Ethanol from rice straws

The Manilla Times (Phillipines)
Sunday, June 22, 2008

CENTER OF GRAVITY
By Rony V. Diaz

THE experiment by three researchers at the Ateneo de Manila University has deepened our understanding of the sequence of biochemical reactions that lead to the production of ethanol.
On May 20, 2008, Crisanto Lopez, the team’s adviser, told The Manila Times that the extraction of ethanol from rice straws solves the food versus biofuel conundrum.

Miguel Angelo Vicente, Dulce Marie Romea and Jose Maria Villamor used three microorganisms to break down the lignin, to produce cellulase and to ferment it into ethanol.

“The results,” they said, “were compared to the results of a control set-up which simulated the procedure . . . in industrial ethanol production.”

Their paper has still to be published in a refereed journal.

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