Enzymes for extracting energy from trash
- Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)
Every year in the US, 30 million tons of newspapers are produced. Most of these end up in landfills, occupying 28% of the landfill volume. The author describes his study of ways to enzymatically hydrolyze newspaper waste to glucose and ferment the glucose to produce ethanol. He estimates that over two billion gallons of fuel could be produced from this source of waste each year. One of the problems that would be associated with the industrial-scale use of cellulase for cellulose hydrolysis is production of the large amount of enzymes needed. Enzyme production accounts for as much as 60% of the total processing costs. Several approaches have been taken to solve this problem, including: recovering and reusing the enzyme after the hydrolysis is completed; using the enzyme more efficiently to reduce the amount needed; and generating cellulase components having enhanced specific activity. Research in these areas is discussed in detail.
- OSTI ID:
- 5490748
- Journal Information:
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory Review; (United States), Vol. 24:1; ISSN 0048-1262
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
FRACTIONATION OF LIGNOCELLULOSIC BIOMASS FOR FUEL-GRADE ETHANOL PRODUCTION
IMPROVED IRON CATALYSTS FOR SLURRY PHASE FISCHER-TROPSCH SYNTHESIS
Related Subjects
CELLULOSE
ENZYMATIC HYDROLYSIS
ETHANOL FUELS
BIOSYNTHESIS
CELLULASE
COST
FERMENTATION
GLUCOSE
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
WASTE PRODUCT UTILIZATION
ALCOHOL FUELS
ALDEHYDES
BIOCONVERSION
CARBOHYDRATES
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
DECOMPOSITION
ENZYMES
FUELS
GLYCOSYL HYDROLASES
HEXOSES
HYDROLASES
HYDROLYSIS
LYSIS
MONOSACCHARIDES
O-GLYCOSYL HYDROLASES
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
POLYSACCHARIDES
PROTEINS
SACCHARIDES
SOLVOLYSIS
SYNTHESIS
SYNTHETIC FUELS
090900* - Biomass Fuels- Processing- (1990-)