Bioethanol corn-based

Approximately 98% of US bioethanol is based on com (Zea Mays), a raw starchy material produced in high quantities in that country (14,216 MkT in 2014). Total domestic use of corn in US was 11,883 MkT in the same year. From that amount, 5208 MkT of com were used for ethanol production, 5315 MkT for feed and residual use purposes, while the rest was transformed into high-fructose com symp, sugars (glucose and dextrose), starch, alcohol for beverages and manufacturing, seeds, cereals, and other products (Service, 2015). 

Both in the USA and the EU, the introduction of renewable fuels standards is likely to increase considerably the consumption of bioethanol. Lignocelluloses from agricultural and forest industry residues and/or the carbohydrate fraction of municipal solid waste (MSW) will be the future source of biomass, but starch-rich sources such as corn grain (the major raw material for ethanol in USA) and sugar cane (in Brazil) are currently used. Although land devoted to fuel could reduce land available for food production, this is at present not a serious problem, but could become progressively more important with increasing use of bioethanol. For this reason, it is important to utilize other crops that could be cultivated in unused land (an important social factor to preserve rural populations) and, especially, start to use cellulose-based feedstocks and waste materials as raw material. 

Bioethanol is one of the first and the largest markets to profit from cheap biomass feedstock. Ethanol is usually produced from dextrose, which in the USA tends to derive from corn. The first ethanol biorefmery based on waste biomass is already online. It is a Canadian venture operated by Iogen and receiving investment from Shell, Petro Canada, and the Canadian government. With an annual capacity of 700,000 liters it is semi-commercial in scale and not cost-competitive with conventional ethanol refineries. However, the technology is expected to improve quickly. 

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