Sustainable Valorization of Biomass: From Assisted Phytoremediation to Green Energy Production

The increasing use of non-renewable resources to supply the growing energy demand has shifted the recent researches towards the development of new sustainable strategies to mitigate the consequent environmental impacts. The use of biomass lignocellulosic as a renewable energy source is among the most widespread solutions to face this problem. However, this practice is subject to further improvement. The new integrated phytoremediation-bioenergy strategy, based on the cultivation of the crops on contaminated soil for energy purposes, could be a possible sustainable solution. The main objective of this methodology is the valorization of biomass produced by phytoremediation systems to provide sustainable energy resources. In this way can be obtained the remediation of contaminated areas simultaneously with bioenergy production. This integrated approach offers an innovative and concrete contribution to the resolution of the current energy problem in full agreement with the sustainability concept