A comparative study on the production of ethanol from lignocellulosic biomass by chemical and biological method

Abstract Ethanol derived from non-edible biomass is renewable and a clean source of energy. It is independent of the food industry and it is economically feasible. The first generation biofuel or bioethanol is still not a very convenient source of energy as it prominently depends on the availability of grains. The main objective of this work is to develop an industrious efficient process to produce ethanol from lignocellulosic biomasses like wood and leaf in a lab scale. Two processes were compared. The first process involved an alkaline pre-treatment of the powdered biomass followed by dilute acid hydrolysis. The second process involved an alkaline treatment followed by direct hydrolysis of the biomass by use of a fungal species obtained from rotting wood. Following hydrolysis, fermentation was performed using Saccharomyces cerevisiae and ethanol produced was measured. The process methodologies performed here are liable to be scaled up easily. The final study determines factors such as temperature, strength of the reagents and retention time to maximize ethanol production.