Biological Conversion of Municipal Solid Waste to Ethanol

Municipal solid waste (MSW) is one of the lowest cost feedstock sources for cellulosic ethanol production. Clearly, MSW-ethanol can help address waste disposal challenges, augment the diversity of the domestic energy resource base, help mitigate the impact of potential fuel supply disruption, and improve energy security. In this study, data is reported on sugar, lignin, inhibitors, and ethanol recovery profiles for various portions of MSW including final alternative daily cover (ADC), woody waste, and ADC grass pretreated in a batch reactor with dilute sulfuric acid. Particular attention is focused on evaluating the use of our lignin blocking technology to solve problems with contamination by MSW and improve yields and costs for biological production of MSW-ethanol. In addition, techno-economic models of MSW-ethanol processing were developed to project production costs and define opportunities for improvement.