Production for ethanol from lignocellulosic biomass

Ethanol is the most common renewable fuel recognized as a potential alternative to petroleum-derived transportation fuels. It can be produced from lignocellulosic materials in various ways characterized by common steps: hydrolysis of cellulose and hemicellulose to monomeric sugars, fermentation and product recovery (fig 3). The main differences lie in the hydrolysis phase, which can be performed by dilute acid, concentrated acid or enzymatically (Galbe & Zacchi, 2002).