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Abstract
Climate change, fuel security and economics are creating a requirement for alternative, renewable fuels. Bioethanol is currently produced from land-based crops but in future marine biomass could be used as an alternative biomass source for bioethanol production. Macroalgae such as Laminaria spp. grow in abundance around the United Kingdom, reaching >4 m in length and containing up to 55% dry weight of the carbohydrates laminarin and mannitol. Using enzymes, these can be hydrolysed and converted to glucose and fructose, which in turn can be utilised by yeasts to produce ethanol. In previous studies on ethanol production from macroalgae, pre-treatment was at 65°C, pH 2 for 1 h prior to fermentation. This paper shows that these pre-treatments are not required for the fermentations conducted, with higher ethanol yields being achieved in untreated fermentations than in those with altered pH or temperature pre-treatments. This result was seen in fresh and defrosted macroalgae samples using Saccharomyces cerevisiae and 1 U kg−1 laminarinase.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 569-574 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Journal of Applied Phycology |
Volume | 21 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Oct 2009 |
Event | 3rd Congress of the International Society for Applied Phycology and the 11th International Conference on Applied Phycology - Galway, Ireland Duration: 21 Jun 2008 → 27 Jun 2008 |
Keywords
- Bioethanol
- Fermentation
- Laminaria
- Macroalgae
- Saccharina latissima
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Dive into the research topics of 'Fermentation study on Saccharina latissima for bioethanol production considering variable pre-treatments'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 1 Finished
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Carbohydrate metabolism and resource allocation in grasses
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
01 Apr 2008 → 31 Mar 2012
Project: Externally funded research