Cellulose, together with lignin and hemicelluloses, is found in the cell walls of plants and is primarily used to manufacture pulp and paper products, textiles and fibres. However, cellulose has been proposed as an alternative source of its component sugar, glucose. Glucose can be readily fermented to ethanol which is considered a valuable biofuel.
Hence, it is conceivable that cellulose could be used as a source of “bio-ethanol”.
Ethanol is currently produced by hydration of ethylene from petroleum stocks or from natural starches from corn and sugar from sugarcane and beet. However, corn and sugar are a valuable food source in their own right. Thus, it would be most desirable to obtain ethanol from a non-food source and in particular, as a waste product.
Current methods involving fractionation of lignocellulosic material for cellulose are inefficient, costly and produce pollutants, with the process of separation often proving difficult.
Researchers at QUT have developed a new, efficient method for the extraction of cellulose from lignocellulosic material and LER holds exclusive rights to this technology.
