What is an “integrated cellulosic ethanol biorefinery system”?
The greatest challenge to the commercialization of cellulosic ethanol is the integration of three distinct processes: pretreatment, enzyme hydrolysis, and fermentation to ethanol. Each has its own distinct challenges. Many companies focus on one or more of the processes, but very few bring a “system” approach to integrating the three processes. The performance of each process is dependent on the others, so optimizing each one for system-wide efficient ethanol production requires trade-offs between and co-evolution of each process.
