Biofuel Co Product Uses For Pavement Geomaterials Stabilization

Using biomass as a sustainable, renewable energy source can be part of a solution for reducing dependence on fossil fuel-based energy and mitigating global warming, and both the production and use of biofuels made from biomass have increased. Biofuel production creates not only biofuel or ethanol, but also co-products containing lignin, modified lignin, and lignin derivatives. The use of these co-products to help stabilize pavement soils and other geo-materials has been studied over the past decades. However, most lignin-related soil stabilization studies have investigated sulfite lignins (lignosulfonates) derived from the paper industry, while the lignins obtained from biofuel or ethanol production are sulfur-free. The use of lignin-based BCPs in pavement geo-materials stabilization need to be investigated, as it is hypothesized that stronger geo-materials stabilization may be achieved and may reduce the amount of geo-materials needed to stabilize soils. Newer uses of biomass-derived lignin could also provide additional revenue streams for bio-based products and the bioenergy industry