Download or read book A Cost Analysis for the Densification and Transportation of Cellulosic Biomass for Ethanol Production written by Jonathan Wilson and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The current forage handling equipment in the cellulosic ethanol industry is severely limited by the low bulk densities of baled and ground biomass. Low bulk densities contribute to flowability problems and lack of maximizing trailer capacities. By pelleting we can increase the bulk density and flowability characteristics of forages. The objectives of this research were to evaluate (1) the energy requirements of grinding sorghum stalks, corn stover, wheat straw and big bluestem through two different screen sizes, (2) the energy requirements of pelleting forages from the two grind sizes, and (3) the physical properties of our various end products. The two screen types were found to have significantly different energy consumptions from each other (P

Download or read book Cellulosic Ethanol from Wood Chips Cost Analysis Ethanol E52A written by Intratec and published by Intratec. This book was released on 2019-09-17 with total page 102 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report presents a cost analysis of second generation Ethanol production from wood chips using a biochemical conversion process. The process examined is similar to AVAP technology, developed by American Process. In this process, biomass is fractionated into cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin. The hemicellulose and cellulose are converted to monomer sugars, which are then fermented to produce hydrous Ethanol, while lignin is burned to generate electricity. This report was developed based essentially on the following reference(s): WO Patent 2011044378, issued to American Process in 2011 Keywords: Ethyl Alcohol, Bioethanol, Lignocellulosic Biomass, 2nd Generation, Cellulosic Sugar, Hemicelluloses, Cellulose

Download or read book Cellulosic Ethanol from Wood Chips Cost Analysis Ethanol E51A written by Intratec and published by Intratec Solutions. This book was released on 2016-05-01 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report presents a cost analysis of second generation Ethanol production from wood chips via a thermochemical process. The process examined is similar to the one reported by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). In this process, biomass is subjected to gasification generating syngas, which is then converted to hydrous Ethanol. The process employs concepts similar to those proposed in patents issued to Range Fuels. Mixed alcohols are generated as by-products. This report examines one-time costs associated with the construction of a United States-based plant and the continuing costs associated with the daily operation of such a plant. More specifically, it discusses: * Capital Investment, broken down by: - Total fixed capital required, divided in production unit (ISBL); infrastructure (OSBL) and contingency - Alternative perspective on the total fixed capital, divided in direct costs, indirect costs and contingency - Working capital and costs incurred during industrial plant commissioning and start-up * Production cost, broken down by: - Manufacturing variable costs (raw materials, utilities) - Manufacturing fixed costs (maintenance costs, operating charges, plant overhead, local taxes and insurance) - Depreciation and corporate overhead costs * Raw materials consumption, products generation and labor requirements * Process block flow diagram and description of industrial site installations (production unit and infrastructure) This report was developed based essentially on the following reference(s): Phillips, S., et al., "Thermochemical Ethanol via Indirect Gasification and Mixed Alcohol Synthesis of Lignocellulosic Biomass, " Report NREL/TP-510-41168, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), 2007 Keywords: Ethyl Alcohol, Bioethanol, Lignocellulosic Biomass, 2nd Generation, Cellulosic Sugar, Hemicelluloses, Cellulose

Download or read book Optimization of Cellulosic Biomass Analysis written by Dustin Shearer and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ethanol has become an important source of energy for transportation purposes in the U.S. The majority of the feedstock for this ethanol is corn grain. The use of crop residues and perennial grasses has been proposed as an alternative feedstock for ethanol production using cellulosic conversion processes. Commercial scale production of cellulosic ethanol is still on the horizon. In the meantime a wide variety of studies examining both the technical and economic feasibility of cellulosic ethanol production have been conducted. This is the first study that combines both county level cellulosic feedstock production and farmer participation rates to determine the feasibility of supplying it to cellulosic ethanol plants. This research determines the economic feasibility of supplying cellulosic feedstocks to seven potential add-on cellulosic ethanol plants of 25 million gallons per year at seven existing starch ethanol plants in Kansas. The feedstocks considered are corn stover, sorghum stalks, wheat straw, and perennial switchgrass. A mixed integer programing model determines the amount and mix of cellulosic feedstocks that can be delivered to these plants over a range of plant-gate feedstock prices given transportation costs and farm-gate production costs or breakeven prices. The variable costs of shipping are subtracted from the difference between plant-gate price and farm-gate price to find savings to the plant. The objective function of the model minimizes transportation costs which in turn maximizes savings to the plant. The role switchgrass may have as a feedstock given various switchgrass production subsidies is examined. The results indicate the minimum plant-gate price that must be paid to feedstock producers for all plants to have enough cellulosic feedstocks is $75 per dry ton. Switchgrass feedstocks were only a minor portion of biomass supplied and used without a production subsidy. A Biomass Crop Assistance Program payment increased the supply of switchgrass more than other production subsidies.

Download or read book Cellulosic Ethanol from Switchgrass Cost Analysis Ethanol E82A written by Intratec and published by Intratec. This book was released on 2019-09-17 with total page 102 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report presents a cost analysis of second generation Ethanol production from switchgrass using a biochemical conversion process. The process examined is similar to AVAP technology, developed by American Process. In this process, biomass is fractionated into cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin. The hemicellulose and cellulose are converted to monomer sugars, which are then fermented to produce hydrous Ethanol, while lignin is burned to generate electricity. This report was developed based essentially on the following reference(s): WO Patent 2011044378, issued to American Process in 2011 Keywords: Ethyl Alcohol, Bioethanol, Lignocellulosic Biomass, 2nd Generation, Cellulosic Sugar, Hemicelluloses, Cellulose

Download or read book Cellulosic Ethanol from Corn Stover Cost Analysis Ethanol E11A written by Intratec and published by Intratec Solutions. This book was released on 2016-05-01 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report presents a cost analysis of second generation Ethanol production from corn stover via a biochemical conversion process. The process examined is similar to the process reported by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). This process involves the following steps in the production of hydrous Ethanol: corn stover pretreatment with dilute acid and ammonia conditioning; enzymatic hydrolysis; and fermentation. Electricity is also generated as by-product. This report examines one-time costs associated with the construction of a United States-based plant and the continuing costs associated with the daily operation of such a plant. More specifically, it discusses: * Capital Investment, broken down by: - Total fixed capital required, divided in production unit (ISBL); infrastructure (OSBL) and contingency - Alternative perspective on the total fixed capital, divided in direct costs, indirect costs and contingency - Working capital and costs incurred during industrial plant commissioning and start-up * Production cost, broken down by: - Manufacturing variable costs (raw materials, utilities) - Manufacturing fixed costs (maintenance costs, operating charges, plant overhead, local taxes and insurance) - Depreciation and corporate overhead costs * Raw materials consumption, products generation and labor requirements * Process block flow diagram and description of industrial site installations (production unit and infrastructure) This report was developed based essentially on the following reference(s): Humbird, D., et al., "Process Design and Economics for Biochemical Conversion of Lignocellulosic Biomass to Ethanol, " Report NREL/TP-5100-47764, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), 2011 Keywords: Ethyl Alcohol, Bioethanol, Lignocellulosic Biomass, 2nd Generation, Cellulosic Sugar, Hemicelluloses, Cellulose

Download or read book Cellulosic Ethanol from Wood Chips Cost Analysis Ethanol E53A written by Intratec and published by Intratec. This book was released on 2019-09-17 with total page 102 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report presents a cost analysis of second generation Ethanol production from wood chips using a biochemical conversion process. The process examined is similar to GreenPower, developed by American Process. In this process, hemicelluloses are extracted from biomass and used to produce hydrous Ethanol. The rest of the biomass is burned to generate electricity. In addition, a potassium acetate solution is also generated as by-product. This report was developed based essentially on the following reference(s): US Patent 20110195468, issued to American Process in 2011 Keywords: Ethyl Alcohol, Bioethanol, Lignocellulosic Biomass, 2nd Generation, Cellulosic Sugar, Hemicelluloses, Cellulose

Download or read book Cellulosic Ethanol from Sugarcane Bagasse Cost Analysis Ethanol E62F written by Intratec and published by Intratec. This book was released on 2019-09-17 with total page 102 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report presents a cost analysis of second generation Ethanol production from sugarcane bagasse via a biochemical conversion process. The process examined is similar to AVAP technology, developed by American Process. In this process, biomass is fractionated into cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin. The hemicellulose and cellulose are converted to monomer sugars, which are then fermented to produce hydrous Ethanol, while lignin is burned to generate electricity. This report was developed based essentially on the following reference(s): WO Patent 2011044378, issued to American Process in 2011 Keywords: Ethyl Alcohol, Bioethanol, Lignocellulosic Biomass, 2nd Generation, Cellulosic Sugar, Hemicelluloses, Cellulose

Download or read book Cellulosic Ethanol from Sugarcane Bagasse Cost Analysis Ethanol E63F written by Intratec and published by Intratec. This book was released on 2019-09-17 with total page 102 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report presents a cost analysis of second generation Ethanol production from sugarcane bagasse using a biochemical conversion process. The process examined is similar to GreenPower, developed by American Process. In this process, hemicelluloses are extracted from biomass and used to produce hydrous Ethanol. The rest of the biomass is burned to generate electricity. In addition, a potassium acetate solution is also generated as by-product. This report was developed based essentially on the following reference(s): US Patent 20110195468, issued to American Process in 2011 Keywords: Ethyl Alcohol, Bioethanol, Lignocellulosic Biomass, 2nd Generation, Cellulosic Sugar, Hemicelluloses, Cellulose

Download or read book Cellulosic Ethanol from Corn Stover Cost Analysis Ethanol E12A written by Intratec and published by Intratec Solutions. This book was released on 2019-09-17 with total page 102 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report presents a cost analysis of second generation Ethanol production from corn stover based on a biochemical conversion process. The process examined is similar to the process reported by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). This process involves the following steps in the production of hydrous Ethanol: corn stover pretreatment with dilute acid and overliming; enzymatic hydrolysis; and fermentation. Electricity is also generated as by-product. This report was developed based essentially on the following reference(s): Aden, A., et al., "Lignocellulosic Biomass to Ethanol Process Design and Economics Utilizing Co-Current Dilute Acid Prehydrolysis and Enzymatic Hydrolysis for Corn Stover", Report NREL/TP-510-32438, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 2002 Keywords: Ethyl Alcohol, Bioethanol, Lignocellulosic Biomass, Hemicelluloses, Cellulose

Download or read book Lignocellulosic Biomass to biofuel Supply Chain Optimization with Mobile Densification and Farmers Choices written by Nibal Tawfiq Albashabsheh and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This dissertation focuses on logistics challenges arising in the biofuels industry. Studies have found that logistics costs in the biomass-to-biofuel supply chain (BBSC) account for 35%-65% of total biofuel production cost. This is mainly due to the low density of biomass that results in high costs associated with biomass transportation, storage, and handling in the biomass-to-biofuel supply chain. Densification provides an as-yet-unexplored opportunity to reduce logistic costs associated with biomass-to-biofuel supply chains. This research advances understanding about biomass-to-biofuel supply chain management through new optimization models. As a first step, the author presents an extensive overview of densification techniques and BBSC optimization models that account for biomass densification. This literature review helps the author to recognize the gaps and future research areas in BBSC studies. These gaps direct the author toward the remaining components of the dissertation. In particular, the literature review highlights two research gaps. First, the review indicates that mobile pelleting holds promise for improved BBSC management, but that there is no mathematical optimization model that addresses this opportunity. Second, currently, there does not exist a model that explicitly accounts for farmers' objectives and their probability to sell biomass to the bioenergy plant in BBSC optimization. To fill the first gap, the author focuses on managing the BBSC considering mobile densification units to account for chances to minimize logistics costs. A mixed integer linear programming model is proposed to manage the BBSC with different types and forms of biomass feedstock and mobile densification units. Sensitivity analysis and scenario analysis are presented to quantify conditions that make mobile densification an attractive choice. The author conducts a case study to demonstrate model applicability and type of analysis that can be drawn from this type of models. The result indicates that mobile pelleting is not an attractive choice under the current economic status. However, modest changes in pelleting cost, satellite storage location fixed cost, and/or travel distances are enough to make mobile pelleting an attractive choice. To fill the second gap, the author introduces a model that explicitly accounts for mobile densification and farmers' probability to supply a bioenergy plant with biomass feedstock. Farmers' probability to provide biomass to the bioenergy plant depends on contract attributes, including expected net return and services provided by the bioenergy plant. The proposed model helps the bioenergy plant to meet biofuel demand while considering farmers' choices that satisfy their own objectives and preferences. The model makes it possible to determine most important factors that influence type of contract offered to each supplier and optimal BBSC design. A case study based on the state of Kansas is conducted to demonstrate how bioenergy plant can benefit from this type of model.

Download or read book Issues in Biotechnology and Medical Technology Research and Application 2013 Edition written by and published by ScholarlyEditions. This book was released on 2013-05-01 with total page 1177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Issues in Biotechnology and Medical Technology Research and Application: 2013 Edition is a ScholarlyEditions™ book that delivers timely, authoritative, and comprehensive information about Biotechnology. The editors have built Issues in Biotechnology and Medical Technology Research and Application: 2013 Edition on the vast information databases of ScholarlyNews.™ You can expect the information about Biotechnology in this book to be deeper than what you can access anywhere else, as well as consistently reliable, authoritative, informed, and relevant. The content of Issues in Biotechnology and Medical Technology Research and Application: 2013 Edition has been produced by the world’s leading scientists, engineers, analysts, research institutions, and companies. All of the content is from peer-reviewed sources, and all of it is written, assembled, and edited by the editors at ScholarlyEditions™ and available exclusively from us. You now have a source you can cite with authority, confidence, and credibility. More information is available at http://www.ScholarlyEditions.com/.

Download or read book Switchgrass written by Andrea Monti and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-03-09 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The demand for renewable energies from biomass is growing steadily as policies are enacted to encourage such development and as industry increasingly sees an opportunity to develop bio-energy enterprises. Recent policy changes in the EU, USA and other countries are spurring interest in the cultivation of energy crops such as switchgrass. Switchgrass has gained and early lead in the race to find a biomass feedstock for energy production (and for the almost requisite need for bio-based products from such feedstocks). Switchgrass: A Valuable Biomass Crop for Energy provides a comprehensive guide to the biology, physiology, breeding, culture and conversion of switchgrass as well as highlighting various environmental, economic and social benefits. Considering this potential energy source, Switchgrass: A Valuable Biomass Crop for Energy brings together chapters from a range of experts in the field, including a foreword from Kenneth P. Vogel, to collect and present the environmental benefits and characteristics of this a crop with the potential to mitigate the risks of global warming by replacing fossil fuels. Including clear figures and tables to support discussions, Switchgrass: A Valuable Biomass Crop for Energy provides a solid reference for anyone with interest or investment in the development of bioenergy; researchers, policy makers and stakeholders will find this a key resource.

Download or read book Industrial Crops and Uses written by Bharat P. Singh and published by CABI. This book was released on 2010 with total page 522 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The demand for plant-based industrial raw materials has increased as well as research into expanding the utility of plants for current and future uses. Plants are renewable, have limited or positive environmental impact and have the potential to yield a wide range of products in contrast to petroleum-based materials. Plants can be used in a variety of different industries and products including bioenergy, industrial oil and starch, fibre and dye, rubber and related compounds, insecticide and land rehabilitation. This title offers a comprehensive coverage of each of these uses. Chapters discuss the identification of plant species with desired traits, their cultivation to obtain the needed raw materials, methods utilized in producing different finished products, current and future research in crop production and processing and the present state and future prospects for the industry. Providing the first systematic review of industrial crops and their uses, this book will be an important resource for students and researchers of crop science and agricultural policy makers.

Download or read book Lignocellulose Conversion written by Vincenza Faraco and published by Springer. This book was released on 2013-06-14 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bioethanol has been recognized as a potential alternative to petroleum-derived transportation fuels. Even if cellulosic biomass is less expensive than corn and sugarcane, the higher costs for its conversion make the near-term price of cellulosic ethanol higher than that of corn ethanol and even more than that of sugarcane ethanol. Conventional process for bioethanol production from lignocellulose includes a chemical/physical pre-treatment of lignocellulose for lignin removal, mostly based on auto hydrolysis and acid hydrolysis, followed by saccharification of the free accessible cellulose portions of the biomass. The highest yields of fermentable sugars from cellulose portion are achieved by means of enzymatic hydrolysis, currently carried out using a mix of cellulases from the fungus Trichoderma reesei. Reduction of (hemi)cellulases production costs is strongly required to increase competitiveness of second generation bioethanol production. The final step is the fermentation of sugars obtained from saccharification, typically performed by the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The current process is optimized for 6-carbon sugars fermentation, since most of yeasts cannot ferment 5-carbon sugars. Thus, research is aimed at exploring new engineered yeasts abilities to co-ferment 5- and 6-carbon sugars. Among the main routes to advance cellulosic ethanol, consolidate bio-processing, namely direct conversion of biomass into ethanol by a genetically modified microbes, holds tremendous potential to reduce ethanol production costs. Finally, the use of all the components of lignocellulose to produce a large spectra of biobased products is another challenge for further improving competitiveness of second generation bioethanol production, developing a biorefinery.

Download or read book Biochemical Conversion of Lignocellulosic Biomass to Ethanol written by Deepak Kumar and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 207 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ethanol production from lignocellulosic feedstock has been under intense scrutiny as a transportation fuel due to its potential to address concerns of increasing energy consumption, limited fossil energy resources, climate changes due to greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels, and especially use of non-food biomaterials, which address the biggest limitation of first generation bioethanol. Despite these advantages, the lignocellulosic ethanol production on commercial scale is still on verge because of high processing costs of ethanol production. In the biochemical conversion process, biomass is converted to ethanol by sequential steps of pretreatment (to reduce the recalcitrance of biomass), hydrolysis (conversion of sugar polymers to monomers) and fermentation (sugars to ethanol). Every year, about a million ton of grass straw is available as agricultural residue in Pacific Northwest. There were no previous comprehensive studies to evaluate the technical feasibility, economic viability and environmental sustainability of the bioethanol produced using grass straw in Willamette valley. The focus of this dissertation was to investigate the potential of cellulosic ethanol production from grass straw, assess the techno-economic viability and environmental impacts of the bioethanol production and development of a stochastic molecular model for modeling cellulose hydrolysis. This dissertation was divided into four studies focused on individual aspects of the overall objective. The first study evaluated the ethanol production potential from straws produced from three major grass seed varieties (perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.), tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb) and bentgrass (Agrostis sp.)) in Pacific Northwest. Feedstocks were pretreated using three chemical pretreatments (dilute acid, dilute alkali, and hot water) and subsequently hydrolyzed enzymatically to investigate the effect of pretreatment and estimate the potential ethanol yields. Carbohydrate content in biomass varied from 40.6 to 52.9%, with tall fescue having the maximum cellulose content of 32.4%. All pretreatment were effective in increasing the hydrolysis yields, and theoretical maximum ethanol yields were in the range of 276 to 360 L per ton of biomass. The second study performed the comprehensive techno-economic analysis of ethanol production from tall fescue using dilute acid, dilute alkali, hot water, and steam explosion pretreatment technologies. Detailed process models incorporating all unit operations in lignocellulosic ethanol plant with 250,000 metric ton biomass/ year processing capacity were developed in SuperPro Designer. The ethanol production cost were estimated from $0.81 to $0.88/ L of ethanol, and were found highly sensitive to biomass price, enzyme cost, and pentose sugar fermentation efficiency. Energy from lignin residue burning was found sufficient to meet the steam requirement in the production process. Third study performed the life cycle assessment for bioethanol production from grass straw considering various pretreatment technology options. The study revealed that ethanol production from grass straw provide environmental benefits compared to use of gasoline, with 57.43-112.67% reduction in fossil energy use to produce 10,000 MJ of fuel. The GHG emissions during life cycle of ethanol production were estimated in the range of -131 to -555.4 kg CO2 eq. per 10,000 MJ of fuel. It was observed that assumptions and allocation procedure used during the analysis had a significant effect on the LCA results. During the techno-economic assessment of bioethanol process, it was found that cost of cellulose enzymes was significant fraction of the total ethanol production cost. A comprehensive enzymatic hydrolysis model can play critical role in optimizing the enzyme composition and dosage, improving understanding of the process mechanism and reducing the cost of enzymes, a major bottleneck in the ethanol production process. A novel approach of stochastic molecular modeling, in which each hydrolysis event is translated into a discrete event, was used to develop a mechanistic model for cellulose hydrolysis in the fourth study. Cellulose structure was modeled as a group of microfibrils consisting of elementary fibrils bundles, where each elementary fibril was represented as a three dimensional matrix of glucose molecules. Major structural properties: crystallinity, degree of polymerization, surface accessibility, and enzyme characteristics: mode of action, binding and surface blockage, inhibition, along with the dynamic morphological changes in structure of cellulose were incorporated in the model. Hydrolysis of cellulose was simulated based on Monte Carlo simulation technique. Hydrolysis results predicted by model simulations had shown a good fit with the experimental data from hydrolysis of pure cellulose using purified enzymes for various hydrolysis conditions. The model was effective in capturing the dynamic behavior of cellulose hydrolysis during action of individual as well as multiple cellulases. Model was able to simulate and validate all the important expected experimental observations: effect of structural properties, enzyme inhibition and enzyme loadings on the hydrolysis and degree of synergism on different substrates. The work from this dissertation proved the significance of choosing technology options, drew a comparison among different pretreatment technologies, identified the critical processes and inputs that have significant effect on the ethanol production cost, net energy, and GHG emissions. Results from the last study confirmed the validity of using the stochastic molecular modeling approach to quantitatively and qualitatively describe the cellulose hydrolysis, which has wide potential application in bioethanol production research to reduce the enzyme cost.

Download or read book Handbook of Bioenergy Crop Plants written by Chittaranjan Kole and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2012-03-22 with total page 876 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As the world’s population is projected to reach 10 billion or more by 2100, devastating fossil fuel shortages loom in the future unless more renewable alternatives to energy are developed. Bioenergy, in the form of cellulosic biomass, starch, sugar, and oils from crop plants, has emerged as one of the cheaper, cleaner, and environmentally sustainable alternatives to traditional forms of energy. Handbook of Bioenergy Crop Plants brings together the work of a panel of global experts who survey the possibilities and challenges involved in biofuel production in the twenty-first century. Section One explores the genetic improvement of bioenergy crops, ecological issues and biodiversity, feedstock logistics and enzymatic cell wall degradation to produce biofuels, and process technologies of liquid transportation fuels production. It also reviews international standards for fuel quality, unique issues of biofuel-powered engines, life-cycle environmental impacts of biofuels compared with fossil fuels, and social concerns. Section Two examines commercialized bioenergy crops, including cassava, Jatropha, forest trees, maize, oil palm, oilseed Brassicas, sorghum, soybean, sugarcane, and switchgrass. Section Three profiles emerging crops such as Brachypodium, diesel trees, minor oilseeds, lower plants, Paulownia, shrub willow, sugarbeet, sunflower, and sweet potato. It also discusses unconventional biomass resources such as vegetable oils, organic waste, and municipal sludge. Highlighting the special requirements, major achievements, and unresolved concerns in bioenergy production from crop plants, the book is destined to lead to future discoveries related to the use of plants for bioenergy production. It will assist in developing innovative ways of ameliorating energy problems on the horizon.