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Production of ethanol from lignocellulosic materials: State of the art

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Book cover Bioprocesses and Applied Enzymology

Part of the book series: Advances in Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology ((ABE,volume 42))

Abstract

Production of ethanol from sugar (hexoses) and starchis carried out by a well developed technology. Production of ethanol from lignocellulosic materials is more difficult, requires several process steps, and is as yet in the development stage.

If the polysaccharides in the lignocellulosic materials are to be saccharified via enzymic hydrolysis, the raw material must be pretreated if a high yield of sugars is to be expected. Pretreatment of the raw material with steam at high temperature and pressure is the preferred method. With this process substantial parts of the lignin and the hemicelluloses are degraded to products extractable with water, ethanol or alkaline solutions. Even if further development of this pretreatment technique may be necessary it is clear that the already existing technique can be used on a commercial scale.

The enzymic hydrolysis of complicated solid substrates as are the lignocellulosic materials is a slow process. A reduction of the time necessary to achieve satisfactory sugar yields will therefore have a large impact on the process economy.

Several factors are of importance for the sugar yield in the enzymic hydrolysis. Particularly important are the composition of the enzyme mixture and the ratios between enzyme and substrate, the inhibition of the enzymes by degradation products, the adsorption of enzymes onto the substrate and the possibility of reutilizing both enzymes in solution and enzymes adsorbed onto the substrate.

As mentioned earlier, commercial techniques are available for the bioconversion of hexoses to ethanol. A similar technique for the bioconversion of pentoses is still lacking. However, important progress is being made in this field.

The interest in developing commercial processes where lignocellulosic materials are the basis for production of ethanol will always be strongly dependent upon the oil price and the availability of oil, even though the environmental aspects on fuel most likely will be more important in the future. It is our strong belief that sooner or later a process for the conversion of lignocellulosics to ethanol will be in demand.

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Author notes

  1. K. -E. L. Eriksson

    Present address: Department of Biochemistry, University of Georgia, 30602, Athens, Georgia, USA

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  1. STFI, Box 5604, S-11486, Stockholm, Sweden

    L. Vallander & K. -E. L. Eriksson

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  1. L. Vallander
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  2. K. -E. L. Eriksson
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© 1990 Springer-Verlag

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Vallander, L., Eriksson, K.E.L. (1990). Production of ethanol from lignocellulosic materials: State of the art. In: Bioprocesses and Applied Enzymology. Advances in Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology, vol 42. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0000731

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0000731

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-52793-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-47150-9

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