title: Bioethanol from lignocellulosic biomass: current findings determine research priorities.
abstract: "Second generation" bioethanol, with lignocellulose material as feedstock, is a promising alternative for first generation bioethanol. This paper provides an overview of the current status and reveals the bottlenecks that hamper its implementation. The current literature specifies a conversion of biomass to bioethanol of 30 to ~50% only. Novel processes increase the conversion yield to about 92% of the theoretical yield. New combined processes reduce both the number of operational steps and the production of inhibitors. Recent advances in genetically engineered microorganisms are promising for higher alcohol tolerance and conversion efficiency. By combining advanced systems and by intensive additional research to eliminate current bottlenecks, second generation bioethanol could surpass the traditional first generation processes.
authors.affiliation: Key Lab of Bioprocess, College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China ; Department of Chemical Engineering, Process and Environmental Technology Lab, KU Leuven, 2860 Sint-Katelijne-Waver, Belgium.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Process and Environmental Technology Lab, KU Leuven, 2860 Sint-Katelijne-Waver, Belgium.
authors.forename: Lise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Appels
authors.affiliation: Key Lab of Bioprocess, College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China.
authors.forename: Tianwei
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Process and Environmental Technology Lab, KU Leuven, 2860 Sint-Katelijne-Waver, Belgium.
authors.forename: Raf
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-4717-5484
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dewil
mesh_terms: D056804:Biofuels; D018533:Biomass; D001709:Biotechnology; D000431:Ethanol / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D005285:Fermentation; D005818:Genetic Engineering; D006801:Humans; D006868:Hydrolysis; D008031:Lignin / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; C036909:lignocellulose; D000431:Ethanol; D008031:Lignin