The increasing of worldwide population has a strong impact not only in the consumption of the earth resources but also in the consequent increase in the production of waste and the increasingly demand for space for agricultural and livestock purposes. It is well known that the increasing of population associated to the country development requires energy, and with the climate changes the development of a sustainable production of biofuel from waste, aiming to minimize the negative impacts caused by fossil fuel and deviate waste from landfill is still a challenge.

Combined with the socio-economic and environmental crisis caused by fossil fuels, new challenges in converting solid waste into biofuels, such as second-generation ethanol, and biomaterials (bioplastics) constitute a strategic entry barrier for scientific and technological development, of qualified labor, intellectual property, and mitigation of the risks of forest fires caused by a material with a high energy value.ethanol can be from a biological origin, constituting a biofuel that can be incorporated in fossil fuel, to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG).

That is the driving force behind my research, named by me, Biolignol. This project has advanced with undergraduate students, and has also been used as a tool to encourage students in the 12th year (high school) for research. 

Most of the waste samples used in the experiments were kindly provided by STEX, which is a start-up in the area of ​​biomass treatment through steam explosion.

Bionergy can bring positive impact in all three pila of sustainability (social, economic and environment). Thinking about this topic, I, together with 3 colleagues, published a book chapter in early 2023:

-->  Serralha, Fátima; Dias, Nilmara; Duarte, R.G, Borges, R.; Chapter 2 Contribution of sustainable fuels for the future of the energy sector. Handbook of Research on Solving Societal Challenges Through Sustainability-Oriented Innovation. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-6684-6123-5 / ISBN13: 9781668461235 / ISBN10: 1668461234 / EISBN13: 9781668461259. March, 2023,