Innovative and cost-effective fuel-ethanol production

Substitution of gasoline with fuel-ethanol from lignocelluloses is estimated to reduce CO2 emissions in the transport sector by up to 90 %. We will just figure out a cheap way of producing it first.

A way out of the climate crisis starts with a walk in the woods. (Photo: Stockxpert)

A Nordic research project, called "New innovative pre-treatment of Nordic wood for cost-effective fuel-ethanol production", is looking into how to reduce the overall production costs for fuel-ethanol from Nordic wood. Increasing concern for man made climate change and instability of oil supplying regions has increased the search for renewable and sustainable energy, including bio based liquid fuels. However, today’s production costs for biomass-to-fuel are too high to compete with oil-derived fuels. Unfortunately, limited resources have been focused on understanding the fundamental mechanisms involved in wood pre-treatment for biofuel production. This project aims to develop novel pre-treatment techniques that will reduce the overall production costs, thus making fuel-ethanol from Nordic wood biomass cost competitive.

Project duration: 2007 - 2010
Total Project Budget is 12.7 M NOK
Nordic Energy Research contributes 8 M NOK (63%)

 Learn more here (pdf) or at the project's website.

Fact

Lignocellulosic biomass refers to plant biomass that is composed of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin.

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