Softwood Ethanol Research at Georgia Tech
Prior to President Bush’s proposed initiative in his 2006 State of the Union Address, in regards to endorsing methods of alternative fuel production, a massive movement has been in motion to find energy replacements for fossil fuels. Wood based ethanol is at the forefront of this energy movement. Ethanol is a naturally renewable resource that produces significantly less bio-hazardous waste than gasoline. Currently, technologies involving ethanol include ethanol serving as an octane enhancer or a chief fuel source. With the latest methods, ethanol is extracted from wood via wood hydrolysis (such as enzymatic and acid-catalyzed) and fermentation of primary sugars contained in wood, cellulose and hemicellulose.
Georgia Tech has recently joined with the C2 Biofuels LLC company to research and create technologies for a facility in South Georgia, that would produce 50 million gallons of ethanol per year from wood pulp.
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