Ethanol production from non‐grain feedstocks

Abstract

AbstractA general view of the possibilities of producing ethanol from sugar, starch and cellulose feedstocks is given.For the 3 variants net energy analysis of ethanol production and evaluation of costs are presented. With the exception of the case using molasses as feedstock the net energy balances are positive.The greatest possible net energy yield can be expected with sugar cane followed by sugar beets, wood and paper waste. Based on feedstock availability, net energy utilization and production costs, the most promising processes for producing ethanol from non‐grain feedstocks over the next 20 years will be those processes using fermentable sugars available from nongrain starchy materials, cellulosics and whey.The feedstock prices for cellulosics are low and if the developments in cellulose hydrolysis will lead to improve the ethanol yields from cellulose fermentation to nearer 90 percent of the theoretical value, cellulosic materials can become a good feedstock for ethanol production.