Current status and future trends of bioethanol production from agro-industrial wastes in Mexico

Agro-industrial lignocellulosic waste, an abundant source of non-food fermentable sugars, represent a potentially negative environmental impact due to unsuitable waste disposal issues, which can be attenuated when transformed to bioethanol. Several alternative processes have been developed for bioethanol production from a large variety of agro-industrial wastes (AIW) but the high economic costs of these technologies and variable substrate composition limit their implementation at commercial scale. Nevertheless, consolidated bioprocessing to produce bioethanol of second generation has been researched increasingly in recent years and it is, so far, the most promising fermentation approach for bioethanol production. Mexico ranks as one of the leading food producing countries worldwide with 818 agro-food products, 71 of which hold the first place by production volume at international level. However, strategies and specific actions for AIW management need to be incorporated. This paper discusses agro-industrial lignocellulosic waste potentials in Mexico for efficient production of second generation bioethanol using consolidated bioprocessing.