Pretreatment, Enzymatic Hydrolysis, and Fermentation Applied to Ethanol from Lignocellulosic Biomasses

Dear Colleagues,

The growing world demand for increased food production, combined with pressure from society and environmental agencies to reduce the need for fuels obtained from non-renewable energy sources, makes the production of ethanol obtained from lignocellulosic residues, also known as second-generation ethanol, of particular importance in the current scenario. In 2021, the production of ethanol in the world’s largest producing countries of this commodity, the United States of America and Brazil, was 15 and 7.5 billion liters of liters, respectively, which are considerable values if we take into account the effect of COVID-19 on the world by 2020. However, unlike molasses and starchy materials or other saccharine sources, the recovery of sugars from lignocellulosic materials and the reduction in enzyme costs are some of the challenges to be overcome for the effective use of ethanol production at an industrial level. In this context, the pre-treatment and hydrolysis steps are essential for a successful process, with two more steps, fermentation and distillation. The latter is not the focus of this edition. Pre-treatment removes hemicellulose and lignin, the latter associated with low enzymatic digestibility. In turn, hydrolysis and fermentation steps have been carried out by means of different strategies, e.g., separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF), simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF), and saccharification and semi-simultaneous fermentation (SSSF). They aim to reach a higher yield of fermentable sugars and a higher conversion of sugars into ethanol. In this context, the present edition highlights these three main steps and the use of different strategies applied to lignocellulosic biomass for second-generation ethanol. Additionally, it aims to contribute to the state of the art and to highlight the importance of ethanol from lignocellulosic biomass.

Prof. Dr. Everaldo Silvino dos Santos
Guest Editor

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• biomass pretreatment
• cellulase enzymatic loading
• lignocellulosic enzymes
• saccharification and semi-simultaneous fermentation (SSSF)
• second-generation ethanol production
• separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF)
• simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF)