Ethanol Fuel and alcohol Production

Ethanol fuels can be derived from renewable resources - dedicated agricultural crops such as corn, cassava, sugar cane, and sugar beet or from agricultural byproducts.  Ethanol can be used as a 100% replacement for petroleum fuels or as an extender.  Ethanol can also be utilized in petroleum fuels as a replacement for the toxic oxygenate, Methyl t-Butyl Ether (MTBE). 

Enzymes such as alpha-amylase, glucoamylase hydrolyze starch and sucrose into fermentable sugars.  The sugars are then fermented with yeast to produce ethanol.  The production of grain, oilseed and textile fibers results in a substantial quantity of underutilized agricultural crop residues.  The current best available technology for conversion employs an acid hydrolysis of the biomass into sugars.  The enzymatic alternative, using cellulase and hemicellulase, avoids the use of strong acids and results in a cleaner stream of sugars for fermentation and fewer by-products.