Cascade Valorisation of Lemon Processing Residues (Part II): Integrated Biorefinery Design, Circular Economy, and Techno-Economic Feasibility

TL;DR

This paper reviews the feasibility of using lemon processing waste in biorefineries to produce valuable products and energy, showing it can be economically and environmentally beneficial at large scales.

Contribution

The paper provides a comprehensive techno-economic and environmental analysis of integrated lemon biorefineries, highlighting their viability and critical success factors.

Findings

Cascade biorefineries can generate USD 400–650 per tonne of dry peel by recovering multiple products.

Industrial-scale biorefineries (100,000+ tonnes/year) can achieve internal rates of return exceeding 18%.

Greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced by 60–85% compared to conventional disposal methods.

Abstract

This review examines the implementation dimensions of integrated lemon biorefinery systems, including cascade valorisation design, circular-economy integration, life-cycle assessment, techno-economic feasibility, and regulatory frameworks. Bibliometric analysis of Web of Science data (2015–2025) reveals exponential growth in citrus-biorefinery research, with lemon representing a burgeoning subset. Techno-economic assessments indicate that cascade biorefineries recovering essential oils, pectin, polyphenols, nanocellulose, and bioenergy can achieve cumulative revenues of USD 400–650 per tonne of dry peel. Whilst small-scale units (<500 tonnes per year) struggle to achieve viability, industrial simulations demonstrate Internal Rates of Return exceeding 18% at processing scales above 100,000 tonnes annually (2025 basis). Life-cycle assessments confirm environmental benefits, with greenhouse gas reductions of 60–85% relative to conventional disposal. Critical success factors include adopting green extraction technologies to preserve bioactive integrity and mitigating D-limonene inhibition in downstream anaerobic digestion. These findings establish essential oil extraction and pectin recovery as commercially mature technologies, whilst integrated multi-product lemon biorefineries remain economically promising based on techno-economic modelling and pilot-scale demonstrations, provided regulatory hurdles are effectively navigated.

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