Journal of Energy Bioscience 2025, Vol.16, No.4, 163-171 http://bioscipublisher.com/index.php/jeb 166 3.3 Pre-treatment technologies Rapeseed straw has a compact structure and a high content of lignin, so effective pretreatment must be carried out first to enhance the efficiency of enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation. Common methods include hydrothermal, dilute acid, alkaline, steam blasting and combined chemical pretreatment. Hydrothermal pretreatment (120 °C ~180 °C) can significantly increase the specific surface area and porosity of straw, making it easier for enzymes to enter and thereby increasing the yields of ethanol and methane (Abbasi-Riyakhuni et al., 2025). Dilute acid and steam blasting can release cellulose, increase saccharification rate and ethanol yield (Lopez-Linares et al., 2015; Kuglarz et al., 2018; Tan et al., 2020). Combined pretreatment (such as organosilicon surfactant combined with H2O2- p-toluenesulfonic acid) can efficiently remove lignin and hemicellulose, with the maximum saccharification rate reaching 87.3% (Yang et al., 2024). Mechanical pretreatment (such as crushing and adjusting particle size) can also improve the effect of anaerobic digestion (Witaszek et al., 2025). 4 Environmental and Socioeconomic Considerations 4.1 Environmental benefits Producing bioenergy from rapeseed straw has obvious benefits for the environment. Compared with fossil fuels or direct incineration, this utilization method can significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (Wang et al., 2018; Shi et al., 2023; Fang et al., 2024). Through comprehensive biorefining, straw can be converted into various fuels such as ethanol, biogas and biodiesel. This can not only increase energy output, but also reduce pollution (Luo et al., 2011; Elsayed et al., 2020; Abbasi-Riyakhuni et al., 2025). The results of life cycle assessment show that, compared with crops such as sunflowers, rapeseed bioenergy systems have higher ecological efficiency and produce less greenhouse gases per unit of economic value (Forleo et al., 2018). In addition, replacing energy crops with crop residues such as straw can reduce the consumption of land and water, which is helpful for promoting sustainable agriculture (Fang et al., 2024). 4.2 Economic factors Rapeseed straw also has certain economic advantages. The comprehensive biorefining model shows that if the entire rapeseed processing plant produces multiple biofuels simultaneously, the energy recovery efficiency can reach 60%, while the traditional biodiesel process is only 20% (Luo et al., 2011). Regional forecasts indicate that the profits of this industry are considerable, and some places can net a profit of 2.2 billion US dollars in 15 years (Wang et al., 2018). The economic benefit per kilogram of greenhouse gas emissions brought by rapeseed is higher than that of sunflower, indicating that its economic return is better when the environmental impact is relatively small (Forleo et al., 2018). Furthermore, this industry can also bring about many job opportunities. The regional bioenergy sector alone is expected to create 166,000 new job opportunities (Wang et al., 2018). 4.3 Policy and regulatory support Policies and regulations have a significant impact on the development of rapeseed straw bioenergy. The government's planning, support and supervision will directly affect farmers' choices in straw management and energy utilization. Setting clear straw utilization targets, establishing standardized markets, promoting agricultural mechanization and land consolidation can all increase the collection rate and utilization rate of straw (Del Valle et al., 2022). Encouraging the collection and transformation of crop straw instead of open-air burning or leaving it in the fields is crucial for achieving environmental and economic benefits (Wang et al., 2018; Del Valle et al., 2022). These policy measures can help make better use of biomass resources and also contribute to achieving the sustainable development goals. 5 Challenges and Limitations 5.1 Technical challenges There are many technical challenges in producing bioenergy from rapeseed straw. Rapeseed straw is a kind of lignocellulosic biomass with a very tight structure and is not easy to decompose. If no pretreatment is carried out, it is difficult for enzymes and microorganisms to enter, and the transformation efficiency will be very low (Passoth and Sandgren, 2019; Wang et al., 2023; Abbasi-Riyakhuni et al., 2025). High-temperature hydrothermal, dilute acid, physical plus chemical methods can significantly increase the yield of enzymatic hydrolysis and
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