Rice Straws: Inexpensive Renewable Source of Biofuels. Biofuelshub.com

Written by Sabrina Deparine
Monday, 11 January 2010 10:13

A team of researchers from China have recently reported a discovery that can turn rice straw into a source of biofuel. Rice straw is the stem and leaves left behind after the grains have been harvested.

The new study conducted by the team details a new method of boosting the production of biofuels from rice straw. According to the expected results of the study, using rice straws as a renewable source of biofuels can increase the production by as much as 65%. No other further details about the study have been disclosed since it will be published in the ACS bi-monthly journal, Energy & Fuels.



As of now, the application of the new method is solely for the production of biofuels. Chinese scientists have not yet tried if for the production of biogas. According to them, they are still testing and finding ways to improve the process of breaking down the bacteria derived from the rice straws to its cellulose. This reaction step is not entirely easy due to the complex physical and chemical structures of lignocellulosic biomass.

To date, one of the scientists, Xiujin Li, has tried treating the rice straws with sodium hydroxide before allowing bacteria to ferment it to biogas. Results show that this step has increased biogas production by making more cellulose and other compositions in straw available for digestion by the bacteria.

To further study the new method of deriving biofuels as well as the pre-treatment step for biogas, three prototype facilities have already been constructed in China using this technology.

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