Bio-Ethanol potential from Lignocelluloses: Potentials in Austria

Several methods for the production of bioethanol from lignocelluloses (2nd gen- eration bioethanol) from wood and mainly from straw are mentioned in the literature. But only few exact numbers are available concerning the yield and its potential for replacing the conventional fuel sources. Therefore, the basic data for the evaluation of the potential of this renewable energy form from biomass are missing. The authors have examined the bioethanol production from lignocelluloses on a lab scale. The used method involves the following steps: thermo-mechanical pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis, bioethanol fermentation and Downstream processing. Lab scale experiments show, that steam explosion is a very suitable method for the pretreatment of lignocelluloses. The cellulose can then be converted by means of enzymatic hydrolysis to sugars. The yields fluctuate between 80 and 90 %. The resulting sugars can be more or less completely fermented to ethanol. On the basis of these results, the ethanol yield per ton of biomass can be calculated as well as the potential for the bioethanol production in Austria Bio-Ethanol potential from Lignocelluloses: Potentials in Austria.