Practicability of Lignocellulosic Waste Composite in Controlling Air Pollution from Leaves Litter through Bioethanol Production

Abstract

Environmental degradation through greenhouse emission have spurred nation's interest on feedstock-based fuel. Yet, development of this clean biofuel is obstructed by the expensive feedstock which takes up most of the production cost. Therefore, as an alternative, utilization of widely available lignocellulosic residues with relatively no commercial significance has been considered. This present work emphasizes on mango (Mangifera indica) leaves one of the most abundant lignocellulosic waste in Malaysia. Through implementation of this biomass for bioethanol production, continuous allowance of air pollution with a deleterious impact to the country's environment could be reduced. The high concentration of sugar (16-18%w/v) in the form of cellulose and hemicellulose is ultimately the reason behind the selection of these leaves as a substrate for bioethanol production. Hence, in this study, a comparison of biomass composition in Harum Manis, Sunshine and Chokanan mango leaves were conducted to detect the most suitable substrate source to produce biofuel. At the end of the biomass evaluation, Harum Manis mango leaves turned out to be the most competitive bioethanol crop as these leaves reported to be made up of 34.71% cellulose and 44.02% hemicellulose which summed up to give highest fermentable sugar source with a lignin content of 19.45%.