A comparative evaluation of poplar and wheat straw to biofuels using hydrothermal pretreatment

Among hardwood species, Poplar has emerged as a potential front-runner for large- scale biofuel production. Short-rotation & easy plantation on both forest and crop land are two main attributes which make it well suited for biofuel production. Moreover, new tailor-made poplar clones engineered with genome sequencing have made possible to have dedicated woody energy crop for biofuel. In 2009, Inbicon built a demonstration plant to convert Danish wheat straw to 2G ethanol using a hydrothermal pretreatment technology. However, commercialization of any demonstration plants is still to come into existence around the globe. Therefore, Poplar is likely to become a promising alternative source of lignocellulosic biomass for the production of biofuel. 

The study compares poplar and wheat straw by using hydrothermal pretreatment and subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis. The release of carbohydrates upon enzymatic hydrolysis will be compared to the chemical and physical composition of the two feedstocks. The potential factors determining the recalcitrance of hardwood vs. cereal straw will be described and discussed.

Acknowledgment: This work is financed by "The Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation".