Questions re: cellulosic ethanol.

[amandabeech]

I have a couple of questions about cellulosic ethanol. Please note that I have doubts that there is a positive EROEI in the process, but I'm not asking questions directly related to that topic.

1. What remains from a plant once the sugars are extracted?

I have read that lignin is left, but what of the elements like nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and trace elements that are necessary for plant growth. What about other elements or compounds that the plant may have picked up from the soil?


2. Are there any uses for the leftovers?

I have read that lignin is the same as lignite and can be burned to produce electricity. What would be left in the ashes of the combustion process? If the plant contained hazardous substances, could the lignin be burned or would the remains have to be properly disposed of?


I would appreciate it if your answers were comprehensible to intelligent non-scientists, like me.

Amanda

[Another Bill C.]

1. Google gives 4,280,000 hits for ethanol

There's a lot of information on ethanol on the Web.
From http://www.ncga.com/ethanol/main/
"Ethanol isn’t the only product manufactured by ethanol plants. A coproduct of the ethanol process is distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS), a high-protein, high-energy livestock feed. Though DDGS have long been fed to beef and dairy cattle, swine and poultry producers are beginning to see the value of including DDGS in their feed rations."

[amandabeech]

2. Thanks for answering, but you are not talking about cellulosic

or wood ethanol, which is produced from the stems and leaves of plants, not their seeds which contain starch.

Cellulosic ethanol requires enzymes to break down the plant structures to release sugars, which can then be made into ethanol, similarly to corn ethanol.

I have done some googling, but I can seem to get any specific answers to my questions concerning cellulosic ethanol.

[Coastie for Truth]

3. You may want to search the phrasze "enzyme catalyzed" or

"enzyme pathway" to a search string of "cellulose OR cellulosic" AND ethanol.

Also, you may want to go to . I searched on "((cellulose or cellulosic) AND (enzyme) AND (ethanol))" with the following results:

No field limitations - 27,000+ hits - probably most irrelevany

Search string had to appear in the "Abstract field" - 7 hits

1 6,102,690 Recombinant organisms capable of fermenting cellobiose

2 6,090,595 Pretreatment process for conversion of cellulose to fuel ethanol

3 6,015,703 Genetic constructs and genetically modified microbes for enhanced production of beta-glucosidase

4 5,916,780 Pretreatment process for conversion of cellulose to fuel ethanol

5 5,196,069 Apparatus and method for cellulose processing using microwave pretreatment

6 4,126,606 Physiologically active peptides and a process for preparation thereof

7 3,948,882 Process for the production of a 1-N((S)-.alpha.-hydroxy-.omega.-aminoacyl)-3',4'-dideoxyneamine or -3',4'- d

Next I tried it with the search string in the "claims" ACLM/((cellulose or cellulosic) AND (enzyme) AND (ethanol)) - with 71 "hits"

1 6,897,072 Probes for a gas phase ion spectrometer

2 6,825,308 Copolymers and preparation thereof

3 6,761,903 Clear oil-containing pharmaceutical compositions containing a therapeutic agent

4 6,696,090 Electro-powder

5 6,677,427 Enzyme-catalyzed polyamides and compositions and processes of preparing and using the same

6 6,652,875 Casein formulations for the delivery of bioactive constituents

7 6,586,212 Corn fiber for the production of advanced chemicals and materials: derivatizable cellulose and cellulose derivatives made therefrom

8 6,555,350 Method for processing lignocellulosic material

9 6,551,578 Modulated release particles for aerosol delivery

10 6,514,526 Coated starch capsules and a process for producing them

11 6,503,702 Rapid immunoassay for detection of antibodies or antigens incorporating simultaneous sample extraction and immunogenic reaction

12 6,485,950 Isozyme of autoclavable superoxide dismutase (SOD), a process for the identification and extraction of the SOD in cosmetic, food and pharmaceutical compositions

13 6,388,069 Corn fiber for the production of advanced chemicals and materials:arabinoxylan and arabinoxylan derivatives made therefrom

14 6,379,721 Process for preparation of .alpha.-amylase from Tinospora cordifolia Miers useful for starch saccharification

15 6,352,845 Corn fiber for the production of advanced chemicals and materials: separation of monosaccharides and methods thereof

16 6,309,883 Methods and compositions for cellular and metabolic engineering

17 6,267,985 Clear oil-containing pharmaceutical compositions

18 6,251,643 Method for using a vegetable biomass and a screw press to carry out said method

19 6,146,497 Adhesives and resins, and processes for their production

20 6,057,438 Process for the co-production of dissolving-grade pulp and xylan

21 5,976,823 Low range total available chlorine test strip

22 5,952,313 LPS antagonists and methods of making and using the same

23 5,916,780 Pretreatment process for conversion of cellulose to fuel ethanol

24 5,875,286 Automated tissue assay using standarized chemicals and packages

25 5,811,254 Broad range total available chlorine test strip

26 5,804,684 Method for isolating nucleic acids

27 5,733,758 Tower reactors for bioconversion of lignocellulosic material

28 5,712,133 Pentose fermentation by recombinant zymomonas

29 5,695,928 Rapid immunoassay for detection of antibodies or antigens incorporating simultaneous sample extraction and immunogenic reaction

30 5,691,060 Utilization of a transacylation reaction between an esterified polysaccharide and a polyaminated or polyhydroxylated substance for fabricating microparticles, microparticles thus obtained, methods and compositions containing them

31 5,554,520 Ethanol production by recombinant hosts

32 5,503,996 Prehydrolysis of lignocellulose

33 5,487,989 Ethanol production by recombinant hosts

34 5,452,716 Method and device for in vivo measuring the concentration of a substance in the blood

35 5,436,329 Hypocariogenic hydrogenated saccharides

36 5,424,202 Ethanol production by recombinant hosts

37 5,348,871 Process for converting cellulosic materials into fuels and chemicals

38 5,260,074 Compositions of digestive enzymes and salts of bile acids and process for preparation thereof

39 5,254,673 Purification of zein from corn gluten meal

40 5,229,282 Preparation of biosensor having a layer containing an enzyme, electron acceptor and hydrophilic
polymer on an electrode system

41 5,212,044 Photoresist composition including polyphenol and sensitizer

42 5,198,353 Method for preparing stabilized enzyme dispersion

43 5,100,791 Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) using cellobiose fermenting yeast Brettanomyces custersii

44 5,006,126 Cellulase compositions and methods that introduce variations in color density into cellulosic fabrics, particularly indigo dyed denim

45 4,970,216 Skin treatment composition and method

46 4,900,666 Colorimetric ethanol analysis method and test device

47 4,849,345 L-phenylalanine dehydrogenase and use thereof

48 4,847,267 Skin treatment composition and method

49 4,529,587 Method of reducing sebum on the hair and skin

50 4,524,137 Preparation of catalysts for biochemical conversion reactions


51 4,489,158 Binding assay for the detection of mycobacteria

52 4,450,153 Alcohol removal from blood with alcohol oxidase

53 4,418,148 Multilayer enzyme electrode membrane

54 4,409,329 Saccharification method

55 4,400,470 Use of co-cultures in the production of ethanol by the fermentation of biomass

56 4,389,396 Immunostimulating preparations based on ribosomal RNA's and a process for the preparation of the RNA's

57 4,376,163 Process for producing ethanol by continuous fermentation of polysaccharide-containing raw materials

58 4,361,648 Color fixed chromogenic analytical element

59 4,326,036 Production of ethanol from sugar cane

60 4,321,328 Process for making ethanol and fuel product

61 4,291,124 Process for the acid hydrolysis of carbohydrate polymers and the continuous fermentation of the sugars obtained therefrom to provide ethanol

62 4,278,593 Glucocorticoid sparing factor and process for the production of the same

63 4,264,733 Natural hexuronyl hexosaminoglycane sulfate, method for the preparation thereof and related therapeutical uses

64 4,242,455 Process for the acid hydrolysis of carbohydrate polymers and the continuous fermentation of the sugars _obtained therefrom to provide ethanol

65 4,225,672 Method for producing maltooligosaccharide glycosides

66 4,220,721 Method for enzyme reutilization

67 4,102,806 Method of producing microcapsules and resulting product

68 4,079,125 Preparation of enteric coated digestive enzyme compositions

69 4,071,037 Preparation and method of use of enzyme effective for conversion and detection of carbon monoxide

70 4,009,075 Process for making alcohol from cellulosic material using plural ferments

71 3,947,324 Method for isolating high purity peroxidase

I would not search the "full text" option - do a "field limitation"

Left click on either the patent number of the title to see the patent.

Good luck.