INTEGRATED PRODUCTION OF ETHANOL FUEL AND PROTEIN FROM COASTAL BERMUDAGRASS

The herbaceous crops that may provide fermentable carbohydrates for pr oduction of fuels and chemicals also contain 10-20% protein. Protein c oproduction with biomass-derived fuels and chemicals has important adv antages: (I) food and fuel production can be integrated, and (2) prote in is a high-value product that may significantly improve overall proc ess economics. We report the results of an integrated approach to prod ucing protein and fermentable sugars from one herbaceous species, Coas tal Bermudagrass (CBG). The ammonia fiber explosion (AFEX) process mak es possible over 90% conversion of cellulose and hemicellulose to simp le sugars (about 650 mg reducing sugars/g dry CBG) at 5 IU cellulase/g vs < 20% conversion for untreated CBG. The AFEX treatment also improv es protein extraction from CBG; over 80% protein recovery is possible from APEX-treated CBG vs about 30% recovery from untreated CBG.