Food and agricultural waste: Sources of carbon for ethanol production

Abstract

In the past, wastes derived from agriculture products have had only limited use in the production of biofuels. Our objective in this article is to showcase a new and meaningful concept (called 'avoidance) to measure the environmental importance of converting these waste streams into energy. Agriculturally derived wastes, specifically food waste and other byproducts, are potential sources for meeting the federal RFS, which calls for increasing the production of advanced and cellulosic biofuels. In addition, the resultant stillage can be converted into other useful byproducts, such as animal feed or synthetic biogas. We provide an 'energy avoidance framework, showing the positive environmental impacts that occur when these waste sources are properly measured, and used to produce advanced and cellulosic biofuels, animal feed and biogas. © 2013 Future Science Ltd.