Ethanol as an alternative fuel from agricultural, industrial and urban residues

With world reserves of petroleum fast depleting, in recent years ethanol has emerged as most important alternative resource for liquid fuel and has generated a great deal of research interest in ethanol fermentation. Research on improving ethanol production has been accelerating for both ecological and economical reasons, primarily for its use as an alternative to petroleum based fuels. Field crops offer potential source of fuel, offering promise as large-scale energy and based on its genetic diversity, climatic adaptation, biomass and sugar production. Lignocellulosic biomass is the most abundant organic raw material in the world. Production of ethanol from renewable lignocellulosic resources may improve energy availability, decrease air pollution and diminish atmospheric CO2 accumulation. The aim of the present review is to highlight on major agricultural, industrial and urban waste, which could be used for ethanol production in an ecofriendly and profitable manner. Primarily, the utilization of these wastes for ethanol production will reduce dependency on foreign oil and secondly, this will remove disposal problem of wastes and make environment safe from pollution. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.