Applied EnergyVolume 86, Issue 11, November 2009, Pages 2273-2282
Balat, M.; Balat, H.
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Bio-ethanol is by far the most widely used bio-fuel for transportation worldwide. Its production from biomass is one way to reduce both consumption of crude oil and environmental pollution. Using bio-ethanol blended gasoline fuel for automobiles can significantly reduce petroleum use and exhaust greenhouse gas emission.
Bio-ethanol can be produced from different kinds of raw materials. These raw materials are classified into three categories of agricultural raw materials: simple sugars, starch and lignocellulose.
Bio-ethanol from sugar cane, produced under the proper conditions, is essentially a clean fuel and has several clear advantages over petroleum-derived gasoline in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving air quality in metropolitan areas.
Conversion technologies for producing bio-ethanol from cellulosic biomass resources such as forest materials, agricultural residues and urban wastes are under development and have not yet been demonstrated commercially.
This paper summarizes policy and regulatory drivers for bio-ethanol fuel in the major producing countries, describes usage trends and projections, development of biomass feedstocks, and improved conversion technologies.
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