DI RIPRESA E RESILIENZA
(PNRR) – MISSIONE 4 COMPONENTE 2, INVESTIMENTO 1.4 – D.D.
i) Interest in the biorefinery of animal byproducts has steadily 1032 17/06/2022, CN00000022). This manuscript reflects only the
increased in recent years. The results confirmed the conclusions authors’ views and opinions, neither the European Union nor the Eu
of previous studies; in fact, the most commonly used treatment ropean Commission can be considered responsible for them.
was anaerobic digestion, with 84 articles. Research interest in
this topic is steadily increasing; however, it is still linked to References
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Journal of Cleaner Production 440 (2024) 140858

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Cleaner Production

Biorefinery development in livestock production systems: Applications,

Fig. 1. Flowchart of the methodology used in this systematic review.

Articles that mentioned livestock breeding or certain animal species

After filtering, the literature search identified 293 studies based on

3.1. Sources of biomass

To describe the state of the art of biorefineries, it is essential to

manure, so using them in combination is not always possible.

Fig. 7. Biogas, biomethane, biodiesel and biofuels and ethanol trends.

Fig. 8. Percentage of articles per economic/industrial sector of byproducts of

Fig. 11. Ways of setting up the research in the selected articles.

produce char. interest of researchers can be observed in the production of biomass

Fig. 12. Temporal trends of scientific articles.

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