초록
<P><B>Background</B></P><P>Biofuels obtained from first-generation (1G) sugars-starch streams have been proven unsustainable as their constant consumption is not only significantly costly for commercial scale production systems, but it could potentially lead to problems associated with extortionate food items for human usage. In this regard, biofuels’ production in alkali-thermophilic environs from second-generation (2G) bio-waste would not only be markedly feasible, but these extreme conditions might be able to sustain aseptic fermentations without spending much for sterilization.</P><P><B>Results</B></P><P>Present investigation deals with the valuation of ethanologenic potential of locally isolated moderate alkali-thermophilic fermentative bacterium, <I>Bacillus licheniformis</I> KU886221 employing sugarcane cane bagasse (SCB) as substrate. A standard 2-factor central composite response surface design was used to estimate the optimized cellulolytic and hemicellulolytic enzymatic hydrolysis of SCB into maximum fermentable sugars. After elucidation of optimized levels of fermentation factors affecting ethanol fermentation using Taguchi OA L27 (3^13) experimental design, free cell batch culture was carried out in bench-scale stirred-tank bioreactor for ethanol fermentation. Succeeding fermentation modifications included subsequent substrate addition, immobilized cells fibrous-bed bioreactor (FBB) incorporation to the basic setup, and performance of in situ gas stripping for attaining improved ethanol yield. Highest ethanol yield of 1.1406 mol ethanol/mol of equivalent sugars consumed was obtained when gas stripping was performed during fed-batch fermentation involving FBB under aseptic conditions. Despite the fact that under non-aseptic conditions, 30.5% lesser ethanol was formed, still, reduced yield might be considered influential as it saved the cost of sterilization for ethanol production.</P><P><B>Conclusion</B></P><P>Effectual utilization of low-priced abundantly available lignocellulosic waste sugarcane bagasse under non-aseptic moderate alkali-thermophilic fermentation conditions as directed in this study has appeared very promising for large-scale cost-effective bioethanol generation processes.</P><P><B>Electronic supplementary material</B></P><P>The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13068-017-0785-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.</P>