Emerging technologies in ethanol production. Agriculture information bulletin

The fuel ethanol industry is poised to adopt a wide range of technologies that would reduce costs at every stage of the production process. Improved enzymes and fermenter designs can reduce the time needed to convert corn to ethanol and lower capital costs. Membrane filtration can allow the recovery of high-value coproducts such as lactic acid. Adoption of these and other innovations in the next 5 years is expected in new ethanol plants constructed to cope with new demand resulting from Clean Air Act stipulations for cleaner burning fuel. Biomass (agricultural residues, municipal and yard waste, energy crops like switchgrass) can also be converted to ethanol, although commercial-scale ventures are limited by current technology. While biomass requires more handling and sorting before conversion, those costs may be offset by the abundance of biomass relative to corn.