Biorefineries using crops for production of ethanol, biogas and chemicals - Biomass as Energy Source: Resources, Systems and Applications - page 159

Figure 9.13. System improvements.

During Tianguan's bio-ethanol production process, the main raw material is still food, and
this does not match with “no competing with people for food, no competing with food for room”
raised by the Chinese government. Besides, the current production cost of fuel ethanol is still high,
which makes the ethanol produced not competitively priced compared with gasoline. Therefore,
Tianguan Group is actively developing the technology research and industrialization demonstra-
tion to turn the cellulose-rich biomass (including stalks, wheat straw, rice straw, tree branches,
etc.) into ethanol. In 2009, Tianguan Group completed the construction of a cellulosic ethanol
industry model line with an annual output of 10,000 tonnes ethanol, which is currently in con-
tinuous operation, and its running condition is good. The breakthrough of cellulosic ethanol
industrialization technology will bring profound influence to the bio-ethanol industry.
To speed up the pace of industrial waste utilization, to achieve a full utilization of fuel ethanol's
industrial waste, to build a recycling industrial ecological chain network of intermediate products,
waste and energy in each system, and to support the existing industrial base, several advanced
bio-energies and chemical and industrial technologies are used in realizing the industrial break-
through of key link technologies. The focus is to develop a biomass waste → ethanol → ethylene

and downstream products industry chain and ethanol by-product carbon dioxide biodegrad-

able materials (or chemicals such as dim ethyl carbonate, etc.) and downstream industry chain,
biodiesel byproduct glycerin

→

→ 1,3-propanediol → polyethylene terephthalate, etc.

REFERENCES

Du, F. & Hu, S.: The development and application of key technologies of the resource recycling in alcohol
industrial zone (R). Studies and reports of fund projects, China National Technology Support Program
(2006BAC02A17) Beijing, China, 2010.
Li, S.: The studies of biomass fuel ethanol business under recycling economic mode (D). PhD Thesis,
Agricultural University, Beijing, China, 2005.