[Stoves] Cellulosic Ethanol a dead end

[Kevin Chisholm]

Dear AD

If a cow cannot eat and digest straw, would this not suggest that the 
methanogenic bacteria could not digest it either, to produce methane?

Iogen was able to get 90% digestibility of wood chips in-vitro and in 
vivo after steam processing. Such pre-treatment of straw might then 
permit methane production.

Best wishes,

Kevin

adkarve wrote:
> Dear Tom,
> good to hear the voice of sanity again. Whenever I voice the same views here
> in India, I am always told of a new process having been developed by
> somebody or other for making ethanol from cellulose. Cellulose is the most
> abundantly available natural organic substance in the world, so it is very
> tempting if it can be converted into ethanol.  I had known about the
> difficulties in producing ethanol from cellulose since long ago, namely that
> cellulolytic microbes do not produce free glucose for other microbes to use.
> I therefore advocate that ligno-cellulose should either be burned to produce
> heat or be used for producing methane instead. We are working on a biogas
> plant that produces methane from green leaves. As raw material we want to
> use green leafy biomass generated daily by urban vegetable markets.
> Alternatively, one can use dedicated fields that produce the necessary leafy
> biomass. We are also trying to develop a biogas plant for producing methane
> from dry agricultural waste, like straw of wheat or rice, sugarcane leaves,
> etc.
> Yours
> A.D.Karve
>