Japanese researcher develops low-cost cellulosic ethanol catalyst; reduces conversion costs by 30 percent

In Japan, a professor at Tokyo Institute of Technology announced a process to reduce the cost of cellulosic ethanol conversion from rice straw and other non-food feedstocks by more than 30 percent. The process utilizes a low-cost catalyst that will produce sugar from cellulose when mixed with water and boiled. The carbon-based catalyst accelerates the decomposition process for cellulose.

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