Bioethanol Production

Rising oil prices and uncertainty over the safety of existing fuel reserves, combined with concerns over global climate change, have created the necessity for brand spanking new transportation fuels and bioproducts to substitute for fossil carbon-based materials. Ethanol is taken into account to be subsequent generation transportation fuel with the foremost potential, and significant quantities of ethanol are currently being produced from corn and sugar cane via a fermentation process. Utilizing lignocellulosic biomass as a feedstock is seen because the next step towards significantly expanding ethanol production. The foremost widely investigated of those sources so far is corn stover or crops grown specifically as energy crops, like switchgrass and poplars. However, another viable feedstock might be aquatic plants obtained from constructed wetlands, like cattails. The biological conversion of cellulosic biomass into bioethanol is predicated on the breakdown of biomass into aqueous sugars using chemical and biological means, including the utilization of hydrolotic enzymes.

Relevant Topics in