Combined Biological and Chemical Pretreatment Methods for Lignocellulosic Ethanol Production from Energy Cane

Ethanol produced from lignocellulosic biomass is a renewable alternative to diminishing petroleum fuels. The process of converting plant fiber sugars into fuel ethanol requires a pretreatment to remove lignin, enzymatic saccharification, and fermentation. This study optimized ethanol production from Type II energy cane using different pretreatment techniques of alkaline or acid hydrolysis and solid-state fungal pretreatments. The highest resulting yield was produced using 3% sulfuric acid; however, fungal pretreatment followed by acid hydrolysis reduced the required acid from 3% to 1%. Combined pretreatments reduce the cost of production, making this method more competitive with other sources of fuel grade ethanol