Potential Thai grasses for bioethanol production

Abstract

Use of lignocellulosic biomass, such as wild grasses, represents a more sustainable alternative to food stocks for the creation of fuel bioethanol. There are numerous types of wild grasses grown naturally in Thailand that can be used as a feedstock for bioethanol production and several of them have been examined already for their physical characteristics and ethanol production potential. Physical characteristics such as a high dry matter yield and high percentage of cellulose make Tifton Bermuda grass a particularly attractive candidate for bioethanol production. The different studies examined in this paper used differing pretreatment methods on various types of wild grasses with varying levels of success depending on the method and grass used. The largest amount of ethanol produced per initial gram of grass was 0.14 g per gram from two separate types of vetiver grasses, likely due to a utilization of both a glucose and xylose-fermenting organism during fermentation. For any particular wild Thai grass to be used in the future as a feedstock for bioethanol production, it is essential that more research be done to optimize the process of pretreatment and fermentation.