1st Edition
Fuel Production from Non-Food Biomass Corn Stover
This title includes a number of Open Access chapters.
The practice of converting corn to ethanol is controversial, with debates currently being raged in both public policy and science. While biofuels from corn have important implications in alleviating some of the global energy crisis, critics argue that it takes away from vital agricultural products needed to feed the world’s growing population. The current volume maintains there is a third way, a method of producing biofuel that only uses biomass that is left behind after all agricultural and nutritional products have been harvested from corn. This biomass is referred to as corn stover.
The book serves as an important introduction to this method of producing biofuels from agricultural waste. Edited by a professor from the State University of New York, Geneseo, this reference is important not only for research scientists, but for students and public policy makers who wish to learn more about this alternative method of producing ethanol from corn.
The sections found in Fuel Production from Non-Food Biomass: Corn Stover describe the following topics:
- An overview of why corn stover is a good alternative use of power
- The technology that makes this process possible on various scales
- Considerations for policy formation, including economic, land-use, and environmental arguments for and against using corn stover as a biofuel
Although controversy still exists about the use of corn stover—with some critics saying that it will cause food shortages, particularly for developing nations—the research in this book focuses on using corn’s already existing, non-food biomass and argues that food and biofuel could potentially be produced from the same fields.
Introduction
Part I: Overview
Assessment of Potential Capacity Increases at Combined Heat and Power Facilities Based on Available Corn Stover and Forest Logging Residues; Selvarani Radhakrishnan, Joel O. Paz 1, Fei Yu, Sandra Eksioglu, and Donald L. Grebner
Part II: Process Treatments and Technologies
Characteristics of Corn Stover Pretreated with Liquid Hot Water and Fed-Batch Semi-Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation for Bioethanol Production; Xuezhi Li, Jie Lu, Jian Zhao, and Yinbo Qu
Helically Agitated Mixing in Dry Dilute Acid Pretreatment Enhances the Bioconversion of Corn Stover into Ethanol; Yanqing He, Longping Zhang, Jian Zhang, and Jie Bao
Tween 40 Pretreatment of Unwashed Water-Insoluble Solids of Reed Straw and Corn Stover Pretreated with Liquid Hot Water to Obtain High Concentrations of Bioethanol; Jie Lu, Xuezhi Li, Ruifeng Yang, Jian Zhao, and Yinbo Qu
The Development and Use of an ELISA-Based Method to Follow the Distribution of Cellulase Monocomponents During the Hydrolysis of Pretreated Corn Stover; Amadeus Y. Pribowo, Jinguang Hu, Valdeir Arantes, and Jack N. Saddler
Understanding of Alkaline Pretreatment Parameters for Corn Stover Enzymatic Saccharification; Ye Chen, Mark A. Stevens, Yongming Zhu, Jason Holmes, and Hui Xu
Simultaneous Saccharification and Co-Fermentation for Bioethanol Production Using Corncobs at Lab, PDU, and Demo Scales; Rakesh Koppram, Fredrik Nielsen, Eva Albers, Annika Lambert, Sune Wännström, Lars Welin, Guido Zacchi, and Lisbeth Olsson
Comparison of Enzymatic Reactivity of Corn Stover Solids Prepared by Dilute Acid, AFEX™, and Ionic Liquid Pretreatments; Xiadi Gao, Rajeev Kumar, Seema Singh, Blake A. Simmons, Venkatesh Balan, Bruce E. Dale, and Charles E. Wyman
Part III: Considerations for Policy Formation
Technoeconomic and Policy Analysis for Corn Stover Biofuels; Ryan Petter and Wallace E. Tyner
Land Usage Attributed to Corn Ethanol Production in the United States: Sensitivity to Technological Advances in Corn Grain Yield, Ethanol Conversion, and Co-Product Utilization; Rita H. Mumm, Peter D. Goldsmith, Kent D. Rausch, and Hans H. Stein
Land-Use Change and Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Corn and Cellulosic Ethanol; Jennifer B. Dunn, Steffen Mueller, Ho-Young Kwon, and Michael Q. Wang
Index
Biography
Barnabas Gikonyo graduated from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois (2007), with a PhD in organic and materials chemistry. He currently teaches organic and general chemistry classes at the State University of New York Geneseo, along with corresponding laboratories and the oversight of general chemistry labs. His research interests range from the application of various biocompatible, polymeric materials as "biomaterial bridging surfaces" for the repair of spinal cord injuries, to the use of osteoconductive cements for the repair of critical sized bone defects/fractures. Currently, he is studying the development of alternative, non-food biofuels.
