The potential of cellulosic ethanol to replace oil
September 26, 2007 by Eugene
Filed under Energy and Transportation
In the latest edition of Wired Magazine, there is an excellent article, One Molecule Could Cure Our Addiction to Oil, which explores the potential of converting cellulose into ethanol and using it to replace oil as fuel.
Current biofuel or ethanol production is usually from food crops such as corn, sugar cane and palm oil. Some environmentalists argued that switching to biofuel would result in more forests being cleared for planting food crops and also result in higher food prices.
On the other hand, the second generation biofuel process such as cellulosic ethanol production does not require food crops. The process is able to use non-food crops such as switchgrass, straw, wood chips and horticultural waste. This is better because the plants are easier to grow and the process can serve as a waste management solution.
However, the main problem for cellulosic ethanol is that scientists are still unable to convert cellulose into ethanol on a cost-effective and commercial scale. More research is being conducted over the world to improve the conversion process. Once cellulosic ethanol becomes cost-competitive, we could see mass usage of ethanol in our cars and reduce our dependence on oil.
Source: Wired. Photo credit: swanksalot.
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