Ethanol research papers

Ethanol is an alcohol that can be created from a wide variety of plant materials and feedstocks and is used in liquid from to fuel in motor vehicles. Today, corn starch and sugarcane are the two main feedstocks used, respectively producing starch- and sugar-based ethanol.

Lawmakers have resorted to capping the total production of corn-based ethanol and have called for a steady increase in the use of advanced biofuels. Congress concerns are grounded in the world energy consumption which has doubled in the past 30 years, and it will almost double again in the next 30 years.

The chemical make-up of ethanol is uniform across the board whether it is produced from corn, sugarcane, or cellulose; however, the differences lie in the production processes and the necessary technologies in different stages of development.

Cellulose can also be used to produce ethanol, however, doing so requires additional processes using enzymes to break down the cellulosic materials into sugars. Cellulosic materials, which provide structure to plants, comprise the stems, stalks, and leaves of plants as well as trunks of trees.