Modification of Biomass to increase Ethanol yield

摘要

Currently available petroleum is not only a non-renewable source of energy but also causes lot of pollution. With all the petroleum prices going up and petroleum reserves depleting, there is an urgent need of an alternative. Ethanol is one such alternative which can meet the growing demand for fuel. Ethanol is easily biodegradable and also causes less pollution. Ethanol can be produced chemically and biologically using agricultural products. Bio-Ethanol is traditionally manufactured from sugarcane and cornstarch. But the ethanol produced by this procedure is not only costly but also depletes food reserves (M.Clarke Dale & Mark Moelhman). Instead ethanol can be manufactured from lignocellulose obtained from agricultural wastes such as corn stover and grass. Processing just 30% of cornstover adds 5 to 8 billion gallons of ethanol fuel without any need to use more land (David Glassner, CTIC meeting, 1999).