Ethanol fuel from biomass: A review

This paper presents a general review of biomass-to-ethanol, analysis of conversion pathways from technical, economic and environmental points of view, and estimation of production cost in the Indian context. Due to learning curve and other economic reasons, Brazil and the United States are found to be more competitive worldwide and will maintain their comparative advantage in the next decade. However, the fast growth of the world demand of bio-ethanol fuel as well as the perspectives of the oil market may notably influence the international market price of bio-ethanol fuel and give windows for a wide scale production in other regions such as Europe and Asia. As one of the major producers and consumers of sugars and the second populous country, India gives a high priority to food production. However, Indian production of bio-ethanol can be envisaged successfully and preliminary analyses exhibit a promising avenue. In long term, lignocellulose-to-ethanol is the most viable pathway from environmental point of view. However, its production cost must be reduced for giving this process a chance to drive forward the strategy of biomass-to-ethanol worldwide.