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›› 2006, Vol. 40 ›› Issue (S1): 8-12.

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Key Technologies for Producing Fuel Ethanol from Lignocelluloses

YU Shi-yuan   

  1. Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China
  • Received:1900-01-01 Revised:1900-01-01 Online:2006-12-30 Published:2006-12-30

Abstract: Lignocelluloses are reliable raw materials available for large-scale fuel ethanol production in China.In the research on a pilot plant, lignocelluloses were steam exploded, cellulose and hemicellulose were hydrolyzed with cellulose enzyme synthesized by Trichoderma reesei strain, and the resulted pentoses and hexoses were fermented to ethanol by Pichia stipitis.This pilot plant handled lignocelluloses 5 t per day to produce ethanol 0.8 t per day, with a hydrolysis yield of 71.3%, a sugar utilization ratio of 87.2 %, and an ethanol yield of 0.43 g/g consumed sugars.The cost of ethanol production was estimated to be 4000 yuan/t, or 500 USD/t.In order to tramsform this technology into productivity, further research works are required in the following respects of key technologies; 1) Pretreatment techniques of low energy consumption and low material loss, especially steam explosion and chemical-added explosion; 2) Recombinant strains for high-efficiency cellulose enzyme synthesis, systematic control of enzyme production and enzymatic hydrolysis; 3) Pentose fermentation regulation and genetic modification of yeast strains; 4) Assembling and coordination of the available key technologies for full-scale utilization of lignocelluloses; 5) Research on woody plants as energy resources.

Key words: ethanol, lignocelluloses, cellulase, pentose, genetic engineering

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