1 Introduction
Bioethanol can be prepared from renewable biomass materials because renewable
resources have positive environmental impacts and also possess important economic
potential over fossil fuel. The significance of bioethanol is increasing due to various
reasons, such as global warming and climate change (Swain et al. 2019). Bioethanol
has been used for vehicular use as part of the internal combustion engine of the
vehicle. Due to several properties of bioethanol, such as higher flame speeds, broad
flammability limits, higher octane number, and high heat of vaporization, it allows
for shorter burn time, leaner burn engine, and high compression ratio. This proved
that bioethanol has high advantages in terms of efficiency when compared to that of
gasoline. Bioethanol can be used in combination with gasoline or as a separate
entity. Bioethanol as stated helps in reducing air pollution, as it has low reactivity
and higher oxygen content and it also helps to break the supply and demand chain of
the foreign oil fields from where gasoline is bought, thereby initiating a selfsufficient transport fuel for each country, all with the help of biomass. Bioethanol
is available and can be used as two types based on its mixture with gasoline, such as
low-level blend and high-level blend. The low-level blend, or the E10 blend, consists
of 10% bioethanol and 90% gasoline, whereas the high-level blend consists of either
85% bioethanol and 15% gasoline, known as E85 blend, or 95% bioethanol and 5%
gasoline, known as E95 blend (Balat 2009). These blending and usage of bioethanol
as fuels in vehicles can be achieved without any modifications to the present internal
combustion engine of the vehicle (Loppacher 2005). As bioethanol production can
reduce the usage of petroleum greenhouse gas emissions, it can also promote the
farming industry, by being the supplier of biomass required for bioethanol production (Bull 1994). An overview of the changes in emission, by both high blend and
low blend bioethanol, is tabulated in Table 3.1 (Kadam 2000). Lignocellulosic
biomass appears to be a potentially renewable resource that can be used for the
production of biofuels and bioproducts. Lignocellulose is basically represented as
grasses, hardwood, softwood, domestic solid waste, food industry residue, and
agricultural and forest residues. These resources include sugars, polymerized in the
form of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin to form a complex structure. Ionic
liquids have the potential to dissolve biomass by effectively disrupting the dynamic
network of non-covalent carbohydrate-lignin interactions (André et al. 2013). In the
abovementioned lignocellulose materials, agricultural and forest remains are largely
unused and abundantly available, which can be used as competitive feedstock for the
production of bioethanol. Specifically, “wheat straw” residue is the most useful
biomass in terms of its availability. Europe, East Asia, and America are the most
wheat producers in the world. Internationally, eight hundred and fifty (850) million
metric tons of “wheat straw” is produced per annum, which can be measured as a
huge agricultural residue (Swain et al. 2019). Similar to other agricultural residues,
wheat straw is made up of 33%–40% (w/w) cellulose, 20%–25% (w/w) hemicellulose, and 15%–20% (w/w) lignin (Swain et al. 2019). A comparative study on the
proximate analysis and the presence of major elements, such as wheat straw, rice
50
I. Neme and C. Masi
Bioethanol can be prepared from renewable biomass materials because renewable
resources have positive environmental impacts and also possess important economic
potential over fossil fuel. The significance of bioethanol is increasing due to various
reasons, such as global warming and climate change (Swain et al. 2019). Bioethanol
has been used for vehicular use as part of the internal combustion engine of the
vehicle. Due to several properties of bioethanol, such as higher flame speeds, broad
flammability limits, higher octane number, and high heat of vaporization, it allows
for shorter burn time, leaner burn engine, and high compression ratio. This proved
that bioethanol has high advantages in terms of efficiency when compared to that of
gasoline. Bioethanol can be used in combination with gasoline or as a separate
entity. Bioethanol as stated helps in reducing air pollution, as it has low reactivity
and higher oxygen content and it also helps to break the supply and demand chain of
the foreign oil fields from where gasoline is bought, thereby initiating a selfsufficient transport fuel for each country, all with the help of biomass. Bioethanol
is available and can be used as two types based on its mixture with gasoline, such as
low-level blend and high-level blend. The low-level blend, or the E10 blend, consists
of 10% bioethanol and 90% gasoline, whereas the high-level blend consists of either
85% bioethanol and 15% gasoline, known as E85 blend, or 95% bioethanol and 5%
gasoline, known as E95 blend (Balat 2009). These blending and usage of bioethanol
as fuels in vehicles can be achieved without any modifications to the present internal
combustion engine of the vehicle (Loppacher 2005). As bioethanol production can
reduce the usage of petroleum greenhouse gas emissions, it can also promote the
farming industry, by being the supplier of biomass required for bioethanol production (Bull 1994). An overview of the changes in emission, by both high blend and
low blend bioethanol, is tabulated in Table 3.1 (Kadam 2000). Lignocellulosic
biomass appears to be a potentially renewable resource that can be used for the
production of biofuels and bioproducts. Lignocellulose is basically represented as
grasses, hardwood, softwood, domestic solid waste, food industry residue, and
agricultural and forest residues. These resources include sugars, polymerized in the
form of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin to form a complex structure. Ionic
liquids have the potential to dissolve biomass by effectively disrupting the dynamic
network of non-covalent carbohydrate-lignin interactions (André et al. 2013). In the
abovementioned lignocellulose materials, agricultural and forest remains are largely
unused and abundantly available, which can be used as competitive feedstock for the
production of bioethanol. Specifically, “wheat straw” residue is the most useful
biomass in terms of its availability. Europe, East Asia, and America are the most
wheat producers in the world. Internationally, eight hundred and fifty (850) million
metric tons of “wheat straw” is produced per annum, which can be measured as a
huge agricultural residue (Swain et al. 2019). Similar to other agricultural residues,
wheat straw is made up of 33%–40% (w/w) cellulose, 20%–25% (w/w) hemicellulose, and 15%–20% (w/w) lignin (Swain et al. 2019). A comparative study on the
proximate analysis and the presence of major elements, such as wheat straw, rice
50
I. Neme and C. Masi