Production of bioethanol by using pretreated coconut husk as carbon source

Thesis Overview

<p> </p><p><strong>INTRODUCTION</strong></p><p><strong>1.1 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Energy Sources</strong><br><br>In recent years, the negative impacts of fossil fuels such as global warming, greenhouse gases emissions and the fast depletion of fossil resources have resulted in an increased interest in the research of alternate power or sustainable energy such as biofuel (Palma et al., 2012). Bioethanol has been considered a better choice than conventional fuels, as it reduces the dependence on reserves of crude oil. Bioethanol also promises cleaner combustion, lower emissions of air pollutants, high octane rating and more resistant to engine knock, which may overall lead to a healthier environment because it is carbon neutral and essentially free from sulfur and aromatics (Bailey, 1996; Prasad et al., 2007; Gupta et al., 2009).</p><p>Today, bioethanol is one of the most dominant biofuel and its global production has increased sharply since year 2000. Generally, current production of bioethanol comes from sugar and starch-based materials such as sugarcane and grains (Dermirbas, 2009). However, considering the growing demand for human food,<br><br>&nbsp;lignocellulosic biomass has arisen as a more suitable feedstock for bioethanol production and a viable long-term option for bioethanol production as compared to the other two groups of raw material (Hamelinck et al., 2005). Lignocellulosic material is the most abundant plant biomass resources that can be used in bioethanol production industry. Examples of lignocelluloses are woody biomass, logging residues, energy crops (i.e. switchgrass and poplar), agricultural residues (i.e. wheat straw, rice straw and corn stover), agricultural by-products (i.e. rice hull, sugarcare bagasse) and municipal solid waste (Tan et al., 2008; Duku et al., 2011).<br><br>The lignocellulosic feedstock used in the current study for bioethanol production was the coconut husk. Coconuts are abundantly growing in coastal areas of all tropical countries. In Malaysia, about 115,000 ha of land were being used for coconut plantation in Year 2010 (Sulaiman et al., 2013). It was estimated that approximately 5.3 tons of coconut husk will become available per hectare of coconut. Some of the coconut husk was used as fibre source for rope and mats but most of the coconut husks are routinely disposed of after the coconut water is sold (Tan et al., 2008). This makes coconut husk a cheap and potential substrate that could be used for bioethanol production due to the presence of relatively high levels of cellulose and hemicelluloses in it (van Dam et al., 2004).<br><strong>&nbsp;1.2 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Problem Statement</strong></p> <br><p></p>