ethanol from orange peels and newspapers

7/31/2019 Ethanol From Orange Peels and Newspapers

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Ethanol From Orange Peels And Newspapers

Researchers have developed a way to produce ethanol from waste products such as

orange peels and newspapers. The approach is 'greener' and less expensive than the

current methods available to run vehicles on clean energy and can be applied to several

non-food products throughout the United States, including sugarcane, switchgrass and

straw.

The new technique uses plant-derived enzyme cocktails to break down orange peels and

other waste materials into sugar, which is then fermented into ethanol. The findings are

detailed in Plant Biotechnology.

Researchers cloned genes from wood-rotting fungi or bacteria and produced enzymes in

tobacco plants. Producing these enzymes in tobacco instead of manufacturing synthetic

versions could reduce the cost of production by a thousand times, which should

significantly reduce the cost of making ethanol.

Tobacco was chosen as an ideal system for enzyme production because it is not a food

crop, produces large amounts of energy per acre and (Of course!) an alternate use could

potentially decrease its use for smoking.

Depending on the waste product used, a specific combination or "cocktail" of more than

10 enzymes is needed to change the biomass into sugar and eventually ethanol. Orange

peels need more of the pectinase enzyme, while wood waste requires more of the

xylanase enzyme. All of the enzymes the team uses are found in nature, created by a

range of microbial species, including bacteria and fungi.

Corn starch is currently fermented and converted into ethanol. But ethanol derived from

corn produces more greenhouse gas emissions than gasoline does. Ethanol created

using the approach produces much lower greenhouse gas emissions than gasoline or

electricity.


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There's also an abundance of waste products that could be used without reducing the

world's food supply or driving up food prices. In Florida alone, discarded orange peels

could create about 200 million gallons of ethanol each year.

Citation: Verma et al., 'Chloroplast-derived enzyme cocktails hydrolyse lignocellulosic

biomass and release fermentable sugars', Plant Biotechnology, January 2010; doi:

10.1111/j.1467-7652.2009.00486.x

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Abstract

White-rot fungus Phlebia sp. MG-60 was identified as a good producer of ethanol from several

cellulosic materials containing lignin. When this fungus was cultured with 20 g/L unbleached
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hardwood kraft pulp (UHKP), 8.4 g/L ethanol was produced after 168 h of incubation giving yields of

ethanol of 0.42 g/g UHKP, 71.8% of the theoretical maximum. When this fungus was cultured with

waste newspaper, 4.2 g/L ethanol was produced after 216 h of incubation giving yields of ethanol of

0.20 g/g newspaper, 51.1% of the theoretical maximum. Glucose, mannose, galactose, fructose and

xylose were completely assimilated by Phlebia sp. MG-60 with ethanol yields of 0.44, 0.41, 0.40, 0.41

and 0.33 g/g of sugar respectively. These results indicated that Phlebia sp. MG-60 was a good

candidate for bioethanol production from cellulosic materials.

Highlights

White-rot fungus Phlebia sp. MG-60 was the good producer of ethanol from cellulose.

Kraft pulp was directly converted into ethanol without addition of cellulase. Newspaper was

directly converted into ethanol. Hexoses were completely assimilated by MG-60 with high ethanol

yields. Xylose was also completely assimilated with high ethanol yields.

Keywords

White-rot fungi; Bioethanol;

Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation; Waste paper fermentation

ethanol from orange peels and newspapers

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