INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL BIOTECHNOLOGY | OBJECTIVES AND AIMS | APPLICATIONS OF ENV. BIOTECHNOLOGY | ADVANCES IN ENV. BIOTECHNOLOGY | CONCLUDING REMARKS

1. Prepared by:
NAHAL JEHANGIR MALIK
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UNIVERSITY OF MANAGEMENT & TECHNOLOGY

2. CONTENTS:
INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL BIOTECHNOLOGY
OBJECTIVES AND AIMS
APPLICATIONS OF ENV. BIOTECHNOLOGY
ADVANCES IN ENV. BIOTECHNOLOGY
CONCLUDING REMARKS
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3. INTRODUCTION
WHAT IS ENVIRONMENTAL BIOTECHNOLOGY:
 Environmental biotechnology is biotechnology that is applied to
and used to study the natural environment.
 Environmental biotechnology in particular is the application of
processes for the protection and restoration of the quality of the
environment.
 The International Society for Environmental Biotechnology defines
environmental biotechnology as "the development, use and
regulation of biological systems for remediation of contaminated
environments (land, air, water), and for environment-friendly.
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4. OBJECTIVES & AIMS
The aim of environmental biotechnology is to prevent, arrest and reverse
environmental degradation through the appropriate use of biotechnology in
combination with other technologies.
Specific objectives are:
 To adopt production processes that make optimal use of natural resources, by
recycling biomass, recovering energy and minimizing waste generation.
 To promote the use of biotechnological techniques with emphasis on
bioremediation of land and water, waste treatment, soil conservation,
reforestation, afforestation and land rehabilitation.
 To apply biotechnological processes and their products to protect environmental
integrity with a view to long-term ecological security.
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5. APPLICATIONS OF ENVIRONMENTAL BT:
 BIOREMEDIATION
 BIODEGRADATION
 BIOTRANSFORMATION & BIOMINERALIZATION
 BIOSENCORS/ BIOMARKERS
 BIOFILTRATION
 BIOFUEL
 WASTE TREATMENT
Out of all these, some of the major applications of environmental biotechnology are
discussed in next slides.
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6. BIOREMEDIATION
 Bioremediation refers to the productive use of microorganisms to remove or
detoxify pollutants, usually as contaminants of soils, water or sediments that
otherwise intimidate human health.
 Bioremediation is not a new practice. Microorganisms have been used for many
years to remove organic matter and toxic chemicals from domestic and
manufacturing waste discharge.
FOCUS IN ENVIRONMENTAL BIOTECHNOLOGY:
 Waste treatment & Pollution control
 Biological cleaning procedures
 Handling of waste industrial effluents
 Soil and land treatment
 Air and waste gases management.
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7. BIODEGRADATION
 Biodegradation is the naturally-occurring breakdown of materials by
microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi or other biological activity. Indeed,
biodegradation is the process by which organic substances are broken down into
smaller compounds by living microbial organisms.
 In principle, biodegradation is carried out by many organisms, but in most cases
we consider microbiological biodegradation for the most important from an
environmental point of view.
TYPES OF BIODEGRADATION:
 Bio mineralization
 Biotransformation
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8. Cont..
 BIOMINERALIZATION:
Mineralization or Bio mineralization: Microorganisms convert organic waste into
chemical inorganic matter such as water and carbon dioxide. Examples include the
shells of invertebrates.
 BIOTRANSFORMATION:
Part of the organic matter is degraded, remaining part is converted into smaller
chain organic compounds. example : fermentation of sugar into ethanol.
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9. BIOINDICATORS
 Bio indicators are living organisms such as plants, planktons, animals, and
microbes, which are utilized to screen the health of the natural ecosystem in the
environment.
 They are used for assessing environmental health and biogeographic changes
taking place in the environment. Such entities serve as important biomarkers for
assessing the quality of water as well as an indicator of water pollution.
 Even the health of aquatic flora is best reflected by plankton, which acts as an
early warning signal.
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10. BIOFUEL
 Biofuel, any fuel that is derived from biomass—that is, plant or algae material or
animal waste. Since such feedstock material can be replenished readily, biofuel is
considered to be a source of renewable energy, unlike fossil fuels such as
petroleum, coal, and natural gas.
 CATEGORIES:
 Biodiesel
 Biogas
 Methanol, ethanol
 Pure vegetable oil
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11. WASTE TREATMENT Applications
 Biotechnology finds application fields in the treatment of wastewaters by
biological methods and disposal of solid wastes by composting technique in
waste management.
 Biological methods are also applied to treatment of air emissions. The methods
based on biotechnology in wastewater treatment are activated Biofilters,
oxidation ponds and anaerobic treatment.
 Furthermore, solid waste composting techniques and biosorption are the
examples of biotechnology applications in waste management.
 In all these methods, it is essential to find suitable microorganisms that will
degrade organic substances and to complete the treatment process in favorable
conditions.
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12. ADVANCES IN ENVIRONMENTAL
BIOTECHNOLOGY
BIODEGRADABLE PLASTIC
WASTE MANAGEMENT BY MICROBIAL FUEL CELLS
BIOREMEDIATION TECHNOLOGIES
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13. BIODEGRADABLE PLASTIC
 Plastic that is able to break down when discarded either in dumps or sunlight . It
is made by using additives which help the plastic to degrade. It has been treated
to be easily breakdown by microorganisms.
EXAMPLES OF BIODEGRADABLE PLASTIC:
 Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB):
(a biodegradable plastic produced by microorganisms first discovered by Lemoigne in 1925.)
 Polylactic acid (PLA):
The most popular bioplastic is polylactic acid or PLA, which is typically made from fermented
plant starches
 Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA):
(The conversion of PS to PHA was the first reported technology for the recycling of waste
plastics to a biodegradable plastic. )
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14. MICROBIAL FUEL CELL
 One such advancement of Biotechnology is in Microbial Fuel Cell which not only
helps in waste water management but also produces energy simultaneously. The
energy generated in form of electricity can be utilized somewhere in operations
of Effluent treatment Plant .
 A microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a bioreactor, that converts chemical energy in the
chemical bonds in organic compounds to electrical energy through catalytic
reactions of microorganisms under anaerobic conditions.
 MFC is an efficient advancement in environmental biotechnology that not helps
in treatment of waste water but also is a renewable source of energy.
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15. BIOREMEDIATION TECHNOLOGIES
 Bioventing - a remediation technology that uses microorganisms to
biodegrade organic constituents in the groundwater system.
 Bioleaching - the extraction of metals from their ores through the use of living
organisms.
 Bioreactor - any manufactured or engineered device or system that supports a
biologically active environment.
 Vermicomposting - using various worms, usually red wigglers, white worms,
and other earthworms to create a heterogeneous mixture of decomposing
vegetable or food waste materials.
 Rhizofiltration - is a form of phytoremediation that involves filtering water
through a mass of roots to remove toxic substances or excess nutrients.
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16. CONCLUDING REMARKS
 Besides a lot of advancements in Environmental biotechnology, there are still
some serious issues like ; waste management, biodiversity loss, marine waste
and much more that still needs to be looked after.
 Even though, there has been a tremendous advancement in fields of
environment and biotechnology related, but to make sure the most of problems
there is still a lot of room empty for new solutions.
 The new world requires new and latest technologies as solutions to such
environmental problems.
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17. THANK YOU FOR
LISTENING!
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