Question

Research a renewable energy and focus on reliable sources or articles published in the last 3 years (i.e. current). Using your growing sustainable knowledge and vocabulary, summarize the source for your classmates using terminology specific to sustainability. Is this a soaring strategy, or are there some issues that need to be overcome? Is this technology going to increase in the market, stay the same, or decrease?

Answer 1

Bioethanol

Due to rapid growth in population and industrialization, worldwide ethanol demand is increasing continuously. Conventional crops such as corn and sugarcane are unable to meet the global demand of bioethanol production due to their primary value of food and feed. Therefore, lignocellulosic substances such as agricultural wastes are attractive feedstocks for bioethanol production.

Bioethanol is an alcohol made by fermentation, mostly from carbohydrates produced in sugar or starch crops such as corn, sugarcane, or sweet sorghum. Cellulosic biomass, derived from non-food sources such as trees and grasses is also being developed as a feedstock for ethanol production. Ethanol can be used as a fuel for vehicles in its pure form, but it is usually used as a gasoline additive to increase octane and improve vehicle emissions.

Agricultural wastes are cost effective, renewable and abundant. Bioethanol from agricultural waste could be a promising technology though the process has several challenges and limitations such as biomass transport and handling, and efficient pretreatment methods for total delignification of lignocellulosics. Proper pretreatment methods can increase concentrations of fermentable sugars after enzymatic saccharification, thereby improving the efficiency of the whole process. Conversion of glucose as well as xylose to ethanol needs some new fermentation technologies, to make the whole process cost effective. Bioethanol is therefore a renewable energy which can last longer and help us in replacing other fuels