Researchers at Washington State University have pioneered a method to convert corn stover into affordable sugar for biofuel production, potentially revolutionizing the renewable energy sector.
In a significant breakthrough, scientists led by Washington State University have developed a new method to transform corn stalks and other crop waste into low-cost sugar, a vital component for biofuel production.
This research, published in the journal Bioresource Technology, offers an economically feasible pathway to sustainable biofuels, potentially transforming the renewable energy landscape.
The research team utilized ammonium sulfite-based alkali salts to process corn stover — comprising the leftover stalks, husks and other residues from corn — to yield an inexpensive sugar that can be used in biofuel and bioproduct manufacturing.
“Inexpensive sugar is the key to commercial success for new technologies that make fuels and useful products from renewable biomass,” lead investigator Bin Yang, a professor of biological systems engineering at WSU, said in a new release.
Despite the abundant availability of biomass, its complex structures — dominated by cellulose and lignin — make it cost-intensive to process.
Yang, along with collaborators from the University of Connecticut, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), USDA Forest Products Lab and Washington University in St. Louis, aimed to devise a method that could efficiently and cost-competitively convert this biomass into fermentable sugar.
Their innovative technique involves pretreating corn stover with potassium hydroxide and ammonium sulfite under mild temperatures. This treatment facilitates the breakdown of cellulosic polymers by enzymes into sugars, which can be fermented into biofuels without incurring additional chemical recovery costs.
The sugar produced through this method has the potential to be sold for as low as 28 cents per pound, challenging the competitiveness of low-cost imported sugar.
“This patent-pending process produces high-quality fermentable sugar for the biorefinery — the industrial process turning plant matter into fuel — as well as fertilizer that can replenish soil nutrients for farmers,” Yang added. “There’s no waste stream.”
This research marks a significant step forward in the effort to make biofuels more economically viable. The project, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office, underscores a commitment to advancing sustainable technologies.
“In the next phase, we will be advancing our pretreatment technology at a pilot scale,” added principal investigator Xiaowen Chen, a scientist at NREL.
Source: Washington State University