Ram Chandra: advances in biodegradation and bioremediation of industrial waste

Excerpt

Environmental sustainability with rapid industrialization is one of the major challenges of the current scenario worldwide (Chandra 2015). Industries are the key drivers in the world economy, but these are also the major polluters due to discharge of hazardous wastes containing organic and inorganic pollutants, which cause environmental (soil and water) pollution and severe toxic effects in living beings (Maszenan et al. 2011; Chandra 2015). Being a low cost and eco-friendly clean technology, bioremediation can be a sustainable alternative to conventional technologies for the treatment and management of industrial wastes to protect the environment and human health (Megharaj et al. 2011; Maszenan et al. 2011). Bioremediation utilize microorganisms, plants or their enzymes to degrade/detoxify the pollutants in the environment (Kulshreshtha 2012). However, the mechanism of bioremediation technologies and their role in the environmental cleanup is in nascent stage. Therefore, in this perspective, the book, “Advances in Biodegradation and Bioremediation of Industrial Waste” provides a comprehensive knowledge on the fundamental, practical, and purposeful utilization of bioremediation technologies for the sustainable development. The book describes the microbiological, biochemical, and molecular aspects of biodegradation and bioremediation, including the use of microbial genomics and proteomics for the development of efficient bioremediation technologies for industrial wastes to combat the forthcoming challenges. The book contains 14 chapters exclusively focused on the different aspects of biodegradation and bioremediation of industrial wastes. Each chapter is concluded with an exhaustive list of references for readers interested to learn further details about the subject matter. All the chapters are accessible through internet to readers who would find this book most useful. For this book, many relevant topics have been contributed by the experts from different universities, research laboratories, and institutes. In general, the book is outstanding, except Chap. 11, which mainly describe the anaerobic biodegradation of tallow-slaughterhouse lipid (TSHL) waste. …