SYNOPSIS

Fossil fuels as oil, coal and natural gases have become the prime sources
of energy in the current era. However, it is anticipated that these sources will
deplete within the nest 40-50 years. The expected environmental damages like
global warming, acid rain and urban smog have tempted us to reduce the
carbon emissions by 80% and shift toward utilizing a variety of renewable
energy resources such as solar, wind, biofuel, etc., that are less
environmentally harmful in a sustainable way. Energy crops constitute
significant potential for meeting the future energy need worldwide. In addition,
agriculture lands offer an alternative to the agriculture which is referred to as
energy farming.

The studies on energy crops in production show that they are quite an
economical and environmentally beneficial way of sustainable energy
production. Ethanol is one of the most promising alternative biofuel. Today
most of the developed countries use staples such as corn, sugar beet, soybean,
rapeseed, and wheat in order to obtain energy. Moreover, bioethanol is mostly
produced from sugarcane and corn and biodiesel from oilseed plants. It is
produced through the process of fermentation and distillation. The
consumption of bioethanol as biofuel may reduce greenhouse gases, gasoline
imports. The most common use of Ethanol fuel is by blending it with gasoline.

The aim of this project is to study about Bioethanol production from

different feedstocks like sucrose based feedstocks, starch based feedstock,
lignocellulosic based feedstocks, conversion paths for ethanol from
lignocellulosic feedstock, fuel properties and benefits of bioethanol.