The new green gold of the modern times is cellulosic ethanol which, thanks to research has made possible the transformation of straw and other plant wastes into cellulosic ethanol that is chemically the same as ethanol made out of corn or soybeans. However, this type of ethanol has thrice the net energy as compared with corn ethanol and also does not emit much greenhouse gases and with better and improved technology, cellulosic ethanol may one day replace the costlier imported black gold called oil
Reduce Consumption of Gasoline
Man can reduce consumption of gasoline using cellulosic ethanol and large corporations have also recognized this possibility. There is a basic fundamental difference in how ethanol and is produced since them each use different feed stocks and undergo different processes. Cellulosic ethanol is a kind of ethanol which is made from different biomass that also includes urban, agricultural as well as forest sources. Cellulosic ethanol uses a starting raw material called cellulose and is different to that used for ethanol which is sugar and starches.
To produce it one requires two methods and these are hydrolysis with further fermentation of the free sugar that has been generated as also synthesis gas fermentation or catalysis. The beauty of the making of cellulosic ethanol is that there is no toxic emission given off in the production of ethanol and even though the technology is relatively new, there is much ongoing testing that bodes well for the future.
Government Invests Millions to Commercialize Ethanol Use
A Canadian biotechnology company called Iogen Corporation began selling cellulosic ethanol from April 2004 and its main buyer is the Canadian government as well as the US government that have both invested millions of dollars to enable companies to commercialize cellulosic ethanol. In the search for alternative energies that are used in the transportation industry one has to find something less expensive as well as more environment friendly than gasoline, diesel as well as kerosene.
Cellulosic ethanol may provide the answer as there is an abundance of raw material available which grows in every plant is it straw, grass or wood and transforming them into ethanol could provide one third of the current fuel consumption requirements in the US as also in other countries. There is also plenty of scope for planting cellulose producing crops such as switch grass so that there are enough raw materials available to produce cellulosic ethanol and thus have a viable alternative to current oil usage.