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I doubt it.
The lignin is harder to break down than the
other sugars, so the other sugars are broken down first.
Greg H.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, August 18, 2005
20:56
Subject: [Biofuel] Lignin crop redidue
breakdown
I am looking at the second chapter of Mother Earth Alcohol Fuel
-Raw materials chapter at
http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/ethanol_motherearth/meCh2.html#2_1.
At the "Crop Residue" part, it says:
"The "backbone" of sugar and starch crops
-- the stalks and leaves -- is composed mainly of cellulose. The individual
six-carbon sugar units in cellulose are linked together in extremely long
chains by a stronger chemical bond than exists in starch. As with starch,
cellulose must be broken down into sugar units before it can be used by yeast
to make ethanol. However, the breaking of the cellulose bonds is much more
complex and costly than the breaking of the starch bonds. Breaking the
cellulose into individual sugar units is complicated by the presence of
lignin, a complex compound surrounding cellulose, which is even more resistant
than cellulose to enzymatic or acidic pretreatment. Because of the high cost
of converting liquefied cellulose into fermentable sugars, agricultural
residues (as well as other crops having a high percentage of cellulose) are
not yet a practical feedstock source for small ethanol plants. Current
research may result in feasible cellulosic conversion processes in the
future." I am also looking at Stu Campbell's book "LET IT
ROT! The gardener's guide to composting, Revised edition. My
question is since composting does a good job of breaking down lignin, would it
be possible to use composting as part of the ethanol creation process?
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