Waste-to-Energy: Tapioca Solid Waste-to-Ethanol

Abstract

Considerable attention has been given in recent years to the development of alcohol production technology due to increasing demand for petrol. Ethanol has been known for a long time, being perhaps the oldest product obtained through traditional biotechnology. Several renewable carbohydrate resources have been tested for the production ethanol as a liquid fuel. It is expected that the demand for ethanol for transportation purposes will increase drastically in the near future. The usage of bio-based products and bio-energy will reduce the import of oil products. Sugarcane is the main raw material for ethanol production in India. Similar to ethanol production from sugarcane, the utilization of bio-waste as an alternate raw material can quench the demand for ethanol. By using biomass-derived ethanol, a net reduction in the levels of carbon dioxide (the main greenhouse gas) could range from 60-90% relative to gasoline consuming vehicles. This paper aims to quantify the availability of raw material and develop suitable metabolic engineering for the bio-ethanol production using microbial platforms from tapioca solid waste.