Acceleration of Bioethanol Production and Its Upgrading

Dear Colleagues,

For sustainability and comfort purposes, biofuels are necessary. Biofuels are produced in a clean way under modest reaction conditions using microorganisms such as yeast (fungus), amylase, cellulase (enzymes) and bacteria (Zymomonas mobilis). Yeast metabolizes carbohydrates like sugar and glucose and yields bioethanol with CO2 and glycerol and several other compounds as secondary metabolytes. The knowledge regarding fermentation has massively increased since its first use in the Biblical times by Nova. To make demand-based production of bioethanol possible, several strategies have been developed for the acceleration of kinetics of bioethanol production. Some of them include unconventional methods of activation like mild sonication, removal of formed ethanol from the broth on a continuous basis using solar energy, unique design of fermentors, engineering of microorganisms and many others. Such advances made by scientists in the field of bioethanol have made bioethanol  one of the most promising petroleum alternatives, only next to biodiesel. The use of bioethanol for transportation applications reduces the dependence on fossil fuels. Moreover, owing to the closed loop operation, CO2 emissions are also minimized. This solves the linked problems of energy crises and environmental deterioration by the use of bioethanol as an alternative to petroleum-based fuels. Immense research and development activity is currently going on in this field and a breakthrough is anticipated in the production of cellulosic ethanol in large scales for commercial use in day to day applications. To disseminate the knowledge being generated at a rapid pace, we propose a Special Issue on this subject. We expect enthusiastic contribution from the research community world-wide, making our effort successful.

Scope:

• Fermentation of carbohydrates;
• Fermentation of cellulose;
• Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation;
• Reaction design technology;
• Solar energy for acceleration fermentation;
• Ultrasound for accelerating fermentation;
• Mechanical methods for acceleration of fermentation;
• Solid-state fermentation;
• Membrane technology for bioethanol separation;
• Accelerated bioethanol production;
• Biohydrogen from bioethanol;
• Higher alcohols from bioethanol.

Dr. Indra Neel Pulidindi
Prof. Dr. Aharon Gedanken
Guest Editors

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