Better method makes ethanol from waste

William Atkins
Sunday, 21 February 2010 02:08

Science - Energy

Groundbreaking discovery could one day be used to produce ethanol from waste products, such as thrown away orange peels, newspapers, even, cigarette butts. The process is called a "plant-derived enzyme cocktail."



Dr. Henry Daniell, from the University of Central Florida, has developed a 'groundbreaking' technique that is less expensive than current methods to make ethanol, and it is more environmentally friendly than these current ethanol production methods.

Daniell states that the process his team has developed could be used to produce ethanol from the discarded peels of oranges, grapefruit, bananas, and other various fruits.

In fact, Daniell states that discarded orange peels from Florida, one of the major orange producing areas of the world, could produce up to 200 million gallons of ethanol each year. [Statistics provided by the February 20, 2010 DailyTech.com article 'Breakthrough Makes Ethanol Production Cheaper Thanks to Orange Peels, Newspapers']

Currently, most ethanol production comes from corn, but the process is not very efficient and not as "green" as it should be.

However, with Daniell's new process, non-food consumption waste products could be substituted for corn, such as rinds from watermelons, thrown-away newspapers, and switchgrass (produced on lands unsuitable for farm production),

Page two quotes from Dr. Daniell, along with provides a summary of the process his team created to make ethanol from discarded waste products.