Cellulose-Ethanol Production from Ammonia-Pretreated "Energy-Cane" Bagasse

Scientists from the Audubon Sugar Institute, Louisiana State University Agricultural Center (United States) report the "first ever" study on the use of "energy cane" bagasse as feedstock for cellulose-ethanol production. "Energy-cane" is said to have a higher fiber content compared to "regular" sugarcane. Many studies on the use of "regular" sugarcane bagasse as bioethanol feedstock are abundant in literature, but there is no reported study yet on the utilization of "energy cane" bagasse for ethanol production.

The processing technology includes pretreatment of the bagasse by dilute ammonia to remove the lignin, followed by enzymatic hydrolysis to convert plant celluloses/hemicelluloses to component sugars, and ethanol fermentation of the sugars.

Results showed that ammonium hydroxide pretreatment (using a 28% v/v solution, at 160 degrees Celsius and 0.9 MPa to 1.1 MPa pressure) resulted in a delignification efficiency of 55%, a cellulose loss of less than 10%, a cellulose digestibility of 87%, and a glucose yield of about 37 ± 2.3 g glucose per 100 g dry biomass. Ethanol fermentation of the liberated sugars by Saccharomyces cerevisiae resulted in the attainment of 78% of the theoretical ethanol yield, (23 ± 1 g of ethanol per100 g of dry biomass). The full results are published in the journal, Bioresource Technology (URL above).

Related information on Energy Cane:
http://www.ars.usda.gov/meetings/Energy07/files/RU%20Summaries/SRU_Houma.pdf
http://www.lsuagcenter.com/en/crops_livestock/crops/sugarcane/New+Varieties+Energy+Cane+/
Highlight+LSU+AgCenter+Sugarcane+Field+Day.htm