Ethanol Production from Renewable Lignocellulosic Biomass

Ethanol plant material needs biological and physiochemical pre-treatment to release the sugars. There is very active interest in production of ethanol from plant biomass, and biomass refineries have been opened in the USA, Brazil and several countries in the EU. Most ethanol produced in the USA comes from fermentation of corn starch and in Brazil from fermentation of sugar cane sucrose. Corn ethanol production uses two basic processes: dry milling and wet milling. Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the yeast used in most ethanol production facilities, metabolises sugars present in corn starch and sugar cane juice in the absence of oxygen to produce ethanol and CO2. Several approaches have been taken to address the fermentation of sugars, especially 5C sugars, unavailable to traditional Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains. Lignocellulosic ethanol production has been the focus of ongoing research efforts since the 1970s and investments are continuing in the USA, Brazil and Europe to propel this industry forward.