Developing novel approaches for harnessing the resources from nature is not new. And, while using insects to produce bioenergy might seem to be an emerging approach, such concept has been proposed several decades ago. The growing global population coupled with rising affluence has resulted in an increased demand for resources with concomitant production of organic wastes. Insect-based model provides an opportunity to produce bioenergy and bio-based products with concomitant organic waste remediation. This paper critically reviews insect models, especially black soldier flies (BSF), to produce bioenergy and bio-based products. An insect such as BSF larvae can digest about 50% (dry wt.) of organic wastes producing protein- and oil-rich larval biomass. Several studies have focused on small-scale insect larvae production. There are, however, several challenges with respect to mass production due to issues including, but are not limited to, sustainable egg production, waste nutritional variability, heat generation, air distribution, harvesting larvae/prepupae, and process scale-up, among others.