Future of ethanol lies in processing biomass, not grains - Australia - Monday, 14 August 2006
The future of biofuel production lies in ethanol from lignocellulosic biomass - that is, the leafy or woody parts of plants. Ethanol from grain is limited by the resources available to produce the crops. Professor Vernon Eidman of the University of Minnesota gave this view at the International Association of Agricultural Economics conference on Australia's Gold Coast today. "But emerging technology will allow much greater quantities of ethanol to be produced from plant waste matter such as straw, wood wastes, and waste paper," he says."The first and second commercial plants producing ethanol from lignocellulosic biomass will be coming into production during the next two years, with the major development and impact to occur after 2015."But a great deal of additional research is needed to make these processes competitive with production of ethanol from grain." Professor Eidman was addressing the International Association of Agricultural Economics conference on Australia's Gold Coast today. END
