Cheap Cellulosic Ethanol using Immobilised Enzymes...

posted by Sumukee @ 10:12 AM | Monday, October 19, 2009 0 Comments

As discussed in my previous posts, cellulosic ethanol has got bright prospects and is definitely going to be the best replacement for fossil fuels. The reason behind this is the fact that the cellulosic biomass is abundant in the planet. This also has the advantage of being a non- crop when compared to other food crops from which ethanol can be derived.

Conventional method of cellulosic ethanol production involved the plasmification of the organic matter resulting in the mixture of hydrocarbons. Organisms such as the bacteria are then added to the bacteria, which produces ethanol. This method is employed by many of the companies working on cellulosic ethanol commercialization.

Yet another method which was used is to directly digest the cellulosic biomass using enzymes to produce ethanol. This method is a bit more expensive than the first method and most importantly, a lot of by-products are lost during cellulose degradation.

To commercialize the cellulosic ethanol and to overcome these bottlenecks faced currently, researchers from the Louisiana Tech University have patented and discovered a new approach of immobilizing enzymes which digest the cellulosic biomass. This nanotechnological approach of immobilizing enzymes makes use of a charged particle which gets attached to the non-catalytic domains of the enzymes or uses extracellular matrix proteins to bind the enzymes.

This method of using immobilized enzyme is expected to drastically reduce the cost of cellulosic ethanol production. It is expected to save about $32 million and is capable of producing about 16 billion gallons of cellulose based ethanol, claims the LTU. Apparently, the cellulose ethanol commercialization has the capacity to reduce the carbon emissions to about 89 % when compared to gasoline based fuels.

Interestingly, the cellulosic ethanol demonstration plant in LTU is the first of its kind and they are very sure that Louisiana will be one of the main contributors in the cellulosic ethanol production.

For those of the scientific bent and those willing to decipher how the whole thing works can attend the Louisiana Tech’s Energy Systems Conference on November 5 at the Technology Transfer Center in Shreveport.

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Labels: Bioenergy Enzymes, carbon emissions, cellulosic ethanol, Enzymes

Cellulosic Ethanol - A General Review...

posted by Sumukee @ 8:02 AM | Monday, September 28, 2009 0 Comments

Cellulosic ethanol is an alternative fuel made from a wide variety of non-food plant materials such as agricultural wastes such as corn stover and cereal straws, industrial plant waste like saw dust and paper pulp, and energy crops grown specifically for fuel production like switchgrass.

By using a variety of regional feedstock for refining cellulosic ethanol, the fuel can be produced in nearly every region of the country. Though it requires a more complex refining process, cellulosic ethanol contains more net energy and results in lower greenhouse emissions than traditional corn-based ethanol.

Cellulosic biofuels are fuels which are produced from wood, grasses, and other non-edible parts of plants. The biofuel is produced mainly from lignocelluloses. This product is found mainly in corn stover, switchgrass, and even wood chips which are the byproduct of farming and lawn maintenance.

There are many advantages to using this kind of fuel, but it requires a much greater amount of processing than standard fossil fuel production, which has limited its use in the United States. However, this hasn’t stopped scientists and researchers alike from looking into the best cellulosic biofuel producers.

Switchgrass and miscanthus are the two main biomass materials which are being observed in studies today, mainly due to their high productivity per acre grown. While these two plants are at the forefront of bio-technology, cellulose is found in every natural green plant, bush, or tree. Because of this, many scientists believe with the right technology, in the future we will be able to reduce our dependence on foreign oil entirely through the burning of cellulosic biofuels. Apparently, research is underway to find out more about the prospects of other feedstock which can be used as a cellulosic biomass.

The main problem with relying on cellulosic biofuels is the procedure in which they are produced. They must be fermented before they are combusted to produce ethanol gas, and this process requires acres and acres of space in order to function properly. If products are recycled properly, this waste could be turned into a fuel which could power tomorrow’s cars and power plants.

Provided below is the list of companies who have had secured funds for cellulosic ethanol research.

• Abengoa Bioenergy Biomass of Kansas, LLC of Chesterfield, Missouri, up to $76 million.

• ALICO, Inc. of LaBelle, Florida, up to $33 million.

• Blue Fire Ethanol, Inc. of Irvine, California, up to $40 million.

• Broin Companies of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, up to $80 million
.
• Iogen Biorefinery Partners, LLC, of Arlington, Virginia, up to $80 million.
Range Fuels (formerly Kergy Inc.) of Broomfield, Colorado, up to $76 million.

Why Cellulosic Ethanol? - Link to my previous post

a. Cellulosic ethanol production prevents the danger that food cropping
b. Supply of raw material is also more abundant than corn-based ethanol production.

c. Use of fertilizers and watering essential for corn for ethanol production is also not required to such an extent for cellulosic ethanol.

d. The best thing I love about CE is that the fact that traditional ethanol cellulosic ethanol uses only lignin, which has energy content equal to coal, it doesn’t use fossil fuels during manufacture Lignin is a bi-product of the conversion process from bio-mass to ethanol, and does not need to be procured extra. Thus, no expensive fossil fuel is required for the cellulosic manufacturing process,

e. Most importantly, the amount of harmful CO2 produced while using the lignin is totally compensated by the absorption from the original plants in photosynthesis.

f. The usage of the perennial switch grass for cellulosic ethanol also bodes well for the environment and efficiency. This grass has a deep root system which helps prevents soil erosion and contributes toward soil fertility.

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Labels: Biomass, cellulosic ethanol, energy, Enzymes, Ethanol

Another Microbe to Save the Cellulosic Ethanol Industry..

posted by Sumukee @ 5:54 AM | Saturday, September 26, 2009 0 Comments

Qteros, a lab based in Massachusetts, has achieved historic efficiencies in our one-step, biomass-to-ethanol conversion process. They have now identified a bacterium which can very easily digest the waste biomass and convert it into rapid ethanol.Research is underway to furthermake their cellulosic ethanol production economically viable and environmentally sustainable.

The Qteros scientist believes that, by using this amazing microbe, one can get 70 grams of ethanol per litre of the fermentation broth in a single- step. This is quite effective on the cellulosic biomass feedstocks which are industrially pretreated.

Clostridium phytofermentans, more popularly known as the Q microbe is believed to have brought the most economical way to derive biofuels from cellulosic biomass. The Q Microbe (Clostridium phytofermentans) was discovered approximately 12 years ago in Massachusetts’ Quabbin Reservoir by a University of Massachusetts research team led by Susan Leschine, a microbiologist at the university. It was collected in a sample for another survey and its potential was not realized until about eight years later.

Why is this microbe different from other enzymes, which are already being used in the Cellulsic Ethanol industry ?

1. People might arise questions such as to why this is better than enzymes, the answer is, it , unlike the enzymes digests the cellulosic biomass in a single step while the enzymes undergo a multi-step process to digest these waste. Enzymatic hydrolysis is considered to be the most cost-effective way to make the biofuel, and the Q Microbe is expected to be cheaper to use than other enzymes because it can do its work naturally in one step, whereas other enzymes undergo multiple steps to break-down the sugar molecules.

2.The Q microbe can digest switchgrass, corn stover, wheat straw, sugar cane bagasse, and wood pulp. It generates its own enzymes thereby fermenting the C5 and C6 sugars. Also, the Q Microbe so far has been effective with almost all biomass, while other enzymes only work on particular substances.


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Labels: bacterium, cellulosic ethanol, energy, Enzymes