Ethanol production from different sources in India- A Review

chemistry

To meet the energy requirement for transport, blending automotive fuels with ethanol has been mandated in India like several other countries across the globe. The entire blending requirement has to come from molasses (by-product of sugarcane). Ethanol produced from molasses will not be able to meet the blending targets due to cyclical nature of sugar cane production resulting in shortage of molasses and its competing uses (potable and pharmaceutical use). This has promoted research efforts to augment energy sources that are sustainable and economically viable. The production of ethanol from food such as corn, cassava etc. is the most predominate way of producing ethanol. This has led to a shortage in food, inbalance in food chain, increased food price and indirect land use. This thesis thus explores using another feed for the production of ethanol- hence ethanol from cellulose. Sawdust was used to carry out the experiment from the production of ethanol and two methods were considered: SHF (Separate Hydrolysis and Fermentation) and SSF (Simultaneous Saccharication and Fermentation). The SHF proved more hazardous than SSF and also had waste products that are hazardous to the environment.

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