Abstract
Ethanol produced from various biobased sources (bioethanol) has been gaining high attention lately due to its potential to cut down net emissions of carbon dioxide while reducing burgeoning world dependence on fossil fuels. Global ethanol production has increased more than six-fold from 18 billion liters at the turn of the century to 110 billion liters in 2019, only to fall to 98.6 billion liters in 2020 due to the pandemic. Sugar cane and corn have been used as the major feedstocks for ethanol production. Lignocellulosic biomass has recently been considered as another potential feedstock due to its non-food competing status and its availability in very large quantities. This paper reviews recent developments and current status of commercial production of ethanol across the world with a focus on the technological aspects. The review includes the ethanol production processes used for each type of feedstock, both currently practiced at commercial scale and still under developments, and current production trends in various regions and countries in the world.
Highlights
Ethanol (C2 H6 O) is a simple liquid alcohol that is formed from the fermentation of sugars in their natural occurrences or being derived from starch-rich grains or lignocellulosic feedstocks
Ethanol is produced commercially from a variety of feedstocks via fermentation where the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is utilized to ferment the sugars derived from the starch in corn and other grains or those that already are present in sugar cane and sugar beets [4]
The main objective of this review is to investigate the recent development of ethanol production in countries with significant levels of ethanol outputs
Summary
Ethanol (C2 H6 O) is a simple liquid alcohol that is formed from the fermentation of sugars in their natural occurrences or being derived from starch-rich grains or lignocellulosic feedstocks. Ethanol is produced in various countries in the world and its global quantity has changed from 110 billion liters in 2019 to 98.6 billion liters in 2020 due to the pandemic [1,2]. When ethanol is blended with 95% gasoline it can reduce about 90% CO2 and 60–80% SO2 [3] This helps the world to solve some of the problems of air pollution, reduces the levels of greenhouse gases that are causing climate change and maintains environmental security. Ethanol is produced commercially from a variety of feedstocks via fermentation where the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is utilized to ferment the sugars derived from the starch in corn and other grains or those that already are present in sugar cane and sugar beets [4]
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