Cellulosic materials, such as corn stover, cane, switchgrass, timber waste, municipal solid waste, etc., can be processed into fuels and renewable chemicals. Broadly speaking, there are two main methods: pyrolysis and hydrolysis. The former is relatively independent of feedstock but happens at high temperatures and may have yield losses due to breakdown of the molecules […]
Cellulosic ethanol is a biofuel produced from the fibrous cellulose and hemicellulose fractions of herbaceous (switchgrass, corn stover, miscanthus) or woody biomass, as opposed to a plant’s seeds or fruit. These feedstocks are mostly inedible, eliminating the “food v. fuel” arguments that sometime surround standard biofuels. Almost all routes to cellulosic ethanol involve biomass collection and delivery, followed by deconstruction […]