New Research: Ethanol from Glycerin

from CheckBiotech:
By Anduin Kirkbride McElroy

Last year, a way to connect the ethanol and biodiesel industries was revealed when it was determined that biodiesel could be a value-added product for ethanol plants through corn oil extraction technology. This year, researchers at Rice University in Houston have discovered yet another link. This new concept is centered on a technology that converts glycerin, a byproduct of biodiesel production, into ethanol...

... In a comparison of feedstock and operating costs, Gonzalez found that ethanol from glycerol is 39 cents cheaper to produce than ethanol from corn. Feedstock costs per gallon were 53 cents for corn, versus 30 cents for glycerol. Per gallon operating costs were 52 cents for corn and just 36 cents for glycerol.

"The main reason for the difference in costs is that there is no preprocessing," Gonzalez says. In feedstock operations, the corn must be ground and cooked, and the sugar extracted.

"It is a process that is both capital and process intensive," Gonzalez says. "You need to work all the way from the corn grain until you get sugar, and then you start fermentation." Meanwhile, glycerin doesn't require those steps because it comes preprocessed. This means no enzymes to buy and less equipment.

The implications of this research are so promising that the process may be commercialized before cellulosic ethanol.

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